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UPDATE: Brother of accused murderer said he was asked to retrieve ditched gym bag
NWI Times
January 17, 2018
VALPARAISO — The younger brother of accused murderer Kevin Campbell told jurors Wednesday afternoon that he went with Kevin's wife to a park in Lake Station to see if they could retrieve a gym bag and shoes he reportedly left alongside or in a garbage can.
The trip, which was made following the Nov. 18, 2015, shooting death of Tiara Thomas at her Portage apartment, was derailed the first time because a police car was at the park, Gary resident Brian Campbell said.
Brian Campbell said he was confused why they did not stop, but later returned on his own.
When Porter County Deputy Prosecutor Cheryl Polarek asked what he found, Campbell responded "nothing."
"Like I said, it was almost empty," he said of the garbage can.
Kevin Campbell's 13-year-old son testified last week that the day his mother was killed, Campbell discarded a grocery bag at a park while taking him to school.
The boy said he did not know what was inside the bag.
Kevin Campbell, a former Gary and Hammond police officer, is accused of murdering Tiara Thomas at the Park Place apartment she shared with her fiance and the three children she had with Kevin Campbell. Prosecutors have said the couple's relationship had deteriorated to the point of a "contentious breakup" and Kevin Campbell's child support obligation was increased to $1,400 a month shortly before the killing.
Also testifying Wednesday afternoon were two former podmates of Kevin Campbell from Porter County Jail, who said he made comments that led them to believe he may be guilty.
James Childress, now of Knox, said Kevin Campbell made a comment about police taking possession of a sweatshirt from his home.
"I wasn't wearing it when I did it," Kevin Campbell is accused of saying.
Chicago resident Aaron Green said the first thing Kevin Campbell said to him at the jail was, "How much time can I get for murder?"
Defense attorney Susan Severtson challenged the credibility of both former inmates based on their criminal records and questioned their intentions for testifying.
Childress said he received a reduced charge after agreeing to cooperate in the case.
Earlier in the day, Portage Detective Scott Harmeling testified that none of the evidence collected from the shooting scene directly links Campbell to the murder he is accused of carrying out there.
No fingerprints, DNA, blood or other bodily fluids were found from Campbell, he said.
Severtson picked at the credibility of the investigation at the crime scene, questioning Harmeling on why he did not fingerprint and photograph various areas of the apartment.
She also attacked the value of a short video Harmeling shot in June that shows where a suspicious vehicle was seen on the morning of the shooting and how a nearby trail leads to Thomas' apartment.
Harmeling said the person who reported seeing the vehicle did not see a driver and there is no evidence Campbell walked the path in question on the morning of the shooting.
He told Polarek it is impossible to fingerprint every surface of a crime scene and that he shot the video in question as a way of giving jurors a perspective of the scene.
The trial is underway before Porter Superior Court Judge Roger Bradford.
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