Boney's Early Years

You call him Charles if he wants to keep you at a distance, or you may call him Darnell if he allows you to do so and he wants to draw you closer to him. Through the many interviews of people who knew him and the voluminous records which exist because of him, it was obvious that Charles Darnell Boney had at least two different public personalities which were shaped by him, at least in part, by choosing which name others could call him.

To Boney's close friends in prison, however, he wasn't Charles or Darnell but rather "Backbone," allegedly because he was a stand-up guy. Boney would spend almost eight consecutive years in prison prior to his release in the summer of 2000 (and 10 of the previous 11) and his recollections of being a "Backbone" and the recollections of others about him being a tough guy didn't reconcile with one another.

Boney was also adamant that his last name be pronounced with a French accent, or as Bo-nay. Later, the electronic media, the New Albany Tribune and the Louisville Courier-Journal made sure that his name was pronounced correctly after he complained publicly about previous pronunciation slights. Boney was offended when his name was misprounced, but he wasn't bothered about murdering a family, however, and bragged to others about being responsible.

Many people will claim that Charles Darnell Boney is an enigma. He in fact is a sometimes gracious and apparently intelligent person who can, and indeed does, fool many people with his articulate speech, pseudo-intellect, and good manners. Those surface traits, however, can't hide his violent personality as proven by the many violent crimes for which he confessed. Many people also say that he is also a coward who has no conscience, also as witnessed by his actions and not his words. Charles Boney, aka "Backbone," has by today's standards, the traits which constitute an anti-social personality. It wasn't that long ago that such people were labeled as sociopaths or psychopaths. Others would say, consistent with those who witnessed his devil worshipping, that he is simply evil.

Boney, an African-American who was born in Detroit, also had a more private personality of which several individuals knew but which he tried to hide from others, most notably those in the criminal justice system. That personality wasn't driven by the pronunciation of his last name or by which first name he was called, but rather by a strange sexual obsession that drove him to commit violent acts against white women.

Because of that statement, many people would assume that there is an effort to portray Boney, an African-American, as a racist or that he, in fact, is a racist. That is absolutely not the case. On the contrary, Charles Darnell Boney is not a racist in any sense of the traditional manner, at least towards whites. The fact that his violence was directed primarily against white women should not be considered as racist. Boney was simply expressing a preference in his victims. He preferred to date, marry, and of course, attack white women. Most of the racial comments that he made were against other African-Americans and some were expressed by him in his autobiography.

Boney's victims were first and foremost women. The fact that they were white was possibly just an extension of Boney's own acknowledgement that he thought of himself more as a white than as a black person.

As to his own racial identity, during his teenage years, according to one of his very few African-American friends, Boney was often called "White Boy" by other blacks. Boney himself took pride in the fact that he was in the school band and in other activities which were considered by many students to be mostly for white kids.

Boney also later wrote in his hand-written book,"The Autobiography of Charles Darnell Boney," that "I knew that inside of me was really a white guy who loved metal and NASCAR." That's a unique comment by a guy who would later claim (falsely, of course) to be a member of one of the toughest black gangs in the Indiana prison system and who allegedly strutted around the cell block demanding to be called "Backbone" because he was a standup guy and true to what he claimed to be.

As in any community, there are racial divides, but although New Albany is racially diverse, the diverse population gets along well. New Albany was where Darnell, his mother Barbara and older half-sister Jennifer re-located in 1971 after moving from Detroit where his father supposedly remained. At that time Darnell was two years old and his sister was twelve.

In the mid-nineteenth century, New Albany was the largest and most prosperous city in Indiana. During the 20th century, however, the city had become stagnant in terms of population, low-end jobs, and had an economy that didn't keep pace with the rest of the metropolitan Louisville, Kentucky area.

While the legal economy in New Albany grew by little, the drug trade thrived in the last 25 years. Heroin, crack, methamphetamine, and a host of other drugs became prevalent in the river city. Located just across the Ohio River from western Louisville, most people visit New Albany only as a conduit to the largest riverboat gambling venue in the nation, located a few miles downstream on the river.

In opposition to most of New Albany are the affluent areas on top of the small hills, or knobs, which surround the city. Million dollar houses are not uncommon and many people live in rural Floyd County and commute to Louisville where their professional jobs await them. For many in New Albany there is a jealousy of those who live on the knobs and are referred, at least by some locals, as "snobs on the knobs."

While Boney's mother, Barbara Boney, was the major influence in Darnell's life, his father was an enigma to most who knew the family.

Boney was writing his book while awaiting his murder trial in early 2006. In that literary masterpiece, he claimed that his father, Charles Jerome Boney, who was a Detroit auto worker, was a gambler, alcoholic, drug addict, and serial abuser of his mother.

In 1971, according to Boney's book, Barbara's husband came home from his factory job in a hateful mood and began slapping Barbara. Unbeknownst to him, however, her brother was also in the house and he snuck up behind and then struck Charles Jerome in the back of the head with a skillet. Barbara then threw ammonia in his face and he began convulsing. He later went into a coma and was soon thereafter pronounced brain dead. Whether that scenario actually happened or not, or whether Boney was simply trying to hurt his mother with his words, is unknown.

Whatever truly happened to the elder Charles, however, the bottom line was that Charles Jerome Boney didn't live with the family in New Albany and Barbara was the sole parent raising Darnell and his older sister, Jennifer, in the 1970's.

