HERMANN — Jury selection began Monday in Springfield for the upcoming capital murder trial of a Warren County man charged with the death of one Hermann policeman and the wounding of another.
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HERMANN — Jury selection began Monday in Springfield for the upcoming capital murder trial of a Warren County man charged with the death of one Hermann policeman and the wounding of another.
The state’s case against Kenneth Lee Simpson, 35, for the March 2023 death of Hermann Detective Sgt. Mason Griffith and the wounding of Hermann Patrolman Adam Sullentrup is set to begin Tuesday, Jan. 20, and possibly continue through the next two or three weeks. The trial will be held in Franklin County Circuit Court on a change of Venue from Gasconade County.
However, the selection of 12 jurors and six alternates is taking place Greene County in southwest Missouri. Those jurors and alternates are scheduled to be transported to Franklin County on Monday, Jan. 19. They will be sequestered, presumably in Union, during the duration of the trial.
20th Circuit Presiding Judge Craig E. Hellmann, who will oversee the trial, made a rare move in recent months to lessen the likelihood of having grounds for an appeal by increasing the size of the jury pool from 600 Greene County residents to 1,000 residents. He told the Gasconade County Republican that increasing the size of the jury pool further improved the chances of impaneling an unbiased jury. Simpson, who initially was housed in the Crawford County Jail in Steelville, was transferred to the Franklin County Jail when the case was sent to Franklin County on a change of venue after he was formally arraigned in Gasconade County Associated Circuit Court.
Simpson allegedly shot Griffith and Sullentrup on Sunday, March 12, 2023, in Casey’s General Store on Market Street as the policemen were questioning him after learning he had been named in warrants issued in Warren and Franklin counties. After fleeing the scene, Simpson held up in a residence near the store and was taken into custody without further incident the next afternoon.
Because the jury pool is so large, Hellmann planned to conduct the selection process possibly over several days, with the potential jurors being questioned in several groups.
