Sue Simpson
Appearances
Dateline NBC
A mom's desperate search to find her daughter. Tears and fury in an Ohio courtroom. And the latest in the Karen Read case.
Good morning. Hey, I think everyone is here.
Dateline NBC
A mom's desperate search to find her daughter. Tears and fury in an Ohio courtroom. And the latest in the Karen Read case.
Well, prosecutors gave her a hard time saying that her opinions are subjective, not science.
Dateline NBC
A mom's desperate search to find her daughter. Tears and fury in an Ohio courtroom. And the latest in the Karen Read case.
Yeah, absolutely. Obviously, we'll be covering that. But another thing that happened on Tuesday is a judge sent a date for a similar hearing about the forensic expert who testified about that hotly disputed Google search. It was a hoth long to die in the cold, as you remember, Andrea. Yes. Well, that hearing is now scheduled for January 31st.
Dateline NBC
A mom's desperate search to find her daughter. Tears and fury in an Ohio courtroom. And the latest in the Karen Read case.
Just a quick recap. In 2015, a man named Aaron Quinn told police that his girlfriend, her name is Denise Huskins, He said that she had been kidnapped from their home.
Dateline NBC
A mom's desperate search to find her daughter. Tears and fury in an Ohio courtroom. And the latest in the Karen Read case.
And police still didn't believe them. They even gave a press conference saying the whole thing was a hoax.
Dateline NBC
A mom's desperate search to find her daughter. Tears and fury in an Ohio courtroom. And the latest in the Karen Read case.
Yeah, only there was a big, big difference in this case, of course. A couple of months after all of this started, a man named Matthew Muller, he's a disbarred attorney and he's an ex-Marine, he was arrested. And he later pleaded guilty to the kidnapping of Denise Huskins. And he was sentenced to 40 years.
Dateline NBC
A mom's desperate search to find her daughter. Tears and fury in an Ohio courtroom. And the latest in the Karen Read case.
Last week, two new charges were brought against Matthew Muller. In 2009, two separate women reported home invasions where they were drugged and a man threatened to rape them. The Santa Clara District Attorney's Office has announced that advances in DNA technology linked Matthew Mueller to these cases. So his arraignment on these new charges is set for next week. That is a big development. Yeah.
Dateline NBC
A mom's desperate search to find her daughter. Tears and fury in an Ohio courtroom. And the latest in the Karen Read case.
A whole lot of years, Andrea. He was sentenced to 130 years in prison. It was an emotional courtroom. Six of the girls' relatives gave victim impact statements. The judge said the girls' murder ranks right up there with the most hideous crimes. And just before she read his sentence, the judge accused Alan of rolling his eyes at her. So it was a whole, an incredible day in court.
Dateline NBC
A mom's desperate search to find her daughter. Tears and fury in an Ohio courtroom. And the latest in the Karen Read case.
I was, and that's right. As you know, she's headed back to trial later this year, but there's a lot of housekeeping before the retrial can even start.
Dateline NBC
A mom's desperate search to find her daughter. Tears and fury in an Ohio courtroom. And the latest in the Karen Read case.
Right. Prosecutors want the judge to exclude the testimony of a defense expert who testified at the first trial. She's a retired emergency room doctor. Her name is Dr. Marie Russell. And she said that the injuries on John O'Keefe's arm were consistent with dog bites. That's critical to the defense case.
Dateline NBC
Accused killer's voice on a 911 call in Michigan. A hike in paradise gone terribly wrong. And Karen Read's retrial begins.
You know, the judge, it's the same judge, Beverly Canone, has set an even bigger buffer zone around the courthouse to keep the crowds at bay.
Dateline NBC
Accused killer's voice on a 911 call in Michigan. A hike in paradise gone terribly wrong. And Karen Read's retrial begins.
This time there's something called a randomizer, actually, which is selecting all the reporters in the tiny courtroom.
Dateline NBC
Accused killer's voice on a 911 call in Michigan. A hike in paradise gone terribly wrong. And Karen Read's retrial begins.
