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Charles Rodman Campbell

Active

1982–1982

Region

Snohomish County, Washington, USA

Status

Executed

Victims

3

On April 14, 1982, Charles Rodman Campbell killed Renae Wicklund, her daughter Shannah, and their neighbor Barbara Hendrickson at the Wicklund home in Clearview, Snohomish County. Campbell had sexually assaulted Renae Wicklund in the same house in 1974, and both women had testified against him; he was serving that sentence on work release in Everett when he returned to kill them. Convicted of three counts of aggravated first-degree murder on evidence including his fingerprint at the scene and the victims' jewelry, he was hanged at the Washington State Penitentiary in 1994 after 12 years of appeals.

Victims

We remember the people whose lives were taken.

• Renae Wicklund, 31 · April 14, 1982
• Shannah Wicklund, · April 14, 1982

  Renae Wicklund's daughter. Sources differ on her age (8 or 9).

• Barbara Hendrickson, 51 · April 14, 1982

  A neighbor and friend who had come over to look after Renae, who was home sick.

Timeline of locations

1. June 7, 1976
   Washington State Reformatory, Monroe (Prison)

   Campbell served most of his sentence for the 1974 assault here, racking up serious disciplinary infractions, before the parole board made him eligible for minimum custody and work release in 1981.

2. February 24, 1982
   Everett Work Release facility (Other, approximate area)

   Campbell was living at the Everett work-release facility when he committed the murders. That night staff found him drunk and suspended his work release, and he was taken back to Monroe. Police later spotted an earring in his car parked on the street outside.

3. April 14, 1982
   Wicklund home, Clearview (Crime scene, approximate area)

   Renae Wicklund, her daughter Shannah, and neighbor Barbara Hendrickson were killed in the Wicklund home, where Campbell had assaulted Renae in 1974. Hendrickson's husband found them that evening.

4. April 14, 1982
   Lowell Boat Launch, Snohomish River (Other, approximate area)

   On the evening of the murders Campbell went to this boat launch with a bundle of clothes. A fellow work-release resident later led police here, and divers recovered clothing and jewelry from the river.

5. April 19, 1982
   Arrest at Monroe Reformatory (Arrest)

   Campbell was arrested at the Monroe Reformatory and charged with the three murders, then held in the Snohomish County Jail.

6. October 25, 1982
   Jury selection in Spokane (Court / trial, approximate area)

   After a defense motion for a change of venue, the jury was chosen in Spokane before the trial moved back to Everett.

7. November 8, 1982
   Trial in Everett (Court / trial, approximate area)

   Campbell was tried in Everett before Judge Dennis Britt. The jury convicted him of three counts of aggravated first-degree murder on November 26, 1982, and he was sentenced to death on December 17.

8. May 27, 1994
   Washington State Penitentiary, Walla Walla (Prison)

   Campbell spent more than a decade on death row in Walla Walla. He refused to choose a method of execution and was hanged by default at 12:08 a.m. on May 27, 1994, Washington's last hanging.

Sources

• Charles Rodman Campbell (Wikipedia)
• State v. Campbell, 103 Wn.2d 1 (Washington Supreme Court, 1984) (Caselaw Access Project)
• Key Dates In The Case Of Charles Campbell (The Seattle Times, May 26, 1994)
• Campbell Hanged: Death Comes Quickly After Dozen Years Of Struggle (The Seattle Times, May 27, 1994)
• Washington conducts its last execution by hanging on May 27, 1994 (HistoryLink.org)

Each location also lists its own sources in the data file.