Vermilion woman was slave before killing husband

By Katie NixThe Chronicle-TelegramELYRIA — The sex life of a Vermilion couple, including a dominant-submissive contract between the slain husband and wife accused of his murder, was revealed during testimony last week in a Lorain County courtroom.Julene Simko, who opted for a bench trail, awaits a verdict from a judge. She's charged with murder charges in the death of her husband on Nov. 18, 2009, got underway earlier this month. Get an entire timeline of the Simko murder case at The Chronicle-Telegram, Lorain County's most trusted news source. Lorain County Prosecutor's Office investigator Rick Thomas testified he felt the bondage agreement, which listed 38-year-old Julene Simko as the obedient one, was part of her motive for shooting her husband.Thomas said, and Julene Simko confirmed in a 2013 interview with investigators that was shown Thursday, that her father had sexually abused her for a number of years as a child. Investigators found via a search of the Simko home computer that someone had accessed her father's obituary on a newspaper website the night before Jeremy Simko was shot, but she maintained it was not her in the 2013 interview."Given the unfortunate acts that happened to Ms. Simko as a child, coupled with the father-daughter/master-slave agreement and then her father's obituary being accessed by someone that night, coupled with the murder of her husband gave me pause for thought and concern," Thomas said. "Perhaps those things were related."In the statement, Julene Simko told Thomas the couple had a pretty regular sex life and "marital aids" were left out throughout the North Ridge Road home's second floor because they were used often.Jeremy SimkoJulene Simko also said the couple did create the 14-page handwritten contract but it was part of their roleplaying more than it was part of their "daily relationship.""I don't know what other relationships people carry on," she said. "It was just role playing, but he was a dominant guy, and I was comfortable in that relationship. It's not like we went out into the world with this."Thomas said, though, that this wasn't entirely true, as part of the agreement was that Jeremy Simko would attend his wife's obstetrics and gynecology appointments with her and there were indications that had happened.Thomas also said the agreement also outlined that Julene Simko would stop shaving her legs and underarms, which there was photographic evidence of. There also were pictures showing that she was "chained to something in the basement and she was nude with a golf ball as a ball gag in her mouth, a collar around her neck, and you could see she's let the hair under her armpits grow."Thomas said there were also pictures of Julene Simko in torment, and he addressed those with her during their 2013 interview."There are pictures of you sometimes in distress," he told her. "There are pictures of you in chains crying. There are videos of you where pain is being inflicted upon you, and you're crying."Julene Simko said she was a "willing participant'' in those activities, as well as the videos of the couple investigators found in their home, that Thomas said were some of the most "elaborate" he had seen in his law enforcement career.Thomas also said the contract had other unsettling conditions including that Julene Simko would submit to certain sex acts and body parts "would be stretched and measured.""In the agreement it refers to the fact that she would submit to acts of bestiality," he said. "The photographs show her in silhouette in a state of nudity with dogs, and I think it was a reasonable concern that had taken place."In the 2013 interview, which took place near the fourth anniversary of Jeremy Simko's death, Thomas outlined several inconsistencies with Julene Simko's version of events that morning.For starters, investigators found there wasn't any blood on the 9 mm handgun that Julene Simko said she used to shoot at an unknown intruder in the hallway, nor was there any on the .357 Smith and Wesson revolver that was used to shoot Jeremy Simko at close range, indicating that both weapons might have been wiped clean.Investigators also found that the handle to the back door, which was open when officers arrived at the scene Nov. 18, 2009, didn't have any of Jeremy Simko's DNA on it, despite the fact that Julene Simko's statements and video footage showed him taking the dogs out to their houses in the yard before the couple went to bed.There was no sign of forced entry in the house and none of the alarms, which included four door alarms and one driveway alarm, sounded. The dogs that were chained up outside also did not bark."We're left with two people in the house — one is dead, and one is not," he told her. "Typically that lends itself to making you the prime suspect."The state rested its case Thursday afternoon, and the defense will begin its case at 9:15 a.m. Friday in front of county Common Pleas Judge Mark Betleski, who is deciding the case rather than a jury.Contact Katie Nix at (440) 329-7129 or knix@chroniclet.com. Follow her on Twitter @KatieHNix. Follow her on Twitter @KatieHNix.Defendant Julene Simko wipes a tear from her eye as she appears in court with attorney Jack Bradley on Thursday afternoon, Sept. 14.