Court file details man’s meeting with ex-fiancee on night of wife’s killing

The night a man shot his wife in what he says is a case of accidental discharge of the firearm, he told an ex-fiancee his marriage had been “rocky” and stressful and that he wanted a divorce, according to a court document released Tuesday.

Derek Campbell, who is charged with second-degree intentional murder in the April 8 death of his wife, told police his Rossi revolver fired as he was removing it from his holster to lay it on a coffee table at the couple’s home at 20th and Salina. The bullet struck 32-year-old Rebecca Campbell on the left side of her forehead, according to the probable cause affidavit in the case. The affidavit is used to justify a defendant’s arrest and criminal charges.

In an interview with a Wichita police detective, Campbell said his wife had been sitting on a living room couch, and he was standing in front of her within an arm’s reach, when he took his holster off his hip and then pulled out the weapon.

Campbell, 31, told authorities in the hours prior to the shooting, he had been “out driving around” with an ex-fiancee with whom he had reconnected earlier in the week.

“Derek stated he had told Rebecca about running into” the ex-fiancee and “took the opportunity to leave the house” to meet up with her while Rebecca was bathing a child, the detective wrote in the affidavit.

During a drive to Cheney Reservoir and back, Campbell disclosed that he had tried to serve divorce papers to his wife about two months prior, but that “she ripped them up.”

The ex-fiancee, in an interview with police, said Campbell during their drive “complained about his wife and how she was driving him crazy” and said “he was ‘miserable’ and didn’t want to be married anymore.” Campbell also told his ex-fiancee, according to the interview, that he “missed what they had.”

The shooting happened at about 12:40 a.m. after Campbell arrived home. Campbell told authorities he was leaning to the left to set the gun on the coffee table when it discharged “for unknown reasons.” He told police he “started to check the gun to see what happened” and then noticed his wife had been injured.

Campbell called his mother-in-law before calling 911, according to the affidavit.

The couple’s 5-year-old daughter was asleep in the house at the time, police said in April. Rebecca Campbell was pronounced dead at the scene.

According to the affidavit, Derek Campbell told police he was a registered Kansas conceal-carry license holder, had been through firearms training, was familiar with and understood gun safety, and fired the Rossi revolver often. He told police “the hammer had to have been cocked for the gun to go off that easy.”

“Derek said there was no reason his finger would be on the trigger” when the shooting happened and that his finger might have bumped it, the police detective wrote in the affidavit.

“Derek continued saying he would never intentionally point the gun at his wife” and that he “never carries the gun cocked and never cocks it unless he is at the range,” the affidavit says.

Campbell, who was charged with murder June 9, remains in Sedgwick County Jail in lieu of $200,000 bond. His preliminary hearing had been set for Tuesday but was moved to July 8.

This story was originally published June 23, 2015 at 4:46 PM with the headline "Court file details man’s meeting with ex-fiancee on night of wife’s killing."