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A D.C. police officer who co-workers described as “desperate” to get out of her relationship with a man with a violent history was killed in their shared White Oak, Maryland, apartment in 1995. Nearly 30 years after he walked free from police custody, that boyfriend has again been arrested and charged with murdering her.
It’s a familiar set of circumstances for 62-year-old Amir Jalil Ali, who was arrested on the same day Denna Campbell, a four-year veteran on D.C.’s police force, was found shot to death in the predawn hours of Sept. 16, 1995.
Ali, who changed his name from Kenneth Wonsom, was the only suspect, detectives said Wednesday. When questioned decades ago, police said he became combative, his story had holes, his shirt was ripped and bloodstained, and he had previously threatened to kill Campbell, according to charging documents.
Detectives who arrived to the residence at 1536 Heather Hollow Circle after 5 a.m. found Campbell wrapped in a comforter. They couldn’t tell what happened to her until they did a detailed examination of her body, charging documents state. And while Ali told police he hadn’t touched her body, except to gently touch her forehead when he found her, he told 911 dispatchers “she’s been shot.”
Two months after the killing, Ali walked free. The murder charge against him was dropped.
“I was not privy to, nor do I know what the conversation was regarding why the charges were dropped at that point in time,” Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy said during a news conference Wednesday announcing Ali’s arrest. “I can’t speak to what happened before — that was 30 years ago and I was not part of that conversation.”
Ali’s arrest Tuesday in Laurel, Maryland, brings the Montgomery County Police Department one step closer to closing one of its oldest cold cases.
The day of Campbell’s death
Ali called 911 at 5:04 a.m. on Sept. 16, 1995.
“Somebody broke into my house. … My girlfriend laying on the floor, bleeding. … She’s been shot,” he told a dispatcher, according to charging documents.
He also told authorities he “just got here.” He identified his girlfriend as Denna Campbell and said she was a D.C. police officer. Then, he hung up the phone and did not answer when the 911 call taker tried to reach him.
When police arrived, officers were met by the man then named Kenneth Wonsom, now Ali. He was wearing a white T-shirt that was torn in the front and had visible blood stains, according to the responding officers. Officers noted that there were no signs of forced entry into the apartment.
Police discovered Campbell’s body on the floor of the bedroom, wrapped in a comforter with another wrap around her head. Once they were able to take a closer look, they learned she’d been shot five times, and evidence supported that she was shot with her own gun, charging documents state.
An autopsy also revealed Campbell had “defensive wounds,” meaning she likely fought with her killer, charging documents state. The manner of death was ruled a homicide and Ali was brought in for questioning.
He was initially cooperative, but charging documents said he became combative, telling detectives if they tried to collect his clothing, he would “sink his teeth into their chest and make them regret this day.”
Ali’s statement to police
Ali told detectives he picked Campbell up at around 1:30 a.m. from a part-time security gig at McDonald’s. They arrived at the apartment at around 2:40 a.m.
According to Ali’s account, Campbell asked him to go to the store, saying they were out of ginger ale, mouthwash and toothpaste. He left the residence at 3:20 a.m. and said Campbell was in bed watching TV at that time.
After he said he stopped by several D.C. establishments that were closed while “looking for friends,” Ali told detectives he went to a pay phone and left Campbell a message. Officers said they listened to the message and that it said, in part, “Boo, I am stopping at the store to pick up some Listerine and soda and wondered if you needed anything?”
Police said in charging documents that “it makes no sense” for Ali to call Campbell and ask that, since getting those items was his original reason for leaving the apartment.
Ali then said he went to a CVS in Langley Park and bought the items, which a receipt shows happened at 4:42 a.m. and that he paid in cash. He then returned home, and told police he knew something was wrong as soon as he got there, as the door was slightly ajar.
Again, police indicated in charging documents that statement was odd, since his keys were in the bottom lock when police arrived.
‘I’ve got to end this relationship’
Interviews with Campbell’s co-workers and neighbors indicate she lived her final days in fear of Ali.
A neighbor on Heather Hollow Circle told officers she was awakened by the sound of five gunshots at around 3:20 a.m., the same time Ali said he left the apartment.
Charging documents state another neighbor reported waking up around the same time to a male voice yelling.
“I told you not to do this to me,” the neighbor reported hearing.
According to co-workers at the McDonald’s on Benning Road, where Campbell was working a part-time security job, Campbell and Ali were arguing during her shift. After hanging up on Ali, Campbell told one co-worker, “I’ve got to end this relationship,” and another co-worker told police she was “desperate” to end her relationship with Ali.
When Ali picked Campbell up from her shift at the fast food restaurant, a co-worker noted Ali was wearing the same shirt, but it had no rips, stains or other visible damage, according to charging documents.
Campbell’s co-workers at D.C.’s police department said she told them she was afraid of Ali to the extent that she had begun sleeping with her department-issued handgun under her pillow. She also told one police officer, according to charging documents, that Ali had recently “put his hands on her” and she had to pull her gun on him in self-defense.
On Sept. 12, 1995, days before Campbell’s death, another D.C. police officer was working undercover at The Foxy Playground strip club. While there, the officer said they had an encounter with Ali during which he said he was hooking up with a D.C. police officer who he thought was cheating on him.
“I’m going to kill them both,” the undercover officer recalled Ali saying, according to charging documents.
Police in charging documents said Ali had a lengthy criminal history at the time of Campbell’s killing and has had documented violent encounters with police since her death.
According to police documents from 1995, Ali had 15 prior arrests, including on charges of murder, robbery, assault and burglary.
During Wednesday’s news conference announcing Ali’s arrest this week, State’s Attorney McCarthy said prosecutors now have substantially more evidence than they did 30 years ago.
Ali will appear in court Aug. 13.
A career in law enforcement cut short
“We never give up, and we do not forget the victims or their families. This case has remained ever-present to our investigators,” Montgomery County police Chief Marc Yamada said during a news conference Wednesday announcing the arrest. “While this arrest won’t erase the pain of losing Denna, we hope that it does bring some resolution and sense of peace to everyone involved.”
Campbell’s death was an abrupt end to what Executive Assistant Chief Andre Wright, with D.C. police, said was a promising career.
“In her four years with our department, officer Campbell had already proved herself to be a hero in the community she served. In 1993, she selflessly pulled four victims out of a burning van on Pennsylvania Avenue,” he said. “Those actions proved officer Campbell was ready to place the safety of those in the community above herself.”
And 30 years later, he said the weight of Campbell’s death is something officers in D.C.’s police department carry every day.
“Denna’s never left the hearts and minds of our agency, and several detectives who were very close with her, best friends with her, have always championed and believed that at some point in time this case would close,” Wright said. “You never get over the loss of one of your own, ever. It’s something that stays with you, even long past after you retire.”
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