Investigators linked Fairley Napier to the scene where Joanie Campbell-Smith’s remains were found.
JACKSON, Ky. — A burned vehicle on a Breathitt County road became the center of a murder case that ended with Fairley Napier’s conviction in the death of Joanie Campbell-Smith, his former common-law wife.
The jury’s verdict followed testimony about physical evidence, statements to relatives and Napier’s explanation of his final meeting with Campbell-Smith. Napier, 49, was convicted of murder, abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and criminal mischief. Jurors recommended 45 years in prison. The formal sentence is scheduled for May 8, when a judge will review the verdict and the recommended prison terms.
The first evidence jurors heard about began outside the courtroom. Campbell-Smith was reported missing after Jan. 4, 2024, when she could not be reached. Kentucky State Police learned that Napier was the last person known to have contact with her. Investigators then received word that a burned car had been found on Spicewood Road in Breathitt County. The car matched the vehicle Campbell-Smith was known to drive. Inside, detectives found what appeared to be human remains. The finding changed the case from a search for a missing woman into a homicide investigation focused on where the vehicle was found and who had access to that land.
Police said the vehicle was on property being logged by Napier. A skidder and a dozer were close to the car, and investigators said the equipment belonged to him. Police also said the skidder appeared to have human remains and body tissue on it. Those details became central because they placed the vehicle, the remains and equipment linked to Napier in the same area. The remains were sent to Frankfort for conclusive identification. Prosecutors later said tissue belonging to Campbell-Smith was found around the scene, including on logging equipment known to belong to Napier.
The tool evidence added another layer. Commonwealth’s Attorney General Miranda King told jurors that Napier bought a mattock after the vehicle’s doors became locked. A mattock is a sharp tool used to break or loosen soil. Prosecutors said Napier used it to get into the vehicle after shooting Campbell-Smith at a second location. King said he then drove the vehicle to its final location, where he dismembered and mutilated the body inside before setting the car on fire. The state’s case treated the mattock, the burned vehicle and the tissue evidence as signs of both the killing and the attempt to hide it.
Napier gave jurors another account. He testified that he had known Campbell-Smith since childhood and that their relationship ran on and off from 1994 until 2022. He said they met at a Jiffy Mart to talk and went to another parking lot. He told the court Campbell-Smith wanted him to break a window in her vehicle so she could explain why she needed to drive a Chevrolet Tahoe she had bought with her new husband. Napier said the last time he saw her was at the Jiffy Mart. Prosecutors said his words did not fit the physical evidence collected after her disappearance.
Jurors also considered statements Napier allegedly made after Campbell-Smith went missing. Their daughter told state police that Napier admitted burning the body and said he was tired of seeing Campbell-Smith. The words were repeated in courtroom reporting as a statement that he had become tired of seeing her lying in the log yard and looking at her. Prosecutors said Napier also admitted the killing to a friend. The defense did not persuade the jury that those statements should be viewed apart from the evidence found on Spicewood Road and the testimony about the couple’s last known contact.
Other conduct after the disappearance became part of the state’s proof. Prosecutors said Napier changed vehicles four times in the days after Campbell-Smith vanished. They said he also bought a burner phone. When the couple’s daughter said she could not contact her mother, Napier offered to help find her. Prosecutors presented that offer as a false show of concern. Napier told people he was in a bad frame of mind after being accused of a crime. King argued that the pattern showed a man trying to avoid being tied to the burned car and the remains inside it.
The state said the motive was jealousy over Campbell-Smith’s remarriage. Campbell-Smith had married Arthur Smith Jr. of Pikeville, according to her obituary. King said Campbell-Smith and her husband tried to keep the marriage secret from Napier because they believed it would anger him. Testimony showed Napier’s girlfriend had shown him pictures of Campbell-Smith with her new husband. Prosecutors said those pictures helped trigger Napier’s anger. They also told jurors that Campbell-Smith had said in the past that Napier threatened to harm her, a claim police learned during interviews after she disappeared.
The trial ended with guilty verdicts on all counts. The jury recommended 30 years for murder, five years for tampering with physical evidence, five years for abuse of a corpse and five years for criminal mischief, for a total of 45 years. Local reports differed on whether the verdict was recorded March 30 or April 1, but the sentencing date was set for May 8. Napier had rejected a plea deal in February, choosing to take the case to a jury instead of accepting a negotiated outcome.
Campbell-Smith’s life outside the evidence record was also documented publicly. She was born in Hazard, lived in Pikeville and had family ties to Hardshell. Her obituary named her husband, children, stepchildren, sister, nieces, great-niece and other relatives. Her funeral was held Dec. 28, 2024, in Jackson, with burial at Noble Cemetery. In court, however, the focus stayed on what investigators could prove: a last contact, a burned vehicle, remains, equipment, statements and the actions Napier took after Campbell-Smith vanished.
For now, the case stands between verdict and sentencing. Napier remains convicted of murder and three related offenses, with jurors asking for 45 years in prison. The judge is expected to take up the sentence at the May 8 hearing in Breathitt County.
Author note: Last updated April 28, 2026.