Jodi Arias Trial News Update: Trial Starts for New York Man Indicted in Arias Stalker Case
The trial for the New York man charged with threatening two popular TV hosts that covered the Jodi Arias murder case is slated to begin Thursday.
Investigators say David Lee Simpson, 48, of Bath, New York, threatened two national TV commentators, Nancy Grace and Jane Velez-Mitchell, via Twitter for their coverage of the original Jodi Arias trial in 2013, in addition to an Arizona woman. Although his original trial date was April 1, it was pushed back to May 8 because the lead prosecutor had another case that took precedence, reports the Epoch Times.
Simpson faces five felony counts related to the Twitter threats against the HLN network anchors who spoke extensively about the Arias' murder trial in Phoenix, Arizona last year, reports AZ Central.
Authorities say Simpson was in New York when he sent the tweets, but Arizona asserted jurisdiction since the threats were made against individuals for conduct during their coverage of a case that was occurring in Maricopa County.
Simpson has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
In May 2013, a jury found Arias, 33, guilty of first-degree murder in the ghastly death of her former boyfriend Travis Alexander in his Phoenix home in 2008. However, the jurors failed to reach a unanimous decision on her sentencing. As a result, a retrial is set for Sept. 8 to determine whether she should be sentenced to death, life in prison or life with a chance of release after serving 25 years, reports Reuters.
Should the jury deadlock again, then the death penalty will be completely off the table and Judge Sherry Stephens will decide whether to give Arias life in prison with or without parole.
Medical examiners found that Arias stabbed her ex-boyfriend 27 times, primarily in the back and in the torso and the heart. She also slit Alexander's throat from ear to ear, nearly decapitating him, and shot him in the face, before she dragged his bloodied corpse to the shower where she left him crumpled over. In total, the killing was done in a little less than two minutes.