David Camm Was Wrongfully Convicted For Killing His Family members

David Ray Camm spent 13 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted for murdering his wife and children.

By Rare StoriesPublished about a year ago • 3 min read

David Ray Camm and family

David Ray Camm, born on March 23, 1964, is a former Indiana State Police (ISP) trooper who served 13 years in prison after being twice wrongfully convicted of the September 28, 2000 murders of his wife, Kimberly, and his two young children at their home in Georgetown, Indiana.

The Beginning

Kim, Bradley, and Jill Camm were found shot to death in their garage on September 28, 2000, at approximately 9:30 p.m., when police were called to their home. Camm told police that when he returned home from playing basketball at a nearby church, he discovered his wife dead in the garage.

He saw his daughter, Jill, sitting upright in the backseat with her seatbelt still fastened. Brad was draped over the driver's side of the backseat as if he were attempting to escape his attacker.

Since both Kim and Jill had been shot through the head, Camm stated that he believed his son, who had no head injuries, might still be alive. So he took his son, placed him on the garage floor, and administered CPR. Bradley Camm had been shot in the torso, severing his spine.

Crime Investigation

At the time of his arrest, it was believed that Camm had returned home from playing basketball, shot his family, and then attempted to clean up before abandoning his efforts and calling the Sellersburg State Police post for assistance. Rob Stites, a crime scene photographer believed by police to be a blood-spatter analyst, reported that the crime scene had been cleaned up.

A phone bill indicating that Camm had made a call from the residence at 7:19 p.m. on the evening of the murder also appeared to be incriminating. He claimed to have played basketball at the church from approximately 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Police believed that Camm's history of infidelity was the motive for the murders.

Disproving Wrongful Conclusions

It was discovered that there was not a crime scene cleanup, but rather the normal separation of blood after exposure to air. Several other areas of the crime scene that Stites claimed to be high-velocity impact spatter were inaccurately interpreted, proving his incompetency.

The phone call that appeared to disprove Camm's alibi was disproven. The phone company determined that the inaccuracy was due to the complexity of Indiana's time zones. The call was made at 6:19 p.m., one hour earlier.

Eleven witnesses told police he played basketball with them from 7:00 p.m. to after 9:00 p.m. The police shifted their theory of the crime from a murder occurring after the basketball game to one in which the suspect snuck out of the game, committed the murders, and then returned without being seen.

Trial and Sentencing

The case was tried in the spring of 2002, with blood spatter as the primary forensic evidence and extramarital affairs as the motive. The prosecution argued that the bloodstains on Camm's shirt were caused by a high-velocity impact, proving that he was the shooter. Experts for the defense assert that the pattern was transferred from his wife's hair to his shirt while he was removing his son from the vehicle.

Early in 2005, the defense requested that the DNA of two unidentified individuals found on the sweatshirt at the crime scene be re-run through CODIS. Attorneys for the defense assert that the prosecution refused to cooperate until compelled by a court order.

Charles Boney, a felon from nearby New Albany, was identified as the sweatshirt's owner. At the time of the crime, he was on parole after being convicted of a string of armed assaults on women, several of which involved the theft of shoes.

The other DNA sample was later identified as belonging to Boney's then-girlfriend, Mala Singh Mattingly.