A Texas man accused of killing six members of a blended family at a campsite befriended his victims and helped them free a stuck vehicle before returning and carrying out the murders, investigators said Tuesday.
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Police said they had one suspect in custody, identified by the sheriff’s office as Kamp’s neightbour, 33-year-old William Hudson.
Six people, including a child, have been found dead on private property in Anderson County (southeast of Dallas County), according to CBS-affiliate KYTX. At 1:15 p.m. on Monday, authorities found four bodies in a pond behind Hudson’s home. The four were thought to have been at the campsite over the weekend and were initially considered missing.
This is considered the largest homicide in Anderson County’s history. The other bodies, including Kade’s, were later pulled from a pond about a half-mile away. It was not instantly clear whether or not he had an lawyer who may touch upon the allegations.
Sheriff Taylor says that they have been dealing with an assault case that was tied to Hudson for the last few weeks.
The victims’ names won’t be released until the autopsies are complete, possibly by Thursday, Taylor said. “He was violent, but it wasn’t of this nature”. Authorities said Monday they expected to announce more charges against him.
Hannah Johnson’s boyfriend, Thomas Kamp and his two oldest children were also found murdered, the Journal reported.
But the Palestine Herald-Press newspaper identified the survivor as Cynthia Johnson, whose husband, Carl Johnson, 77, and six-year-old grandson were among the victims.
Cynthia said she was able to hide in the woods before alerting police. Kamp is reported to be the property owner where the murders took place.
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According to the paper, Carl and Cynthia were employees of the University of ME at Farmington and retired to Texas.
