Peo v. Simpson

── Peo v. Simpson ── Court: Colorado Court of Appeals Date: April 16, 2026 Category: General 22CA0465 Peo v Simpson 04-16-2026 COLORADO COURT OF APPEALS Court of Appeals No. 22CA0465 El Paso County District Court No. 20CR2604 Honorable Frances Johnson, Judge The People of the State of Colorado, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Laurence William Simpson, Defendant-Appellant. JUDGMENT AFFIRMED Division II Opinion by JUDGE FOX Kuhn and Sullivan, JJ., concur NOT PUBLISHED PURSUANT TO C.A.R. 35(e) Announced April 16, 2026 Philip J. Weiser, Attorney General, Paul Koehler, Senior Counsel, Denver, Colorado, for Plaintiff-Appellee Megan A. Ring, Colorado State Public Defender, Emily Hessler, Deputy State Public Defender, Denver, Colorado, for Defendant-Appellant ¶1 Defendant, Laurence William Simpson, appeals his convictions for attempted first degree murder and child abuse. We affirm. I. Background ¶2 In the spring of 2019, Simpson, a Pennsylvania resident, planned a summer trip to Colorado Springs with his ten-year-old twins, C.S. and D.S. Two years earlier, Simpson had separated from his wife and the twins’ mother, A.D. Before the vacation, Simpson discussed his plans with A.D. and told her he intended to fly to Colorado and rent a car for the return trip. On June 7, 2019, Simpson and the children flew to Colorado. During the trip, he sent A.D. regular updates. ¶3 Near the end of the trip, Simpson made “milkshakes” using ice cream, Gatorade, and strawberries. But they tasted bad, and the children refused to drink them. C.S. only took a sip, and D.S. testified that he drank “one to two ounces.” At trial in 2021, the children vaguely remembered Simpson telling them to finish the shakes. D.S. testified that he was able to drink a bit more after Simpson added more ice cream. C.S. was less certain that there had been a second or “improved” shake. Ultimately, Simpson or the children poured the shakes out. 1 ¶4 D.S. testified that Simpson then gave him and C.S. “vitamins or pills,” but he did not know what the pills were. D.S. swallowed one pill but spit the rest out. C.S. did not testify about the pills. The children testified that they felt normal that evening and the next day. ¶5 At around 2:45 a.m. on June 13, 2019, Simpson called A.D. in “total despair.” Simpson shared that he had quit his job after telling his boss he was terminally ill, had no money because he spent it on the trip and had “racked up credit card debt,” and he did not know how to get himself and the children home. A.D. then arranged return flights, and Simpson and the children arrived after midnight on June 14. ¶6 Later that day, Simpson — hyperventilating and in tears — called his friend B.M. B.M. testified that Simpson said, “[H]e gave up” and “dissolved pain medicine in the kids’ shakes.” B.M. also recalled Simpson saying that after the children refused to drink the shakes, Simpson grabbed the shakes and “kind of snapped to it and got the shakes and dumped them.” B.M. later told A.D. what Simpson had said, and A.D. called the police. 2 ¶7 A.D. took the children to get blood tests, which were negative for drugs. Police also tested residue from the blender Simpson used to make the shakes, which similarly yielded negative results. Test results from red stains found on C.S.’s sweatshirt also proved fruitless. ¶8 Simpson was charged with four counts of attempted first degree murder (two counts per child under alternate theories) and two counts of child abuse. § 18-3-102(1)(a), (1)(f), C.R.S. 2025 (first degree murder); § 18-2-101(1), C.R.S. 2025 (attempt); § 18-6- 401(1)(a), (7)(b)(I), C.R.S. 2025 (child abuse). The jury convicted him as charged. II. Su