CLEARFIELD – Prior to reaching its verdict on Wednesday night, the Mercer County jury heard testimony from Jesse James Campbell, who they later found guilty of killing his mother in her Woodward Township home on March 13. His testimony, which was previously reported, continued during the morning session of the capital murder trial.
Campbell, 21 of Houtzdale, was found guilty on all charges, including criminal homicide murder of both the first and third degree; involuntary manslaughter; aggravated assault; simple assault; and recklessly endangering another person.
During Campbell’s testimony, Pentz turned his attention to that given by Richard Allen, a former co-worker at a lumber mill, as well as that of Allen’s sister Lisa Albright.
On Monday, both told the jury they heard Campbell make “troubling” and “inappropriate” statements about his mother. Both said he spoke of “killing that bitch.”
Campbell, however, said he did not recall making those statements. He also said that neither Allen nor Albright had a reason to lie though.
“Assuming you made these comments, did you have any intent on carrying them out,” Defense Attorney Christopher Pentz asked.
Campbell said, “No, I certainly did not, sir.”
On March 12, he also testified that he went with his then-girlfriend Kacey Fisher and another 16-year-old Morann girl to his mother’s apartment. He said he went for a computer, clothes and some other personal items.
Before leaving his mother’s apartment, Campbell testified that he left her a note in the kitchen and might have called her as well. He said he didn’t want her to worry about the computer and other items that he had taken.
According to Campbell, he had both keys to the residence. He said his mother had given him the keys in January 2008, as he was living there.
He said he had a key for the outer door to the apartment building, as well as a second key for the actual apartment. He said his mother’s apartment door had a deadbolt in addition to a regular lock.
Campbell said although there were three locks, it only took two keys to get in both the building and his mother’s apartment. He said he couldn’t remember which keys fit the individual locks. He said he had both of the required keys. He said his mother never asked him to return the keys.
Campbell also said he had taken the keys for his mother’s apartment to Fisher’s residence. He said he never made any attempts to hide the keys from his then-girlfriend.
“I’d leave them on the counter or a night stand,” he said.
On the night of March 12, Campbell told the jury he stayed at Fisher’s apartment. He said after returning from his mother’s, he sat at the computer and listened to music.
He also testified that neighbor Terra Emigh stopped by with her two little girls. He said Fisher was there with her three-year-old son. He said they talked and watched the children play.
Campbell said he and Fisher put her son to bed after Emigh left the apartment. He said the two jumped in the shower together. He said Fisher got out of the shower ahead of him. He said she was going to borrow a movie for them to watch from a neighbor. He said after he got out of the shower that he went downstairs and was on the computer.
Campbell testified that he didn’t consume alcohol but did take pre scri ption medication. He said the medication was prescribed to someone else.
“It mellows me out,” he said of the medication’s effects.
Campbell said he spoke to his mother on the phone. He said there could have been other calls. But during their conversation, he said the two mainly talked about the computer, in addition to a job that she was going to line up for him.
When asked, Campbell said his mother wasn’t “necessarily happy” about him taking the computer. He said he went to neighbor Angela Acey’s apartment to get Fisher. He said he told Fisher that he needed to talk, and they would do so at her apartment.
Campbell said after returning to Fisher’s apartment, he received a phone call from his mother. He said they both spoke to her.
“It was basically the same conversation about the computer,” he said, adding his mother was unhappy and threatened to turn them both into police if the computer wasn't returned by 8 a.m.
He told the jury his mother said that she would turn him in for taking the computer from her apartment. He said she would report Fisher, as she had the computer at her apartment.
Campbell testified that he discussed the situation with Fisher and told her "he'd have the computer returned."
Later on that night, Campbell testified that he watched a movie with Fisher. He said he didn’t recall the name of the film but only remembered that it was a “horror movie.”
Campbell said he started to feel the effects of the pre scri ption medication that he had taken earlier. He said he felt “calm” and “drowsy.” He said he didn’t hide the effects of the medication from Fisher.
Campbell said he, then, fell asleep sometime during the movie. He said the two eventually moved from the couch and went to bed upstairs. He testified that Fisher’s son was in the home with them. He said he and Fisher slept in the same room.
