Wishing a Family Some Peace on a Most Unsettling Day
April 17--which is Wednesday--has no special notation on my calendar. But every year, when I happen to spot it’s that date, my thoughts always turn to Gary and Collene Campbell of San Juan Capistrano, and how they might be doing.
Some years on that date they’re a few miles out past Santa Catalina Island. They turn off the motor of their boat and gently toss roses into the water. Other times they spend that date down the coast in Mexico, maybe with their grandchildren. Sometimes they just go off alone, with the roses. The flowers are because their son Scott loved his parents’ gardens.
On that date in 1982, Scott Campbell, 27, was strangled in a robbery aboard a private plane. Somewhere past Catalina--his two killers weren’t much on details--they tossed young Scott into the ocean from 5,000 feet. Authorities say the body could have drifted halfway down the Baja coast before making it to shore. He’s never been found.
We know his fate because of a remarkable series of events unlike any murder case you’ll ever see. The Campbells, dissatisfied with police sluggishness in searching for another missing person, conducted their own investigation. Their relentless pursuit uncovered mountains of evidence and forced the police to take notice. It eventually resulted in the two killers confessing to a wired undercover federal narcotics informant--whose expenses the Campbells paid.
The Campbells had to endure three trials drawn out over eight years, watching much of their carefully produced evidence thrown out for legal reasons. Finally the killers were sent away for life terms.
I was emotionally drawn into this case before I’d even met the Campbells. At the first of the killers’ trials, prosecutors played Scott Campbell’s taped telephone messages for the week after his disappearance. He had recently moved out of the family home to a place in Anaheim.
Early in the tape is the cheery voice of a loving mother. Then comes Gary Campbell, slightly irritated that Scott had failed to show for a business appointment they had. The middle of the tape both parents call, filled with worry at not hearing from Scott. Toward the tape’s end, their calls are frantic. I felt like an intruder just listening, while the Campbells sat a few feet away in their own private hell, forced to relive those moments in a public courtroom.
It’s hard to imagine that anyone suffering such pain would have to go through it all over again. But they did--even before all the trials for their son’s killers could be concluded. Collene Campbell’s only sibling, racing entrepreneur Mickey Thompson, and his wife, Trudy, were slain just outside their Bradbury home March 18, 1988. Police are still investigating that crime.
I was asked by my editors to talk with the Campbells at their hilltop home the Saturday after the Thompson slayings. I can never forget Collene Campbell picking out a dress for Trudy’s funeral, then suddenly breaking down, leaning against me for whatever tiny strength could be provided at the moment.
Not everybody is always happy with Collene Campbell. The twists of the system after her son’s murder led her to become a leading activist for judicial reform. Not everyone agreed with all she wanted to do. (She’s still at it; she’s off to Washington next week, to testify before a Senate subcommittee.) She also served a term as mayor of San Juan Capistrano, and is still on its council. Those roles always bring a few enemies as part of the territory.
But on April 17, I wish the Campbells peace, however they choose to spend that day.
Quake Fighting: Anything you can do about earthquakes except sit around and wait for the next one? Yes, local officials say. There’s a full mass casualty drill at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo today, put on by the Orange County Fire Authority. It’s what you can do when a 7.5 quake causes mass injuries at a college campus.
The local chapter of the American Red Cross puts on an Earthquake Preparedness Fair at the Anaheim Marketplace, 1440 S. Anaheim Blvd., on Saturday--sessions to be taught in English and Spanish.
American Thoughts: The nonprofit Americanism Education League, started by the late Walter Knott, has upped first prize for its annual patriotic slogan contest to $500 this year. High school seniors can submit a slogan or a 300-word essay; this year’s topic is substance abuse. Deadline is April 26. Most contributions so far: from Ocean View High School in Huntington Beach, out of 39 schools submitting entries.
Annie’s Team: Famed photographer Annie Leibovitz depicts 61 Olympic-bound athletes in the new Vanity Fair. Included on her fold-out color cover is Alex Rousseau, star of the U.S. water polo team, which has done much of its practicing in Newport Beach. More team members are included in another shot inside.
The most dramatic shot in her whole lineup is of diver Mark Lenzi. It almost looks like Leibovitz shot him from the clouds as he does some type of back flip off the board. She shot that one at the Heritage Park Aquatics Center in Irvine in February.
Wrap-Up: I called the Campbells before writing this column, fearful they might see it as exploitation of their pain. Collene Campbell’s only concern was that they not be singled out.
“There are so many other victims out there,” she said, “and their grief is just as great as ours.”
Parents of Murdered Children, which has a mailing list of more than 200, meets each month at the Orange Covenant Church in Orange. This Sunday night it’s holding a candlelight vigil for victims of violence at the Brea Mortuary, where it has a monument to honor them.
Jerry Hicks’ column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Readers may reach Hicks by calling the Times Orange County Edition at (714) 966-7823 or sending a fax to (714) 966-7711.