Karen Campbell Timeline
Car accident
March 28, 2003
Tom dies at the scene. Other female victim dies at the scene. Karen is life-flighted to Trauma Unit at Oregon…
Read moreKaren leaves hospital and goes to rehab for several weeks
April 1, 2003
Christine and Sam handle Karen’s affairs, distribution of Tom’s effects and support to Karen’s daughters, Nikki and Haley. Karen leaves…
Read moreDistrict Attorney is pressing maximum charges
May 1, 2003
Daughters Nikki and Haley begin visiting Karen. Karen has friend or family member at the home at all times. Nikki…
Read moreWrong Karen Baker Introduced into Legal Proceedings
June 1, 2003
District Attorney, Victims and Karen’s defense attorneys can not agree on out of court settlement. Karen must submit to psychological…
Read moreMediation ordered for settlement
August 4, 2004
District Attorney changes direction three times. Mediation ordered for settlement. Wrong Karen Baker is still in file at mediation. Karen…
Read moreManslaughter II 75 months
January 3, 2005
Sentencing: DA overturns mediated agreement. Pressing fro two counts of Manslaughter I, Consecutive, 20 years. Victims family choses sentence. Manslaughter…
Read moreKaren spends time in solitary confinement
January 7, 2005
Karen spends time in solitary confinement due to wrist in splint. Due to dire conditions of solitary confinement, Karen choses…
Read moreTransfer to Coffee Creek Correctional facility
January 17, 2005
Karen and the trio of teachers are transferred to Coffee Creek Correctional facility. Karen is house on the Intake unit…
Read moreG Unit the bottom of the pecking order
February 1, 2005
Karen is transferred to G Unit, the bottom of the pecking order. It is the discipline unit, the wild wild…
Read moreKaren moves into J Unit, the honor unit
August 1, 2005
Karen moves into J Unit, the honor unit. Meets Teachers Sinful, Angel and Blondie. Karen begins work for DMV answering…
Read more2006-2008 Classes, ceremonies, publishing Medium/Max security
December 1, 2006
Grief Recovery Workshop MHCC independent writing course PTA course PT for Canines (later in 2009 Spanish for PT’s) 4 way…
Read moreKaren moves “across the street” to Minimum
October 1, 2008
Fall 2008-2010: Karen moves “across the street” to Minimum. Enters dorm living, the hive. 2008 Barak Obama is elected President…
Read morePreparing for release
January 1, 2011
Jan-March 31, 2011: Karen prepares and works on task list for release. Family has sent in an outfit to wear…
Read moreRelease from Prison
April 1, 2011
April Fools Day, 2011 Up at dawn, dressed in Prison Blues for the last time. Escorted to processing area, issued…
Read moreKaren attends Haley’s Graduation from USC
June 1, 2011
Karen attends Haley’s Graduation from USC, American Studies. Meet all the friends she has made in the last six years,…
Read moreRe entry into Workforce and Life
June 1, 2011
Late June-August 2011: Karen moves into apartment in Portland. Seeks employment as PTA. Is rehired by former company, begins orientation…
Read moreKaren tells no one new about her past and begins years of self isolating behavior
October 1, 2011
Fall-Winter 2011: Everyday Karen rides the bus over the Burnside bridge, Portland’s greatest concentration of homelessness and sees women on…
Read moreKaren and Sam take the trip, bucket list number one
May 1, 2012
Spring/Summer/Fall 2012: Karen and Sam take the trip, bucket list number one. Sam and Karen go from Charleston SC to…
Read moreIt has to be a memoir. Who are these women and what happened to your kids after you went in?
May 1, 2013
Spring 2013: Sam’s cognitive decline progresses slowly but steadily. Karen is not digging into friendships or dating, Nikki and Karen…
Read more
The Day of and Life Before
The Day of and Life Before
It was a beautiful spring day on Mt. Hood, Oregon. I went for one last run, my husband Tom, went to the bar. My memories from here on out come to me in snapshots. I remember entering the steamy, packed bar. I see Tom’s beautiful profile, people huddled in his glow as usual. One of the crew called out, “Get her a drink, she just did the Glade Trail!” I am hungry and want to go home. Blank.
The second snapshot is a big glass filled with gold wine. Blank again. In the third snapshot, Tom and I are loading into the car. Always a gentleman, Tom opened my door. He is the designated driver. But from the passenger seat, I watch as he weaves around the front of the car, losing his balance several times. It’s not the ice. He’s drunk. In the final snapshot of the day, we are backing out, Tom is at the wheel.
The Day of and Life Before
The Day of and Life Before
Karen Campbell Writes
It was just one drink after a long day of skiing, and she wasn’t driving anyway. But when Karen Campbell saw her husband, Tom, stumble as he opened his car door, she knew he’d had too much to drink. That’s the last thing Karen remembers until she wakes in the hospital days later. What she doesn’t know is that Tom and another innocent woman were killed when she was behind the wheel. That glass of wine turned an accident into felony manslaughter, and Karen was sentenced to over six years in prison.
Falling is the gripping story of a family torn apart and of a woman who must learn to live with her fatal mistake while she navigates the uncertain and sometimes terrifying terrain of a medium/maximum security women’s prison. Karen must learn the ropes of prison to stay safe and sane while she grapples with her own guilt and the damage she has inflicted not only on her own family, including her teen daughters, but the family of the innocent woman she killed.
Falling will make you question what you thought you knew about the prison system in the United States. Falling is part Karen’s story and part the tragic stories of the women she meets and befriends while incarcerated. Ultimately, this memoir will make you see the humanity in each of us.
Geoffrey Riley's interview of Karen Campbell on JPR Radio - July 18, 2023
Karen Campbell Writes
Editor Corey Buchanan's interview with Karen Campbell
in the Wilsonville Spokesman/West Linn Tidings.
Karen Campbell Writes
"Falling" is available now on Amazon as a paperback, an audio book and as a Kindle ebook.
It was a beautiful spring day on Mt. Hood, Oregon. I went for one last run, my husband Tom, went to the bar. My memories from here on out come to me in snapshots. I remember entering the steamy, packed bar. I see Tom’s beautiful profile, people huddled in his glow as usual. One of the crew called out, “Get her a drink, she just did the Glade Trail!” I am hungry and want to go home. Blank.
I was going to prison. The judge banged the gavel, the Bailiff escorted me toward a door at the front of the courtroom. I took one last look at my family and friends. They stared helplessly. They were in each other’s arms, the victims family and mine, all in the same row. The Bailiff opened the door at the front of the courtroom, I gave my friends and family a tight smile and stepped through the door that led to another world. Karen Campbell Writes
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Falling is the story of how a middle-aged mom learns to navigate life on the Inside. Over the six years I was incarcerated, I learned how to eat a meal in 10 minutes with a spork. I learned obedience and humility. I learned lurid slang. I learned how to keep my mouth shut. I learned how to mother from behind bars, miles from my teenage daughters. And finally, I learned how to love the unloveable, including myself.
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