BRYAN, Texas — A man was convicted of capital murder this week in the slayings of six people – including two from Farmington, Maine, and a 6-year-old boy – at a remote Texas campsite in 2015.
A Brazos County jury found William Hudson, 35, guilty Tuesday on three counts of capital murder for his role in killing former 77-year-old University of Maine at Farmington professor Carl Johnson, 40-year-old Hannah Johnson, a Mt. Blue High School and UMaine graduate, and four members of their extended family.
In addition to Carl Johnson and his daughter, Hannah Johnson’s 6-year-old son, Kade Johnson, Hannah’s boyfriend, Thomas Kamp, and Kamp’s two adult sons, Austin and Nathan Kamp, were killed.
Both Carl and his daughter, Hannah, were found shot to death in a camper trailer on property Thomas and Hannah bought from Hudson’s father. The bodies of the other four were found in a pond near Hudson’s property, investigators said.
Carl Johnson’s wife, Cynthia, also a retired UMF employee, escaped and hid in the woods until she could call 911 to report the shootings, investigators said in the days after the slayings.
Prosecutors said Hudson resented the sale of the property and killed the six after plying the adults with alcohol.
Hudson’s attorney didn’t call witnesses at the trial.
The jury was hearing punishment testimony Wednesday. Hudson faces life in prison with no chance of parole or death by lethal injection.
According to a police affidavit, Cynthia Johnson told investigators that on the day of the killing, a man riding an orange tractor approached the family and later helped them pull a vehicle from the mud. He identified himself as “William.”
He returned later to socialize and had drinks with the family.
“He later accompanied several family members into the surrounding woods,” the affidavit states, “after which Cynthia Johnson heard multiple gunshots.”
Hudson returned to the campsite alone, and chased Carl and Hannah Johnson into a camper trailer. Cynthia Johnson told police she heard two more gunshots, according to the court document.
She saw her husband, Carl, collapse on the camper steps after having been shot by the man later identified as Hudson.
“Cynthia Johnson continued to hide, hearing multiple gunshots, and remained in hiding until she felt it was safe to move,” the affidavit states.
Once she was able to alert police, a search for Hudson began. Police said when they found Hudson in nearby Tennessee Colony they also found his blood-stained tractor. Hudson also had blood stains on him.
In the days after the killings, the Farmington community expressed shock over the loss of the Johnson family.
At Hudson’s trial, Anderson County District Attorney Allyson Mitchell said the case was unusual because it had a survivor and security footage.
The footage is from cameras outside Hudson’s mother’s home. While the footage doesn’t show the slayings, Mitchell said it corroborates Cynthia Johnson’s account of the events and provides enough proof of Hudson’s guilt.
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