Drop Of Blood Helps Police Close Case Of Double Murder, Suicide Evidence Suggests Lawyer Killed Self After Killing Wife, Passer-By
Drops of blood allowed police Thursday to close their case against a prosperous lawyer who killed himself three days after the murders of his estranged wife and a would-be rescuer.
Police lab technicians determined that a droplet of blood on Duncan Cameron’s watch band matched Debra Cameron’s blood type. Moreover, other blood found at the murder scene matched Cameron’s type.
The evidence shows he probably killed her as well as Nathan Clarke, a part-time waiter who came to her aid Saturday night in the downtown garage, Police Chief David Michaud said.
“It’s proof in our minds that we can bring this case to closure,” he said.
Cameron, 54, an affluent Denver lawyer and former assistant district attorney, shot himself to death Tuesday during a traffic stop on a highway in California’s Mojave Desert. He was driving a rental car and carrying more than $10,000 in cash and his birth certificate.
Police had questioned Cameron at a country club golf course the morning after the slayings, but did not hold him for investigation and did not name him as a suspect because authorities did not want to spook him.
Michaud defended his department’s handling of the case by comparing it to the O.J. Simpson case. He said the major criticism of the Los Angeles police and the county district attorney’s office were that they “rushed to judgment.”
Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter said moving too quickly against Cameron could have created problems if the case had gone to trial.
“We are not thinking of immediate gratification as much as what the legal tests will be and what is coming in the legal challenges,” Ritter said.
The Camerons had separated six months ago after 13 years of marriage.
Police said the killer stabbed Mrs. Cameron, 41, chased her down as she tried to escape, dragged her back to her car and shot her several times. Clarke happened on the scene and was shot when he tried to intervene.