Death of woman found hanging ruled homicide; partner arrested
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A man who originally told police his girlfriend took her own life is now charged with killing her.
St. Petersburg police arrested 48-year-old Gregory Shinn on Tuesday and charged him with premeditated first-degree murder in 59-year-old Katrin Simpson’s death. On Wednesday, a judge gave Shinn no bond.
"I just couldn't believe it, and I'm still sort of in denial just like when I heard that she was murdered because it just seems so unreal," Simpson’s friend Johanna Monighan said. "It's something that we had waited for so long that it just it has to sink in. I mean, it's going to take a little while. Don't get me wrong, we're all very glad that we feel safe because when I first heard about her death and her murder, I was very fearful because Greg knows where I live. I mean, he has been at my house many times. So, I was really fearful. So were the neighbors here."
"Our neighbors are so happy," Stacey McKnight, Simpson’s friend of more than two decades and neighbor, said. "They can finally rest in peace and Katrin can now, her soul can rest in peace," McKnight said.
PREVIOUS: St. Pete police investigate suspicious death of woman found hanging in garage
Shinn called police on Feb. 20 and said he found Simpson hanging in the garage of their home. The Medical Examiner, though, said her injuries didn’t match Shinn’s claim that Simpson took her own life. Court documents said Simpson had a hemorrhage on the bottom of her brain, cuts on her face, multiple rib fractures and more.
The Medical Examiner said Simpson’s cause of death was strangulation with contributing factors of blunt force trauma and multi-drug toxicity. Police said Shinn had inconsistencies in his statements to detectives, and DNA taken from wire tied to a beam that Simpson was hanging from matches Shinn’s.
Police also said Shinn has a history of domestic violence against Simpson.
READ: St. Pete community mourns 11-year-old accidentally shot, killed by brother
McKnight said she didn’t believe Shinn’s claim that Simpson took her own life.
"Kat loved life and she loved everybody," McKnight said. "She always talked about living, and so we knew that it was definitely not that," she said.
"Kat just had that love and that compassion, that beautiful spirit about herself that she shared," McKnight said.
Court documents say about a month before her death, Simpson told McKnight if she "ended up dead, Shinn did it."
"She had run from him because he had tried to, at that time, put an orange extension cord around her neck she had told me, and then he had duct taped her mouth and her face and her eyes and she was able to get away and she came and she stayed the night with me," McKnight said.
READ: Miramar Hotel renovation plans gain support from St. Pete Beach residents
Simpson’s friends said Simpson, a veteran, helped anyone any chance she could get.
"She was just so encouraging. I mean, she really thought the world of you and was just all the time appreciative, and, I mean, it was just really good being around her," Monighan said.
They have a message for anyone who may be in a similar situation.
"Reach out to someone that they trust or even the police, and to try to make sure that they can get away … Don't stay. Don't stay in that type of environment. It is toxic. It's very harmful," McKnight said.
McKnight and Monighan said Shinn started renting the rooms out in the home after the murder. A woman who lives in one of the rooms said she was there when police arrested Shinn Tuesday night and had no idea what happened until a detective told her.
If you or someone you know is in need of help, the 24/7 National Domestic Violence Hotline is 800-799-7233.
SIGN UP: Click here to sign up for the FOX 13 daily newsletter
