Layers Of Evil

Grass Valley, California, sits in Nevada County in the foothills about an hour east of Sacramento, roughly halfway between Sacramento and Reno. In 1994 it was a small town of about 13,500 people, and two sixteen-year-old friends lived there.

Dawn Renee Donaldson was sixteen. Her mother, Linda, had moved the family from Polson, Montana when Dawn was nine, after reading in Money Magazine that Grass Valley was one of the ten best small towns in the country. Linda was a single parent, later married a steer wrestler named Murray, and ran a sign painting business. The family kept horses on a six-acre property. Dawn barrel raced, worked for the retired San Francisco 49er Russ Francis looking after his horses and helping with housework, and attended Silver Springs High School, a small school of about seventy pupils mainly for pregnant students and young mothers, though Dawn was neither. She talked about joining the Marines, wrote poetry and liked rap music.

Christina Maria Campbell, known as Chrissy, was also sixteen and about to start her junior year. She had been adopted as an infant from an orphanage in Mexico City by Kathleen and Douglas Campbell, who already had two daughters. The family lived in San Jose for years before moving to Grass Valley about three years earlier, looking for a slower and safer life. Chrissy was quiet and artistic, played the piano and drew in pencil. She had just had her first boyfriend, and the relationship ended in July 1994, leaving her miserable and shut in her room.

On 23 July 1994 Chrissy went to Dawn's house to spend the night. Some time that evening the girls slipped out without telling the parents. this part of the story is covered for now His parents were out of town. details of the account remain covered until revealed Earlier that weekend he had taken them to another house to buy marijuana.

The next day the Donaldsons went to a rodeo as planned. When they checked on the girls, they were gone. There was no note and no telephone call; the family reported them missing that afternoon.

the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it The girls had been left under large styrofoam panels on top of a rubbish heap. Both had suffered multiple blunt force injuries and their skulls were shattered; investigators believed an axe had been used. The remains had decomposed badly in the summer heat and were identified through dental records and DNA. There was no evidence of sexual assault and no blood at the dump site, suggesting they had been killed elsewhere. Because there were no defensive wounds, investigators thought the attack had been sudden. this part of the story is covered for now

details of the account remain covered until revealed A black plastic bag recovered near the bodies carried his fingerprint and what appeared to be the girls' blood. A search of his property found blood spatter in his pickup truck and blood beneath the porch, plant material matching samples from his land, and divers recovered a large wood-handled axe from a pond at the back of the property. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now

details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it The first appointed attorney, Scott Fielder, withdrew saying he could not do the job at the county rate of fifty dollars an hour, and the county opened bidding for the defence. Fielder later returned. this part of the story is covered for now

details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed

the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it The judge denied the motion and then struck the special circumstance and the first-degree count, ruling there was no way to prove which girl died first or that the second killing was planned. this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed

the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it In 2018 the board approved release, but Governor Jerry Brown reversed the decision. this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed

The families never agreed. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed Dawn's ashes were scattered over Flathead Lake in Montana.