Man convicted of first-degree murder in wife’s shooting
A Sedgwick County jury on Thursday returned a guilty verdict against a man charged with killing his wife last spring.
Derek Campbell told authorities and the court that he accidentally shot Rebecca “Becky” Campbell in their Wichita home on April 8, 2015, but jurors convicted him of first-degree premeditated murder. The decision came after about five hours of deliberations, said Dan Dillon, spokesman for the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors, during closing arguments in the case Wednesday, described Campbell, 32, as a controlling, verbally abusive man who was looking for a way out of his marriage. In the days before his wife’s shooting, he had researched divorce online, browsed dating websites and was rekindling a relationship with an old girlfriend — all signs, they say, that help point to a premeditated killing.
“This was a man who was changing his life, but he had an impediment … that he couldn’t shake. And that was his wife,” Sedgwick County Assistant District Attorney Justin Edwards said.
This was a man who was changing his life, but he had an impediment … that he couldn’t shake. And that was his wife.
Sedgwick County Assistant District Attorney Justin Edwards
Campbell’s defense attorney, Val Wachtel, refuted the argument, saying Campbell admitted on the witness stand to having problems with his wife but that “the absence of a perfect marriage doesn’t prove you killed your wife.”
Campbell testified this week that he had emptied his Rossi revolver then dry fired the gun, not knowing the chamber still contained a live round. His wife was leaning over to plug in a cellphone when she was struck in the head with the discharged round.
The shooting happened shortly after Campbell returned home from an outing with his ex-girlfriend early on April 8. Campbell initially told authorities the gun went off accidentally as he was pulling it out of its holster.
Rebecca Campbell died at the scene. The couple’s 5-year-old daughter was home at the time.
“Not all homicides are murders,” Wachtel told jurors during his closing arguments. “I don’t think that the evidence shows Mr. Campbell is guilty of a crime.”
Not all homicides are murders. I don’t think that the evidence shows Mr. Campbell is guilty of a crime.
Defense attorney Val Wachtel to jurors
Campbell is due back in court for sentencing May 19. He faces life in prison for the first-degree premeditated murder conviction and may have to serve as many as 50 years in prison before he’s eligible for parole.
Members of Rebecca Campbell’s family in the courtroom Thursday quietly cried and embraced as Sedgwick County District Judge Terry Pullman announced the guilty verdict. Derek Campbell sat emotionless beside his attorney.
Amy Renee Leiker: 316-268-6644, @amyreneeleiker
This story was originally published March 31, 2016 at 1:46 PM with the headline "Man convicted of first-degree murder in wife’s shooting."