A Texas man is the newest occupant of that state’s death row for murdering six people two years ago this month, including two Oceanside brothers and their father.
A jury in east Texas deliberated 20 minutes earlier this month before finding William Mitchell Hudson, 35, guilty of capital murder charges stemming from his Nov. 14, 2015, killing spree in Anderson County, Texas. The jury took slightly longer — about 40 minutes — to decide last week that Hudson should be sentenced to death by lethal injection, according to media reports.
Oceanside brothers Nathan and Austin Kamp were 23 and 21, respectively, when they were killed, along with their father, 45-year-old Thomas Kamp, who they were visiting.
The other victims were Carl Johnson, 76, his 40-year-old daughter Hannah Johnson, who was dating the elder Kamp, and her 6-year-old son, Kade. Her mother, Cynthia Johnson, survived the attack.
The Kamp brothers went to Texas for a spur-of-the-moment camping trip with their father, his girlfriend and her family, their mother told 10News in an interview this week after returning home from the sentencing portion of the trial.
“There’s not really closure, but what I can get now is peace,” said Carina Lujambio of Oceanside. “I know that this happened, it’s sinking in now, and I know that justice has been served in the most appropriate way. And at least I can feel like I can have peace.”
Lujambio, who also has two other sons, said she would “do anything to have Nathan and Austin” back.
“I just think it’s a crime that San Diego doesn’t even know that they’ve lost two outstanding citizens, two San Diegans, young men that were intelligent and a benefit to our community,” Lujambio said.
According to evidence presented at his trial, Hudson was upset that Thomas Kamp had purchased land he wanted to buy — the same land where the Kamps and Johnsons were camping. On the night of the murders, Hudson rode with the three Kamps and Kade Johnson under the pretense of gathering firewood.
Hudson shot and killed the Kamps and the boy and dumped their bodies in a pond. Prosecutors said Hudson then returned to the campsite, where he shot Carl Johnson before running out of ammunition, then beat the senior citizen and his daughter to death while his wife Cynthia hid out in the dark and rain until the next morning, when she sneaked into the woods and called police.
Hudson was arrested the day after the slayings. He was sentenced to death exactly two years to the day from the murders.
Lujambio told 10News that her sons and ex-husband were killed by a high- powered rifle and Nathan “was not even recognizable.”
She described Austin as compassionate, caring, and hilarious and said Nathan was extremely kind and watched over his family.
“I don’t think that even in death we can be separated,” Lujambio said.
—City News Service