BIG BREAK FOR BECKY
Published August 19, 2006
A mistake by her former defense
attorney turned out to be good news for Rebecca Simpson
of Bridgeport yesterday, who had been convicted of trying
to hire a hit man to kill the wife of a former lover.
Fort Worth District Judge Bob Gill ruled Friday that
Simpson's former attorney, Ray Bass of Houston, had
failed to tell her that prosecutors had offered her
five years in prison in exchange for pleading guilty
before her trial. After hearing testimony, jurors had
sentenced her to 25 years in prison. Gill thrrew out
the trial verdict, ordered a new trial, and prosecutors
offered the five-year deal again and Simpson accepted.
The deal cut 20 years off her sentence for trying to
hire an undercover hit-man to kill Shemane Watts in
2003. Officials say Simpson could be out of prison in
less than a year.
‘I have the power to do
what I want’
Day-by-day in the trial of Rebecca Simpson
Published July 2, 2006
Due to time and space constraints,
much of the testimony in the Rebecca Simpson solicitation
of capital murder trial was not included in earlier
issues of the Wise County Messenger. The following is
a daily recap of highlights not previously published.
More...
Read
Past Headlines...
A reporter’s view of the
trial
Published July 2, 2006
By Brian Knox
It’s good to be back in Wise
County. Driving to downtown Fort Worth every day for
two weeks to cover the trial of Rebecca Simpson has
reminded me why I like working in a small town.
More...
DISCUSSION FORUM:
Now that the trial is over, and
a verdict and sentence have been handed down, what are
your thoughts on the Rebecca Simpson "Murder for
Hire" trial?
Discuss...
EMOTIONAL TIME
- The emotions came to the surface Friday as Rebecca
Simpson learned of the jury’s decision in her
case. Above, Simpson reacts to learning that the jury
took less than three hours to return a verdict while
best friend Bobbie McKittrick consoles her.
Messenger photo by Cody Duty
LEARNING HER FATE
-Rebecca Simpson hugs a family friend, Thomas Logue,
just moments after hearing that the jury had reached
a verdict in her solicitation of capital murder trial
Friday morning in Fort Worth. She began weeping before
the verdict was read.
Messenger photo by Cody Duty
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