In the quiet town of Georgetown, Indiana, the evening of September 28, 2000, was shattered by a brutal act of violence that would unravel a family and lead to a years-long legal saga. On that night, seven-year-old Bradley Camm, his five-year-old sister Jill, and their 35-year-old mother, Kimberly, were found shot to death in the garage of their home.
The discovery was made by Bradley's father, David Camm, a former Indiana State Police trooper, who told authorities he had just returned from playing basketball at his church. He found his wife on the garage floor and his children inside the family's SUV.
The investigation quickly focused on David Camm as the primary suspect. Within three days of the murders, he was arrested and charged with killing his family. Prosecutors pointed to several factors, including small bloodstains on his t-shirt which they argued were high-velocity impact spatter from the gunshots, and evidence of his extramarital affairs, which they presented as a motive to get out of his marriage. Camm maintained his innocence, insisting the blood on his shirt was from moving his son, whom he believed might still be alive, to attempt CPR. He also had a seemingly solid alibi, with eleven witnesses testifying he was at the church playing basketball at the time the murders were believed to have occurred. Despite this, in 2002, a jury found him guilty, and he was sentenced to 195 years in prison.
The case, however, was far from over. Camm's first conviction was overturned on appeal due to the prejudicial nature of the evidence regarding his affairs. As authorities prepared for a second trial, a significant breakthrough occurred. DNA found on a sweatshirt left at the crime scene was matched to a man named Charles Boney, a convicted felon. Boney's palm print was also found on the family's vehicle. He was subsequently arrested and charged. The prosecution's theory then shifted to portray Camm and Boney as co-conspirators. In a separate trial, Boney was convicted of the murders and sentenced to 225 years in prison. Boney's story changed multiple times, but he eventually claimed that Camm was the shooter.
In a second trial in 2006, with Boney as a key witness against him, David Camm was once again convicted, this time sentenced to life without parole. But this conviction was also overturned by the Indiana Supreme Court, which cited the prosecution's use of unsubstantiated and prejudicial evidence suggesting Camm had molested his daughter. After spending 13 years behind bars, David Camm faced a third trial in 2013. This time, the defense was able to more effectively point to Charles Boney as the sole perpetrator. After a lengthy trial and days of deliberation, the jury found David Camm not guilty of all charges, and he was finally freed. Charles Boney remains incarcerated for the murders of Bradley, Jill, and Kimberly Camm.
