LEWISBURG — In a 911 call and police statement recorded early Sept. 28, 2008, soon after Charity Spickler was gunned down in a Lewisburg apartment, Roderick Sims admitted shooting her in the head because he was angry at her for lying to him.
Although Sims has since claimed in an interview with The Daily Item that he was drunk when he accidently shot and killed Spickler, his 27-year-old estranged fiancee, Lewisburg police Sgt. Fred Hetrick Jr. testified at a pretrial hearing in Union County Court Friday that there was no evidence he was impaired.
“I didn’t detect any alcohol and his actions weren’t consistent with impairment,” said Hetrick, who spoke to Sims on the telephone for 30 minutes immediately after the shooting at 55 S. Water St. and took him into custody.
Sims, 47, is charged with an open count of criminal homicide.
Defense attorneys William J. Miele and Edward “E.J” Rymsza, of Williamsport, are seeking to suppress the 911 call and taped statement Sims gave to police following the shooting on the grounds that he was unaware he was being recorded.
District Attorney D. Peter Johnson argued that it’s common knowledge that 911 calls are recorded, but Judge Louise O. Knight said she couldn’t automatically rule in his favor.
“As I was listening to the tape I didn’t hear the beeping sound” or an audible alert normally heard during taped calls, she said.
Some of the telephone call between Sims and Hetrick was interrupted by other calls to 911 and Miele asked the police officer if Sims ever said the shooting was accidental.
Hetrick said he couldn’t recall.
Miele asked Hetrick why he had blood drawn from Sims and tested if he didn’t believe he was under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
“To cover my bases,” Hetrick replied. “You can be under the influence and exhibit no signs.”
The dramatic 911 call made at 12:03 a.m. Sept. 28, 2008, begins with Sims telling an unidentified Northumberland County dispatcher, “I just shot my fiancee in the head.”
The call was transferred to Union County 911 Center and dispatcher Kevin Dozpat took over.
Sims repeated the same information four minutes later.
“I just shot my fiancee in the head. I’m in the bedroom with a gun to my head,” he said, describing the weapon as a .38 revolver
When Sims refused to put the gun down, Dozpat tried to get him talking about something else and asked about his hobbies.
“The woman I love is on the floor, dying. All over a... lie,” Sims said.
Hetrick took over the call from Dozpat and for 30 minutes spoke with Sims, who at times sobbed and moaned in anguish.
“Oh, please forgive me. I didn’t want this,” he cried.
In the 911 call and subsequent 22 minute taped statement taken at the police station, Sims said he shot Spickler because she lied to him about having relationships with other men and kept him from seeing their three young children.
He described going to the Lewisburg apartment late that September night and finding Spickler in bed with Eric Hitchcock, of Steelton, who told Sims they had just met.
“That infuriated me,” Sims said on the tape. “I just lost it. I couldn’t take it anymore.”
Asked by Hetrick why he didn’t shoot the man, Sims said, “I was mad at her.
“She took my kids. She knew I loved my children, but she took them from me. She could have told me she was seeing someone. She kept lying to me.”
At the end of the interview, Sims said he had consumed four to five beers and two shots of liquor the day of the shooting.
A blood-alcohol test conducted by a New Jersey laboratory found no evidence of drugs or alcohol in blood drawn from Sims three hours after the shooting.
The defense wants that evidence dismissed because the blood was destroyed by the lab and isn’t available for further testing.
Barring a dismissal, Miele asked the judge to allow the defense to call at trial expert witness, Dr. Lawrence Guzzardi, to calculate what Sims’ blood-alcohol level was based on the amount of alcohol he consumed.
Knight is allowing the defense and prosecution time to file briefs on the motions to suppress statements and evidence before issuing a ruling. She also ordered the commonwealth to specify aggravating circumstances.
News
Related Photos
Discussion
Lewisburg homicide case hinges on tapes
Defense seeks to suppress statements
- News
-
-
Firefighter union may char pacts
LEWISBURG — Paid members of the William Cameron Engine Company have voted to unionize under the International Association of Fire Fighters, a move believed to stem from internal tension between paid and volunteer members of the department, according to various sources.
-
M-W rule on drug testing is area’s boldest
MIDDLEBURG — Midd-West is the only school district in the Central Susquehanna Valley that requires students interested in participating in extra-curricular activities to agree to submit to random drug testing.
-
New shelter exec gets busy
When Cathy Teisher stepped down as executive director of Haven Ministries, in March, Pamela Steffen stepped up.
-
Tax boost could bring $120G pad
The Lewisburg Area School District will seek a 3.2 percent real estate tax increase for the 2012-13 school year, the maximum allowed under the index, under a proposed budget now available for public comment.
-
Fire has burned beneath Centralia for 50 years
CENTRALIA — Fifty years ago on Sunday, a fire at the town dump ignited an exposed coal seam, setting off a chain of events that eventually led to the demolition of nearly every building in Centralia — a whole community of 1,400 simply gone.
-
'To Do': Montandon Community Days
MONTANDON - Montandon Community Days will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 26 along Railroad Street.
-
California’s Coronado named nation’s best beach
CORONADO, Calif. (AP) — Like a Hollywood star, Coronado’s 1.5 mile-long beach literally sparkles, thanks to the mineral mica glinting in its sand.
That’s one of the reasons why Coronado — flanked by the iconic hotel featured in Marilyn Monroe’s 1958 film “Some Like It Hot” — has been named the No. 1 beach in the United States in the 2012 survey by “Dr. Beach” professor Stephen P. Leatherman of Florida International University. -
Typical CEO made $9.6M last year, AP study finds
Profits at big U.S. companies broke records last year, and so did pay for CEOs.
-
Barnstorming cattle badger citizens for beer
BOXFORD, Mass. (AP) — Police say a roving group of cows crashed a small gathering in a Massachusetts town and bullied the guests for their beer.
-
'A Day in Towne' tradition draws crowds to Boalsburg
May 25--For the 148th year, Boalsburg will be the gathering place for regional families to remember all ranks of Armed Forces veterans.
-
Fired Pa. president gets more time to clear office
CALIFORNIA, Pa. (AP) — A judge has canceled a hearing to determine whether California University of Pennsylvania president Angelo Armenti can remove his personal property from his former office, because state officials have given him more time to do so.
- Weird crime of the week: Peddler in pickup scams bargain-hunting meat seeker
- More News Headlines
-
Firefighter union may char pacts
