Firebombing Case Goes to Federal Jury : Prosecutor Says Camper Lied in Describing His Role in Attack

Government prosecutors Friday accused an Alabama mercenary camp operator of lying to a federal court jury about his role in the firebombing of two cars last year in San Bernardino County.

“Mr. Camper’s testimony is a complete work of fiction,” Assistant U.S. Atty. Charles J. Stevens told the jury in his closing argument. “It’s a complete fabrication. He lied because he’s guilty.”

The case against Frank Camper, 40, his girlfriend, Lee Ann Faulk, 28, and William Hedgcorth, 23, went to the jury late Friday afternoon. The three are charged with conspircy, racketeering and firebombing in the Aug. 13, 1985, destruction of two cars belonging to former employees of a chain of private schools owned by Charlotte Wyckoff and Elizabeth Hamilton, both of Dana Point.

Their attorneys said the women contacted Camper after seeing him on television as he discussed courses offered at his mercenary training school in Alabama.

The teachers and two other Camper associates previously pleaded guilty to reduced charges and are due to be sentenced next month. Wyckoff and Hamilton said problems with vandalism and threats had prompted them to seek Camper’s help.

During several hours of testimony, Camper admitted that he was hired by the Dana Point women to perform some “unconventional security” at schools in Orange and San Bernardino counties. But he has maintained that two of his associates firebombed the cars without his knowledge.

But Stevens said Camper’s “story as a whole just doesn’t make sense.”

Described as Mastermind

Government witnesses, Stevens said, all described Camper as the mastermind and leader. One witness testified that Camper drove the getaway car.

Camper’s attorney argued that the government’s case was based on circumstantial evidence and insisted that the prosecutors blew the case out of proportion.

“You are being asked to make a federal case out of what, at most, is a couple of counts of California (Penal Code) arson,” Walter M. Henritze Jr. told jurors in the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Alicemarie H. Stotler.

Henritze implored the jury to think carefully about the conspiracy and racketeering charges, saying they must find Camper guilty of more than one isolated act to meet the letter of the law.

And, Henritze said, the job was so poorly done that it is hard to believe a “super mercenary” like Camper was involved.

“Can you imagine anything more botched than this particular arson?” Henritze said, comparing it to the exploits of the ‘Keystone Kops.”

In a recent interview at Terminal Island Federal Correctional Institution, Camper insisted that he was on a secret government mission when he flew to California last summer to help Wyckoff and Hamilton. But he said his security clearance prohibited him from introducing evidence about the mission in court. Camper said he has worked on and off as a government agent since he left the U.S. Army in 1969.

Government officials close to the case scoffed at Camper’s story, saying they checked with the FBI, CIA, National Security Agency and other organizations for any confirmation of his story. No evidence was presented to the court or the jury to support his contentions.