“Were you aware if Kacey had left the residence sometime that night,” Pentz asked.
Campbell said he was not. He said he didn’t remember anything until Fisher woke him up the next morning, when she said she had received a call that the police were outside the apartment.
Pentz also had Campbell address his writings that came out in Tuesday’s testimony.
According to a previous GantDaily report, the letters said: “God knows I hate with a passion who I am. He knows my disgust . . . that’s why I hate him . . . I am a horrible person. Horrible and evil.”
Another line in the letter states, “Because I could kill my mother with a dull steak knife. I’m so (explanative) evil.”
In a different letter, Campbell wrote that he thought he could chop up a human calmly.
Campbell said the writings were written sometime in August 2007. He said he wasn’t living and fighting with his mother during that time period.
During his testimony, Campbell said he wrote frequently and didn’t hide his writings from anyone.
“I actually like people to read my writings and journal,” he said, adding that it was therapeutic. He said his counselors encouraged him to write and “get his feelings out.” He also said he received mental health counseling.
Campbell testified that his pen name was “J. Coleman” He said the “J” stood for “Jesse,” while Coleman was his mother’s last name.
“If I would write a book, that would be the name I would use,” he said.
He said the writings were from dreams that he had experienced, while others were inspired by the Bible. He said he didn’t have any intentions on acting on his writings.
Campbell said he knew the writings about killing his mother with a dull steak knife were shocking, but they were fictional and had nothing to do with himself. He said he was thinking about chapter seven from the book of Romans. He said in the scri ptures, it speaks of men’s sin.
Pentz asked Campbell to address about why he had asked Tpr. Kim Ronan, the primary investigator for the case, about the length of his sentence.
In earlier testimony, Ronan said she was at Campbell’s arraignment with him. She said she wasn’t speaking to or questioning him, but he asked, “What am I going to get?”
“They were detailing me. I wanted to know for how long,” he explained. Campbell also said he had never admitted to killing his mother during his interrogations at the Clearfield State Police barracks on March 13. In fact, he later denied killing his mother and said he had no involvement in her murder.
“Do you love your mother,” Pentz asked.
He said, “Yes, I love my mother. Of course, I do.”
Pentz asked Campbell about his thoughts on the testimony of Cpl. Jeffrey Lee, of the Pennsylvania State Police. Lee had said Campbell showed little remorse during the case’s investigative process.
“You’re telling me that my mother is dead, and that you think I did it. What in the hell do you want me to feel,” he said. He said he was almost mad to an extent.
District Attorney William A. Shaw, Jr. grilled Campbell about why he quit his job at the lumber mill.
“I was going through some things and doing a lot of drugs. I got mixed up,” Campbell said.
Campbell also testified that he liked his job.
“Are you telling me that you liked your job so much you quit,” Shaw asked.
Campbell testified that he worked at the mill until a few days prior to March 13.
When asked by Shaw, Campbell confirmed that he didn’t recall making the statements about killing his mother to both Allen and Albright.
“But I have no reason to believe that they wouldn’t tell the truth” he said.
Shaw quickly moved Campbell’s testimony on to the day of March 12. Campbell said he did go to his mother’s apartment.
“You had keys. You didn’t have to pick a lock,” Shaw said. He, then, asked Campbell if he believed his mother would be upset that he took the computer.
Campbell testified he had “a feeling that she would be mad.”
When asked about the night of March 12, Campbell said he did speak with his mother on the phone about the computer. He also stuck with his prior testimony that he didn’t leave Fisher’s residence.
“Are you telling me that from 12 a.m. until the next morning you never left,” Shaw asked.
In response, Campbell said that was correct, adding “if I did for some reason, it was so small that I don’t recall.”
Shaw proceeded to question him about the purpose of his disturbing writings that depicted “dripping blood” and “tearing skin.”
As he did in prior testimony, Campbell said he wrote the letters “to get his feelings out.” However, he said that wasn’t the only reason.
“I would like to be a writer and make a career out of it,” he said.
Again, Campbell said his writings were inspired by both dreams and the Bible.
