Navy man recants murder confession
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
A Navy man accused of murdering another serviceman in a rage over a $70 phone bill admits he brought a .40-caliber handgun to Pearl Harbor, but insists he didn't do the shooting.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Hawan T. Campbell, 24, is charged with the premeditated murder of the man he called his "best friend," Seaman Gregory Ballard, outside Gabrunas Hall on May 4, 2001 — the day Ballard was to get out of the Navy.
Campbell's is undergoing a court-martial at Pearl Harbor, with Lt. Cmdr. Barry Harrison as prosecutor. In his opening remarks yesterday, Harrison said Campbell shot Ballard five times, including a final shot just inches from his head, after the two men got into a shouting and shoving match following a night of partying in Waikiki.
"This case is about an awful human tragedy ... and ultimately, the senseless, senseless taking of another human life, really, for no reason in the end," Harrison said.
Campbell's failure to repay $70 for the use of another sailor's phone card — money that Ballard, 29, was told by superiors to collect before he would be discharged — led to the early morning confrontation and shooting, Harrison said. Campbell later provided a six-page confession, the prosecution said.
But Campbell maintains the confession was coerced after he was threatened by investigators with the death penalty. He admits he drove home to Waipahu to get a .40-caliber handgun, but only to lend it to Ballard after his friend told him he needed it "for protection."
"They (investigators) thought this was a drug hit, and they asked me where he bought drugs from," Campbell said previously by phone from his cell on Ford Island.
Campbell's civilian attorney, Philip Cave, noted that the killer probably would have Ballard's blood on his clothing, but none from the dead man was found on shoes, shirts or shorts retrieved from Campbell's home. If convicted, Campbell could get life in prison without parole.
Reach William Cole at 525-5459 or wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.
