MCS-21
The Case of the Witness Through the Window
On May 18, 1995, at 7:55 p.m., the dead body of Maurice Campbell, 24, was found in the living room of a house located at 302 S. Benton in Cape Girardeau. Campbell was found by the owner of the house. The house had been vacant for three weeks. She said she had found the body when she was checking the mailbox and discovered the front door unlocked.
Campbell had been shot four times in the face.
Mysteriously, a window in the living room had been completely broken out, with its mini-blinds damaged and pushed outside the window. All of the broken glass from the window rested on the outside of the house, rather than inside the house, as if someone or something had been thrown out the window.
Campbell wore a green camouflage jacket. An ammunition clip and a pager were in its pockets.
The Major Case Squad was activated.
The owner of the house reported that only she had a key to the house. Investigators, however, soon realized that her son, 28, had a criminal record. He had been working at a local fast-food restaurant. He was located and interviewed. He initially denied knowing anything about the shooting.
Meanwhile, at 8:40 p.m., a 26-year-old man called the police station to ask whether or not Maurice Campbell was dead. The caller identified the shooters and claimed that he had been present and was another intended victim, but that he had escaped by jumping through the glass of the living room window of the house. He indicated that he would call back.
Later in the evening, the caller met with investigators. He admitted that the killing was a drug deal gone bad. He and Maurice Campbell and a third young man who was driving for them had come to Cape Girardeau from Illinois to buy "at least an ounce" of crack cocaine for $1,000 per ounce. The deal was to take place in the vacant house. The son of the owner of the vacant house had given the okay for the deal to take place there.
Charleton Bowen, 27, the spokesman for the drug-sellers, met with them at the fast-food restaurant where the homeowner’s son worked. They agreed to follow him to the vacant house, where his "boys" were waiting. Their driver waited outside while Campbell and the caller went inside with Bowen.
Maurice Campbell was carrying a 9 millimeter pistol on his person. The caller carried scales to weigh the cocaine.
Once inside, one of Bowen’s companions patted Campbell down, and warned the others, "He’s strapped."
The caller heard other voices in the kitchen and became nervous because he had not expected to find so many men in the residence. Seconds later, Matavis M. Curry, 23, and Deprece A. Harris, 21, barged in from the kitchen. Curry carried a chrome revolver. Harris carried a .410 shotgun.
Thomas M. Ross, 21, accompanied them.
Harris yelled, "Sit down or I’ll blow your [rear end] off."
The caller said, "Why do you want to do this?"
Harris said, "I don’t even know you. I ought to blow your head off."
Harris ordered the caller to lie on the floor.
Meanwhile, Charleton Bowen was taking the $1,500 in cash and the gun from Maurice Campbell. Bowen left the room.
Bowen’s accomplices, apparently unaware that Bowen had already removed the $1,500 from Campbell’s pocket, began demanding the money. Campbell tried to explain that Bowen already had it.
Thomas M. Ross said, "[Forget] it! Pop ‘em! Pop ‘em! If you’re not going to shoot ‘em, give me the gun!"
The caller noticed that Deprece Harris, who was holding the shotgun on him, had taken his eyes off him for a moment. The caller lunged for the window, wrapped his coat over his head, and smashed through it headfirst, mini-blinds and all. He heard a loud blast from the shotgun as he was crashing through the window.
He also heard four to five pops from the handgun as he ran from the house.
He reached the car where his driver waited and told him, "They killed Maurice! Let’s get out of here!"
They fled to Illinois. He was calling from Illinois when he had originally called to the police to find out if Campbell had died.
The caller reported that the son of the owner of the house was a friend of his, and had been the middle man in hooking up the drug sellers with the drug buyers. When the son of the owner was re-interviewed, he admitted his role, and identified the killers involved in the drug buy gone bad.
Charleton D. Bowen was captured on May 19, 1995 in Illinois. He had Campbell’s gun and the $1,500 cash in his possession when he was arrested. He confessed.
Thomas M. Ross, Deprece A. Harris and Matavis M. Curry were also located and arrested, and the murder weapon was recovered.
Matavis M. Curry, Deprece A. Harris, Thomas M. Ross and Charleton D. Bowen all pled guilty to second degree murder. Matavis M. Curry, the shooter, and Deprece A. Harris, who had fired the shotgun toward the witness who had leaped out of the window, were both sentenced to life in prison. Thomas M. Ross, who had encouraged the others to shoot, was sentenced to 21 years. Bowen, who had removed the gun and money from the victim but had never intended for anyone to be hurt, was sentenced to 10 years in prison.