NORTHAMPTON — Opening statements in the manslaughter trial of Brian Camp gave further insight into what happened shortly after midnight on Dec. 27, 2022, the night Johnathan Letendre, 27, lost his life after entering the house of Camp and his girlfriend, Brooke Janik.

Camp, 24, of Southampton, looked on inside Hampshire Superior Court on Tuesday, as both prosecuting attorney Steven Gagne and defense attorney Tom Kokonowski asked the jury to consider whether the facts point to Camp acting solely in self-defense — as Kokonowski contends — or whether he unnecessarily killed Letendre after incapacitating the man who unlawfully entered his home — as Gagne argues.

Both the prosecution and defense seemed to agree on an initial timeline: Shortly after midnight, Janik woke up Camp, the father of her two children, saying she heard a noise in their Chesterfield home. Camp initially dismissed her concerns and went back to sleep, but Janik got out of bed and opened the door to see Letendre, a Northampton man whom Janik had previously had a relationship with, in front of her. Janik let out a scream that awoke Camp. At that point, Letendre attacked Camp and a struggle ensued between the two men.

Camp, who had been sleeping naked in bed, tried to fight off Letendre, who was threatening to kill Camp and trying to choke him. Janik hit Letendre over the head with a glass object, giving Camp enough time to flee down the stairs, only to be pursued by Letendre.

The fight made its way into the kitchen, where Camp managed to grab a Sig Sauer pistol he owned legally and shoot Letendre, the shot piercing his assailant’s stomach, liver and colon. At this point, Gagne told the jury, no laws had been broken by Camp, who acted rightfully in self-defense.

It’s here when the stories start to diverge. Gagne said that approximately eight minutes after shooting Letendre, Camp got dressed, took a picture of Letendre while he lied on the ground, texted his boss, and then fired another shot into Letendre’s head, killing him. It’s that second shot, Gagne said, that led to the manslaughter charge.

“The law does not permit retaliation or revenge,” Gagne said. “If he [Letendre] lived, he’d be on trial. But Mr. Camp took matters into his own hands, he bypassed this whole process that we’re doing today.”

Kokonowski countered that narrative in his own opening statement, saying that the way that Letendre was found by police differs from his appearance in the photo taken by Camp, and that although the first shot caused heavy internal bleeding, it would not have been enough to stop Letendre from continuing to be able to approach Camp.

“He [Letendre] was in a lot of pain, sure, but he wasn’t dead, and he was able to move, and he was certainly able to talk,” Kokonowski said. “Mr. Camp, after all of this, believed he needed to shoot again, because he needed to stop this thing.”

Gagne described the relationship between Camp and Janik as “on-again, off-again,” and that Janik had entered into a brief relationship with Letendre, a general manager at Dunkin’ Donuts, during one of the “off” periods, but had eventually went back to Camp. Gagne said Letendre did not take the news well, believing Camp did not treat her properly, and Letendre had also sent disparaging text messages to Janik. He said Letendre entering the house certainly constituted a criminal act, and described Janik seeing him in the home as something akin to a “horror movie scene.”

The prosecution also played a recording of the 911 call made by Janik to state police dispatch, a call that lasted just under 20 minutes in length. In the call, Janik appears to sound hysterical, often screaming and speaking unintelligibly between periods of rapid breathing. But she manages to tell the dispatcher the name of her boyfriend and to identify the man entering their home, saying that Letendre had been shot by Camp.

Body-cam footage from John Arechi, the state police trooper who was the first to arrive on the scene, was also played for the jury. The footage shows Arechi arriving with Janik and Camp outside the home with their hands up. The two comply with Arechi’s orders, with Camp lying on the ground and stating he has a gun in his pocket. Arechi then enters the house with a fellow officer, finding Letendre on the ground and unresponsive in the kitchen. It is only then that Camp and Janik’s two children, ages 4 and 2, were removed from the home by Arechi.

Lastly, the prosecution played footage from an interview conducted by state police Sgt. Michael O’Brien with Camp the night of the incident, after Camp had been treated for a fracture. In the interview, Camp recounts the incident in more detail, giving his version of the events that transpired that night.

Camp said right as he awoke after hearing Janik’s scream, Letendre attacked and was on top of him and the two began to wrestle, with Letendre also trying to attack Camp’s eyes and saying he was going to kill Camp. After Janik smashed a glass object on Letendre’s head, Camp was able to get Letendre in a chokehold while Letendre still tried to attack Camp’s eyes. Camp then ran downstairs with Letendre behind him and the two then fought over Camp’s muzzleloader, a type of hunting rifle. Camp said he managed to dump the primer out of the rifle, making it unable to shoot, and then grabbed another shotgun in the house to try and threaten Letendre to leave, though Camp said the shotgun was old and decrepit.

“It wouldn’t have functioned, but I just grabbed it,” Camp said. “If someone pointed a shotgun at me, I would get out of the house.”

But Camp said Letendre continued to attack, grabbing the gun, ripping off the barrel and trying to hit Camp with it. That’s when the fight made its way into the kitchen, when Camp grabbed the pistol and shot Letendre. Camp told O’Brien he shot “once, maybe twice” and put his hands at the top and bottom of his torso to describe where he shot Letendre. He said prior to that night, he had no idea who Letendre was.

Regarding Letendre’s actions, Camp said, “I hope if I ever did that, somebody would put me down.”

Alexander MacDougall can be reached at amacdougall@gazettenet.com.