The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Coroner: No physical evidence of CPR
There was no physical evidence Julene M. Simko performed CPR on her dying husband, Jeremy Simko, after he was shot, according to testimony Sept. 20.
The revelation came in the sixth day of Julene Simko’s murder trial in Lorain County Common Pleas Court during questioning of former County Coroner Paul Matus, who examined Jeremy Simko’s body.
Someone shot 36-yearold Jeremy Simko once in the back of the head while he was sleeping Nov. 18, 2009, in his North Ridge Road home in Vermilion.
Matus testified Jeremy Simko lacked the broken ribs and sternum commonly seen in individuals who have had the procedure performed on them.
The lack of this evidence doesn’t necessarily mean it did not happen, he said.
Julene Simko, 38, is facing a single count of aggravated murder, two counts of murder, two counts of felonious assault and a single count of tampering with evidence in her husband’s homicide.
Throughout the trial, defense attorneys Jack Bradley and Michael Stepanik maintained their client attempted to save her husband after finding him bleeding out in their second floor bedroom.
They’ve claimed Julene Simko was on the third floor of the home sleeping when she heard a single gunshot.
Assuming her husband was just shooting at coyotes out of their bedroom window, she went down and got into bed with him.
After discovering Jeremy Simko was bleeding, Julene Simko told police she heard a sound in the hall. She grabbed a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol from a bedside table and fired in that direction.
Prior testimony, however, has suggested otherwise.
Vermilion police Detective Sgt. Stephen A. Davis testified his investigation of the 911 phone call, as well as the amount of blood on her body, led him to believe her account of performing CPR wasn’t accurate.
Earlier, Matus testified Jeremy Simko died of blood loss due to a single gunshot to the back of the head.
Prosecutors have said they believe Julene Simko used a .357 Magnum Smith & Wesson revolver the couple kept in a holster in a cabinet in their first floor kitchen to carry out the crime.
Dave Meadows, a former loan officer for First Federal Savings and Loans of Lorain, also testified Sept. 20.
Under direct examination by Lorain County Assistant Prosecutor Anthony Cillo, Meadows said the Simkos were denied a loan to buy property adjoining their own parcel just days before Jeremy Simko was murdered.
He said the loan was denied due to late payments made on their current property.
Meadows also said the bank had not requested an appraisal on the North Ridge Road property.
In interviews with police Julene Simko gave following the murder, she explained certain items, including the two guns involved in the case, were out of place because she had removed them in anticipation of an appraisal.
Under cross-examination by Stepanik, Meadows clarified that the Simkos could have scheduled their own appraisal in an attempt to still get the loan.
The bench trial is set to resume Sept. 21 before Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Mark A. Betleski.