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Man gets life in prison for killing his wife

Despite a lack of physical evidence, jurors convict the man of first-degree murder.

By COLLEEN JENKINS
Published January 28, 2005

NEW PORT RICHEY - Scott Dykstra was angry with his estranged wife.

It might have been because Lisa Marie Simpson pawned a cherished bass guitar. Or because she was seeing someone else. Or that she taunted him. Or over something trivial, like a pack of cigarettes.

Whatever it was, Dykstra was angry enough to strangle the 37-year-old Simpson early Nov. 29, 2003, and then place a pillow over her face to be sure she was dead.And for that, a jury Thursday found the moustached bass guitar player guilty of first-degree murder.

Circuit Judge Michael Andrews immediately imposed a sentence of life in prison.

The state's case, argued by Assistant State Attorney Michael Halkitis, was bolstered by Dykstra's own words.

Three inmates and several of Dykstra's friends testified during the three-day trial that Dykstra, 38, had admitted to the killing and described it in detail.

Halkitis also played a taped phone call in which Dykstra implicated himself, and one of Simpson's daughters told jurors that Dykstra had threatened her mother in the past.

Jurors didn't hear that Dykstra had a long criminal record or that he finished serving time for violating probation just three weeks before Simpson's death.

Defense attorney Sam Williams urged jurors during his closing argument to consider the lack of physical evidence linking his client to the crime. He said none was found in the Hudson home where authorities say the strangulation took place, in the car they said Dykstra used to transport Simpson's body or on the ground where they said he burned her body with $1 worth of gasoline.

"Fingerprints, blood, DNA? No, nothing," Williams said.

That contention, however, wasn't what kept jurors deliberating for 31/2 hours Thursday. Instead, it was the issue of deciding whether premeditation played a part in the murder, said juror Allan Jones Jr., 22.

The jury had two options: It could either find Dykstra guilty of first-degree murder, which requires premeditation, or not guilty of any crime. Lesser offenses, such as second-degree murder or manslaughter, weren't choices, a demand Dykstra made against his attorney's advice.

Jones said he was the lone juror on a panel of 12 who was initially unsure of whether Dykstra had had time to reflect on his actions during the commission of the crime.

"I never doubted" that he killed her, Jones said after the trial. But "I was looking at the law. I tried to put everything else out of my head."

Ultimately, Jones agreed the first-degree murder conviction was fitting.

Simpson's family, including her parents, sister and four teenage children, sobbed and smiled with relief after hearing the verdict. The three hour-plus wait for a decision had been excruciating, leaving them to wonder: What if Dykstra walked free?

He didn't, but justice inside the courtroom wouldn't heal all wounds.

"I thought I would feel different," Simpson's mother, Barbara Boschen, said of the trial's conclusion. Her voice shook; her eyes filled with tears. "But nothing will bring Lisa back."

Colleen Jenkins covers courts in west Pasco County. She can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6236, or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6236. Her e-mail is cjenkins@sptimes.com

[Last modified January 28, 2005, 00:21:17]