After relocating from Detroit in 1971, the Boneys first lived with her parents on a small farm just outside of New Albany. Within three years they found a small home in an older subdivision of New Albany. Barbara worked hard and maintained a spotless home and always drove a relatively new vehicle. Jennifer left home after high school graduation and Barbara and her son remained. The two always dressed well and essentially lived a normal existence, at least on the outside.

Beginning as a grade-schooler, Darnell had a problem managing his anger. Because of that and other issues, he was directed to see the school psychiatrist. He didn't care much about that, later stating that psychiatrists were ineffective and that "the cure of oneself is already in his mind." Darnell would later pontificate about a lot of other cerebral things, including his studies of Sigmund Freud and his conclusion that he was a primitive sort and therefore was "idish." Boney has always had a high opinion of his intellect.

While in junior high, Darnell also had a problem with peeping in windows. He was caught on at least two occasions by a neighbor with two teenage daughters. The neighbor complained to Barbara who, according to the neighbor, took up for her son. She apparently was a protective mother.

Indeed, Barbara was a single mother in charge of her small family and she didn't back down from anyone. As Darnell later said, "Somebody could say something about my mother and I'd say, 'Hey, my mom fights better than I do." He apparently wasn't kidding.

One story, perhaps, sums up Barbara as a no-nonsense mother. Barbara, who told this story herself, wouldn't tolerate any mischief in her spotless house, and in that regard, after returning home one day, she smelled marijuana smoke and asked the teenaged Darnell if he had been smoking weed. When he answered in the affirmative, she told him to retrieve a hammer, which he subsequently did. She then asked him with which hand he had smoked the marijuana and after telling her it was his right hand, she then directed Darnell to place that hand on the kitchen table where she promptly smashed it with the hammer.

Because of that incident, Barbara was convinced that her son would always tell her the truth because he knew of the consequences in store for him if he didn't. Perhaps she didn't know that he knew that he'd be better off lying rather than risk another hammer punishment. But then again, Darnell probably didn't need any help with lying, for if he wasn't getting better at lying, he was at least becoming prolific in the art. It was also possible that Barbara had discovered the only way that she, as a single mother, could keep him in line, for the justice system failed miserably in the years ahead.

Barbara was also a strong political supporter of Stanley O. Faith, the Floyd County Prosecutor who would later charge and then try David Camm in the first trial. According to her own accounts, she would bake the portly Faith cakes and deliver them to his office for him and his staff to enjoy. She claimed to be a close personal friend of his and used him and the local Sheriff as references when she successfully applied for a job on the riverboat.

Barbara also ensured that she took her dry cleaning to the store which was owned by another local politician who later became mayor of New Albany. Barbara liked to rub elbows with the large fish in the small and sometimes shallow pond of New Albany and equally liked to tell others about her friendships with those people.

Darnell's current relationship with his mother is, as they say, somewhat problematic. In an acknowledgement in his book, he dedicated the book to, among others, his mother, who "was the queen of my chess set (who) took herself out of the game and abandoned me." He also claimed that she resented him because he had finished high school and she had not and further that he, unlike her, was "someone who has the balls to chase his dreams."

After digesting his comments about his mother, maybe Darnell should have been studying Greek literature in addition to the teachings of an Austrian psychoanalyst.

After grade school, Darnell continued to plod through school. He was involved in sports, although he was a mediocre athlete at best, playing youth football and wrestling in junior high school and high school, although having very little success. Indeed, by his own admission, he "was terrible as an athlete" and was also overweight and lazy.

It was in high school that he secured his first of many fast-food jobs, working in a Long John Silver's. Darnell would later get jobs at McDonald's, Arby's, Burger King, Hardee's, and a host of other local restaurants not only in New Albany, but also in Bloomington, Indiana and Louisville, Kentucky. By most accounts, when he showed up for work, at least in the restaurants, he was a good employee.

As a high school student, Darnell's grades were below average in the beginning and then proceeded to get worse. One area where he did do well, at least initially, was in high school band. He was designated one of two drum majors in his junior year, but most of the work fell to the other drum major due to Boney's laziness. Because of that laziness, he was also eventually removed as the president of the band club. During his senior year, his grades were abysmal.

Outside of school, Barbara would occasionally send the teenaged Darnell on a walking errand to Karem's, the local meat market, and a three or four minute walk from their house. Located nearby was the Long John Silver's where Boney worked and next to that was a Kroger's Supermarket. A large Target department store was across the street from Kroger's. All of those places were later frequented by Kim Camm and her children. Indeed, Karem's was owned by Kim's sister and brother-in-law and she was in the store at least weekly.

Two of Darnell's classmates in the 1987 class of over 400 at New Albany High School were Sean Clemons, a star pitcher on the baseball team, and Daniel Camm, youngest son of Don and Susie Camm. As previously noted, Clemons would later be recruited into the Indiana State Police by Danny's older brother, Dave, and then become the lead investigator in the murders of Kimberly, Brad, and Jill.

Midway through his senior year, Boney found out about an Indiana University (IU) program designed to help low-income children born of parents who had never attended college. Although he had achieved a low GPA in high school, Darnell made arrangements with the IU admission officials and visited the Bloomington campus of IU.

Bloomington, Indiana is an enclave of liberal thinking and is home to almost 40,000 students, literally from around the world. Boney immediately liked what he saw. He was excited after spending a night in a dormitory and talking with a bunch of fraternity guys about their college experiences. Darnell made up his mind that he could make a go of it and subsequently applied and was accepted at the Big Ten School in the spring of 1987. It was on the campus of IU where he later began his criminal career that would finally culminate in the murders of a mother and her two innocent children.