The murder trial of Eric Campbell continues Wednesday at a courtroom in Granville County, North Carolina. Jurors are sitting through a third week of testimony.
The 23-year-old defendant joined his father Edward Campbell on a multi-state crime spree from Texas to West Virginia, prosecutors said. It culminated on Dec. 31, 2014, when these two allegedly stabbed to death Granville locals Jerome Faulkner, 73, Dora Faulkner, 62, and the couple’s dogs; burned the house down; and brought the human victims’ bodies along in a stolen truck. The state rested its case last Wednesday.
The son faces these accusations alone—The elder Campbell killed himself in March, 2015, while locked up as a pre-trial inmate at Central Prison in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The defense began their case on Thursday. They are trying to argue that although Eric was present for the crime spree, he wasn’t culpable. They claim Eric thought the Faulkners were only going to get robbed, not murdered, and he was too afraid to stop his father Edward, a long-time abuser.
On Tuesday, Dr. Ayesha Chaudhary, a staff psychiatrist at Duke University, continued to testify. She said she interviewed Eric Campbell, and that his omission of certain details is consistent with having post-traumatic stress disorder. She repeated the defendant’s claim that he stopped questioning his father after being threatened with a screwdriver.
Cindy May, a prison psychologist at Central Prison, took the stand after Chaudhary. She supported the defense’s argument that Campbell was dominated by his father.
“He [the defendant] was quiet,” she said. “He was taught to be quiet. He was taught not to feel.”
May said Campbell caused no problems in prison. The prosecutor tried to undermine her s a witness, however, by highlighting that she only interviewed the defendant after the murders, did not have access to discovery, and that she relied on Campbell’s “self-reporting.” May defended her reliability as a witness by saying she collaborated with other professionals.
Next up on the stand: the defendant’s brother Nicholas Campbell. Yes, he said, their father was abusive. The way he described it, Edward beat him as discipline, and Eric fell into line.
“I was the scapegoat,” he said. Their father could be “rough” with Eric.
#EricCampbell – Nicholas testified when dad attacked them, “we’d have to pray for mercy and let him finish.” https://t.co/FFHEZsbMzd pic.twitter.com/OI0fweTKL2
— LawNewz Network (@LawNewzNetwork) July 25, 2017
#EricCampbell – After dad got out of jail, he didn’t go on trip w/him & Eric because he knew his dad wasn’t ‘right’ and he frightened him. pic.twitter.com/nCJPJvdzCa
— LawNewz Network (@LawNewzNetwork) July 25, 2017
Sherri Barnes, Eric’s aunt and Edward’s sister, came up to the stand next. Her brother once stepped outside with a firearm to shoot ducks for defecating in the pool, she said. Barnes described her nephew as “childlike” and great with her kids.
The defense wrapped up their case, but it’s not time for closing arguments yet.
#EricCampbell – Defense rests its case. The State has now called a Forensic Psychiatrist, Dr. Nicole Wolfe as a rebuttal witness.
— LawNewz Network (@LawNewzNetwork) July 25, 2017
Wolfe said she interviewed Eric Campbell, and his statements were inconsistent with someone who had been abused. She said he told her that he’d sleep better after being beaten, but she explained that someone who has a history of being physically abused were more likely to be hyper-vigilant.
She will continue her testimony Wednesday morning.
Campbell, who faces two counts of first-degree murder, could get the death penalty if convicted. He has also been charged with first-degree burglary, robbery with a dangerous weapon, second-degree arson, and two counts of cruelty to animals.
[Screengrab via LawNewz Network]
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