The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office says the New York man accused of stalking and threatening a pair of TV anchors admitted that he was "on his way" to kill Nancy Grace.
However, court documents obtained by New Times reveal MCSO detectives went to New York to interview David Lee Simpson -- who admits he's in love with Jodi Arias -- on June 25, and told him criminal charges against him would be coming. Simpson then allegedly told co-workers on July 16 that he was leaving to kill Grace. He said the same thing on July 17 and was arrested that day by a local detective.
See also:
-Jodi Arias Fan Accused of Threatening TV Anchors, Said He'd Gut One "Like a Deer"
It's difficult to tell how serious those threats were, but it's also hard to tell how the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office gets involved with a New York man threatening to kill Nancy Grace in Atlanta.
According to a lengthy probable-cause statement submitted by an MCSO detective, a reporter for ABC 15 forwarded an e-mail to an MCSO sergeant about a woman being threatened by someone through Twitter.
The woman lives here, but of the few dozen threatening tweets included in the probable-cause statement, none of them appear to threaten the local woman.
Simpson, using one of his several Twitter handles, "daveandjodilove," called himself "Cobra," and said he was the one who killed Travis Alexander and added that Sheriff Arpaio is a "coward."
The woman did tell detectives that she was afraid of Simpson, and had trouble sleeping because of things he said on Twitter.
Simpson was then interviewed in New York, and he apologized for what he said on Twitter. However, after detectives left, he went back on Twitter and started sending creepy tweets at Grace and Jane Velez-Mitchell again.
A New York detective arrested Simpson several weeks later, after Simpson apparently told co-workers he was going to Atlanta to kill Grace.
MCSO detectives made a second trip to New York to interview Simpson, who said he was in love with both Arias and Grace, and "did not know which one he wanted," according to the probable-cause statement.
Investigators did find several guns, shotgun ammo (but no shotgun), handcuffs, zip-ties, binoculars, a knife, and a police radio in Simpson's car.
Simpson was then brought back to Arizona on a grand jury warrant, and, according to MCSO, admitted "that he was on his way to Georgia to kill Nancy Grace by 'putting a knife' between her legs and slicing her to death." Given the delusional thinking he demonstrated on Twitter, it's hard to know if anything he says is believable.
An MCSO press release adds that Simpson "admitted to placing several pipe bombs in a rural area in Northern Pennsylvania."
Simpson faces charges of stalking and computer tampering here.
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Follow Matthew Hendley on Twitter at @MatthewHendley.
