Victims' Family Endures

JAMESTOWN, N.D. - It was 11 years ago that Charles Campbell was convicted of raping and killing Renae Ahlers Wicklund, her 8-year-old daughter and another woman. But for Wicklund's family, the trauma goes on.

A series of appeals and stays of execution since the Snohomish County man's trial has made the Jamestown family feel like victims.

"The criminal-justice system is just what it says - justice for the criminal," says Hilda Ahlers, Wicklund's mother.

Ahlers and other family members returned to Jamestown last week from a hearing before the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

Campbell, who was 27 when Wicklund was killed, is seeking to overturn his conviction. He argues that his voluntary absence from jury selection at his trial violated his rights and that his sentence - death by hanging - constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.

The Ahlers family vigilantly attends Campbell's hearings, reminding the state of Washington and the defendant that they are watching what happens.

Once, Ahlers confronted Campbell's cold stare.

"We looked at each other a long time and I never blinked," she said. "He blinked first. He always looks for us in the crowd. I want him to know we're there."

Eight years before Wicklund was slain, Campbell had raped her, forcing her to comply by holding a knife to the throat of her daughter, then 15-months old. Wicklund's testimony sent Campbell to prison. He was sentenced to 45 years, but was freed on work release after serving less than six years.

Wicklund was not notified of Campbell's early release.

At the murder trial, witnesses testified that he vowed to make her pay for sending him to prison.

Testimony indicated Campbell raped Wicklund, beat her and slashed her throat. Shannah was killed after she returned home from school and a neighbor, 52-year-old Barbara Hendrickson, was killed when she was visiting.

After the trial, Washington passed a law requiring victims to be notified any time a convicted criminal is moved or released from prison.

Lorene Ahlers Iverson, Wicklund's sister, says the criminal-justice system should curb the appeals. "Unless you've gone through it, you can't imagine," she says of the family's trauma. "You live it forever."