Prosecuting Attorney Kelden Waltjen announced that 72 year-old Steven Ray Simpson was indicted in connection with a cold case murder investigation by the Hawai‘i County Police Department.
Simpson is charged with the April 1978 murder of Valerie Warshay, a 26 year-old park ranger from California whose body was discovered at Harry K. Brown Park.
As the Indictment alleges, Simpson is charged with Murder (intentionally or knowingly caused the death of another person). The charge is drafted in compliance with the statute as it was in effect in 1978. Murder is punishable by a life term of imprisonment with the possibility of parole.
Simpson is scheduled to make his initial appearance in Hilo Circuit Court via video conference on Wednesday, July 6. He remains in custody in lieu of $250,000.00 bail.
In a statement Hawaiʻi County Prosecuting Attorney Kelden Waltjen said “We hope that the filing of these charges brings the Warshay family some sense of closure. They’ve waited a long time for justice. I’d like to recognize the hard work of Hawai‘i Police Department Detective Derek Morimoto, Lieutenant Rio Amon-Wilkins, the Area I Criminal Investigation Section, all of the retired officers who played a role in this investigation, and Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Annaliese Wolf, who will be handling the prosecution of this case and is our Office’s cold case prosecution lead. We’d also like to thank the Department of Public Safety’s Sheriff Division, First Deputy Sheriff Lanikoa Dobrowolsky, and Deputy Sheriff Kevin Boswell for their assistance in the arrest.”
The charges are merely allegations, and the Defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty
(Photo credit: Hawaiʻi County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office)
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