Defense rests without calling witness in woman’s murder trial

The defense rested without calling a single witness Sept. 22 in the murder trial of Julene Simko.

Simko, 38, of Vermilion, is facing one count of aggravated murder, two counts of murder, two count of felonious assault and a single count of tampering with evidence in connection to the shooting death of her husband at their North Ridge Road home on Nov. 18, 2009.

During the brief hearing on Sept. 22, defense attorney Jack Bradley made an oral motion

Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Mark A. Betleski to dismiss the case, which was denied.

The prosecution rested its case the previous day after seven days of testimony ranging from the Vermilion police officers who arrived shortly after the murder to their own investigator who got on the case years later.

According to prosecutors, Julene Simko fired a single shot from a .357 Magnum Smith & Wesson revolver into the back of Jeremy Simko’s head while he slept on the second floor of their home.

According to the defense, Julene Simko was sleeping on the third floor of the home because her husband, who was 36, was snoring loudly. She claimed she heard a gunshot and believed it was just her husband firing at coyotes out of the bedroom window.

She told police she went downstairs and climbed into bed with him and noticed there was blood in the bed. She claimed she heard what she believed was an intruder and fired several shots from a 9mm semiautomatic pistol in the direction of the hallway.

In a recording of the 911 call Simko made following the murder, she could be heard being given directions to give her husband CPR. Prosecutors claim she did not try to help him.

The trial is scheduled to end with closing arguments in Betleski’s courtroom at 8:30 a.m. Sept. 26.