Since 1989, judges have repeatedly ordered the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo to hold Keith Simpson until he is well.
But six times, Simpson has simply walked away from the hospital or its affiliates before his treatment was complete.
This last time, police say, he did a lot of damage. Police suspect that in the 3-1/2 weeks after he left the hospital Jan. 28, Simpson may have been involved in at least seven felony cases in Denver, including kidnapping, car theft, burglary, assault and attempted murder.
Simpson’s ability to disappear from doctors and counselors only to resurface and commit new crimes suggests the state hospital’s evaluation process is flawed, said state Rep. Buffie McFadyen, D-Pueblo West.
“We bear responsibility for the crimes he’s committed,” she said.
The case raises questions about the hospital’s escape protocols, McFadyen said. It appears the hospital should involve state police in searches, she said, adding that this episode gives further urgency to a hospital operational audit.
After his arrest Feb. 22, Simpson told police about his crack-fueled crime spree, but he says he was too hungry to recall every incident.
There was the elderly woman he tried to kidnap and stabbed at a Starbucks on Colorado Boulevard. There was the steak knife he broke on a disabled veteran’s head as he intended to kill him. There was the home he crept into planning to hurt or kill the occupants.
“It was like a bad dream,” said Joyce Dire, 74, recalling her harrowing home encounter with Simpson. “He grabbed my wrist. He shoved me. After he left, I just started shaking and I was scared to death.”
But those felonies are only the beginning, Simpson said from the Denver City Jail in an interview recently. He says when he has another chance he’ll confess to a half-dozen other robberies.
District Attorney Mitch Morrissey’s office has charged Simpson with numerous counts already.
“As Denver police officers continue to investigate, other possible cases could be filed,” said Lynn Kimbrough, Morrissey’s spokeswoman. She said if convicted of all the crimes to which he has confessed, he could spend the rest of life behind bars.
While what Simpson did Jan. 28 is, technically, an escape, hospital officials consider it a “walk away” because he didn’t have to scale a fence.
On Jan. 10, Simpson was moved from the hospital to Peer 1, a drug-treatment halfway house in Denver.
Simpson said at Peer 1 he was denied training opportunities because of his reputation for manipulation.
With a criminal history dating to age 7, Simpson, 54, admits he defied authority figures including his father, Ralph Simpson Sr., a former Harlem Globetrotter. While his brother Ralph Jr. became an NBA star for the Denver Nuggets, Keith served three prison terms in Michigan for robbery, he said.
In 1989, Keith Simpson robbed two Aurora convenience stores. He said he decided to fake a mental illness to avoid a possible life term.
“I just told them I heard voices,” he said. “The voices told me to throw tables across the room, and they believed me.”
Shortly after his commitment, Simpson’s schizophrenia diagnosis was switched to antisocial personality disorder after doctors agreed he was not mentally ill, according to numerous reports provided after Simpson signed a release. State law requires the hospital to treat all patients until they are no longer considered dangerous. Simpson doesn’t receive medications, but for years he has been considered dangerous and has received extensive therapy to curb his antisocial behavior.
Hospital Assistant Superintendent Irene Drewnicky said confidentiality rules prevent her from commenting about Simpson. But state law requires the hospital to treat antisocials like any other patient.
“We’re not a prison; we’re a hospital,” Drewnicky said.
Before patients are advanced, they undergo therapy, must behave well, are evaluated and must get a judge’s approval, she said. Rarely are there problems, she said.
“We sure as heck are not going to recommend someone be advanced if we think it will be unsafe,” Drewnicky said.
Simpson complained that hospital staff too often penalized him because of his past. He was also upset that his family rarely visited him.
“I felt hateful and lonely with all that was going on in my life,” he said.
Ralph Simpson Jr., now a minister at an apostolic church in Denver, said he spoke with his brother by phone in January when Keith went to Peer 1 and has visited Keith over the years at prison and the hospital. He said his brother often gets into trouble when he gets drunk or high.
“I feel bad for him,” he said. “But he definitely needs to take responsibility for his own actions.”
When Keith Simpson walked away for the sixth time Jan. 28, he used scissors from Peer 1 to cut off a satellite-tracking ankle bracelet.
McFadyen said the cutting of the monitor, which set off an alarm, should have triggered an immediate search. The fact that it didn’t, she said, suggests a dangerous security gap.
The state hospital told law enforcement and the media about his “walk away.” But hospital police don’t search for patients outside their jurisdiction in Pueblo, Drewnicky said.
Simpson said when he escaped, he knew what he was going to do to survive.
“From that day on, I was on a crime spree,” he said.
Simpson said that on Jan. 30 he attacked an elderly veteran at his home in Denver. He said he took $300 from the man’s wallet and stabbed at him, but the knife broke.
The veteran was cut in the throat, shoulder and head, a police report says. Simpson faces attempted murder, robbery and assault charges.
On Feb. 11, Simpson accosted a woman at Starbucks and stabbed her in the abdomen, he said. Denver police put out a Crime Stoppers warning about the then-unidentified suspect.
The next day, Simpson slashed the bedroom window screens of Dire’s home. When she gave him money and other valuables, he decided not to harm her or her husband, he said.
“He’s still in my mind,” Dire said. “It has really bothered me.”
Police found a crack pipe and a cellphone Simpson left at the crime scene. When police called the owner of the phone, they found another robbery victim. (Simpson was advised last week in Denver County Court that he faces robbery, kidnapping, burglary and theft charges in the case.)
With reports of a man matching Simpson’s description pouring in to police, the pattern-crimes unit put out a departmentwide bulletin. A tip from Arapahoe County authorities led to Simpson’s arrest Feb. 22.
Simpson said he hopes he never has to return to the state hospital.
“I believe I’m going to prison,” he said, “for the rest of my life.”
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
