Serendipity

A truck similar to the type Shawn loved to build and paint Infidelity/Betrayal/Murder...Families torn apart. Is the right man spending life in prison...or...did the real killer flea to Costa Rica with a new wife and start a new life? No! This is not the next James Patterson or John Grisham novel, nor is it a Hollywood blockbuster! This is a true story about my son Shawn Campbell whom was convicted in 2005 for murder in the second degree and is currently serving 25 years to life in a maximum security prison in upstate New York. Please take a few minutes of your time to read this story. September 27, 2004, was a day that changed a lot of lives and a day that rocked the small town of Bath, NY. A woman by the name of Rhonda Bilby was murdered that morning. On the morning of September 29, 2004, my son Shawn received a call from Senior BCI Investigator Ricky Kemp asking him to come into the Bath State Police Barracks because they had some questions about  the “Bilbys”....

[ Note: This was originally going to be published by me Oct. 3, 2015 but because of one thing or another, I hesitated on publishing it. It seems to be as good a time as any to get it out there. ] As many of you know, I have a son, Shawn, who is currently serving a 25-to-Life sentence for a crime he did not commit. He has been incarcerated for the past 14 years. With that said, he has 14 years of first hand knowledge of the corruption and fraud that goes on behind prison walls…corruption and fraud that costs New York State millions of dollars per year. Some of the details of the corruption is so sensitive that my son will not talk about it unless it’s with the proper people whom he has tried to reach out to and I will explain below. Some of the corruption consists of drugs, weapons, prostitutes and gambling. Most corrections officers can be “bought” for as little as a pack of cigarettes.  Anything can be bought within the prisons. At Wende Correctional F...

Oneida Correctional Facility in Rome was closed by New York State in 2011 There are very few of us that have an idea what really goes on behind the fences and razor wire at correctional facilities. Most of us that do have a fair idea, know that it's not a place we want to be...let alone have a loved one in.  The inmates range in temperment to laid back and just doing their time, others join into gangs, and yet others bully and harass other inmates for any number of reasons including no reason at all. It's a vicious place at times. I am thankful for those that serve as Corrections Officers (COs). It's certainly a hard job, a dangerous job and a job that takes a certain kind of person to be behind those fences and razor wire dealing with inmates convicted of all kinds of crimes. But this isn't about the COs that are the good guys...this is about the ones that are dirty, and what I choose to call "rogue". These officers likely should be incarcerated...

Similar to what Shawn's Lasagna looked like! I know that I may have mentioned this before, but Shawn (Campbell) is my oldest child, and having him in prison for a crime I know he did not commit has tore me to pieces. Being able to spend time with him is truly wonderful, I miss him so much. On Monday, once we got all of the groceries put away, it was lunch time and Shawn fixed us these huge, fully loaded sandwiches. On each was sliced ham, salami, pepperoni, sliced onion, lettuce, mayo and Italian dressing...with a side of chips. For our drinks: Mountain Dew and Pepsi. (I don't do Dew!) That afternoon, he made a cherry cheesecake, that would be our desert for the next two nights.  Since the FRP program doesn't provide everything  we might need to make food with, Shawn made this in a frying pan! It worked!  LOL For supper, we did Taco salad...with all the trimmings. Hamburger, onions, lettuce, diced tomatoes, black olives, sliced green and...

One of the guard towers that watched over us Last Monday was my sign-in day to have the FRP (Family Reunion Program) visit with my son, but to our surprise, when we got up that morning and watched it turn daylight, this is what we saw: Wet snow icing the trees... Limited visibility  Torture on the green leaves! Heavy snow weighing pine branches down And more snow fell... We received about 3 to 4 inches total by the time the storm passed. However, in watching the traffic pass on the highway (which we can see from my house), traffic was moving right along, which meant that the roads had been kept clear. Good! We loaded the car and off we went on the trip to the prison. Although the roads weren't bad overall...we did encounter a spot or two on the highway that was a bit ify: snow still coming down hard enough that visibility wasn't all that good Here...it was trying to really come down and blow at the same time We made it to the priso...

Right from the beginning, Shawn's arrest and then sentencing has been a hard pill for me to swallow. No mother wishes to see a child in prison, but when it happens...what then? For me, it couldn't have come at a worst time.  I was still deep in the grip of my breakdown, still not able to function mentally and emotionally...and I know that I wept a lot during this time.  I couldn't believe that my son, a big, huggable teddy bear that everyone loved, could do something so terrible.  It just didn't fit. Shawn's case was high profile, this was a big deal in a county that is one of the biggest in New York, and as much as I wanted to be there for my son...I couldn't.  I couldn't make myself go to the court hearings, I didn't want to be seen by the public or in the media...as I said, I was having a very hard time coping. A war raged inside of me then too...unending questions, uncertainties, blaming myself, even though I did my best to bring my son  up righ...

Shawn was born July 13, 1977, weighing 4 lbs., 13 oz.  He was a good baby...and we really didn't have many problems with his health through the years. He was the typical all American boy...dirty hands, ripped knees in his jeans, always looking at things with the eyes of a curious child.  He played hard and slept hard! He loved cars and trucks...loved going to stock car races too.  He's always had a fascination with vehicles and how they run...and by the time he was 13-14, he rebuilt a car engine with little help from anyone else!     He honestly never really liked school, although when he applied himself, he received high grades.  In many respects, I think school bored him.     Even as a child, he had a very charismatic personality...he loved people and people loved him! Here...even on a cold day...he had to be outside...looking at rocks and picking up the pretty ones! He's always loved working with his h...