Ex-Deputy Prosecutor Charged In Embezzlement -- Eric Lind Gained Prominence In Case Of Charles Campbell

A former Snohomish County deputy prosecutor who was instrumental in the conviction of triple murderer Charles Rodman Campbell has been charged with stealing thousands of dollars from a law firm.

Eric Lind has been charged with stealing $44,000 from a Kitsap County law firm where he practiced until February. He faces seven counts of first-degree theft for allegedly giving himself unearned bonuses in 1995 while he was treasurer at the law firm of Sherrard, McGonagle, Green and Johnson.

Lind joined the firm in 1993 and became its treasurer a year later. He left the firm in February.

Each of the counts carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $20,000. He is scheduled to be arraigned next week in Kitsap County Superior Court.

Special Deputy Prosecutor Dennis Ashman, who was assigned to the case by Kitsap County Prosecutor Russell Hauge, filed the charges July 11. Ashman, a deputy prosecuting attorney from Pierce County, is handling the case because Lind is well-known by local prosecutors, said Kitsap County Deputy Prosecutor Sachia Anderson.

"We have all worked with him," Anderson said. "This placed us in an uncomfortable position."

Anderson said the case, which is currently in the Kitsap County division, is likely to move to another location because of Lind's reputation.

Lind gained prominence as a deputy prosecutor in 1982 when he successfully prosecuted Campbell for the murder of two women and a

girl. Campbell had escaped from a work-release program in 1982, and returned to the home of the woman he raped. He murdered the woman, her daughter and a neighbor by slashing their throats.

Campbell was sentenced to death, and was hanged two years ago.

Lind has been in private practice in Kitsap County for 10 years.