The Murder of Robert Campbell
For this case I watched an episode of Fear Thy Neighbor. It’s season 3 episode 1, titled ‘Nail In The Coffin.’
A 40 year old man is killed on Halloween night.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a picture of Robert Campbell online.
Background
This case is a little different because a neighbor feud is at the center of the episode and case. The episode discussed more about the family of the man who eventually is convicted of this crime than about the actual victim. I will try to give as much detail about each person involved as I can.
Robert Campbell was 40 years old at the time of his death. He lived in the small town of Tamarac, Florida, with his sister Connie Rosser, brother-in-law Fred, and nephews, Anthony, Mike and Andrew.
Robert and his family were described as being a tight knit family, with Robert being the peacemaker. His nephews were rowdy, and known to cause ruckus in the neighborhood.
The Day Family
The Day family was in the new family in town. Richard, his wife Adele and step-son Walter were excited for a fresh start.
Walter met the Rosser boys one day, and was excited about finding friends to spend time with. They had a lot in common like fishing, biking and playing video games. Walter realized how different his family was to the Rosser’s, his step-dad was strict, and the Rosser’s could basically do whatever they wanted.
The Rosser’s had a bad reputation, but Walter didn’t see it until one day he noticed his new knife that he used for fishing was gone. Walter asked his friends if they took it, but they denied it. This caused a lot of tension once Richard found out about it. He had a short fuse, and the Rosser boys taunted him because of it.
Richard soon became sick, he had a quadruple bypass and diabetes. He couldn’t work, and his temper became worse.
Boys Will Be Boys?
Another sign of trouble came a few weeks later, when Walter brought his new GameBoy to school, and noticed that it was missing from his backpack. He confronted the Rosser’s, who told him it was a joke. Walter told his parents, who got the guidance counselor involved. This caused tension between Richard, Adele and Connie. Connie said it was a waste of time, and that it was just a prank.
Walter continued to hangout with the Rosser’s, even though he had now been forbidden to go to their house. While he was at the house, Walter found two of his GameBoy games that had his name on them, and took them back. The boys told their mom right away, and she called Richard.
Richard asked Walter about this, and Walter said they were his. This caused Richard to storm over to the Rosser’s, and cuss Connie out in front of the boys. Robert was the one who broke up the fight and told Richard to leave.
Even though things were escalating, this didn’t stop the Rosser’s from taunting the Day family.
The Break In
One night, the Day’s returned home from dinner to find their house had been broken into. The only thing missing was Walter’s new mountain bike. He was devastated, and Richard called the police.
The police arrived to investigate the break in. They found a fingerprint on one of the doors that didn’t belong to the Day family. However, the police never followed up with the investigation.
Richard took matters into his own hands, and put up ‘no trespassing’ signs in his yard. The Rosser’s continued to taunt Richard, knowing that he knew they had been the ones who stole Walter’s bike.
Richard also bought Walter a new bike, and Walter made new friends. The Rosser’s still continued to bother Walter, and even “pretended” to steal his bike. Only this time, Walter stood up for himself, and felt good about it.
The Murder
On October 31, 2001, Walter said he was picked up from a friend’s house by his parents. When they returned home, they found their house had been egged and covered in shaving cream. They knew it was the Rosser’s, and Walter said he wanted payback, and Richard agreed.
The two of them drove over to three different houses and threw eggs at the homes. Mike, who was 16 at the time, heard the loud thuds, and told his dad and uncle. They rushed outside, and immediately tried to stop Richard from driving away. Richard sped away, but Robert somehow got caught and was dragged by the truck, going at a very high speed.
Richard was eventually released, but had been dragged about 100-190 feet. He eventually died from his injuries.
Arrest and Conviction
Richard Day
Richard was immediately arrested.
At his trial, he was found guilty of second degree murder, and sentenced to life in prison. Richard told the court that he never meant to kill Robert, and that it was an accident. He said the Rosser’s had been tormenting them for awhile.
Richard Day died in prison on April 2, 2009, from complications from diabetes.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Robert Campbell never got involved in any of this neighborhood drama. He was described as being a peaceful person, and actually tried to stop it many times. He was completely innocent, and wanted to protect his family, and he lost his life by doing just that.
While I don’t think the Rosser boys should have taunted Richard or Walter, they were teenagers, and never did anything violent. One of the boys Mike was interviewed in this episode, and you can tell he feels bad about everything that happened. This crime took a toll on many people, and I do believe it truly was a horrible accident.
Sources
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-2003-05-10-0305100238-story.html
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-2003-04-10-0304100298-story.html
https://apnews.com/article/c5a078114987879ea04cb704f9b35a0f
