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A Marshfield, Wisconsin, 18-year-old mother-of-one, Maisie McCullough, was found murdered with a slashed throat inside a blood-filled bathtub of her ex-fiance, Gabriel, then Derek Campos' house. The scene was discovered by Shelly Leitz, Derek's mother, who, along with finding the victim's body, also learned that her son and grandchild were missing from the house.
Campos, who had a temper and was violent and abusive towards both his mother and McCullough, became the number one suspect in the murder. Authorities issued an amber alert and arrested him the following day. They found the child and the murder weapon in his possession and immediately charged him with murder. He eventually accepted a guilty plea.
Evil Lives Here took a look at the case to further analyze the actions of Derek Campos that led him to kill the mother of his child, Maisie McCullough. The episode titled My Son's Prisoner will air on ID this Friday, December 23, at 4:00 pm ET.
The synopsis reads,
"Shelly Lietz has been afraid of her son ever since he was four years old, and her fear intensifies and grows more crippling as he gets older and more violent, turning her into a prisoner in her own home."
Maisie McCullough was stabbed in the back and her neck was sliced open
A loving mother of one, Maisie McCullough got engaged to Derek Campos at a young age and gave birth to their son Gabriel not long after. However, they had to break up because of Derek, who was well-known for being aggressive and abusive towards both his mother, Shelly Leitz, and his fiance. Shelly, who defined Maisie as a vibrant, upbeat, and friendly girl, remained on good terms with her.
But on September 7, 2012, Leitz, who herself was victimized by her son's violent and abusive behavior and was mostly confined to her room in her own house, went out only to return to a gruesome crime scene at their Marshfield home. She found a trail of bloody footprints coming out of the bathroom, where she found Maisie McCullough dead with her neck sliced open inside the blood-filled bathtub.
The victim's ex-fiance and son were missing from the house, which led to the conclusion that the father fled the scene with the child. An autopsy revealed that the victim died of a slashed throat and stab wound to the back. After learning about the former couple's abusive and violent past and why the young mother left him, authorities focused on the 20-year-old as the prime suspect in the case.
Father of Maisie McCullough's child and her former fiance, Derek Campos, was arrested not long after
According to reports, an amber alert was issued for Derek Campos, and he was arrested the following day at 5:00 am after a motel clerk tipped off the cops, claiming that he had checked into the motel. Primarily concerned about the child, the authorities found him safe and sound. Campos surrendered without a fight, after which his blood and the knife found in his car matched Maisie's DNA.
Derek, who has now changed his name to Gabriel Campos, pleaded not guilty at first, but soon accepted a guilty plea and was convicted of first-degree intentional homicide. He was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years.
Catch the full case of ID's Evil Lives Here.
