NORTHAMPTON — Video of Brian Camp’s original interview given to the police hours after he shot Johnathan Letendre continued to be played before the jury on Wednesday, the second day of Camp’s manslaughter trial.

Letendre, 27, of Northampton, died on Dec. 27, 2022 after he had unlawfully entered the Chesterfield home of Brooke Janik, Camp’s girlfriend, while she and Camp were sleeping. After being awoken by Janik screaming, Camp, 24, of Southampton, suddenly found himself locked in a lethal battle with Letendre, who was threatening to kill Camp, according to testimony on the first day of the trial on Tuesday.

The fight made its way downstairs, and the two men fought for control over multiple firearms before Camp shot Letendre with a Sig Sauer pistol. The prosecution argues that eight minutes after that shot, Camp shot Letendre again in the head, killing him and leading to the manslaughter charge, as Letendre no longer posed a threat.

In court on Monday, the jury heard the first part of the video-recorded interview with police, in which Camp said he had never met Letendre, who is believed to have had a previous relationship with Janik, nor had any idea who he was when he fought him that night. He also stated, “I hope if I ever did that, somebody would put me down,” referring to Letendre’s actions that night.

In the second part of the video played on Tuesday, police asked Camp if he had shot Letendre once or twice. Camp said if he had shot twice, it would have been consecutively. When asked by police if he had shot at Letendre any time after that, Camp muttered, “I don’t know,” and said it was hard to remember events from the night in the order they happened.

Camp also answered questions from police regarding the nature of his relationship with Janik. He said their relationship had been “on-again, off-again,” but that they had been a couple since the birth of their child, who was 2 years old at the time of the incident. He also mentioned Janik worked at the Dunkin’ Donuts in Haydenville, where Letendre would have also worked as a general manager.

Family members of Letendre had previously told the Gazette that the relationship between Letendre and Janik had also been “off and on,” but had officially ended the year before his death, though they continued to remain in contact and even exchanged gifts with one another.

Camp said he never inquired much into Janik’s personal life, but the same wasn’t true the other way around.

“If I hung out with another girl, she [Janik] would want to know what her name was, what color hair she has, what kind of things she has in her car,” Camp said.

Camp also described his personal background, saying he was employed as a mechanic and frequently went hunting. He said he grew up target shooting and that guns were one of the few things he had in common with his father. He said he obtained a concealed carry permit following the birth of his child.

“I never thought in this day and age, I would have to fight for my life,” Camp said in the interview. He also opined that Letendre’s behavior that night was caused by drugs, but toxicology reports done by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner showed Letendre had no drugs or alcohol in his system when he died.

Andrew Elin, the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on Letendre’s body, also took the stand on Wednesday. Elin said that Letendre had two black eyes, and a sign of a skull fracture caused by a gunshot wound to the head.

He also told the prosecution that Letendre had lost 750 milliliters of blood from the initial gunshot wound to the chest, around 15% of the average total blood in a human body. Elin said with that level of blood loss, Letendre would have been “alert, but anxious,” and also likely would have been in “immense pain.” He also said that the second gunshot wound to the head would have caused “nearly immediate death.”

On cross-examination by defense attorney Tom Kokonowski, Elin said that if Letendre had a high pain tolerance combined with adrenaline, it would certainly have been possible that he would have been able to move his arms and legs, but expressed doubt on whether Letendre would have been able to stand on his feet due to the pain caused by the gunshot wound.

Tuesday also featured testimony from Gary Darling, a lieutenant with the Massachusetts State Police. Darling had searched the cellphone of Camp, with Camp’s consent, after the incident. The phone contained a photo of Letendre, taken at 12:46 a.m., featuring Letendre laying on the ground with his left hand placed over his head. Kokonowski noted how this position was not how Letendre had been found when state police arrived.

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