Murder of 6 children among the worst crimes to ever happen here
May 13th, 2008 at 05:29pm Anna Voelker
People who’ve lived in Rockford for many years will often say the most horrific crime that’s ever happened here was the brutal murder of the six Nelson children — Jenny, 12; Simon Peter III, 10; Andrew, 8; Matthew, 7; Roseann, 6; and David, 3. Their father, Simon Peter Nelson, killed them with a knife and rubber mallet the morning of Jan. 7, 1978.
RRSTAR.COM FILE PHOTO
Simon Peter Nelson is pictured with his children and wife Ann in a family portrait taken shortly before the murders. Nelson killed his six children — Jenny, 12; Simon Peter III, 10; Andrew, 8; Matthew, 7; Roseann, 6; and David, 3 — with a knife and rubber mallet in January 1978 before driving from his family‘s home in Rockford to Milwaukee to beat his wife, who was seeking a divorce.
Nelson long has claimed that he “snapped” on the day of the murders, when his wife announced her intention to divorce him, and alleges that he can’t recall the killings because of amnesia. Nelson is up for parole in June. No member of the Prisoner Review Board has ever voted to release Nelson. You can sign a petition against or in support of Nelson’s parole here. You’ll also find a photo gallery and past stories
We first posted the petition online at 1:44 p.m. Since then, 226 of you have filed petitions to keep Nelson in prison. Our special report on the upcoming parole has garnered more than 6,300 page views so far.
We’re also collecting petitions on behalf of Michael Mayborne. The Winnebago County Sheriff’s deputy was killed by Theodore Bacino in 1974.
Already this year, Robert Henry Lower and Curtis Brownell were both denied parole for killing in the 1970s 15-year-old newspaper carrier Joey Didier and 17-year-old Louise Betts, respectively.
Entry Filed under: Petitions, Simon Peter Nelson, Parole
3 Comments Add your own
1. Bridget Riegsecker | May 26th, 2008 at 1:10 am
Simon Nelson should never be Released from prison. He is not worthy of sharing the air that I breathe. He has caused more heartache in my family than I could ever put in words. Please keep i him in prisonU>
Thankyou,
B
idget Riegsecker
2. Kaplan | June 10th, 2008 at 11:26 am
I was 12 years old and a classmate of Jennifer Nelson. This has stayed with me and I have never forgotten the crime and the emotions I felt. It changed my life forever and on 01/07/78 my childhood came to a drastic end. It opened my eyes to the inhumanity of the adult world. The only comfort were my parents’ promises that Simon Peter Nelson would spend a lifetime in prison and never hurt anyone again. Letting him out of prison will bring back that fear again. Not just for me, but for numerous friends and acqaintances of the Nelson family.
The severity of his crime warrants a lifetime in prison. It’s said that the children were killed while they slept. If someone is stabbed and bludgeoned right next to you, or across the room, or in the next bedroom - you’re gonna hear it and wake up! Those poor children suffered, don’t kid yourself. Why didn’t they run away?? Because they were terrified!! He showed no mercy, whether he remembers it or not.
Not only did kill six children, he killed the idealism and innocence from an entire community of people whose lives were permanently altered.
3. Becky Linscott Wallick | June 15th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
I will never forget the terror and pain that those murders caused me both as a child and into adulthood as I don’t think I ever really dealt with the trauma of that event until recently…how do you deal with something like that when you are 7 years old? Matthew was a classmate of mine in the 2nd grade at Walker School. 30 years later and several states away those memories haunt me. I still have dreams about it . My family moved away from Rockford 9 months after the murders happened and I tried to move the memories from my mind as well but to no avail. I finally got to feel some sense of a goodbye and closure when I drove out to Rockford from PA this spring to visit their graves. Like Kaplan, childhood innocence came to a screeching halt that terrible day. The seriousness of his crimes absolutely warrants a lifetime in prison. As to his claims of remorse and religious conversion, I believe that is entirely possible and I sincerely hope it is true for the sake of his eternal soul; but the gravity of those crimes cannot be minimized and I believe to parole him would be exactly that. Thank you, those who care and remember the Nelson children. They will not be forgotten as long as we who remember them are alive.
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