A Texas man was formally charged with six counts of capital murder Thursday in the killing of a group of people in Anderson County that included a former Farmington man and his daughter.
William Mitchell Hudson, 33, is accused of shooting two of the victims inside a travel camper and another four in the woods earlier this week. Four of the victims were dumped in a pond near his property, police said.
Carl Johnson, formerly of Farmington, was killed in the campsite rampage while his wife, Cynthia, survived. The couple’s daughter, Hannah, and her son were also slain.
According to a police affidavit released Thursday, Cynthia Johnson survived the attack by hiding until she was able to call police early in the morning on Nov. 15.
According to the affidavit, Cynthia told investigators that the day before, a man riding an orange tractor had approached the family and later helped them pull a vehicle from the mud. He identified himself as “William,” according to the document.
Later, William returned to the land and had drinks with Cynthia and the rest of the family, according to the court document.
“He later accompanied several family members into the surrounding woods,” the affidavit states, “after which Cynthia Johnson heard multiple gunshots. Williams returned to the campsite alone. Williams then chased two of Johnson’s family members into a camper trailer.”
Johnson heard two more gunshots, she told police. She then saw her husband, Carl, collapse onto the camper steps after having been shot by the man later identified as Hudson.
“Cynthia Johnson continued to hide, hearing multiple gunshots, and remained in hiding until she felt it was safe to move,” according to the affidavit.
Cynthia was able to call police and a manhunt got underway. Police said when they found Hudson, in nearby Tennessee Colony, they also located his blood-stained orange tractor. Williams also had bloodstains on him, according to the affidavit. He initially barricaded himself, but later gave himself up to police.
No motive for the killings has been offered by officials.
According to a news release, Hudson was served with the warrants Thursday at the Anderson County Jail in Palestine, Texas, where he was being held on $2.5 million bail. Capital murder in Texas is punishable by either death by lethal injection or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
Carl and Cynthia Johnson had retired from the University of Maine at Farmington before moving to Texas, according to friends of the couple. Their daughter, Hannah, was a 1993 graduate of Mt. Blue High School in Farmington and had graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Maine in Orono.
The dead were identified at autopsy as: Carl Johnson, 76; Hannah Johnson, 40; her son, Kade Johnson, 6; Thomas Kamp, 46; and Kamp’s two adult sons, Nathan Kamp, 23, and Austin Kamp, 21, who had been visiting from California.
Officials in Anderson County called it the largest mass murder in their history.
Coverage: Warrant: Texas murder suspect was drinking with Johnson family | Farmington community in shock, mourning over Texas slayings | 2 former Farmington residents among 6 killed in Texas
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