“Do you read the Bible,” Shaw asked.
Campbell said he did so and that he was also a Christian. He said some of his writings were inspired by the book of Romans, which he testified spoke of men’s sin.
“Does anywhere in the book of Romans say that you kill your mother with a dull steak knife,” Shaw asked.
Campbell said, “No, it does not,” adding he wasn’t the character in his writings.
Shaw said the writings were still his thoughts.
“Of course, I wrote it,” Campbell said.
Shaw turned to Campbell’s prior testimony, where he spoke about loving his mom.
“You loved your mom so much that you wrote about killing her,” he asked.
Campbell said again that he wasn’t the character in the writing. “That was a character in the book.”
When asked if the character loved his mom, Campbell said he was uncertain, as he never finished the book.
Prior to the defense calling Campbell to the stand, Ronan testified on behalf of the Commonwealth. She told the jury she had 1 ½ years of experience as a criminal investigator with the Clearfield State Police. She said she had been working at the Clearfield barracks for about six years. She also said she worked for another six years with the Delaware State Police. She said she had nearly 13 years of experience between the two.
Ronan said she was the primary investigator for the case. She said she received the call and arrived on scene at about 6:30 a.m. on March 13.
“The first 72 hours are critical,” she said. Ronan said due to importance neighboring stations also responded to “flood the scene.”
Ronan described the investigation as a “team effort” that didn’t fall on one person. She said approximately 20 troopers were involved on the day of the murder. She said these troopers conducted interviews and collected evidence.
Ronan said she traveled to the crime scene, where she found the body of Coleman. She said her body was lying on her back and faced up.
“I saw a lot of blood on the couch and pillows. There were several cuts to her neck and wrists,” she said. “Her hair was soaked with blood, and her head was beaten with cuts.”
Ronan said the victim was “noticeably deceased.”
She said the pillows were soaked with blood. She said there were tears in the pillows. She also said droplets of blood were found on the knife block in the kitchen.
Ronan said she found a five pound weight next to a tanning bed in another room. She said she didn’t find anything in the bathroom.
“It was very clean,” she said, adding it was checked for DNA in case it was used to wash up following the murder.
Ronan said a Bible was found on one of the tables in the living room area.
During her investigation, Ronan said she spoke with Albright, who she said approached her at the crime scene.
“(Albright) said she had information that she had to get off her chest,” she said. Ronan said Albright said her brother would also have information about Campbell.
Ronan said she spoke with the victim’s mother who said she was employed at the Wal-Mart in State College. She said after speaking with a supervisor, she was told about a co-worker – Kathleen Larkin – who Coleman was close with.
Ronan also said she had two troopers walk from Fisher’s apartment to that of the victim. She said each took different routes, walking it in 23 – 25 minutes.
When asked, the primary investigator said she ultimately filed charges against Campbell and was present at his arraignment.
She said while at the arraignment, he asked, “What am I going to get out of this.” She told him life or more. She said he, then, asked “what’s my max.” She said she didn’t respond to his second question.
Ronan said she wasn’t interviewing Campbell, when he was inquiring about his sentence.
“We were just waiting. There wasn’t any conversation at all,” she said.
Under cross examination, Ronan said she didn’t file charges against anyone else.
Pentz inquired about the shoes that Ronan said she believed were worn by the killer.
Ronan said she couldn’t say whether they were men’s or women’s shoes.
“They were plain white and could be worn by either,” she said.
Pentz said a close up of the shoe revealed that they were a size nine. He asked if the shoes were measured to see about whether it was a men’s or women’s size nine during the investigative process. She said the shoes were not measured.
When asked later by Shaw, Ronan testified that you didn’t necessarily have to be a woman to wear women’s shoes.
Pentz asked if she believed Campbell was the killer. Ronan answered “yes, I do.”
Pentz also inquired about the Bible that was found at Coleman’s apartment. Ronan said the Bible wasn’t examined for fingerprints. She said blood wasn’t found on the Bible as well.
During his closing statements, Pentz said both Allen and Albright testified about hearing “strong words” from Campbell about killing his mom. He said neither took the words seriously.
