BURLINGTON — Following a weeklong trial in which the defendant represented himself, a federal jury convicted a man of kidnapping a woman and her son in 2019.
The jury deliberated the fate of Everett Simpson for two hours Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Burlington before returning verdicts of guilty to two counts of kidnapping and two charges related to a stolen vehicle.
A judge will sentence Simpson, 45, at a later date. Kidnapping alone carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Simpson’s legal troubles are far from over. The former St. Johnsbury resident also faces a rape charge, which was filed against him in state court in White River Junction for allegedly sexually assaulting the woman he was charged with kidnapping. That case remains pending.
Tuesday’s verdict in the federal case caps a trial in which Simpson represented himself with assistance from Steve Barth, a federal public defender. The case was originally set for trial in March 2020, but that was pushed back by delays associated with Covid-19 and disputes between Simpson and his attorneys.
The case appeared to hinge on whether the woman he was charged with kidnapping went voluntarily with him or was forced to go. Simpson contended the woman had opportunities to flee and call for help but didn’t.
The woman maintained in trial testimony — sometimes under questioning from Simpson as he represented himself — that Simpson kidnapped her and she feared running away because her young child was in the back seat of the vehicle.
In 2019, Simpson was facing criminal charges related to a car chase when he was released from jail on $3,000 bail so he could attend the Valley Vista treatment facility in Bradford, which he later fled, prosecutors have said.
Then, according to court filings, Simpson stole a vehicle, abducted a woman and her 4-year-old child from the Mall of New Hampshire parking lot in Manchester, New Hampshire, drove her to White River Junction, and forced her into a hotel room where he sexually assaulted her.
According to court records, he left the hotel in her vehicle. He was later arrested in Pennsylvania after crashing the car once he was spotted by authorities.
Later that year, the state of Vermont settled a civil lawsuit for $400,000 filed on behalf of the New Hampshire woman and her son. The suit contended that the state did not do enough to locate Simpson after he fled the treatment center.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Lasher, speaking during closing arguments on Tuesday morning, told the jury that Simpson’s claim that the woman went voluntarily with him was preposterous and not supported by any evidence.
In fact, he said, the evidence all pointed to the woman being forced to go with him as he pushed her in the vehicle before driving it away with her and her child inside.
Lasher said Simspon saw a “vulnerable woman” and targeted her for “exploitation and to steal a car.” In describing the woman, he said her “fear was real and palpable.”
Simpson, in his closing statement, said he could admit to charges related to stealing the vehicles but would not admit to kidnapping charges. His voice breaking at times as he spoke, Simpson reiterated his claim that the woman went with him voluntarily.
“This was a horrible situation,” he told jurors. “What it was not was a kidnapping situation.”
He said he had been portrayed as a “monster” who committed the “worst crime” in Vermont’s history. He said to the jurors that he waited more than four years to argue his case himself in court though he understood he was unmatched by the government resources he was up against.
“But I will not stop,” he said.
