A man has been convicted of capital murder in the brutal slayings of six people, including a former Farmington man, at a remote Texas campsite in 2015.
The Eagle reports that a Brazos County jury found 35-year-old William Hudson guilty Tuesday on three counts of capital murder for his role in killing 77-year-old Carl Johnson, 40-year-old Hannah Johnson and four other members of their extended family.
Carl Johnson, formerly of Farmington, was killed along with Hannah, his daughter, the night of Nov. 14, 2015, authorities said. Also killed were Thomas Kamp, 45; Nathan Kamp, 23; Austin Kamp, 21; and Kade Johnson, 6, Carl Johnson’s grandson.
Prosecutors say the Johnsons and their family were camping on property they’d recently bought from Hudson’s family. They say Hudson resented the sale and killed the six after plying them with alcohol.
Texas TV station KLTV reported earlier in 2015 that the bodies of Carl and Hannah Johnson were found in a camping trailer — they had been shot to death — while the other bodies were discovered in a pond.
Cynthia Johnson, Carl Johnson’s wife and also a former Farmington resident, was the sole survivor of the attack, escaping and calling 911. She testified Monday that she hid on that overcast, rainy night so she could survive and help hold her family’s killer accountable for what he had done, the Eagle reported.
Carl and Cynthia Johnson retired from the University of Maine at Farmington in 1999, a family friend told the Morning Sentinel soon after the killings. UMF said in a statement that the Johnsons were passionate about traveling the country, and they were “valued members of the university community.”
The Johnsons’ son, Erik, is also owner of Sandy River Farms in Farmington.
Hudson’s attorney didn’t call witnesses during the recent trial but expressed the importance of serving on a jury.
The jury was set to start hearing punishment testimony Wednesday. Hudson faces life in prison with no chance for parole or death by lethal injection.
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