When jury selection started on Tuesday, I was there very early in the morning and there are metal barricades up all around the court, more than in the past. I saw Dedham police going by on bicycles and, of course, their Massachusetts state troopers stationed in front of the court as they were last time. It feels like there's more security. I saw really small groups of protesters.
Dateline NBC
Accused killer's voice on a 911 call in Michigan. A hike in paradise gone terribly wrong. And Karen Read's retrial begins.
They were waving huge flags and they were wearing pink.
Dateline NBC
Accused killer's voice on a 911 call in Michigan. A hike in paradise gone terribly wrong. And Karen Read's retrial begins.
Oh boy, it is going to be a challenge. And people are saying, the judge is saying it could take two to three weeks. So on the first day, almost 100 prospective jurors were brought into the courtroom. And here's why it's going to be a problem. Three quarters of them said that they'd heard about the case with many of those people saying that they'd already formed an opinion about it.
Dateline NBC
Accused killer's voice on a 911 call in Michigan. A hike in paradise gone terribly wrong. And Karen Read's retrial begins.
And that's not, of course, what either side wants to hear. One more thing I want to say, having watched the proceedings on Tuesday when jury selection started, it's really interesting to see how deeply involved Karen is in working on the jury selection process. She is going through the questionnaires with the attorneys. She's sometimes at sidebar with them as they grill prospective jurors.
Dateline NBC
Accused killer's voice on a 911 call in Michigan. A hike in paradise gone terribly wrong. And Karen Read's retrial begins.
I'm not surprised at all. Is Alan Jackson there, her L.A. attorney? Yes. He is. And they've also added a New York attorney. And they actually added an alternate juror from the first trial, somebody who came forward who's an attorney. And she's working with the team. So she was going through questionnaires Tuesday as well with Karen. Fascinating.
Dateline NBC
Accused killer's voice on a 911 call in Michigan. A hike in paradise gone terribly wrong. And Karen Read's retrial begins.
Yeah, they have. They winnowed down about 100 prospective jurors to 13 men and three women. So that will be the 12 and four alternates. They filled out online questionnaires, you know, what have you heard about the case? She's rolling the dice here by representing herself.
Dateline NBC
Accused killer's voice on a 911 call in Michigan. A hike in paradise gone terribly wrong. And Karen Read's retrial begins.
Yeah, and so that led to a pretty intense moment in court earlier this week when they were still working their way through pretrial motions. Lori's trying to have a speedy trial, but the prosecution has said it's too speedy, that they don't have enough information about what she's planned for her defense. And they actually said she's trying to conduct a trial by ambush.
Dateline NBC
Accused killer's voice on a 911 call in Michigan. A hike in paradise gone terribly wrong. And Karen Read's retrial begins.
And Lori kind of took offense to that.
Dateline NBC
Accused killer's voice on a 911 call in Michigan. A hike in paradise gone terribly wrong. And Karen Read's retrial begins.
The judge was trying to get her to tell him about the relevancy of each of her witnesses, and they had this exchange.
Dateline NBC
Accused killer's voice on a 911 call in Michigan. A hike in paradise gone terribly wrong. And Karen Read's retrial begins.
Yeah, the total was actually over 60 until this week when one of those suits was dismissed by a judge because the plaintiff didn't identify herself. So this claim was brought in federal court in the Southern District of New York, so Manhattan. And the plaintiff said that back in 1995, she was at a party for a music video and she and Combs started kissing in the bathroom.
Dateline NBC
Accused killer's voice on a 911 call in Michigan. A hike in paradise gone terribly wrong. And Karen Read's retrial begins.
And when she stopped, she says he struck her and then he raped her. He is denied this allegation. So when she filed the suit in October, the judge said the plaintiff could stay anonymous because putting her name to those allegations would get her, quote, significant, potentially harmful attention from the media and the public.
