At about 12:30 p.m. Friday after closing arguments, the jury in the trial of Henry Lee Jones Jr., charged with the murder of Brian Simpson, left the courtroom to begin deliberations.
To close, prosecutor Tom Bakkedahl summarized the sizable body of evidence, concentrating more on the evidence that was of greater quality.
Over and over, he showed jurors the video from the BP station where on Nov. 17 a motor scooter pulled up about two hours before Brian Simpson was shot to death in his own home.
Two unidentifiable people were on the motor bike. But from the same direction where the bike is, the video shows Henry Jones walking into the BP store, followed by Darius Robinson, placing the defendant with Robinson, who testified for the state.
Defense attorneys said nothing connects Jones to the crime.
Then, a photo appears on Jones’ iPhone, which police placed at Riverside Park through locators on the phone. Next, a fisherman spotted a motor scooter fitting the description of Jones‘ scooter, parked under the east end of the Barber Bridge, and two more witnesses saw two black males walking in the direction of Fiddlewood Road where the Simpson home is.
On Fiddlewood, two bikes were stolen off a porch and a slim, black person with his hair in a bun was seen circling on one of the bikes in front of the Simpson home. The witness told his family that the person was probably a lookout for a burglary. Darius Robinson said he was the lookout and Jones was in the Simpson home.
Another neighbor heard shots at about 7 p.m. and called police, who found Brian Simpson shot to death in his bedroom.
The two stolen bikes were found dumped near the Barber Bridge, where the motor scooter was, and the fisherman heard the motor scooter take off and race over the bridge, heading West.
Later that night, while police were securing the crime scene and looking for evidence at the Simpson home, Jones sent several phone messages asking what the value of a 1996 Liberty Eagle coin was.
A 1996 Liberty Eagle coin was stolen from the Simpson home and in the next several days police found it in Henry Jones’ bedroom with his fingerprint on the authentication paper, along with other possessions stolen from the Simpsons.
Darius Robinson, who participated in the burglary that ended with the death of Brian Simpson, told police he went with Jones on Jones’ motor bike and they stole jewelry and coins, then when Simpson arrived home unexpectedly, Jones shot him.
But the defense attorney Alan Hunt in his closing said Robinson was lying. Hunt did not address why evidence corroborated what Robinson said. Hunt also focused on evidence that prosecutors had already conceded was not their strongest evidence but simply information worth considering.
Nothing connected Jones to the crime, Hunt maintained.
After the state attorneys and the defense attorneys finished, the jury headed back to deliberate.
No verdict is expected before 3 p.m. today, if then. If the jury is still deliberating at the end of the work day, the judge will instruct jurors on the schedule for continuing.
Oct. 3 12:27 p.m.
VERO BEACH — The jury has been dismissed for lunch following more than three hours of closing arguments in the murder trial of Henry Lee Jones Jr.
Following lunch, the jury could return and will begin its deliberations into Jones’ innocence or guilt. Jones is accused of murdering Brian Simpson during a home burglary in November 2011.
The jury must unanimously decide whether Jones is guilty or not guilty on the first-degree murder charge. It must also decide whether or not he is guilty of armed burglary with assault.
Oct. 3 11:34 a.m.
VERO BEACH — The prosecution is rebutting the defense’s closing arguments before the jury begins its deliberations in the murder trial of Henry Lee Jones Jr.
Both sides made their arguments for guilt and innocence Friday morning. Jones Jr. is accused of murdering Brian Simpson during a home burglary in November 2011.
Oct. 3 9:05 a.m.
VERO BEACH — Both the State and Defense will be making their closing arguments this morning in the murder trial of Henry Lee Jones Jr., charged with shooting and killing Brian Simpson in 2011.
Both sides rested their case Thursday. The jury could be instructed to head into deliberations later today.
Oct. 2, 5:11 p.m.
VERO BEACH — Thursday afternoon the prosecution and the defense in the murder trial of Henry Lee Jones Jr., charged with shooting and killing Brian Simpson, rested their cases after four days of testimony.
The final prosecution witness Mike Scott, an electronic equipment detective with the sheriff’s office, testified about what he found on Jones’ iPhone: An accidental dark photo taken at 6:05 p.m., Nov 17, 35 minutes before Brian Simpson was murdered, which Scott was able to track through iPhone location coordinates, to Riverside Park near the Barber Bridge.
Witnesses had already described a motorcycle, matching the description of Jones’, parked under the Barber Bridge, about a half mile from the Simpson house, at the time of the murder.
Scott also testified that six hours after Brian Simpson was murdered in his own home, messages were sent from Jones’ phone asking what a 1996 Liberty Eagle coin was worth.
