Daily Hampshire Gazette – Camp takes the stand in manslaughter case

NORTHAMPTON — Brian Camp took the stand in his own defense Friday, the final testimony in his manslaughter trial in the December 2022 death of Johnathan Letendre.

The trial in Hampshire Superior Court had previously detailed how Camp, 24, woke up shortly after midnight and saw Letendre, who once had a relationship with Camp’s girlfriend Brooke Janik, at the Chesterfield home where he and Janik were sleeping after Janik had let out a loud scream.

Letendre began attacking Camp, who had been sleeping naked, and a fight ensued between the two men, eventually going down the stairs and involving fighting for control of multiple weapons before Camp ultimately shot Letendre with a Sig Sauer pistol .

Camp shot Letendre a second time eight minutes after the first shot, hitting him in the head and killing him, leading to the involuntary manslaughter charge.

When questioned by his attorney Thomas Kokonowski on Friday, Camp testified about what happened that night. He was also cross-examined by First Assistant District Attorney Steven Gagne, who asked a series of questions that questioned Camp’s conduct that evening and his version of events.

Camp described Letendre’s first attack and how he managed to get behind his attacker and choke him, only to have Letendre reach behind him and start looking for his eyeballs. He said he also heard Letendre say he would kill him. Janik had also hit Letendre with a glass object during that fight, which Gagne said Friday was a glass bong.

After letting go of Letendre, Camp went downstairs, where he grabbed his muzzleloader, a type of hunting rifle, pointed it at Letendre and told him to get out of the house.

But instead, Letendre grabbed the muzzleloader, ripped it out of Camp’s hands and pulled the trigger. However, the gun did not fire because he had not cocked the hammer first. Camp then took the gun back and removed the primer, the chemical component that allows the gun to fire.

The men continued to fight each other, with Camp describing it as a “wrestling match” that started on the floor and then moved to the downstairs couch. Camp said he then went to a nearby closet, pulled out a shotgun and pointed it at Letendre again to get him to leave, but Letendre again grabbed the gun, which broke in two.

During cross-examination, Gagne asked Camp if he knew there was a shotgun in the closet, to which Camp replied that he did not. When asked why he went to the closet, Camp said he knew there were several guns inside, only some of which belonged to him.

From there, the fight made its way into the kitchen, where Letendre used the shotgun barrel as a makeshift club to attack Camp. Camp managed to grab a Sig Sauer pistol that was lying on one of the kitchen cabinets and fired the first shot at Letendre, into his lower chest, causing Letendre to fall to the ground. Camp said Letendre was still moving on the floor and said several times, “I need a lawyer,” and then several times, “I’m going to kill you.”

Gagne noted under cross-examination that in addition to the Sig Sauer pistol, there was also a loaded revolver on the kitchen counter, next to a pair of keys, as if they had been emptied from the pockets. He also noted that when Camp left the kitchen, the revolver was still on the counter and the barrel of the shotgun was still on the floor next to Letendre, and that Camp also left the house while the couple’s children were still upstairs .

“When you left him groaning and writhing on the ground with a gunshot wound, did you feel like you had neutralized the threat at that point?” Gagne asked, to which Camp responded in the affirmative.

Camp then went outside, where Janik had been on the phone with an emergency call center. He then went back into the house to put on pants, since he had been naked during the entire encounter with Letendre, and also to check on his and Janik’s two children, who had been in their bedroom the entire time. He called his boss, who advised him to take a photo of Letendre as proof, which Camp did before going back outside to be with Janik.

Camp also testified that during that time, Janik told him that the 911 dispatcher asked about Letendre’s status and she told him to go back in and check on him, saying, “You need to know.” Camp said he went inside and saw Letendre get back up, after which he shot Letendre a second time.

Gagne asked Camp if he had considered doing anything else to restrain Letendre, such as running up to him and kicking him in the head or kneeing him in the back. Camp said he didn’t do it.

When police arrived, Camp was placed in an ambulance, but he said they did not immediately go to the hospital at Camp’s own request.

“I didn’t want to go to the hospital at the time,” Camp said. “I wanted to see Brooke and my kids.”

After being hospitalized for treatment for a broken hand, Camp was taken to the Massachusetts State Police barracks in Northampton for questioning. During the interview, Camp never mentioned the second, fatal shot, saying he shot Letendre “once or twice” but that a second shot occurred immediately after the first.

“I had a hard time processing what had just happened,” Camp said of his state of mind at the time, admitting that some of his statements to police were inaccurate. “My mental state was hazy and confused at best.”

Gagne said that although he did not mention the second recording, Camp remembered many other events from that night between the two recordings, such as going upstairs to get dressed, calling his boss and taking a photo of Letendre .

“(You were) right about all these other details in that eight minute, 37 second period, remember, and when they asked you about the second take, all of a sudden it was a jumbled, blurry memory?” Gagne asked. Camp responded, “Not suddenly, but yes,” later adding, “That’s what I believed at the time.”

With the defense and prosecution now at rest on the case, closing arguments from both sides will begin Monday before the jury begins deliberations.

If convicted of manslaughter, the maximum penalty is 20 years in prison.

Alexander MacDougall can be reached at [email protected].