2 MEN SENTENCED FOR METH FIRE

Pair Plead Guilty To Manslaughter In Deadly Explosion

Two men were sentenced to prison for manslaughter Monday in a
methamphetamine lab fire that killed two women.

James Campbell, 29, and Daryl Willis, 48, pleaded guilty to manslaughter
and drug possession in the Jan. 16 fire that trapped Pamela English and
Tammy Marie Campbell in the basement of 310 S. Lincoln St.

They are the first Coloradans to die in a meth lab explosion.

The lab was in Willis' home, although he wasn't helping make the drug that
day. James Campbell, a meth addict, was helping English and Tammy Campbell
when someone kicked over a can of Coleman fuel, igniting a fireball that
engulfed the basement, police said. James Campbell and Tammy Campbell are
not related.

English and Tammy Campbell, both 33, were found dead of smoke inhalation in
a dirt crawl space off the basement, where they apparently had sought refuge.

James Campbell, who fled the scene, was sentenced to nine years in prison.
Willis, who tried to help put out the flames, was sentenced to seven years
in prison.

"This case is about retribution, doing justice," said Denver District Judge
Morris Ben Hoffman. "People are responsible for the things that they do.
They must pay when they do terrible things."

Although others were also involved with the lab, Hoffman said, Willis and
Campbell are responsible.

"Because of their acts, two people are dead," he said.

Hoffman rejected a defense request for a community corrections sentence as
well as prosecutor Helen Morgan's request for the maximum 24-year prison term.

Morgan said James Campbell ran and "left those women to die in the
basement." She said Willis permitted his home to be used for a meth lab
even though his 16-year-old daughter was living there.

"It was a tinderbox waiting to happen," Morgan said. She said Willis also
supplied the drug to his daughter's friend.

James Campbell told the judge he didn't run away until he saw the fire
truck arrive.

"I did run. I ran. . . . I freaked out. I did. I'm sorry. That's all I can
say."

Willis apologized, telling the judge, "if I could do it again, I would do
it different."

Defense attorneys argued that the fire was an accident and the men were
devastated by the loss of their girlfriends.

Joseph Campbell, Tammy's husband and a recovering drug addict himself, said
he was estranged from his wife because of her involvement with drugs.

"I just want to see some justice done," he said. "I want there to be some
consequences dished out. She was living a hard life. Death was not the
answer but in a way I'm glad she was out of the torment of that kind of life."