Op-Ed: When Rumours Swirl

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Steve Muller was a friend of Rawlin Bilby, an antique dealer. He owns an auction house that was across the street from the antique dealers business. When asked during a telephone interview with a Digital Journal correspondent Muller stated that Rawlin cared deeply for his wife and would have never murdered her. He didn't know the new wife Karen Bilby. He is certain that Campbell murdered Bilby when she found him robbing the Bilby home.

Rawlin cared deeply for Rhonda. There is now way he murdered her.

Shawn Campbell sits in jail trying to say otherwise. That Bilby was in fact the man behind Rhonda Bilby's death. Muller commented that in his position he may say the same, even if it's not the truth.

In small town murders like this there are always two sides. Whispers swirl around about who says what and who did what. Small time crimes can add up in these speculations. The rumour mill can overflow and in the end the truth itself is difficult to really have a firm grasp on. The truth depends on which side of the tracks you are on.

In the case of this murder story you have a handyman who was on and off drugs and an antiques dealer who is alleged to have been having a long term affair on his wife. Shawn Michael Campbell was the handyman who was charged and convicted of the murder of Rhonda Bilby. According to reports Bilby walked in on Campbell robbing her and Rawlin Bilby's home in Bath, New York in September 2004. He confessed to the murder but later tried to withdraw that confession saying that it was given under duress. He then went on to state that the one who actually murdered Rhonda Bilby was her husband Rawlin and that he had innocently stumbled onto the murder scene. The judge refused to allow for that withdraw and Campbell was given 25 years to life in prison for the murder. Bilby and new wife Karen moved on relocating in Costa Rica.

Still rumours are flying on this crime. Dirty laundry is aired and speculations come out.

A confidential source has come forward stating that Rawlin and Karen were involved for a long time prior to the death of Rhonda Bilby. That Karen was in a common law marriage at the time and that her husband died a few months prior to Rhonda of a heart attack. Karen Bilby worked at the local Salvation Army store at the time of the murder. According to this source she would hide donated goods for Bilby to sell in his store. It was confirmed that Bilby did work at the store as a manager during a phone interview with the current supervisor. The store supervisor did not dispute that Karen Bilby was not fired nor was any legal action ever taken against her.

According to those in the antique business this is a common practice and that some of these stores are shams.

There are rumours that Karen and Rawlin were perhaps up to their necks in the murder of his first wife, Rhonda. These allegations though have not been proven. At this time they remain rumours. Having an affair does not mean a man murdered his wife. Stealing from the local Salvation Army does not mean a person is also capable of murder. Without facts, without DNA there is no proof. For Campbell to be set free the proof of another murdering Rhonda Bilby has to come into play. That is something that even the rumours can not proof. At least not yet.