Dateline NBC
Accused killer's voice on a 911 call in Michigan. A hike in paradise gone terribly wrong. And Karen Read's retrial begins.
But in January, that same judge said the plaintiff had until March 20th to come forward. When she didn't make that deadline, the judge dismissed her suit. Right. On Monday. Yes, yes. Comstein put out a statement after that dismissal came down, which said, For months, we've seen case after case filed by individuals hiding behind anonymity.
Dateline NBC
Accused killer's voice on a 911 call in Michigan. A hike in paradise gone terribly wrong. And Karen Read's retrial begins.
The other claims, like the one dismissed today, also will not hold up in a court of law.
Dateline NBC
Accused killer's voice on a 911 call in Michigan. A hike in paradise gone terribly wrong. And Karen Read's retrial begins.
I am. I am. I'm here for the start of jury selection in Karen Reid's second trial. You'll remember she's charged with hitting and killing her police officer boyfriend, John O'Keefe, with her SUV a little over three years ago now. She's pleaded not guilty. And the scene here in Dedham is still kind of wild.
Dateline NBC
Audio of a jailhouse sting. A woman's third murder trial in three decades. And the latest on a new texting scam.
Well, the prosecution and defense both made arguments, and Andrea, things got pretty heated. The defense pushed back on allegations the prosecution made last week, which were that the defense collaborated with two expert witnesses on their testimony and paid them more than $23,000 without disclosing that to the prosecution.
Dateline NBC
Audio of a jailhouse sting. A woman's third murder trial in three decades. And the latest on a new texting scam.
Now, the judge has not yet made a decision on whether or not the defense acted inappropriately, and we'll see what she says after more hearings next week.
Dateline NBC
Audio of a jailhouse sting. A woman's third murder trial in three decades. And the latest on a new texting scam.
Correct. These federal investigations are always wrapped up in mystery, right? The federal authorities, of course, are not commenting, but we believe they were looking into allegations of corruption in local law enforcement. And those allegations provided the context for the defense argument that Karen Reed was framed by corrupt local law enforcement officials.
Dateline NBC
Audio of a jailhouse sting. A woman's third murder trial in three decades. And the latest on a new texting scam.
But it's been widely reported that the investigation is officially over with no charges being filed.
Dateline NBC
Audio of a jailhouse sting. A woman's third murder trial in three decades. And the latest on a new texting scam.
If you've ever listened to the hit podcast Serial, you know the story of Adnan Syed. He was convicted in 2000 of murdering his high school ex-girlfriend, Haymin Lee, who was found strangled to death in 1999. But Syed has always maintained his innocence, and he and his attorneys have disputed the state's evidence against him. So there's been some back and forth with his conviction?
Dateline NBC
Audio of a jailhouse sting. A woman's third murder trial in three decades. And the latest on a new texting scam.
No, it's been a wild back and forth, a real seesaw. In 2022, his conviction was vacated, but later it was reinstated. And then last August, the Maryland Supreme Court said Syed could have another hearing about vacating his conviction.
Dateline NBC
Audio of a jailhouse sting. A woman's third murder trial in three decades. And the latest on a new texting scam.
But all that came to an end this week when the Baltimore City State's attorney withdrew the motion to vacate, saying it contains false and misleading statements that undermine the integrity of the judicial process. NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt spoke with the prosecutor about the decision.
Dateline NBC
Audio of a jailhouse sting. A woman's third murder trial in three decades. And the latest on a new texting scam.
So what is next for Syed? Well, his chance to have his conviction fully vacated is now gone. But Syed's attorneys filed a motion in December to get his sentence reduced to time served with the period of probation. He's already out of prison, so he'd remain free. There's been no ruling on that yet, but the state's attorney's office says it supports that motion.
Dateline NBC
Audio of a jailhouse sting. A woman's third murder trial in three decades. And the latest on a new texting scam.
On Tuesday, the jury found Eric Thompson guilty of second-degree murder and possession of a firearm in connection with the killing of John Tokuhara. Thank you, Sue. So many updates.