He added, “If you’re going to kill someone, you don’t advertise it.”
Pentz also said the testimony from both the 16-year-old female and that of Emigh were “important to keep in mind.” He said both spoke of Fisher’s knowledge about Coleman’s threats of turning her into police.
Emigh, who also testified on Wednesday, gave a statement to police earlier this week. She said she mentioned Fisher in regards to the case.
In her testimony, Emigh said Fisher said if Coleman called the police, she would do something about it, because she couldn’t go to jail.
Emigh also told the jury that Fisher didn’t say what she would do specifically.
Pentz argued that when Coleman made the “threat,” she didn’t understand the extent of it. He said Fisher was a single mom, and the father wasn’t involved with her son’s life.
“It didn’t just happen to her but her son,” Pentz said of the threat.
He also directed the jury’s attention to testimony given by Acey.
“She testified that ‘they planned it and were going to make it look like a burglary,’” he said. He also pointed out that in her testimony, the neighbor said Fisher asked for an alibi.
He also noted that neither Acey nor James Hoopsick, who stayed with her, wanted to testify in detail about the knife incident. He said they both made it sound as though Fisher was being “playful” and just “Joking around.” He said Fisher testified later that she didn’t know anything about a “Knife joke” with Hoopsick.
From Hoopsick’s testimony, Pentz pointed out he never went upstairs while at the Fisher residence. He said he didn’t know if Campbell was at the home or if Fisher’s son was for that matter.
“If he had looked, he would have found Jesse in bed sleeping,” he said.
He also described Fisher as the “most misunderstood witness in the world.” He said both Acey and Hoopsick testified that Fisher told them her and Campbell had planned it.
He also said Tpr. William Mostyn, a criminal investigator with the Clearfield State Police, must have misunderstood her, too in regards to the clothing that Campbell was wearing after he returned home in the early morning of March 13.
Under cross examination on Monday, Pentz asked Fisher if she recalled a statement to Mostyn, where she spoke about Campbell wearing different clothing after he had returned to her apartment.
On Monday, Fisher testified, “I didn’t see what he was wearing, when he came back. I said that I had assumed he had taken them off, when he came in the door.”
Pentz also said Cpl. Charles Dominick, of the Pennsylvania State Police, reported the garbage that he recovered from the dumpster was double-bagged. He said Fisher, who took out the garbage, didn’t say so.
“But if you ask Dominick, he’ll say so, because ‘Kacey told me,” he said.
He also called attention to Fisher’s testimony, as she told the jury on Monday that she thought Campbell was “nuts” and was “scared” of him after he told her about killing his mother.
Pentz said that part makes sense. But he said she testified to falling asleep in her apartment, where her three-year-old son was also sleeping, with someone who she believed was a murderer.
“I don’t know any mother or father who would do that,” he said, adding that Fisher didn’t do anything when she woke up to go upstairs to bed.
Pentz said he had never been that half asleep.
In earlier testimony, he brought to light a poem that was written by Fisher, who testified on Wednesday that it was about herself.
Pentz said in the letter, Fisher talks about “wanting to freak out on somebody” and how her mind “plays a dangerous game.”
“It’s things she wants to do. It’s writing,” he said. “This is in January; look at the time frame.”
Pentz said, “Kacey Fisher is the reason that we are here today.”
In concluding his argument, Pentz spoke about Campbell’s writings and said they should be viewed as “Stephen King-like.”
He said King writes “that stuff all the time.”
“No one is saying that he’s a killer,” Pentz said. He said King writes about it but doesn’t act out.
“It’s fiction,” he said.
In his closing arguments, Shaw pointed out that police didn’t have to go “hunt down” Albright, who testified that she heard Campbell saying he was going to “kill that bitch.”
“Police were at the scene. Who shows up – Lisa Albright,” he said.
He said Campbell must have said something to her, as she came forward to police. He said Allen’s testimony confirmed that of Albright.
“It was in his mind – premeditation. He wants to kill his mom,” Shaw said.
He also directed attention to testimony from Emigh. He said it took a while, but she admitted to speaking with Campbell.
