Left to right: Melissa Fay Calumpit and Rosalie Lynn Morris (Canyon County Sheriff's Office).
A mother-daughter duo from Nevada are facing murder charges in Idaho after one of their husbands was found shot to death at a campground earlier this month.
Melissa Fay Calumpit, 35, and Rosalie Lynn Morris, 59, each stand accused of one count each of murder in the first degree and destruction of evidence, according to criminal complaints and probable cause affidavits obtained by Law&Crime. The older woman is facing liability for murder based on an aiding and abetting theory.
On the night of July 12, Travis Haywood Calumpit, 37, was found dead by a group of campers at Martin's Landing, a 60-acre campsite in Canyon County near the Snake River and Oregon border.
Sheriff's deputies and detectives responded to the call and sketched out the basic details of the crime scene.
"The male was located face down, feet toward the river, with blood near his left side," the affidavit reads. "A small caliber bullet wound was located in his left upper chest area, There was a spent .380 ACP casing located approximately five feet to the west toward the river. There was a wallet, Dodge keys, and a pocket knife located under a ball cap approximately one foot away from the male's right side."
Travis Calumpit possibly had planned a dual purpose for his visit to the campgrounds that day, authorities said.
The soon-to-be dead man was in the process of buying a white Dodge pickup truck from another camper, the would-be truck seller told investigators.
"Located in plain view in the driver's side back seat was a 9 mm Highpoint pistol, which was collected," the affidavits go on. "The Dodge, and the area around the body — to include the bushes, shore line, and river were extensively searched and no .380 caliber handgun was found."
Travis Calumpit also intended to recapture the romance with his twice-estranged wife while out in the near wilderness — they had been married and divorced before; later they remarried and separated again — but only after leaving the three-river tributary area popular for fish and game and heading roughly two hours north to a campsite near Council, Idaho, the victim's stepfather told investigators.
He never made that trip.
Another witness who lived with the victim gave investigators a key lead — saying she overheard Travis Calumpit talking to a woman on the phone. The female voice on the other end said: "Just be there. Don't be late. It's all or nothing," the affidavits allege. Then, after the phone call, he said he was on his way to meet his estranged wife at the campsite.
After a phone interview with Melissa Calumpit, law enforcement came to suspect her. A detective alleges she "made several statements during the investigation that were both incriminating, inconsistent with the evidence, and led investigators to believe she had intimate knowledge of details of the homicide that were not known to the public."
At first, the alleged murderess denied any involvement — saying she and her mother went on a drive, were impeded by a road closure due to a fire, and headed back home to Battle Mountain, Nevada.
On July 18, Melissa Calumpit and Morris sat down for in-person interviews in Canyon County. And, again, at first, law enforcement met with denials regarding any roles in the murder. Then, a detective played a dashboard camera video from the white pickup truck showing Melissa getting out of her mother's Toyota Highlander, one of the affidavits alleges. This footage allegedly broke the dam of silence.
After that, stories diverged substantially but ended in the same bloody place.
Morris allegedly admitted to hosting a family meeting at her home the day before, attended by four adults, "about how to get rid of Travis for good" and said it was her plan to commit the murder.
"She said she searched around for an unregistered firearm to use in the murder, and she planned to do it herself; however, Melissa wanted to come along," the Calumpit affidavit reads. "Rosalie believed Melissa killed Travis so that Rosalie would not get in trouble."
The Morris affidavit offers this version of events:
Upon seeing the dash camera footage of Melissa at Martin Landing, Rosalie admitted she drove to Martin Landing with Melissa. Rosalie said Melissa contacted Travis to meet her there alone, Rosalie claimed she hid in an outhouse near the parking lot, out of site [sic] of Travis and Rosalie. Approximately one (1) hour after Travis arrived, Rosalie said she heard Travis yell, heard Melissa yell, then heard a single gunshot.
"Rosalie described Travis as an abusive, drug addict, with mental health issues," the mother's affidavit goes on. "Rosalie said she decided she had to kill Travis and compared it to putting a dog down to save livestock."
Melissa Calumpit was more hesitant to accept culpability, investigators say.
"Melissa initially claimed Travis raped her at the camp site," the daughter's affidavit reads. "Her story changed several times. She ultimately said she had the .380 pistol in her pocket, hit Travis in the head with a rock, and shot him when he charged at her. In one version of events Melissa stated Travis took her gun and racked a round into the chamber. She did not make any statements that indicated Travis threatened her with the gun."
After the man died, the pair admittedly drove to the CJ Strike Reservoir where they disposed of the gun and Travis Calumpit's cellular phone, according to the affidavits.
Authorities also recounted a chilling interaction between the alleged killer and the dying man.
"Melissa said after she shot Travis he asked her 'Why?' and she said, 'I'm sorry. I love you.'"