Dateline NBC
Audio of a jailhouse sting. A woman's third murder trial in three decades. And the latest on a new texting scam.
Yeah, love being here. Thank you, Andrew.
Dateline NBC
Audio of a jailhouse sting. A woman's third murder trial in three decades. And the latest on a new texting scam.
The extortion plot at the beginning is really a great red herring.
Dateline NBC
Audio of a jailhouse sting. A woman's third murder trial in three decades. And the latest on a new texting scam.
Well, the prosecution and defense both made arguments, and Andrea, things got pretty heated.
Dateline NBC
A verdict in Chattanooga. A widow accused of murder. And how to avoid natural disaster scammers.
So, Andrea, last time we spoke on the podcast, we were waiting for a judge to rule on whether or not a dog expert could testify for the defense at the retrial. And that ruling has now come in. The dog expert will be allowed to testify.
Dateline NBC
A verdict in Chattanooga. A widow accused of murder. And how to avoid natural disaster scammers.
That's a big win for the defense because this expert testified during Karen Reid's first trial that the injuries on John O'Keefe's arm were consistent with a dog attack, not with being struck by a car, as you know, the prosecutors allege.
Dateline NBC
A verdict in Chattanooga. A widow accused of murder. And how to avoid natural disaster scammers.
It is remarkable, isn't it? You know, in Rhode Island, our affiliate NBC10 spoke with Karen Reid's brother, Nathan. Here's what Nathan had to say about how he and his family are feeling about the retrial.
Dateline NBC
A verdict in Chattanooga. A widow accused of murder. And how to avoid natural disaster scammers.
Well, Andrea, last week's witnesses painted a vivid picture of what happened in the days leading up to Michael's death. And it's pretty remarkable. how all these people were in and out of the Cochran's house and they were watching his health deteriorate. One friend testified about Natalie's refusal to take Michael to a hospital to be looked at.
Dateline NBC
A verdict in Chattanooga. A widow accused of murder. And how to avoid natural disaster scammers.
No, she said she was going to let him sleep it off. And a contractor working for the couple recalled speaking to Michael a few months before his death and that Michael told him he was feeling dizzy and that he felt he'd been poisoned.
Dateline NBC
A verdict in Chattanooga. A widow accused of murder. And how to avoid natural disaster scammers.
This chemist confirmed that one of the vials was, in fact, insulin. But during cross, when he was asked if he could confirm whether he knew the vial had been used, this chemist said that was not in his area of expertise. The defense argued that if you're going to murder someone, why would you keep the murder weapon in your fridge, right? Well, we'll keep an eye on this one.
Dateline NBC
A verdict in Chattanooga. A widow accused of murder. And how to avoid natural disaster scammers.
It has been a long time. 1996, to be exact, and that's when Shakur was... fatally shot. He was sitting in the passenger seat of a BMW when a white Cadillac pulled up alongside the car and shots were fired.
Dateline NBC
A verdict in Chattanooga. A widow accused of murder. And how to avoid natural disaster scammers.
It was really his own words, authorities say, that put him there. He wrote six years ago in his 2019 memoir that he provided the gun that was used in the drive-by shooting.
Dateline NBC
A verdict in Chattanooga. A widow accused of murder. And how to avoid natural disaster scammers.
Davis's attorney claims that his client's constitutional rights were violated because of a delay prosecuting the case. Witnesses have died. Evidence has potentially been lost. You know, all of that could negatively impact the fairness of a trial. How did the judge rule this week? The judge rejected the motion and upheld the murder case against Davis. Davis has pleaded not guilty. What's next?
Dateline NBC
A verdict in Chattanooga. A widow accused of murder. And how to avoid natural disaster scammers.
Murder trial is still on, happening in March. Sue, thank you so much for joining us.
Dateline NBC
A verdict in Chattanooga. A widow accused of murder. And how to avoid natural disaster scammers.
The defense argued that if you're going to murder someone, why would you keep the murder weapon in your fridge, right?