A 1996 Liberty Eagle coin was stolen from the Simpson home at the time Brian was killed. It was found in Jones’ bedroom at the house in South Vero where he was living, with Jones’ fingerprint on the accompanying authentication certificate.
Scott conceded to defense attorneys that iPhone location coordinates can sometimes be off, the evidence.
The brief defense case concluded with the testimony of Zachariah Luke, 19, who is serving a 5-year sentence for burglaries of occupied dwellings, car theft and illegal fencing of stolen property.
For two months in 2012, Luke was the cellmate of Darius Robinson, charged as an accomplice to Henry Lee Jones Jr., in the killing of Brian Simpson. Within a week of the killing, Robinson became a witness for the state, describing in detail what he said occurred before, during and after the shooting.
During Jones’ trial, Robinson took the stand and affirmed that he and Jones took Jones’ motorcycle to the Barber Bridge, parked under it, then walked to Central Beach where they stole two bicycles and began looking for a house to break into.
When they saw Brian Simpson drive away from his Fiddlewood Road home, they broke in a back window of the family home and began taking jewelry, coins and other belongings.
When Brian arrived back home within minutes, Jones and Robinson ran in the master bathroom, where Brian went after them. As Robinson was trying to get out of a window, he testified, Jones fired four shots, killing Simpson.
But Luke, as the final witness in the case, gave testimony that contradicted Robinson’s.
Luke said Robinson told him when they were cellmates that “Henry Jones wasn’t in the house when (Simpson) was shot.”
How much weight Luke’s testimony has will become evident when jurors reach a verdict. Jury deliberations will begin Friday after closing arguments.
Oct. 2, 1:18 p.m.
VERO BEACH — The prosecution is done presenting its case for guilt in the murder trial of Henry Lee Jones Jr. who is charged with murdering Central Beach’s Brian Simpson in November 2011.
The defense team is expected to call a couple witnesses this afternoon and then rest.
Judge Robert Pegg denied the defense’s motion to dismiss the case and adjudge acquittal.
Closing arguments are expected to be held beginning at 9 a.m. Friday. The jury could receive the case by late Friday morning or early Friday afternoon.
Oct. 2, 9:12 a.m.
VERO BEACH — Today is now the fourth day of testimony in the murder trial of Henry Lee Jones, Jr., who is accused of killing Central Beach father of two Brian Simpson during a home burglary in November 2011.
By the end of Wednesday, State prosecutors indicated that they might wrap up their case before today’s end.
The defense was put on notice to have their witnesses ready.
Oct. 1 7:13 p.m.
VERO BEACH — Wednesday, the third day of the trial of Henry Lee Jones Jr., charged with the murder of Brian Simpson, prosecutors produced some strong evidence, as well as some not so strong evidence.
The strong evidence came from Jones’ bedroom in the South Vero Beach house where he lived at the time of the murder.
There, police recovered Brian Simpson’s watches and jewelry belonging to Kristen Simpson, who testified that it was stolen from their bedroom dresser on the night Brian was murdered, Nov. 17, 2011.
Further, latent fingerprint technician Kelly Hare, of the Vero Beach Police Department at the time of the crime, testified that she identified Jones’ fingerprints on items belonging to the Simpsons that were in Jones‘ bedroom.
A stolen certificate of authenticity for a coin belonging to the Simpsons had Jones‘ left thumb print on it. In the same metal lockbox with the certificate was an envelope with Kristen Simpson’s thumb print on it.
The metal lockbox had a change tray in it with four fingerprints belonging to Jones.
Highlands resident Larry Tindall testified that the metal lockbox was stolen from his home Nov. 8, nine days before Brian Simpson was murdered. And, blue earphones belonging to Tindall were also in Jones’ bedroom with Jones‘ fingerprint on them.
On the same day the lockbox and earphones were stolen frrom Tindall, a pearl-handled .22 revolver — that co-defendant Darius Robinson testified Jones used to shoot Simpson — was also stolen from him, said Tindall, along with rifles found in Jones’ bedroom.
The pearl-handled revolver, however, has never been found.
While Jones‘ defense attorneys have repeatedly said that finding the Simpson and Tindall belongings in Jones‘ bedroom with his fingerprints on them is not proof that Jones burglarized either house, the evidence still helped build a case that Jones was at the Simpson home and took belongings the night of the burglary and murder.
Less convincing — though something prosecutors want jurors to consider — were glove patterns, shoe prints and bullets that may link to Jones.
Gloves retrieved from the house where Jones lived had the same dot pattern as glove patterns in the master bathroom taken from the Simpson home after the murder.
