Simpson convicted of second degree murder

A Lawrenceburg jury returned a guilty verdict on a lesser charge Tuesday after hearing evidence against a local man in connection with a 2014 murder case.

Lawrenceburg resident Christopher Desmond Simpson, now age 30, stood trial on first degree murder charges last week in connection with the June 21, 2014 death of forty-three year old Michelle Dominique Robinson.

Persons riding four wheelers and Razors had called for help after they came upon a chert pit off of Wisdom Road in West Point known as “the bowl,” and found Robinson in an unresponsive state. They said that Simpson was also at the scene and that Robinson had sustained numerous wounds.

Robinson was airlifted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville where she died the following day.

Although authorities initially reported that Simpson had met Robinson while he was stationed in North Carolina with his National Guard unit, Simpson testified that he actually met her while he was working as a prisoner transporter for Prisoner Transport Services of Nashville. He said that he had picked up Robinson in North Carolina and transported her to Owensboro, Kentucky. He said that they engaged in conversation during the trip and afterwards spoke often by phone.

It was in April of 2014, while he was living in Columbia, Simpson said, that Robinson moved in with him. He said that they had moved to an apartment on Mahr Avenue in Lawrenceburg less than a week before he left for two weeks of training at Camp Shelby, Mississippi with his National Guard unit, the 278th Army Calvary Unit based in Waynesboro. Robinson’s death occurred just hours after his return.

Simpson testified that he and Robinson had talked often while he was away, but that they had also had several disagreements. He said that he spoke with her during the bus ride home that day and that they had worked out their differences.

Once home, Simpson said that he changed clothes, ate, then the two of them set out for “the bowl,” a place they had visited several times in the past.

Since Robinson’s death, Simpson had maintained that both her knife and machete wounds had been self-inflicted. During the trial, however, he said that he had actually been the one who inflicted the wounds, acting in self-defense. He acknowledged that his initial statements to both witnesses and investigators had not been truthful. He stated, “That was the wrong thing to do. I apologize….I was overwhelmed and not being frank with the investigator. My whole world was just crumbling down.”

During the trial, an extensive amount of evidence was presented by prosecutors to support the supposition that Robinson was murdered.

When witnesses arrived on the scene, they indicated that Robinson was lying on the ground and Simpson, covered in blood, had dragged her into some nearby bushes. They said that Simpson was exceptionally calm while they were present, and they had made a video of him prowling about the crime scene. When he took the stand, however, Simpson said that the reason he had dragged Robinson to a shaded place was because “it was very hot that day.”

Officers at the scene found a kitchen knife broken into three pieces, lying on the ground. They recovered a bloody machete from the bed of Simpson’s truck along with a shirt and shovel stained with blood. Blood was found both inside and outside of Simpson’s truck. A lengthy blood trail was documented on the chert road that runs from Wisdom Road to the chert pit. They also found a large pool of blood in the initial spot where Robinson was laying, a trail indicating that she had been dragged, and a pool of blood in the location where she was found.

Medical Examiner Dr. Adele Lewis testified that Robinson had sustained numerous injuries from both the knife and the machete. She noted the cut to her throat along with numerous machete blows, including one to each side of her head. She said that in these spots, Robinson’s skull was fractured and her brain damaged. She also said that a wound she had sustained to the shoulder did not bleed because, at that point, her blood pressure was already too low.

Evidence suggested, and Simpson admitted, that the pair had engaged in verbal disputes because Simpson’s uncle accused Robinson of engaging in prostitution while he was away at Guard Camp.

In the couple’s apartment, authorities found a hole in the wall above the kitchen table that appeared to be the result of a domestic altercation. Simpson, however, explained that Robinson had caused the hole while he was away because she was angry about the allegations his uncle had made against her.

The battery for Robinson’s cell phone was found in Simpson’s pocket suggesting to prosecutors that it had been removed so that she would be unable to call for help. Simpson testified, however, that Robinson had multiple batteries for her phone and that before they left home she had told him to “grab one that was charged.” He said that he was unaware that she did not have a battery in her phone at that time.

Prosecutors alleged that Simpson cut Robinson’s throat with the kitchen knife and continued to stab her until it broke, then grabbed his machete to finish the job. Blood was found on a shovel in the bed of Simpson’s truck. That coupled with other evidence led prosecutors to conclude that he had planned her death.

When Simpson was on the stand, Assistant District Attorney Gary Howell asked, “Didn’t you really cut her with the knife until it broke, then get the machete and hit her some more, and while she was lying on the ground, hit her some more. And didn’t you then drag her to the side and pull up beside her. Weren’t you going to put her in the truck and take her out into West Point and bury her with the shovel? Isn’t that the plan?”

Simpson responded, “No sir that is not the plan.”

Simpson testified that Robinson had become enraged when he suggested taking her home to North Carolina or Michigan, and that he “noticed bizarre behavior going on.” He said she had pulled the kitchen knife from her purse, cut her own throat, then made attempts to attack him, as well. He said that she had jumped out of the truck and walked along the roadway, crying. He said when he attempted to get her back into the truck, she threatened him. He testified that she ran toward him “pretty quickly” with the knife still in her hand. His response, he said was to back up to the truck and grab a machete from the bed to defend himself. He said that “she intended to kill” him, and at that point, “We engaged in blows.”

Simpson said that he got into his truck to pull it into “the bowl” and that Robinson started to get into the truck through her still-open door. Simpson said when he pulled the truck forward that she “was on the truck and fell.” He said that she was dragged for a time before she came to rest on the ground.

Howell pointed out that Robinson had limited use of her right arm as the result of an accident that had occurred years prior, and subsequent surgery to repair damage to the arm. He indicated that she lacked the strength to have attacked Simpson in the manner he described. He also pointed out that Simpson had sustained no injuries during the altercation.

Howell stated, “She had a machete blow on the left side of her head that broke her skull and damaged her brain. She had a blow to the right side of her head that fractured her skull and bruised her brain. And she was running after you still trying to get in the truck?” Simpson said that she had.

A former police officer and expert witness in regards to blood and crime scene investigation, Johnny Lawrence, was engaged by the defense to review crime scene photos and documents and interpret what they meant. He testified that blood found on the shovel could have been transferred from Simpson’s shirt, which was found in the bed of the truck, lying on the shovel.

Defense Attorney Bob Massey gave a step-by-step scenario in which the events occurred as Simpson later stated in his testimony. He asked, “Based on your thirty-one years of experience, is that hypothetical feasible with what you saw?”

Lawrence responded, “It is very similar.”

Testimony was wrapped up on Friday and jurors returned Monday morning for deliberations. They continued on Tuesday, ultimately returning a verdict of guilty to the lesser charge of second degree murder.

A sentencing hearing will be held in November.