A Massachusetts man who killed his girlfriend’s jilted ex-lover when he broke into the couple’s house in a violent home invasion breathed a sigh of relief as he was acquitted on manslaughter charges.
Brian Camp, 24, was charged over the death of Johnathan Letendre, 27, on December 27, 2022, after Letendre broke into the home Camp shared with girlfriend Brooke Janik, where the couple’s two children were asleep.
Camp testified at his trial that Letendre attacked him while he was naked in bed and asleep, and he fought off the home invader for around 10 minutes before shooting him as he feared for his and his family’s lives.
The home invasion came after Camp and his girlfriend split earlier in 2022, and Janik briefly dated Letendre before ending things to get back together with Camp.
Janik testified that he took it badly, and the court was shown text messages showing Letendre was increasingly unhinged and angry at her for getting back together with Camp.
When Camp took the stand in his own defense, he said that if he ever acted like Letendre had that night ‘I hope somebody would put me down.’
At the conclusion of his trial on Monday, jurors found that Camp acted in self defense and acquitted him on voluntary manslaughter charges.
Brian Camp, 24, pictured testifying in his own defense, was acquitted on Monday on voluntary manslaughter charges, two years after he shot his girlfriend’s ex in a violent home invasion
The home invasion came after Camp and his girlfriend Brooke Janik broke up earlier in 2022, and Janik briefly dated the home invader Johnathan Letendre before ending things to get back together with Camp – the father of her two children (pictured together)
The court heard how Johnathan Letendre, 27, was irate at Janik for breaking up their brief relationship for Camp, and broke into their home on the night of December 27, 2022 to attack him
Most of the trial revolved around a 20 minute phone call Janik made to 911 on the night of the shooting, as it captured audio of Camp and Letendre fighting before the home invader was shot dead.
In the call, a hysterical Janik told dispatchers that the two men were fighting and grappling over a shotgun, before a first gunshot is heard as Letendre was shot in the stomach.
Around eight minutes later, with Janik still on the phone, a second gunshot was heard.
Camp claimed that Letendre was still a threat and was trying to fight while bleeding out on the floor, while prosecutors argued the second shot was ‘unnecessary’ and ‘more force than reasonably needed to defend himself.’
Prosecutors added in their opening statements that Camp’s first shot ‘clearly’ fell within the lawful bounds of self defense, and the crux of the case relied on the second shot.
Camp’s defense also brought up that Camp was at a significant physical disadvantage in the fight, as Letendre was 6-feet-tall and 190lbs, while Camp stands at 5-feet-9 and 145lbs.
The father-of-two testified that he and Letendre were struggling over a shotgun inside the home, before he eventually shot him with a 9mm Sig Sauer handgun.
Most of the trial revolved around a 20 minute phone call Janik (pictured) made to 911 on the night of the shooting, as it captured audio of Camp and Letendre fighting before the home invader was shot dead
The court saw text messages showing Letendre was increasingly upset over the breakup
Prosecutor Steven Gagne argued that Letendre was no longer a threat and had been neutralized by the first shot to his stomach, and Camp was motivated by anger towards his girlfriend’s ex in the heat of the moment.
Gagne and the district attorney’s office faced backlash for charging Camp as his supporters said he was protecting his family. At the conclusion of the trial, he admitted to the Daily Hampshire Gazette: ‘We knew from the start it would be a difficult case.’
‘Nevertheless, we felt it was the right thing to do,’ he added, of bringing charges against Camp.
The case also centered around the police interview Camp gave hours after the shooting, where he told detectives he fired ‘one, maybe two’ shots into Letendre.
Prosecutors claimed the interview showed inconsistencies in his story as it was implied that the shots were fired consecutively, instead of the eight minute gap between the first and fatal shot.
The case also centered around footage (pictured) of the police interview Camp gave hours after the shooting, where he told detectives he fired ‘one, maybe two’ shots into Letendre
Under cross examination from Gagne, Camp countered that he gave the account to police while still processing the traumatic events and his memory was hazy.
Footage of the interview also played moments where Camp struggled to piece together the events of the fateful night.
‘I was having a hard time processing what just happened,’ he testified. ‘My mental state was blurry, and jumbled up at best.’
After Camp first shot Letendre, he reportedly called his boss, who his defense referred to as more of a ‘father figure.’
The boss ordered him to take pictures of the scene with his phone as evidence to help his case. One image shown in court after the first shot showed Letendre in a different position to when police arrived, proving Letendre was moving around the room in between shots.
‘Thank goodness that for a couple of minutes, Brian Camp was a self-employed evidence collector,’ Camp’s attorney Tom Kokonowski said in his closing argument.
Camp pictured alongside his attorney Tom Kokonowski at the moment the jury delivered a not guilty verdict, when he breathed a sigh of relief while his loved ones cheered from the gallery
If he had been found guilty of voluntary manslaughter, Camp would have faced up to 20 years in prison.
But the jury acquitted him, with footage of the moment capturing cheers and sighs of relief from the gallery as Camp’s family celebrated.
Gagne said he was ‘disappointed’ in the verdict, but admitted that he saw the jury’s perspective. ‘A lot of them probably thought, ‘What would I do in that situation?’ he questioned.
In a Facebook post after the trial, Janik said her family ‘can finally start what life will be a life long healing process’, describing Camp’s two-year ordeal since the shooting as ‘immensely painful.’
She shared a GoFundMe to help pay Camp’s mounting legal costs, as she said the trial and legal ordeal had drained her young family’s finances.