Also, Nike tennis shoe prints taken from the Simpson home and yard matched the sole prints of Jones‘ Nike tennis shoes. But prosecutors conceded “they may have been Jones,” acknowledging that a lot of people have the same gloves and tennis shoes.
Crime lab ballistic technician Mark Chapman also explained similarities between the .22-caliber bullets taken from Brian Simpson’s body and a box of bullets found in Jones‘ possession. But he and prosecutors conceded that, while the bullets that killed Simpson may have come from Jones‘ box of bullets, they might not have.
Oct. 1, 12:10 p.m.
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Kristen Simpson, the widow of homicide victim Brian Simpson, took the stand again and began an emotional testimony recalling having to identify several personal items displayed in front of her at the police department after her husband’s death.
“There were things I did not recognize, there were many things that I did,” Kristen Simpson said.
When State Attorneys presented Simpson with a piece of jewelry in court, Simpson held it and said through tears, “This was my husband’s watch.”
As Simpson continued to identify objects handed to her, Judge Pegg intervened and dismissed the jury for lunch.
Court will resume at 1:30 p.m. and will begin with more of Simpson’s testimony.
Oct. 1, 11:42 a.m.
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The woman who said she allowed defendant Henry Lee Jones Jr. to stay at her house for a couple of weeks during November of 2011, took the witness stand Wednesday morning.
Laura Bloom told jurors she lived in a Vero Beach home with a female roommate and her daughter during November of 2011. Her son, Bloom said, was not staying in her home at the time.
Bloom said she only knows Jones Jr. through her daughter.
After Jones was targeted as a suspect in the murder of Brian Simpson, authorities executed a search warrant on Nov. 22, 2011, at Bloom’s home on 24th Street SW and searched the bedroom where Bloom said Jones was staying.
Bloom said she was at home “all of the time” during November of 2011, and was not employed at the time. Other than one of Jones’ cousins, Bloom said Jones did not bring anyone else into the residence during the time he stayed with her.
Prosecuting attorney Tom Bakkedahl asked Bloom about bags of jewelry police found in the bushes in front of her home.
Detective Robert Newman of the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office took the stand next and testified about objects he collected at Bloom’s home.
Newman described several pieces of jewelry found inside Jones’ bedroom and 16 empty jewelry boxes found in bags in the bushes in front of Bloom’s residence. Newman also told jurors about a pair of gloves he found outside of the residence.
Bloom said police brought the bags of jewelry boxes to her attention, and confirmed none of it belonged to her.
Oct. 1 10:41 a.m.
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The State moved a video with audio recording depicting Henry Lee Jones Jr, being interviewed by detectives into evidence this morning.
Jurors watched and listened to the recording while following along with a printed transcript.
Detective Jason Jones took the stand just before the video was shown in court, and validated that he is the primary interviewer, and that he collected a white iPhone and a pair of Nike shoes at the time of the interview.
During the recorded interview taken in 2011 immediately after Jones Jr.’s arrest, the defendant was questioned about his knowledge of the death of a Vero Beach man that had taken place a few days prior. Jones said he had been told someone had been killed but knew of no other details.
Jones Jr. was also asked why he was seen in the neighborhood where homicide victim Brian Simpson was found dead in his home, four days after the murder.
To explain his presence in the residential area, Jones Jr. repeatedly said he and his friend, Darius Robinson, were just walking in a circle from the boardwalk where he had parked his motorcycle, through the neighborhood, then back to the boardwalk.
At the end of the video, Jones Jr. tells detective there is no chance he would have been in the homicide victim’s home.
The defense posed two clarifying questions to Det. Jones before he was dismissed from the stand.
Lieutenant Matt Harrelson took the stand next.
Judge Robert Pegg dismissed the jury for a morning break at 10:30 a.m.
Oct. 1 9:17 a.m.
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The third day of the murder trial of Henry Lee Jones Jr. is getting started now after a 10-minute delay. The first to take the stand is Detective Jason Jones.
Defendant Jones Jr. is charged with the murder of Brian Simpson, a father of two who walked in on a burglary in progress at his Central Beach home in November 2011.
Authorities say Jones Jr. shot and killed Simpson through the bathroom door while Jones Jr. and his then-16-year-old accomplice attempted to escape.
Sept. 30 7:25 p.m.
VERO BEACH — In the murder trial of Henry Lee Jones, charged with the murder of Brian Simpson, the state’s star witness Darius Robinson testified Tuesday afternoon. And, as expected, he pulled much of the circumstantial evidence together, giving added credence to the prosecution’s case by being an actual witness to the shooting.
But his testimony as a witness consisted mostly of saying “Yes, sir” and “No, sir” as prosecutor Steve Gosnell led him through the robbery at the Simpson home and the shooting of Brian Simpson.
