Charges filed in 18-year-old murder of Utah teen

A Florida man has been charged with murder in the death of a Utah teen found near the Provo River 18 years ago.

Joseph Michael Simpson, 46, was charged Thursday in Wasatch County's 4th District Court with aggravated murder, a first-degree felony.

Prosecutors could opt to pursue the death penalty, based on three alleged aggravating factors listed in the charging document: Simpson was previously convicted of murder (by stabbing a man to death in 1987); the slaying was committed in an especially heinous, atrocious, cruel or exceptionally depraved manner; and that Simpson mutilated or disfigured the victim's body, either before or after death.

According to an affidavit for an arrest warrant, Wasatch County Sheriff's deputies were dispatched on Dec. 16, 1995 to a spot along the Provo River bank, about five miles north of Heber, after a citizen found Krystal Lynn Beslanowitch's bludgeoned body lying on the east bank.

The 17-year-old girl was found naked and bleeding from her head and shoulders. Nearby, several large granite rocks — believed to be the murder weapon — were found covered in fresh blood, according to court documents.

Despite following up on several leads, the case went cold until 2008 when better DNA testing became available. The granite rocks were tested for DNA evidence, and an unknown partial profile of a man was found on the rocks, according to court records.

A few years later, in 2011, DNA samples found on Beslanowitch's body — including a sperm sample — were tested, but a match to Simpson's DNA was not returned until January 2013.

In May, the rocks — which initially only yielded a partial DNA profile — were re-tested with new, better technology, and a "major DNA profile" was returned, and matched to Simpson again, according to court records.

To corroborate the evidence, Wasatch County investigators flew to Florida on Aug. 25 to get a new DNA sample from their suspect without his knowledge. They followed Simpson to a smoke shop, where he smoked and discarded a cigarette, according to the sheriff's office.

The test on the cigarette proved another match.

Simpson used to live in Clearfield, but has since been living with his mother and step-father in Sarasota County, Fla., for about 13 years, according to a news release. He was arrested at his Florida home Tuesday without incident.

Simpson was booked into the Sarasota County Jail under suspicion of aggravated murder. Simpson has waived extradition and will be transported to Utah within the next few weeks, according to a Wasatch County Sheriff's news release.

This is the second time Simposon is facing an accusation of murder.

He was charged with second-degree felony murder in August 1987 and pleaded guilty two months later, according to Utah court documents.

Simpson had stabbed a man named Paul J. Helminger 13 times. Police arrested Simpson on Aug. 9, 1987, after Helminger, a 26-year-old police informant, was found face-down on the lawn in front of his apartment at 103 E. Center St. in Clearfield with a butcher knife in his right shoulder.

Simpson claims he killed the man in self-defense, but neighbors saw Simpson chasing the victim and swinging the butcher knife as Helminger cried for help, according to trial testimony.

Simpson was paroled from the Utah State Prison in April 1995, and was free at the time of Beslanowitch's slaying, according to Utah Board of Pardons and Parole records. He was returned to prison briefly in 1997 for a parole violation and, subsequently, was on supervised parole until June 2003.

A court date for the new murder charge has not yet been set as of Thursday afternoon.

jmiller@sltrib.com

Twitter: @jm_miller