Bailey Richards | Herald file photo
Family members were present when a sign was placed along the Hal Rogers Parkway in Leslie County requesting information into the murders of Roy and Wanda Campbell.
photo provided
Roy and Wanda Campbell were murdered in November 2010 inside their Brownsfork home. Their murders remain unsolved.
HAZARD — It was November 2010 when Roy and Wanda Campbell were gunned down in their Brownsfork home, and though this high profile and shocking case has remained on the public’s mind thanks to the diligent work of their family members, to this day, nearly two years later, no one has been charged with committing the crime.
Roy Campbell had been a prominent businessman in Hazard for decades, providing much of the land that has been developed into the hospital complex and the veteran’s center and Hazard Hotel. This development has led hundreds of jobs and many acres of land that has been used for building homes and businesses.
On Nov. 26, 2010, police were called to Campbell’s home in Brownsfork for a welfare check after family members were unable to contact Roy or Wanda. When police entered the residence, the couple was found dead from gunshot wounds.
After multiple interviews and following every possible lead, authorities did not have enough hard evidence to charge anyone with the murders.
Since the shooting two years ago, Shirley Justen, Wanda Campbell’s daughter, has made it her mission to keep the story alive so that some day this case can be solved. She and her brother put up a billboard which included a photo of the couple along Hal Rogers Parkway in Perry County asking for information.
Just days after the billboard was put up, Campbell’s family members requested that sign be removed, saying that it was painful for them to see it.
Several months later, Justen and her family put up a new sign in a different location, also asking for information in these murders. The second sign was put up a little over a year ago and included only a photo of Wanda Campbell. It is located at the Hyden Spur in Leslie County. “It gives us hope, because you never know who that person is going to be that is going to drive by and see that,” said Justen.
Justen noted at the unveiling of the sign last November, that she will not stop until she finds justice for her mother and Roy. “I live 500 miles away and that is difficult,” she continued. “That is what we beg of anyone that knew Roy, maybe you don’t know anything, but stand up with us and demand justice. That is what we want.”
Justen Continues to search for new ways to keep the public searching in hopes that someone will come forward. She said she has attempted to contact televisions shows that do stories on unsolved crimes and has sent fliers across the country via truck drivers. “We just don’t know where that piece of information will come from that we so desperately need,” said Justen.
Campbell’s grandson, Paul Michael Ison, noted in 2011 that he also wants the murderers caught and offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to a conviction.
Justen has also offered a $10,000 reward in the case. She said that she lost her father many years ago, but processing the death of a loved one and someone you love being murdered is very different.
“I lost my dad 11 years ago, and I have accepted that, but it is just a different process when someone that you love so much is murdered,” said Justen. “Death and murder are so different.”
Kentucky State Police Det. Gary Sandlin, who has been working this case for the last two years, said that he has not received any new information in this case, but they are always looking for new leads. “We have no new leads, but we ask if the public knows anything to please give us a call because we think there is somebody out there that knows something,” said Detective Sandlin.
Even after two years, Justen said that she knows that Det. Sandlin is still looking for leads and has high hopes the case will be solved some day.
“I know KSP are still very actively working the case and Det. Sandlin has promised us he will never give up,” she said. “I truly feel one day we will get the justice she and Roy deserve.”
Any leads or information can be turned into the Kentucky State Police, call (606) 435-6069. Tips can be given anonymously.
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