Angela Simpson’s murder of Terry Neely was like a script for a sick horror flick. The shocking crime left the Phoenix police in disbelief as they tried to make sense of the circumstances that inspired Simpson’s depraved brutality towards the disabled man she tortured for days and slaughtered in the most heinous manner. Neely was leaving an assisted care facility on August 2, 2009, when Simpson lured him to an apartment, promising him sex. Instead of getting what he was promised, Neely watched in a mirror as he was tortured. From beating him with a hammer and pulling out his teeth to strangling him with a cable and stabbing him at least 50 times, Neely was far spent and probably begging for death when Simpson slit his throat.
She proceeded to dismember his dead body and set the remains of Neely on fire to cover up the horrific crime. Upon her arrest, Angela Simpson was straightforward about what she had done. She freely talked about it, expressing she hoped she could have tortured her victim for more days. She was also honest about the consequences of her crime, admitting she deserved the death penalty. Her upfront attitude during interviews about the crime inspired a TikTok acting trend where people attempt to recapture Simpson’s demeanor, synced to words excerpted from her interview session with 3TV’s Mike Watkiss.
Angela Simpson Was 33 Years Old When She Committed The Heinous Crime
The American woman from Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona, was born on November 29, 1975. Angela Simpson had a troubled childhood and a long-standing struggle with mental illness and drug abuse. She has been grappling with mental health problems since she was 10 and frequented mental health facilities. Acknowledging this in the aforementioned interview, Simpson said: “I started being hospitalized at 10 years old. I have a mental history from 10 years old until present.” This isn’t a ploy to gain public sympathy; the murderer wouldn’t have that. She emphatically stated that she wanted no sympathy.
Having developed an unhealthy relationship with drugs from an early age, Angela Simpson also struggled with addiction as an adult. She reportedly took to crimes and sex work to get her fix. A mother of four children, Simpson refused to talk about her kids or divulge anything about her personal life. But according to people who claim to know her, she was adopted and raised by a single mom alongside two siblings.
She Murdered Terry Neely Because He Was A “Snitch”
Angela Simpson’s motive for murdering Terry Neely lends credence to the claim that she is mentally challenged. The mother of four readily told anyone who asked that she killed the 46-year-old disabled man for being a snitch. She believed Neely was a police informant because he bragged about helping the police put people away. Now, Simpson had no friends nor relatives that Neely snitched on, neither could she authenticate the man was indeed a police informant. “He told me he was a snitch on many occasions, but that really doesn’t matter…,” she said, alleging that the city had been trying to kill her too.
“Phoenix wanted to kill me; what’s the difference? Everybody has a reason to kill; my reason might not be good to you, but your reason wasn’t good to me…” When asked to consider the possibility that Neely wasn’t a snitch, that he was only falsely bragging about being a police informant like other people do, she requested for their names. “Do you happen to have the list of those people?” Simpson asked the journalist interviewing her. “Well, he picked the wrong ni**er to say that to—if you wanted to brag about putting so many people in prison,” she added. Pressed further to verify if she truly believed Terry Neely was a snitch, she chuckled and went: “Oops, if he wasn’t.”
Where Is Angela Simpson Now?
The remorseless killer is in prison, serving her life sentence for first-degree murder. She was charged accordingly in addition to kidnapping and abandonment of a dead body. Angela Simpson pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in March 2012 and was sentenced the next month to spend the rest of her natural life in prison. She also received a 14-year sentence for the other charges brought against her.
After she was condemned to life in prison, Angela Simpson told Watkiss the judgment wasn’t fair. “I expected to die for this,” she said, but expressed she was glad she didn’t get the death penalty. Simpson’s only regret is that she wouldn’t get to kill more snitches and pedophiles. These, for her, are the two groups of humans that deserve to be wiped away from the face of the earth. Her story fits the profile of other high-profile murder crimes covered in Murder Made Me Famous. She is also the inspiration behind Jodie Comer’s Villanelle in Killing Eve; you can learn more fascinating facts about the series here.
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