Campbell, Charles L., 1954-

Charles Rodman Campbell (October 21, 1954 – May 27, 1994) was an American murderer and rapist. He was executed by hanging in 1994 by the state of Washington for a 1982 triple murder that he committed in Clearview, killing three female victims. In 1974, Campbell attacked and sexually assaulted 23-year-old Renae Wicklund, leading to his apprehension in 1976. After Wicklund and her neighbor, Barbara Hendrickson, testified against him, Campbell was convicted of first degree assault and sodomy and received a sentence of 40 years in prison. Authorities did not make Wicklund aware of the fact that Campbell's sentence would allow him to be placed in a work release program after serving seven years behind bars despite Campbell being accused of multiple disciplinary infractions while serving his 40-year sentence, including the rape of at least two other inmates and the physical assault of a third; in 1981, he was placed in a work release facility under conditions that allowed him more freedom of movement outside of prison, unbeknownst to Wicklund. On April 14, 1982, months after Campbell's placement in his work release program, he revisited and burglarized the Wicklund house, where then 31-year-old Renae Wicklund, her nine-year-old daughter Shannah, and 51-year-old Hendrickson were present, and murdered and mutilated all three of them. Campbell's motive for returning to Wicklund's home to further victimize her was revenge due to her and Hendrickson having testified against him during his trial for Wicklund's rape. Following his arrest, trial, and conviction, Campbell was executed by hanging, becoming one of only three people executed by hanging in the United States since 1976. In 2023, DNA tests posthumously linked Campbell to a separate sexual assault and murder of a woman in 1975.