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Detective: Suspect led police to weapon

Oakland Tribune, Oct 21, 2005 by Simon Read, STAFF WRITER

STOCKTON -- Michael Simons showed investigators where he dumped the shotgun used to kill his wife following his arrest in the October 2002 slaying, a detective testified Thursday.

San Joaquin County Sheriff's Detective Annette Mondavi said Simons took investigators in early March 2003 to the 3200 block of Alameda Avenue in Oakland, where he said he ditched the 12-gauge Remington shotgun used to gun down Jenna Simons, 17, of Livermore.

The prosecution says Michael Simons, 22, of Livermore, murdered his estranged wife for a life-insurance policy he believed would help him purchase a house.

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Jenna Simons -- formerly Jenna Nannetti -- was shot to death Oct. 6, 2002, in rural San Joaquin County after telling relatives she was going to discuss divorce plans with the defendant.

Her decomposing body was found Feb. 19, 2003, on a levee near Holt.

On Thursday, jurors viewed a video that detectives made of a shackled Michael Simons showing authorities where in the Oakland Estuary he ditched the murder weapon.

"Are you positive this is the spot?" one of the detectives can be heard asking on the tape.

"I'm positive," Simons said.

Simons is facing a charge of murder with the special circumstances of killing for financial gain and lying in wait. If convicted, he faces life in prison without parole.

Friends of the victim also testified Thursday, saying they heard Michael Simons threaten Jenna's life.

Daniel Bonacich, 27, said that a month or so before Jenna was reported missing, he witnessed an argument between her and Michael Simons outside Granada Bowl in Livermore.

"Michael Simons pulled Jenna off to the side," Bonacich said. "They were arguing heatedly. He raised his voice loud enough for me to hear him say, 'I'm going to kill you.'"

Bonacich said Jenna later told him the argument was over money.

Jamie Rashe testified she bumped into the defendant outside an Army recruiting office in downtown Livermore about a week before the killing.

"He was unhappy Jenna wouldn't give him a divorce," Rashe said. "He said, 'I'm going to take care of her.'"

Rashe said that at the time, she didn't know what Simons meant by the comment.

Michael Simons married the victim in June 2002.

The union lasted one month before it crumbled, and the couple separated, the prosecution said. Shortly thereafter, Simons began planning the killing with the help of 20-year-old Katherine Belflower and Jeffrey Hamilton, 22, of Livermore, the prosecution contends.

Belflower pleaded guilty to murder in May and is now serving a 25- year-to-life sentence.

Hamilton pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, officials said. He is facing 15 years to life in prison in exchange for his testimony in Simons' trial.

On Thursday, Perry Apker -- a friend of Belflower's -- said a few weeks before the killing, she showed him a 12-gauge Remington shotgun she had stolen from a neighbor and asked him to hold it for her.

Apker said he refused.

"I don't think my mom would have liked me bringing home a stolen shotgun," he said.

Testimony continues today.

Detective: Suspect led police to weapon

Oakland Tribune, Oct 21, 2005 by Simon Read, STAFF WRITER

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