Woman indicted in husband's homicide

FULL STORYastolfi@sanduskyregister.comIt took five years for investigators to identify and arrest the alleged killer of a Vermilion man, but Jeremy Simko's wife spent just a few hours behind bars Friday before posting bond and being released.Julene Simko, 36, was arrested Friday for her husband's Nov. 18, 2009 death. She was charged with aggravated murder and two counts each of murder, felonious assault and tampering with evidence, according to Lorain County prosecutor Dennis Will.Julene's arrest comes after a lengthy criminal investigation — she first claimed an intruder fatally shot her husband inside their North Ridge Road home, but hired an attorney soon after and stopped talking to police altogether. Jeremy, 36, at the time, indeed died from a gunshot wound to the head — but with the only witness remaining silent, officials struggled with the investigation.Vermilion police and agents with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation reviewed the case for years, sending evidence to the prosecutor's office along the way as Will requested it.Vermilion police said in early 2013 that all documents and evidence had finally been sent to Will, and that a grand jury decision would be in the near future.But it wasn't until Wednesday that a Lorain County grand jury convened and ultimately opted to indict Julene, Will said.Julene was booked into the Lorain County jail Friday morning, but was released at 2 p.m., according to jail records.She posted a $500,000 bond, likely through a bondsmen, a deputy at the jail said.First UpdateJulene Simko, 36, was indicted Wednesday by the Lorain County Grand Jury on multiple charges related to the 2009 homicide of her husband Jeremy. Jeremy Simko was discovered shot and killed in the couple's home in the early morning hours of November 18, 2009.Julene has been charged with one count of aggravated murder, two counts of murder, two counts of felonious assault and two counts of tampering with evidence.The homicide was investigated by the Vermilion Police Department, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification and the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office. Simko murder evidence delivered to prosecutor Vermilion 911 call: 'Somebody shot my husband' Lawyer: Wife fired shots at intruder who killed her husbandJulene SimkoJeremy Simko