Campbell Testified in Own Defense

Fear of unfair treatment from law enforcement officers drove Isaac Campbell to cover up the death of his ex-girlfriend, the accused killer testified.

Charged with one count of murder in the August 2007 death of Liya "Jessie" Lu, Campbell took the stand in his own defense this week for a grueling three days of testimony.

Dressed in a grey suit and glasses, Campbell answered in a clear, steady voice when defense attorney James Duffy asked him what happened in the early morning hours of Aug. 12, 2007.

"Liya Lu died tragically in my apartment." Campbell said. "I did the most regretable thing I've ever done in my life and concealed her death. I was totally freaked out and I was in a panic. I didn't know what to do."

Lu and Campbell met as nursing students at Pasadena City College. They dated for more than three years and shared an apartment in Alhambra until Lu moved out Aug. 9, 2007.

While the couple often fought over the time Campbell spent with female friends — in particular, his study partner — the fights never became physical, Campbell testified.

That is, until the night Lu died.

Though he had plans to meet with Lu around 8 p.m. on Aug. 11, 2007 to discuss their relationship, Campbell said, he decided to hit the books with his study partner instead and did not show up at his apartment until after 11 p.m.

"I was exhausted and not in the mood" for relationship talk, Campbell said, explaining why he blew off the meeting with Lu.

He also turned off his phone's ringer, so Lu could not contact him. Phone records show she made several attempts to do so throughout the evening.

Campbell arrived home to find Lu waiting for him inside the apartment.

"I knew she was mad," Campbell said.

The two went into the living room to talk.

"She wanted to know why I didn't show up at our arranged time. She wanted to know where I was," Campbell said.

When he told Lu he had been studying with his partner, the fight quickly escalated.

"She started yelling, losing her temper," Campbell testified. "At that point, I stood up. I started to pace. I tried to put my arms around her and hold her, but she wasn't going for it. She bit me in the chest. I shoved her off of me. She fell pretty hard on the futon."

Though Lu "had this look on her face like she was in pain," Campbell opted to retreat to the bedroom to calm down.

"I didn't think that she was injured. I thought she was just over-exaggerating," he said.

Later, he went to check on her.

"Immediately I could see it in her face. She was lifeless," Campbell testified. "I was freaked. I was totally — I don't even have a word for it."

The defendant testified that he lived with Lu's body inside his apartment for four days as he figured out how to dispose of her remains. He also left a voicemail on her phone in an attempt to throw investigators off of his trail.

Prosecutors played the voicemail for the court.

"I don't know what's going on. You haven't called me back...Call me. I love you, Baby."

Campbell said he spotted a large blue recycling trash can in his apartment. He enclosed Lu's body in a blanket and twelve plastic trash bags before placing it inside the trash can.

He then rented a U-Haul to take the body to his storage unit.

But when investigators began to turn the heat up on him, Campbell testified, he knew needed to move the body to a place not directly connected to him.

His friend Michael Darby lived in Arcadia and had a spacious garage.

Campbell testified that he asked and received permission from Darby to store the trash can in the garage. He rented another U-Haul to move the body from his storage unit to Darby's garage, stopping on the way over to purchase cat litter "to control the smell."

He dumped the cat litter on top of the body and sealed the trash can shut with tape. Then, he dropped the trash can off at Darby's with an admonition not to open it.

Weeks later, . He opened it, discovering the body. Darby immediately contacted the police, but Campbell had already fled to Minnesota.

Authorities there caught up with him and placed him under arrest before extradicting him back to California.

When pressed to explain the cover up, Campbell said he was scared.

"I thought if I called the police, they'd come and I'd get arrested and possibly blamed for (Lu's) death."

Also, Campbell testified, he had two experiences with police that made him distrust law enforcement.

In one instance, two people broke into his apartment and assaulted him. When the police came, they arrested him for possession of marijuana. Four years later, Campbell got assaulted again, this time in the bathroom of local library where he volunteered as a tutor. Police "seemed skeptical" and did nothing to help him, Campbell said.

The trial has begun to wind down.

Lawyers say they expect to deliver their closing sentences by early next week, after which the court will leave the jury to decide Campbell's fate.

He faces life in prison if convicted.