Convicted rapist, murderer to be re-sentenced for 1988 crime

David Rupkalvis, The World, Coos Bay, Ore.
·2 min read
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Jun. 1—A convicted rapist and murderer who was sentenced to death more than 30 years ago will be re-sentenced after a change in state law took the death sentence off the table.

David Lynn Simonsen, who has been appealing his death sentence for more than 30 years, will be re-sentenced during a hearing at 3 p.m. June 13 in the Coos County Courthouse with Judge Martin Stone presiding.

District Attorney R. Paul Frasier said Simonsen and Jeffrey Ray Williams were convicted of the rape and murder of two German citizens who were raped before being shot and killed in September 1988.

At the time, state law allowed the death penalty as a sentencing option in the case of aggravated murder, which included the murder of two or more people in the same criminal episode.

Both defendants were convicted of aggravated murder and were sentenced to death, due to the two women being killed in the same crime.

Williams died of natural caused while in prison in 2020, while Simonsen was appealing his death sentence.

While Simonsen was still on track to face the death sentence, things began to change during the 2019 legislative session when the Legislature changed the definition of aggravated murder. The new definition set by state lawmakers did not include the killing of two or more people in the same criminal episode. Instead, such cases are now considered murder in the first degree, and defendants are not eligible for the death penalty.

The language in state law made the law retroactive to any case that was sent back to the trial court for any reason.

Late last year, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled that since the Legislature changed the definition of aggravated murder, the changes should apply to anyone currently facing the death penalty.

When the state Supreme Court ruled, Simonsen had two appeals in process. He had a post-conviction relief petition pending in Marion County Circuit Court and a habeas corpus action pending in the U.S. District Court in Oregon. At the time, the federal case was put on hold due to the case in Marion County.

Due the change in state law and the state Supreme Court's ruling, Simonsen's death penalty was vacated in May and a new sentencing hearing was scheduled. He will be re-sentenced June 13, with the maximum penalty now life in prison