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CAS Trains Psychopath

January 20, 2005 permalink

The vital fact in this story is withheld to the very end: The psychopath in question is a man raised in the care of the Children's Aid Society. As in the infamous case of Charles Manson, depriving a boy of his parents is one way to create a psychopath.

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Jan. 20, 2005. 06:41 AM

'Pure psychopath' jailed indefinitely

Jeffrey Campbell drove into 65-year-old cyclist
More dangerous psychopath than Olsen, Bernardo

BOB MITCHELL, STAFF REPORTER

Jeffrey Michael Campbell, who deliberately ran down and killed a Brampton senior with a stolen car, is going behind bars, perhaps forever.

The 26-year-old Windsor man, who scored higher on a test for psychopathy than Canadian serial killers Clifford Olsen and Paul Bernardo, was declared a dangerous offender yesterday for that brutal homicide -- and a history of violence that started when he was a toddler.

Justice Casey Hill said Campbell used Frank Groves as "target practice" when he ran down the 65-year-old cyclist from behind with a stolen car in the early hours of July 1, 2000. Groves died instantly in what Peel police described at the time as a "thrill kill" hit-and-run.

In declaring Campbell a dangerous offender, which could keep him in prison for the rest of his life, Hill said Campbell is a "highly dangerous individual at virtually certain risk to cause harm through violence."

The judge ruled that Campbell represents a "real and present danger to life and limb" and that "future violent acts can quite confidently be expected in the future."

Hill's long-awaited ruling came in a Brampton courtroom more than two years after Campbell pleaded guilty to manslaughter in Groves' death. Though Campbell was charged initially with second-degree murder, Crown prosecutor Stephen Sherriff accepted the surprise manslaughter plea on Nov. 12, 2002. Sheriff and co-prosecutor Lyndsay Jeanes then began an exhaustive bid to have him declared a dangerous offender.

The Criminal Code allows for an indeterminate sentence for dangerous offenders who have committed serious personal-injury offences and are judged likely to do so again in the future.

The application took more than 1 1/2 years to complete, a period that was hardest on Groves' widow, Arlene Groves.

"He's dangerous," Groves, 64, said yesterday, moments after the shackled and handcuffed Campbell was led away from court. "It's over for now, but it will never really be over.... But this is the outcome I hoped for. I put my faith in the Crown.

"I feel sorry for him.... But he has to pay for his crimes."

Hill gave Campbell credit of five years for pre-trial custody, which means the National Parole Board will review his case in two years, and every two years after that. But Groves said she is confident her husband's killer will never get released.

In theory, Campbell could remain behind bars until his death, which the Crown believes is necessary for the protection of society. Only a handful of Canada's more than 370 dangerous offenders have ever been released.

Campbell has had a history of using vehicles as weapons to harm his passengers or strangers. He also has a history of arson, and has faced numerous allegations of assault and death threats against women, and jail guards and their families.

Even during the dangerous offender hearing, he twice struck prisoners, including Min Chen, the accused kidnapper and killer of schoolgirl Cecilia Zhang.

He has been in custody since his arrest on April 24, 2001, in Niagara Falls.

Groves died instantly from massive head injuries when he hit the car's windshield after his bike was struck from behind at about 5 a.m. on Canada Day 2000. His bike was dragged for three-quarters of a kilometre.

"The Groves homicide is a grave instance of manslaughter," Hill told the court. "Campbell fled the scene without any attempt to provide assistance to the obviously seriously injured victim.... He showed no remorse for his crime."

The judge noted that Campbell committed the "senseless crime" within 48 days of being released from prison.

Groves and his wife had been married for 42 years. He was cycling to a local coffee shop when Campbell struck him with a car that had been stolen only a few minutes earlier so he and two teenage friends could go joyriding. The car was abandoned a kilometre away.

The agreed facts presented at Campbell's manslaughter conviction revealed that one of his passengers said Campbell "smirked" when the car struck Groves. The court also heard Campbell laughed when he saw news clips of the incident.

Campbell was described as an "incurable, untreatable, psychopath" by the Crown in the long dangerous offender hearing, which began June 19, 2003 and ended last September. Hill took more than three months to consider his decision.

Defence lawyers Daniel Brodsky and Tony Bryant asked Hill to impose a life sentence, which would have made Campbell eligible for parole in seven years and allow him to get treatment.

The court heard that Dr. Stephen Hucker, a forensic psychiatrist, concluded there was a 100 per cent probability Campbell would "violently reoffend" within seven years of being released. He also said Campbell approached "the theoretical pure psychopath" classification and that he was unaware of any available treatment.

During the hearing, Jeanes told the court that Campbell scored higher (38) on his psychopathy test than serial killers Olsen (37) and Bernardo (36) and that there was no treatment that would make Campbell safe for release.

Campbell set his first fire at age three and used a lighter to set the clothing of two playmates ablaze when he was five. He has had more than 40 convictions, 22 of them before turning 18.

An ex-girlfriend alleged in court that Campbell fed a cat to a pit bull, which he denied.

He is now one of Canada's youngest dangerous offenders.

The court previously heard that Campbell's father died in a police chase before he was one. His mother placed him with children's aid at six because she couldn't deal with his destructive behaviour.

Before delivering his verdict, Hill said, "There can be little doubt that Jeffrey Campbell wasn't dealt much of a hand in his early life."

Source: Toronto Star

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