As a result, it is difficult to predict whether Robinson convinced all of the jurors that Henry Lee Jones, for whom Robinson was an accomplice in a burglary of the Simpson home, according to the State, was the one who shot Brian Simpson.
Jones’ defense attorneys pointed to 54 lies Robinson told police before deciding to tell the truth, and they raised questions about a few more contradictions after he said he made the decision to be honest.
One contradiction occurred during his Tuesday testimony when Robinson said he had not exchanged more than a greeting with police officer Milo Thornton in a BP store, after Thornton testified that he told Robinson in the store that he needed to get back to football practice.
At times, it was not clear whether Robinson was confused and not understanding the questions or trying to say what he thought was expected of him.
But Gosnell asked him: “Did I tell you to just come in here and tell the truth?”
And Robinson responded: “Yes, sir.”
Brian Simpson’s widow, Kristen Simpson, listened to Robinson’s testimony about the last moments of her husband’s life, having said months before that she wanted “to be there for Brian.”
Robinson said, as she listened, that he heard two shots coming from Jones and was “surprised.”
Then, he heard two more, he said, as Brian Simpson said, “You got me.”
Standing on the toilet in the Simpson bathroom, Robinson said he was trying to get out of the small window, as Jones fired the shots with “a gun with a white handle.”
Jones’ defense attorney Dorothy Naumann asked Robinson why he told police in the early stages of questioning that he wasn’t at the Simpson home and they should go and get fingerprints to see for sure, when he knew he was there and they might well get his fingerprints and charge him.
“I thought my fingerprints would be there. But if they went to see they’d leave me alone,” Robinson answered.
“You were hoping to get a break (from the interrogation)?” asked Naumann.
“Yes, m’am,” answered Robinson.
Naumann asked Robinson if he had written a letter to prosecutor Gosnell that said, “I don’t want nothing to do with Henry Jones’ case. Please don’t make me a state witness.
“Yes, m’am,” said Robinson.
Gosnell then asked Robinson if he hadn’t been forced to write the letter by Jones’ friends in the jail.
“Yes, sir,” said Robinson.
After his testimony Tuesday, Robinson was taken back to the St. Lucie County Jail where he has been placed in order to be separated from Jones and his friends.
Sept. 29 9:34 p.m.
VERO BEACH — Monday, the trial of Henry Lee Jones, Jr. charged with the murder of Fiddlewood Road resident Brian Simpson began with opening arguments.
Prosecutors said they would build a minute by minute case with circumstantial evidence buoyed by the testimony of Darius Robinson, an accomplice to the murder who became a state witness.
Defense attorneys said Robinson was a liar, and unexplained fingerprints and other clues would create reasonable doubt that Jones was even at the Simpson home the night Brian was shot twice and died.
After opening arguments, witness testimony began.
First on the stand was Brian’s widow, Kristen Simpson, who explained locations in the house to help jurors orient themselves to what happened where. As Kristen talked, police showed photos of open doors and windows at the Simpson home, as well as ransacked drawers in the master bedroom.
Kristen was followed by witnesses who placed two men, whose descriptions fit Jones and Robinson, closer and closer to the house, as the time of the shooting drew closer.
A security video from a BP gas station on Oslo Rd. showed Robinson and Jones together an hour before the murder. A Simpson neighbor told of popping sounds like a gun coming from the Simpson home at about 6:45 PM on the night Brain was killed, Nov. 17, 2011.
Police officers said they found Brian Simpson dead on the floor of the master bedroom, and crime scene technician Kelly Hare began testifying about Nike shoe prints in the Simpson yard that matched the shoes Jones was wearing that night.
Despite the mounting evidence connecting Jones to the Simpson home and the anticipation of Robinson’s testifying on Tuesday to pull it all together with an eye witness account, defense attorneys warned that no forensic evidence connected Jones to the Simpson home and Robinson would be shown to be a liar.
During Monday’s testimony, jurors listened intently and a few wiped their eyes when Kristen Simpson finished testifying.
Tuesday, the trial continues with the testimony of Darius Robinson, which prosecutors expect to bolster the case against Jones.
Sept. 29 10:13 a.m.
VERO BEACH — Opening arguments are underway in Judge Robert Pegg’s courtroom as both the prosecution and defense address the jury, framing their case for guilt or innocence.
At stake is justice for Brian Simpson’s family and freedom for Henry Lee Jones. Jones is accused of murdering Simpson in November 2011 after the barrier island father stumbled upon two burglars in his home.
A jury of 12 was seated before the end of the day last Friday following four days of questioning and screening. The jury consists of six men and six women, and, of those 12, one woman is African-American. The alternates are two women and one man.
