A Honolulu Horror: Phrogging Gone Sinister
Lifetime James and Brittany Campbell, a newlywed couple living in Honolulu at the time of the phrogging incident at their home.
When Brittany and James Campbell returned to their home in Honolulu along with their two young sons on September 20, 2019, a bike sitting outside immediately clued them in that something wasn’t right.
James, 36 years old at the time and a member of the U.S. Navy, went to open the front door of the home — only to find that a stranger was on the other side, forcefully pulling the door closed.
As local station KHON2 reported, James managed to get the man — 23-year-old Ezequiel Zayas — out of the house by yelling at him. The police soon arrived at the property, but after Zayas was arrested, the Campbells realized the true extent of the damage he had caused.
“Everything was torn apart… things were put out on display and kind of organized but chaotic at the same time,” James said. The Campbells also discovered disturbing messages from their unwanted houseguest.
KHON2Ezequiel Zayas, the man caught phrogging in the Campbell home.
On the family’s computers and counters, the Campbells uncovered a series of terrifying notes from Zayas. The notes mentioned bizarre surgeries and a desire to turn the family from “omnivores” to “ezequiels.”
“It was strange and he wrote about wanting to perform surgeries on us and transform us and stuff like that,” said Brittany.
Chillingly, when the couple checked their bedroom, they found knives scattered about. They even discovered diary entries written by Zayas about them, as if he had been watching them for a while before covertly moving in.
“He violated — he violated our family, he violated our home,” Brittany said.
Zayas would eventually plead guilty to first-degree burglary in 2023, part of a plea deal that involved pleading guilty to a number of other crimes, the most serious of which was killing a fellow inmate in the facility that he was being held while awaiting the burglary trial. Because Zayas agreed to the plea deal, the maximum amount of time he’ll spend in prison is 20 years.
