OXFORD, N.C. — The sentencing phase for a man facing the death penalty in North Carolina is scheduled for next month.
Eric Campbell, 24, of Texas, was convicted of murder Monday. A sentencing hearing is tentatively set for Sept. 11 at 10 a.m., according to the Granville County, N.C. Clerk’s Office.
Campbell was arrested in Greenbrier County, W.Va. on New Years Day 2015. Him and his father, Edward Campbell, were charged with the murders of Jerome Faulkner, 73, and Dora Faulkner, 62. Edward Campbell killed himself in prison in March 2015.
A North Carolina jury found Eric Campbell guilty of all charges including first-degree murder, first-degree burglary, second-degree arson, robbery with a dangerous weapon, larceny of a motor vehicle, financial card theft, identity theft and two counts of cruelty to animals.
The Campbells went on a multi-state crime spree from Texas to West Virginia. The Faulkners were stabbed to death inside their Granville County, N.C. home on Dec. 31, 2014.
The defense claimed Edward Campbell was an abusive father. They said Eric Campbell also suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. During his testimony, Eric denied killing the Faulkners. He said he was outside the home when his father committed the crime. Defense attorneys said Campbell thought his father was going to rob the couple, not kill them.
Prosecutors said Campbell played a major role in the killings and that he made a deliberate and conscious decision to go on the trip with his father. They said he did not seek any help or surrender to authorities when it was okay to do so.
The trial was placed on hold for several weeks after a juror was involved in a car wreck.
The defense plans to call witnesses from Texas to testify for the sentencing phase. Attorneys are troubled by the flooding down south from Hurricane Harvey due to a number of roads and airports being closed.
The same trial jury will determine Campbell’s fate: whether he should live or die.
Unlike West Virginia, North Carolina is one of 31 states with a death penalty.