Murder Trial Kicks Off Early

The murder trial of Ryan C. Wright, 32, began Friday with testimony from emergency responders, including Groton town police officer Matthew Hammerstrom and state police Detective David Lamoureux, who were first on the scene when Jamel Campbell was found shot to death at the Groton Ramada Inn on December 10, 2008.

Wright, who was arrested by Groton Police on murder charges in August, 2009, is accused of allegedly conspiring with Meagan Foley, 28, of New London, to kill Campbell. During last year’s probable cause hearing, the New London Day reported, Foley told the court that she and Wright were friends and that she lured Campbell to the hotel on the night he was killed.

Foley, who is cooperating with the state, was arrested in March 2009 and is being held in lieu of a $250,000 bond. Wright, who is being held in lieu of a $1 million bond, rejected a plea agreement tendered last fall that came with a 37-year sentence, opting instead to take his case to trial.

Originally scheduled to start next week, the trial kicked off Friday with emergency responders describing the crime scene. Although a hotel guest had reported hearing what sounded to be gun shot at around 1:30 a.m., Poquonnock Bridge Fire Captain Jeffrey Douchette testified, Campbell’s body was not discovered until hours later.

Douchette, who was on the scene around 11:20 a.m., told the court he arrived to  see Campbell lying face down just inside the open door of room 130. Noting that Campbell’s body was cool to the touch and unable to detect heart or lung sounds, Douchette said he called dispatch to cancel the ambulance.

“I could tell from the wound on his head, he was going to be dead on the scene,” said Douchette.

The number of spent shell casings found at the scene and Campbell’s wounds suggested he had been shot repeatedly in the head and chest.  

Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Paul Narducci played video and presented photographs taken by police at the scene showing blood on the door, the hallway wall, and inside the room. The video also focused on the fact that hotel room window was slightly open and a window screen was lying on the ground nearby outside the hotel. Investigators also took shots of the parking lot, focusing on a blue Honda Civic that they would later search.

Detective David Lamoureux of the state police’s Eastern District Major Crime Squad, who arrived at the scene at 11:45 a.m., narrated the video and explained how police collected evidence—including shell casings, the victim’s clothes, and cigarette butts found in the hotel room and near the scene.  Sebastian Desantis, Wright’s court-appointed attorney, raised no objections and reserved his brief cross examination for the end of the day’s proceedings.

Desantis closed by asking Lamoureux whether he would agree that police prefer to investigate a crime scene as close to the time of the crime as possible to ensure all evidence is preserved. When Lamoureux concurred, Desantis noted that, in this case, police weren’t called to the scene until more than 10 hours after the shooting occurred.

The trial will resume in New London Superior Court on May 9.