EX-CONVICT KILLER SENTENCED.Byline: KAREN MAESHIRO Staff Writer A California City ex-convict convicted of killing another ex-convict was sentenced Tuesday to 81 years to life in prison. Lee Wayne Simpson Wayne Kirby Simpson (December 2, 1948 in Los Angeles, California), is a former professional baseball player who played pitcher in the Major Leagues from 1970-1977. He would play for the Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals, Philadelphia Phillies, and California Angels]. , 35, was convicted of first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of 35-year-old Daryth Fairbank in February in the desert northeast of the city's airport. ``It was a very cowardly murder where he shot the victim in the back of the head and left him out in the desert, and then he fled to Mendocino County and tried to get rid of evidence up there,'' Kern Kern, river, 155 mi (249 km) long, rising in the S Sierra Nevada Mts., E Calif., and flowing south, then southwest to a reservoir in the extreme southern part of the San Joaquin valley. The river has Isabella Dam as its chief facility. County Deputy District Attorney Scott Spielman said. A clear motive was never established but it probably involved drugs, Spielman said. Simpson was convicted of residential burglary and arson arson, at common law, the malicious and willful burning of the house of another. Originally, it was an offense against the security of habitation rather than against property rights. in 1997 and of being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm firearm, device consisting essentially of a straight tube to propel shot, shell, or bullets by the explosion of gunpowder. Although the Chinese discovered gunpowder as early as the 9th cent., they did not develop firearms until the mid-14th cent. in 2000, prosecutors said. Simpson was sentenced in Kern County Superior Court in Bakersfield to 25 years to life for the first-degree murder and that term was doubled because of his arson conviction. Added on was another 25 years for his use of a gun plus six years for having been previously convicted and sent to prison. ``He would not be eligible for parole parole (pərōl`), in criminal law, release from prison of a convict before the expiration of his term on condition that his activities be restricted and that he report regularly to an officer. until he serves the entire time, so he will spend the rest of his life in prison,'' Spielman said. Fairbank in the back of the head. Simpson dragged the body about 20 feet into the desert and then left, police said. Fairbank, who completed parole six weeks before he was killed, had a record as an adult of drug and firearm offenses dating back to 1994 in Ventura County, as well as a juvenile record, state records show. Simpson was arrested by Mendocino County sheriff's deputies outside the city of Ukiah on March 4, four days after Fairbank was killed. The victim and Simpson had known each other for several weeks, officials said. Fairbank was reported missing March 1 in what friends and family suspected was foul play foul play n. Unfair or treacherous action, especially when involving violence. foul play Noun 1. violent activity esp. murder 2. . He was found dead off a dirt road dirt road n (US) → camino sin firme dirt road n → chemin non macadamisé or non revêtu dirt road dirt n the next day by friends searching the desert for him, police said. When Mendocino County deputies arrested Simpson, he was inside a home and his 1995 green Ford pickup truck was parked outside, police said. karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com (661) 267-5744 |
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