Shaw said Emigh told the jury that Campbell called and wanted to know “what was going on with the case.” She said she didn’t talk about it with him.
“Do you really believe that,” he said, adding that she came in and testified about new information after talking with Campbell a couple weeks ago.
Shaw also brought attention to testimony from Coleman’s Wal-Mart co-worker. He said Coleman expressed concern about her son, not Fisher. He said it was an undisputed fact that Coleman left the store at 11:45 p.m.
Shaw said the drive home would have taken about an hour. He said the earliest that Coleman would have arrived at her apartment was 12:45 a.m.
He, then, directed attention to the events that would have been taking place at McAteer Village. He said at approximately 10:30 – 11 p.m., Fisher went to Acey’s apartment to borrow a DVD and look at cell phone images.
Shaw said Fisher left and had plans for her neighbor to stop by later on. He said she went home and heard Campbell arguing with his mom on the phone. He said she also heard him say he wanted to kill his mom.
Shaw said she told the jury she didn’t see him leave with any latex gloves but noticed he was rooting through the cabinet that they were in.
“She had reason to believe that he was going for cigarettes and to cool off,” he said.
He said Fisher later thought he might not have and called Acey. He said she told Acey that she needed to talk, because it was really important.
Shaw said Hoopsick stated he had seen Fisher, when he went over to look after her son, while she went to speak with Acey. He said Hoopsick also confirms that she returned to the apartment.
Shaw noted Fisher told both Acey and Hoopsick that she suspected Campbell might be killing his mother. He said Acey contacted police in the early morning of March 13.
“She didn’t call and say Kacey did something wrong,” he said. “She didn’t mention that this other girl did something.”
Shaw said Campbell was unaccounted for the entire time until he returned home and told Fisher about killing his mother.
He said at that time, there wasn’t any more that Fisher could have done. He said she told both Acey and Hoopsick about her suspicions.
Knocking on the podium, Shaw said the police showed up at Fisher’s door, and she said “come on in.” He said she knew that the police were there, and she was safe.
“Who told the police about the garbage bag in the dumpster,” Shaw asked. “Kacey did.
“If she did it, why would she tell the police that the murder weapon was in the bag in the dumpster?”
Shaw said Monday’s testimony from Dr. Gordon Handte, who conducted the autopsy, was very important. He said Handte testified that there was partly digested chicken, vegetables and a brown substance in Coleman’s stomach. He said the brown substance would have been the half-eaten Snickers bar that was found on the table at the victim’s apartment.
According to Shaw, Coleman arrived home and had a chicken dinner as well as ate part of a Snickers bar.
“She didn’t die at 12:45 a.m., (when she arrived home),” he said. Shaw said she had time to do these things, putting the time “easily past” 1 a.m.
He said Ronan testified that it takes 23 – 25 minutes to walk from Fisher’s apartment to that of Coleman. He noted again that Hoopsick had seen Fisher at 1:30 a.m.
Shaw described Coleman’s death as “slow,” saying it would have taken tens of minutes.
“It would be impossible for Kacey Fisher. We know where she’s at; she’s accounted for,” he said.
He said if Fisher wouldn’t leave her son alone at the apartment to speak with a nearby neighbor, she wouldn’t have done so for the nearly an hour that it would have taken to just get to Coleman’s apartment and back.
Shaw noted Campbell didn’t have a car and couldn’t drive. “He had to walk.”
“One person did it, and he’s sitting right here,” he said.
He, once more, referenced Campbell’s writings in which he wrote that he could kill his mother with a dull steak knife.
“You can say without a reasonable doubt that, that’s the murder weapon,” Shaw said.
He said Campbell asked police about the length of his sentence, which indicates a guilty mind.
“(Campbell asked) what am I going to get? Who would say that other than the person who did it,” he asked. “If you didn’t do it, why would you say it?”
Returning to the writings, he read the contents to the jury:
“I’m a horrible and evil person who laughs at retards, eating their own shit. I could kill my mom with a dull steak knife,” the letter read.
Shaw said, “Now isn’t that shocking.”
The jury will commence at 10 a.m. today for the death penalty phase. Click back to GantDaily for continued coverage of the proceedings.
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