PICKENS, SC – A Pickens County woman accused of killing her five and seven year-old children and then trying to kill her husband pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
Defense Attorney John Mauldin told jurors Suzanna Simpson, 38, suffered from bipolar disorder brought on by post-partam depression. He described bouts of odd behavior such as suspecting her home was being bugged and neighbors were drug dealers, all of which were untrue.
But in opening statements, Solicitor Walt Wilkins said Simpson knew right from wrong and she should be convicted on the murder and attempted murder charges.
Simpson shot and killed her children and wounded her husband in May of 2013 at her Dacusville home. She then crashed her truck into a tree on a neighbor’s property in what Mauldin says was a suicide attempt. The crimes made national headlines.
The trial is expected to last a week.
