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Michigan v.
James Campbell
"The Arson
Double Murder Trial"
Was it a fiery murder or a fiery suicide? In a
trial Court TV taped in late January 1998, James Campbell
was charged with first-degree murder in the fire-related deaths of
his wife, Ruthie, and one of his daughters, Sherri. Prosecutors
believed that Campbell, who was married to his wife for 39 years,
killed his wife in order to collect homeowner's insurance worth
$65,000 so that he could handle his debts. Campbell claimed that his
wife's death was a suicide, that she went into a rage after an
argument and purposely set the house of fire.
Ironically, Ruthie was a dispatcher for the Fire
Department and earned a salary of about $57,000. She also had
accumulated an annuity totaling almost $300,000. Under a Michigan law
allowing her a onetime withdrawal from her annuity fund, Ruthie took out
$70,000. She did not spend any of the money on Campbell and used it
primarily on herself and to buy their other daughter Diane a car.
Investigators said that
Campbell resented his wife's money and her unwillingness to spend
her money on him. Reportedly, Campbell had been unemployed for
several years at the time of the fire. Ruthie had reported Campbell
to the police for credit card fraud because he had obtained a credit
card under his and Ruthie's name without her permission.
Prosecutors claimed that Campbell had a gambling problem,
accumulating a debt of approximately $114,000 and filing for personal
bankruptcy at the time of Ruthie's death. These financial woes along
with marital discord allegedly drove Campbell to set fire to his house
and kill his wife. (The prosecution's theory is that Campbell did not
know his daughter Sherri would be at the house at the time of the fire.)
If convicted of first-degree murder, Campbell faced
life in prison without parole. This is Campbell's second trial for the
murder of his wife and daughter; his first trial in September 1997 ended
with a hung jury.
The Fire
During the early morning hours of March 10, 1997, Ruthie Campbell
returned home after a night of gambling with her cousin, Dorothea Walker,
in Windsor, Canada. (Windsor is a popular gambling spot that is a short
trip away from Detroit across the Great Lakes.) She called Walker to let
her know that she had gotten home safely. What happened next is unclear.
According to the prosecution, James Campbell hid
in the attic while he waited for Ruthie to come home. When she
entered the house, he allegedly took a newly-purchased can of
gasoline and doused the house with it, starting at the top of the
stairs and working his way down through the house. Campbell allowed
a safe exit for himself out the downstairs kitchen after setting the
house on fire. At some point before the blaze, Campbell managed to
remove the most recent insurance papers from the house. Campbell
eventually ended up at his brother's house, whether police later
found him and informed him about the fire and the deaths of his wife
and daughter. Allegedly, when Campbell went to the police station
for questioning, he told an officer that he was responsible for the
fatal fire. (The defense disputed this claim by saying that Campbell
was under duress and did not mean to claim responsibility for the
blaze.)
Campbell's defense claimed that when Ruthie came home,
Campbell was sleeping. Ruthie then started cooking and the smell of food
woke Campbell up. Campbell contended that he and his wife had an
argument about the kitchen sink being "clogged up," and Ruthie went into
a rage. She allegedly chased the defendant around the house with pots
and pans and doused the house with gasoline. Campbell said that he then
left the house to "cool off" and drove to his brother's house for refuge.
The defense said that when Campbell later learned
about the death of Ruthie and their daughter Sherri, he was shocked. He
claimed that the house was not on fire when he left, and he thought that
Sherri would be able to calm her mother down. Campbell said that he did
not realize his wife would set the house on fire and kill herself and
Sherri. The defendant also claimed that job stress, Ruthie's gambling
habits, and a recent lack of sleep caused her to "crack" during their
argument. (However, friends and relatives of the alleged victim said
that they saw no change in her behavior that would have indicated
suicidal tendencies shortly before her death.)
Ruthie and Sherri Campbell were found dead in an
upstairs bedroom. They died from intense heat and possibly carbon
monoxide poisoning. The front of their bodies were completely charred.
The Controversial
Annuity
According to investigators, James Campbell did
not know at the time of the blaze that Ruthie had changed the terms
of her annuity fund in 1993, removing him as a beneficiary and
including only her two daughters, Sherri and Diane Muhammad. At the
time of the second trial, no one had received the proceeds from
Ruthie's annuity fund and homeowners' insurance. Under normal
conditions, the homeowners' insurance would go to Campbell because
he and Ruthie jointly owned the house. But, if Campbell is found
criminally or civilly responsible for Ruthie's death, Muhammad would
receive the proceeds. (Muhammad is reportedly planning to file a
wrongful death suit against her father.)
Muhammad was the state's chief witness against
Campbell, claiming that he was money-hungry and had plenty of motives to
commit the crime. The defense discredited Muhammad's allegations by
labelling her as "the money-greedy one" who would receive all the
monetary proceeds if Campbell went to jail.
The Verdict
After only three hours of deliberations, the jury
acquitted James Campbell of the murder and arson charges against him.
Campbell may still face a civil suit from his daughter Diane Muhammed as
they squabble over the proceeds from Ruthie Campbell's annuity and
homeowner's insurance policy
CourtTV.com
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