Published: February 11, 2006 02:20 pm            

Focus shifts to alibi in Camm murder trial

BOONVILLE — The focus of David Camm’s triple-murder trial turned Friday to his seemingly iron-clad alibi — playing basketball with 11 people at the time his wife and children were killed.

As Floyd County Prosecutor Keith Henderson promised early on, some of the basketball players’ testimony isn’t as strong as many people initially thought.

Camm’s second trial for the shooting deaths of Kim, 36, Brad, 7, and Kim, 5, is ongoing in Warrick County. The trial was moved due to publicity. His 2002 conviction was overturned after a court found Camm did not receive a fair trial the first time.

After taking witness Scott Schrank through the evening of the weekly basketball game, Deputy Prosecutor Steve Owen said, “So you can’t swear David Camm was playing ball with you that

entire evening?”

“No. ... I couldn’t swear anybody was playing ball with me the whole time. ... When you’re playing full-court, five-on-five, there’s no way you can know everything that’s going on around you,” said Schrank, an acquaintance of Camm’s who golfed with him a couple times and had been playing basketball with him for several weeks.

“Is this anything different than what you’ve said before?” Owen asked.

“This is basically the exact same thing I’ve said every time. ... Dave was there when I got there, he sat out the second or third game ... he was playing the last game when I left,” Shrank said.

Under cross-examination by lead defense attorney Katharine “Kitty” Liell, Schrank said he never saw Camm leave or come back in any of the gym doors, and that Camm was acting normally during the games.

After court, Liell said although Schrank couldn’t say for sure that Camm was at the gym the entire time, “we loved him.” “He established the beginning times, the ending times, that Dave sat out one game and that a better person to talk to about Dave’s presence was the spectator Camm sat with” during his game out, she said.

Henderson saw things differently, noting that other basketball players are also expected to testify they can’t confirm Camm’s presence.

“I don’t think you’re going to find that (the defense’s) witnesses are going to recall very well” the specifics of that night, Henderson said.

The prosecution’s theory is that Camm sat out one or more games — which typically lasted 15-20 minutes — drove back to his house, shot his family, manipulated the murder scene and snuck back in the gym.

Earlier Friday, the jury saw a videotape of the Georgetown church gymnasium, on State Road 64, where the games took place. Sgt. Charlie McDaniel testified the two-story gym has nine entrances and exits, including double doors on both the south and north sides of the building.

Next up was Floyd County Sheriff Randy Hubbard, who testified about the most common route from the gym on State Road 64 to the Camm house on Lockport Road, about a 5-minute drive, he said.

The jury was able to see the semi-rural route via a videotape the sheriff made with an in-car video.

Also Friday, Judge Robert Aylsworth ruled against allowing testimony from two of Kim Camm’s friends.

The women were to testify, as they did in Camm’s first trial, that Kim was not herself in the weeks before the murder and that she suddenly was planning a trip with the kids to visit one of the friends in Florida.

After exactly four weeks of testimony, Henderson said the state will wrap up its case Monday.

Two expert witnesses — both pediatric specialists — and Kim Camm’s mother, Janice Renn, are expected to testify. In addition, Indiana State Police Sgt. Troy McDaniel will be recalled to provide some information that was omitted during his first testimony. Due to the gag order in the case, Henderson cannot discuss testimony that hasn’t happened in court yet.

Court adjourned early Friday and will resume at 11 a.m. Monday at the Warrick County Judicial Center.

        

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