Second Interview

After the two investigators were "surprised" and "shocked" about the polygraph results, Boney again was interviewed. There have been arrests made on significantly less evidence than existed at the time the investigators interviewed Boney for the second time in the early morning hours of February 18, 2005. At that time they had his property, his DNA and a failed stipulated polygraph which could be used at trial. Those were significant items of evidence. A quick review of his work records would have also revealed that he wasn't working his normal evening shift at Anderson Woods on September 28, 2000.

They also knew of his previous robbery convictions for the theft of shoes in Bloomington, Indiana. He also told them that the previous shoe thefts were just a fraternity prank and nothing more. They apparently didn't check with any sources in Bloomington to find out that Boney had never been a member of any fraternity, other than a one man fraternity of which he was the only member. They also never interviewed Boney's first wife who could have given them a lot of critical information about Boney, including his physical abuse of their one-year old son.

A major piece of confusion that had existed for years, the placement of Kim's shoes on the top of the Bronco, was solved. Rather than comprehend the simple, the investigators chose to reject that major piece of evidence. (Boney's later explanation on how he placed the shoes on top of the Bronco demands a complete disregard for common sense.)

An arrest didn't occur, however. The police had already arrested and charged David Camm. Charles Boney didn't fit anywhere in the Camm story and to arrest Boney without tying him to David Camm wouldn't be logical if one still needed to have David Camm responsible for the crimes. Apparently, there was very little if any thought given to the possibility that David Camm wasn't involved in the murders.

Indeed, investigator Kessinger told Boney during that second interview:

"There's a connection some...but do I think you killed them...do I think you were there...you were either there or you know something about this murder and you're not telling us. Your sweatshirt got there but the connection between you and David Camm, that weapon and you're the only one that can tell that. That's why we're sitting here right now."

Kessinger also told Boney about his alternatives in the early morning hours of February 18, 2005 when he uttered words that would make any person be very attentive, "You got to tell me, you gotta tell us, you want to help yourself, you want to avoid getting uh...charged with triple homicide going through a trial...possibly getting death penalty?"

It was spelled out for Boney and he was well aware throughout every interview or interrogation that was conducted of him that the police wanted him to give them David Camm. Later, Patrick Renn, Boney's defense attorney, even acknowledged that David Camm was, in his words, the "prize."

The fact that Charles Boney knew of a final life ring, should he have to use it, was crystal clear to the man who "will tell you what you want to hear" and who knew that he was facing the death penalty if he didn't incriminate David Camm.

During that second interview, Boney was also given additional information about the crime scene that he would later use to bolster his contention that he couldn't have been the killer since he said that he was only a thief.

Boney signed his stipulated polygraph form, as did Chief Deputy Prosecutor Steve Owen after Boney's initial interview on February 17, 2005. Boney later referred to that meeting where Kessinger was also present and also as to what he was told when he later commented to Kessinger, "You told me yourself earlier today nothing was taken...nothing. Not a wedding ring, not a credit cards, I'm using your words."

Kessinger responded, "I didn't say any of that stuff now don't get too carried away when you're putting my words in my mouth."

Boney's responded, "Well, anyway...uh...no it was, I'm sorry it was uh...Prosecutor, the other Prosecutor. You don't remember him saying that? That there were no credit cards taken, no ring, obviously you're a thief, you would take something, you would have, you wouldn't have went there and you would have at least came away with something, that's what he said. So how come there's nothing taken?"

The meeting with Owen wasn't recorded nor was there a police report about that conversation ever provided to the defense. After that meeting, however, Boney would continue to contend that he was but a mere thief to buttress his claim that he couldn't have been the killer.

Boney wasn't just a thief, however, but he had abducted three women in Bloomington at gunpoint during his last crime, a home invasion where he also committed armed robbery. Incredibly enough, the police never used that information in any interview of him to counteract his claim of being a simple robber. One of the investigators even later claimed, before Boney was finally arrested, that Boney wasn't a violent person and that eliminated him as being the possible killer of the Camm family.

As to the theft of any items from the Camm house, however, no one knows if anything was taken or not. As noted previously, women's pantyhose or other personal items could have been stolen and there would be no evidence of such a theft. Kim also had jewelry that hasn't been accounted for, yet the chief deputy prosecutor was telling Boney that nothing was taken and Boney was using that to support his claim that he was only a thief.

Even liars tell the truth, however, and probably the most vivid example of Boney telling the truth was in the early morning hours of February 18, 2005, and after several hours of interviewing in his second interview. It was then when he uttered these words, "I'm hungry, I'm thirsty, I'm sleepy. I've been up since...7:15 or whatever, yesterday morning, you know soon approaching 24 hours. And I'm wide-awake. Fighting for my life. So when you guys say something about murder, your DNA, and the thousands of questions that you probably ask me...how can a person not be unnerved by that? I'm sitting in a chair wondering will it work."

Boney's mind was undoubtedly racing and also wondering how he could give them a story that they would accept, or in his words, "wondering will it work." However, part of his story, should he need to use it, had been provided to him. The parts about the gun being wrapped in the sweatshirt, the gun being untraceable, no items taken from the crime scene and his purported connection with David Camm had been provided to him. Charles Boney would ultimately use those critical parts in his final "confession" and for a reason that no one could doubt. He was also told that he faced the death penalty and he knew that he had an out if he needed it.