Man kidnaps couple, then kills himself
June 4, 2007
By JULIE EDGAR
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Police are investigating the Sunday night abduction of a Rochester Hills couple by a Romanian refugee who killed himself after kidnapping the man and 
woman.
The kidnapper, 34-year-old Teodore Campan, has been in a stormy romantic relationship with the woman since at least 2005, police said.
Police said Campan, a bodybuilder, shot himself after the couple escaped from his car on M-59 in Utica.
Utica Police Chief Michael Reaves said Campan told the victims that he had been watching them for weeks. He told them his plan was to kill them, Reaves said.
Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said police haven’t received any complaints of stalking from the woman since 2005.
In November of that year, Campan was charged with stealing a handgun from the woman's apartment and demanding a ransom for its return.
At the time, he was awaiting deportation and had apparently been living in Windsor.
Oakland County Sheriff’s Department Capt. Bob Smith said about 9 p.m. Sunday, Campan walked into the Hazelton Avenue home the 41-year-old woman shared with her adult daughter and a 62-year-old man, the homeowner.
Brandishing an Airsoft gun, a toy that looks like a real weapon, he bound the couple with duct tape, beat the woman with the gun, kicked her and demanded a handgun that the man kept in the house, a .380 Beretta.
He then ransacked the home, apparently finding the Beretta, and ordered them into a Mazda owned by the woman’s daughter. and drove east on M-59 with his captives.
As Campan slowed down to head north on Van *** in Utica, the woman bailed out of the car, Smith said. The car rolled over her foot, and as motorists watched, Campan stopped, got out and shot himself in the head with the handgun retrieved from the home. The Sheriff’s Department received a report from a man shot at the intersection at 11:27 p.m.
Duct tape and a pair of binoculars were found on the gunman.
Police are investigating the ownership of the handgun.
The woman was taken to a local hospital, where she was treated for cuts to her arms and face. She checked out on her own and is in good shape, Smith said. Her companion was unhurt.
It is unclear where the woman’s daughter was during the incident.
In November 2005, Smith said, Campan broke into the woman’s apartment, also in Rochester Hills, and stole a handgun, demanding money for it to be returned. She went to police, who launched a sting operation, nabbing Campan at Borden Park in Rochester Hills, the place where the exchange of the gun for money was supposed to happen.
Police learned that Campan had entered the United States illegally from Canada in the trunk of a car belonging to an unknown person and was fighting deportation to his homeland. He was charged with larceny from a building and possession of anabolic steroids. The case was dismissed because the woman did not show up in court, Smith said.
At the time, police learned that Campan and the woman, whose name has not been released at her request, had had an on-and-off romance. Campan, Smith said, claimed the woman owed him money.
Bouchard said he’s disturbed that Campan was able to get back into the United States undetected.
“The last time he snuck into the country illegally. That’s a continuing concern to us in law enforcement — our porous borders. It’s the second time this guy has managed to show up on our radar screen in Rochester Hills and be involved in a crime that involved a gun,” he said.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070604/NEWS03/70604021
The only real security in life is to be very good at what you do.