Taney County Prosecuting Attorney Jeffrey M. Merrell announced today that the Southern District Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment and sentence of Robert Campbell for his role in the murder-for-hire plot that resulted in the deaths of Russell and Rebecca Porter, of Willard, Missouri in April of 2011.
On July 13, 2016, a Jasper County jury returned two (2) guilty verdicts against Campbell for murder in the second degree. The jury deliberated for several hours before reaching its verdicts. Following the guilty verdicts, the same jury heard evidence on sentencing, and delivered recommendations of life for each of the two (2) counts. Campbell’s trial was heard in Jasper County on a change of venue from Taney County – where Russell and Rebecca Porter’s remains were discovered in July of 2011. On September 12, 2016, Robert Campbell was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences by Judge Gayle Crane who accepted the recommendation of the jury.
Codefendants Tony Friend and Windy Friend were also convicted as well. Tony Friend plead guilty in 2013, and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. On March 31, 2014, a Taney County jury found Windy Friend guilty of two (2) counts of murder in the first degree and she was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for her role.
This case was the focus of a television special by On the Case with Paula Zahn on the Investigation Discovery network. The episode can be viewed, in it’s entirety by following the link below:
ON THE CASE – SEASON 15 – EPISODE 9 – TRAIL OF BETRAYAL
The full text of the Southern District Court of Appeals decision can be read here: