Cedar Rapids man sentenced to 20 years for fatally shooting girlfriend’s uncle in 2019

CEDAR RAPIDS — A daughter at the sentencing of her father’s killer on Friday said she had struggled to write a victim impact statement for three years and nine months because she had “no words to begin to describe” how her dad’s murder changed her life.

Brittany Campbell, daughter of Randal Campbell, 44, of Cedar Rapids, who was fatally shot June 21, 2019, said she thinks of him daily, misses him and replays his murder in her head over and over again.

“I always think about what his last thoughts were as he laid there dying, and how many minutes it took him to die,” Campbell said.

During her statement in Linn County District Court, she chastised her father’s killer, Joshua Kenneth Conklin, for showing no remorse or sympathy and also for “harassing and taunting” her family on social media after the slaying.

Most recently, she said, Conklin had written a letter, saying he had done Campbell’s family a favor by killing him.

Conklin tried to convince the “world that nobody loved my dad” and that he wasn’t worthy of love, but Conklin “couldn’t be more wrong,” she said. She and father had just started to mend their relationship after years of them both struggling with addiction.

She had gotten engaged before his death, and they had talked about him walking her down the aisle.

“I finally had my dad back for the first time in a long time, and you took that all away,” Brittany told Conklin in her statement.

20 years in prison

Conklin, 29, of Cedar Rapids, previously pleaded to lesser charges of voluntary manslaughter, going armed with intent and possession of a controlled substance-methamphetamine (third offense).

He admitted to fatally shooting Randal Campbell with an air rifle June 21, 2019, in a detached garage at Campbell’s grandmother’s home.

Sixth Judicial District Judge Fae Hoover sentenced Conklin to 20 years in prison, running all three convictions consecutively. She also will order Conklin to pay $150,000 to Campbell’s heirs, as required by Iowa law.

Hoover also told Conklin, who declined to make a statement, that he didn’t do “yourself a favor” in writing that letter about Randal Campbell. She said he didn’t deserve further consideration in sentencing because he hadn’t shown any remorse.

She also warned him that the parole board pays attention to a defendant’s remorse for their crime when considering paroling an offender.

Victim’s sister

The other victim impact statement was given by Randal Campbell’s sister, Samantha Benson.

Benson said she lost her brother and that others also were harmed because he was a loving son, father, uncle and grandfather.

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She also took offense to Conklin’s letter, saying it was hurtful and untruthful because her brother was loved by his family and others and didn’t deserve to die.

Benson also said Conklin “shot up” her grandmother’s house with the same air rifle he used to kill her brother.

Court documents

Cedar Rapids police responded to a report of a suicide shortly after 9 p.m. June 21, 2019, in the detached garage at 1834 Hamilton St. SW, where they found Campbell dead with an air rifle positioned on his lap.

An autopsy showed Campbell was fatally shot at close range with the air rifle after a pellet entered his right eye and lodged in his brain, according to the criminal complaint.

During the investigation, police learned Conklin had been living in that garage before having a conflict with Campbell’s mother, the owner of the residence. They also found out Conklin had been in possession of an air rifle.

Video surveillance also showed Conklin and his girlfriend — Felisha Campbell, Randal Campbell’s niece — were near the detached garage and had left after Randal Campbell was shot.

According to court documents, Felisha Campbell was present at the shooting and suggested staging the scene to look like a suicide.

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Police said she initially lied to investigators about her and Conklin's involvement but eventually said Conklin had shot her uncle with the air rifle and then returned to the garage to leave the weapon and stage the crime scene.

Conklin admitted to police he knew the air rifle was capable of killing animals. His fingerprints were found on the air rifle.

Felisha Campbell, 28, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge — conspiracy to obstruct prosecution — and accessory after the fact and faces up to four years in prison. Her sentencing is set for May 30.

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