Movement expected in murder cases

Simko, Rowan cases coming through courts

A few high profile cases will come through Lorain County courts the week of Oct. 16.

After nearly eight years of waiting, a verdict is expected in the case of Julene Simko late in the week.

Simko, 38, of Vermilion, stood trial for nearly two weeks on one count of aggravated murder, two counts of murder, two counts of felonious assault and a single count of tampering with evidence in connection to the 2009 shooting death of her husband, Jeremy Simko, 36, while he slept in their North Ridge Road home.

If convicted, she could face up to life in prison without parole.

Throughout the trial, prosecutors painted Simko as a coldblooded killer who shot her husband once in the back of the head with a .357 Magnum Smith & Wesson revolver the pair kept in a cabinet in their kitchen.

They highlighted Simko was the only person found to be in the home at the time of the

murder, the couple’s extensive security measures in their home and the inconsistencies present in multiple interviews between Simko and police in the hours following the discovery of his body.

Simko and her attorneys maintained she was sleeping a floor above the bedroom when the shooting occurred.

Believing her husband was firing shots out of the window bedroom window at coyotes, she moved downstairs and got into bed with him.

After noticing the blood, Simko claimed she heard what she believed was someone moving in the hallway outside of the room and fired two shots from a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol into the hall.

The case has raised eyebrows across the county because of the defense choice to forgo a jury trial and have it heard by Lorain County Common Pleas Court Judge Mark A. Betleski.

Also, John L. Rowan, 37, of Lorain County, is expected to be arraigned in Elyria Municipal Court this week after he is released from Lake Erie Correctional Facility on Oct. 15.

Rowan is charged with aggravated murder in the homicide of 60-year-old Harold Litten Jr. at his Jaycox Road home April 20.

Litten was found in an outbuilding on the property during a pre-arranged check of the area May 26.

In a press conference Oct. 3, police said Rowan had done some odd jobs for Litten in the past and they believed robbery may have been the motive for the murder.

Rowan was connected to the murder through DNA, fingerprints and cell phone records, authorities said.

Rowan is being held at the Correctional Facility after turning himself in on a parole violation.

Police believe he did so in an effort to give himself an alibi for the crime.

ERIC BONZAR — THE MORNING JOURNAL After waiving her right to a jury trial and opting for trial by judge, 40-year-old Julene M. Simko, of Vermilion, appeared alongside her attorney Sept. 12.