The Camm-Boney connection

12:59 PM EST on Thursday, March 10, 2005

David Camm and Charles Boney are said to have met on a basketball court. Now they’re both in the same jail in New Albany. And for the first time, detectives laid out a motive, saying David Camm killed his wife because she was about to leave him.

Before Charles Boney answered to formal charges in the murders of Kim, Bradley and Jill Camm, the most stunning development happened outside Judge J. Terrence Cody’s courtroom with the re-arrest of David Camm, who had been under home arrest.

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“Two individuals worked together. When the gun was transferred,” says Floyd County Prosecutor Keith Henderson. “They were together when Jill, Brad and Kim were murdered and they should be tried together.”

Henderson says there is inextricable evidence that ties Boney and Camm together, so the charges against Camm have been dropped in Warrick County, where he had been scheduled to appear in August for his second trial.

Henderson says it’s a whole new case, saying under Indiana law, he can try them both at the same time no matter where a trial is eventually held.

“It became apparent that this case was intertwined between two people: David Camm and Charles Boney. That’s why I filed the conspiracy counts against both,” says Henderson.

WHAS11

David Camm (left) and Charles Boney are both charged with the murders of Kim, Brad and Jill Camm

They are both also charged with three counts of murder, a court document laid out some but not all of the links between the two men. According to Indiana State Police detective Gary Gilbert, Boney met Camm in New Albany while playing basketball. Boney had just been released from prison in June of 2000. According to Gilbert, Camm asked Boney if he could obtain a “clean” gun, and Boney told Camm he could.

According to the court document, Boney told investigators he was in Camm’s house when Camm murdered his family in September 2000 by the Ford Bronco in their garage. Boney stated he touched the Bronco and that he was the one who put Kim Camm’s shoes on top of the SUV.

Henderson would not comment specifically on any of the evidence.

Web story produced by Jay Ditzer.

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From The Associated Press:

By BRETT BARROUQUERE / Associated Press Writer

NEW ALBANY, Ind. (AP) -- A former Indiana state trooper faces new charges that he conspired with an ex-convict in the September 2000 shooting deaths of the trooper’s wife and two young children.

The move came Wednesday, hours after prosecutors dropped their initial charges against David Camm.

Camm, 40, and Charles D. Boney, 35, of Louisville, Ky., are charged with three counts each of murder and one count each of conspiracy.

Floyd County Prosecutor Keith Henderson said the two men will be tried together and that he is considering whether to seek the death penalty for Camm and Boney.

Camm had been free on bond since late January as he awaited a new trial on the murder charges after a state appeals court last year overturned his convictions of three counts of murder. He was rearrested Wednesday and placed in the Floyd County Jail. No bond had been set.

Meanwhile, Floyd Circuit Court Judge Terrence Cody entered a not guilty plea Wednesday on Boney’s behalf during a hearing. Boney was arrested Friday after prosecutors said DNA evidence linked him to a prison sweat shirt found on the floor of the garage of the Camm home in Georgetown, about 15 miles west of Louisville.

A jury convicted Camm in 2002 of murdering his wife, Kimberly, and the couple’s 7-year-old son, Bradley, and 5-year-old daughter, Jill.

He was sentenced to 195 years in prison, but the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled that the jury should not have heard testimony from a dozen women who said Camm had propositioned them or had had affairs with them.

Camm has maintained his innocence, and Boney has said in media interviews that he was not involved in the killings.

Henderson said Wednesday that investigators found that both Camm and Boney were involved in the killings. Court records said that Boney gave Camm a “clean gun” that could not be traced and that Camm used the weapon to shoot his wife and children.

“It’s my contention that both were present at the time of the murders,” Henderson said during a new conference Wednesday afternoon.

Camm’s uncle, Sam Lockhart, said family members “were elated” after seeing the initial charges against Camm dropped. But, that joy quickly turned to anger when Camm was rearrested.

“I’m outraged by this,” Lockhart said. “Dave Camm is innocent.”

Kimberly Camm’s father, Frank Renn, said Boney’s arrest did not change his mind about what happened to his daughter.

“I do know and I’ve known this all along, that David Camm did this,” Renn said. “I’m just glad they are finally getting everyone involved in it.”

An affidavit filed with the charges against Camm and Boney states the two men met while playing basketball in New Albany, shortly after Boney’s June 2000 release from state prison after serving seven years for armed robbery and criminal confinement convictions.

Camm soon learned about Boney’s criminal background and asked the ex-convict whether he could get an untraceable gun, the court records state. Boney told Camm he could, the records state.

Boney gave Camm a .380-caliber handgun wrapped in a gray sweat shirt that Boney had worn while in prison, court records said.

Boney told investigators that Camm promised to pay him for his involvement in the killings, court records said. Prosecutors said Camm took out a $150,000 life insurance policy on his wife and an extra $10,000 policy for his children.

Camm’s brother, Danny Camm, signed Kimberly Camm’s name to the life insurance policy in June 2000, the court records state. Danny Camm has not been charged and could not be located for comment.

When asked whether Danny Camm was under investigation, Henderson said he planned to continue looking at that matter.

The court records state that Camm first shot his wife, then shot both children when they entered the garage as they returned home from a swim practice. Boney told investigators he touched the Camm’s Ford Bronco as he looked at it and that he put Kimberly Camm’s shoes on top of the vehicle, court records said.

Henderson said the initial charges against Camm had to be dropped because the trial was moved to Warrick County, near Evansville, making it impossible to try Camm and Boney together. By refiling charges against Camm in Floyd County and charging him as a co-defendant of Boney, the two can face trial together, Henderson said.

“There’s been no deals at this point,” Henderson said. “I intend to treat each defendant equally.”

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)