A seemingly perfect rural marriage has been shattered by a secret document and a trail of forensic contradictions, leading to a stunning conviction eight years after a husband was found shot in his own bed. The 2009 murder of Jeremy Simco in Vermillion, Ohio, long baffled investigators until a handwritten “slave contract” 𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓸𝓼𝓮𝓭 a dark undercurrent in his relationship with his wife, Julene, unraveling a story of domestic control, staged crime scenes, and a calculated escape that ultimately failed.
On the morning of November 18, 2009, a frantic 911 call from Julene Simco reported her husband had been shot. First responders found 36-year-old Jeremy dead from a point-blank gunshot to the back of the head in the couple’s bedroom. Julene, 31, presented as a traumatized survivor, telling police she was awakened by a noise, found Jeremy bleeding, and fired warning shots at a possible intruder before calling for help.
The scene, however, immediately raised suspicions. Jeremy’s own .357 Magnum lay on the kitchen floor, yet there were no signs of forced entry. The couple’s five dogs, known to bark aggressively at strangers, were silent. A functional security system was not triggered. Most perplexingly, forensic analysis found no foreign DNA in the home, and the murder weapon was wiped clean of any blowback or evidence.
For years, the case grew cold despite numerous tips. Theories ranged from a disgruntled contractor to a botched 𝒹𝓇𝓊𝑔 deal. Julene publicly mourned while tensions flared with Jeremy’s family, particularly when she moved to sell their home. Behind the scenes, however, a meticulous re-examination of evidence was underway, focusing increasingly on the only other person known to be in the house that night.
In a pivotal 2013 interview, investigators confronted Julene with mounting inconsistencies. They noted the lack of Jeremy’s DNA on the home’s primary door, suggesting it had been wiped. They highlighted that her story required an intruder to bypass multiple alarms and dogs, locate a specific gun, and commit the murder without leaving a trace—a statistical improbability in their low-crime community.
The investigation’s turning point was the discovery of a 14-page handwritten “master slave father-daughter agreement” on the couple’s computer. The contract outlined a dominant-submissive dynamic, casting Jeremy in a paternal role—a deeply troubling detail given Julene’s history of childhood 𝒔𝒆𝒙𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝓪𝓫𝓾𝓼𝓮 by her own father. This document provided a potential motive rooted in control and trauma.
Further digital evidence revealed someone in the home had searched for the obituary of Julene’s abusive father just 11 hours before the murder. Prosecutors argued this search, juxtaposed with the “slave contract,” indicated a powerful psychological trigger the night Jeremy was killed.
Witnesses began painting a picture of a volatile, controlling relationship. Former clients described Jeremy berating Julene publicly and forcing her to perform dangerous tree work. A cousin recounted Jeremy confessing he “hated” Julene and describing violent altercations. The picture that emerged was of a marriage far from the harmonious rural idyll Julene described.
Crucially, a nurse from the emergency room where Julene was taken testified that Julene initially mumbled, “I shot my husband,” before correcting herself. Analysis of the 911 call also concluded her speech patterns and descriptions were inconsistent with someone genuinely performing CPR on a dying spouse.
Faced with a case built on forensic absence—the lack of intruder evidence—and behavioral analysis, the state charged Julene in December 2014. She opted for a bench trial, where the judge heard over a dozen prosecution witnesses. The defense called none, not even Julene herself.
In October 2017, nearly eight years after the murder, Judge Roger Binette found Julene Simco guilty of aggravated murder, murder, felonious 𝒶𝓈𝓈𝒶𝓊𝓁𝓉, and tampering with evidence. He cited the overwhelming circumstantial evidence and the improbability of her intruder theory. She was sentenced to 28 years to life in prison.
An appeal in 2021 was unsuccessful, upholding the conviction. Julene Simco remains incarcerated at the Ohio Reformatory for Women. The case stands as a chilling reminder that the absence of evidence can itself be evidence, and that the darkest secrets within a home can fester for years before justice finally arrives.