2 Cop Killers Took Crest Hill Sgt. Tim Simenson's Life 30 Years Ago

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Apartment Dweller’s Robbery Precedes Simenson’s Murder

The victim gave up his wallet, then went inside and called 911 from his apartment complex.

It was around 12:25 a.m.

Upon learning of the armed robbery from police dispatchers, Crest Hill Police Sgt. Simenson and Officer Tom Evanoff drove to the Arbor Court apartments, and they saw the robbers’ getaway car leaving the parking lot.

Simenson alerted dispatchers he was stopping the car near Theodore Street and Burry Circle. Another officer, Ralph Smith, later joined Simenson at the traffic stop. As for Evanoff, he initially went to the apartment building to speak with Chaney, before joining his fellow officers back at the traffic stop.

On Theodore Street, Officer Smith saw that Gregory Shaw, the driver of the getaway car used in the armed robbery, standing outside the car as Sgt. Simenson shined his flashlight inside the car.

Simenson turned off the car and took the keys. He made Shaw go to the back of the car, and that’s when Shaw disobeyed Simenson’s orders, instead choosing to sit on top of the trunk.

Simenson ordered Shaw to get off the trunk and stand by his parked squad car.

According to court transcripts, Shaw slid down from the trunk, but remained there for a few seconds before finally leaving. Next, Simenson unlocked and opened the trunk, holding the keys in one hand and his flashlight in his other hand.

Cop Killer Writes Song About Simenson’s Murder

Out of nowhere, Williams emerged from inside the trunk, firing his rifle.

Williams shot Simenson twice in the face. Williams then tried to shoot Officer Ralph Smith, but the gunman’s rifle jammed. Williams jumped from the trunk and aimed his rifle at the other officers, and that’s when Smith and Evanoff fired their guns, and they stopped firing once Williams fell to the ground.

At separate trials, juries found Williams and Shaw guilty of first-degree murder and armed robbery. According to testimony from ambulance paramedic Scott Shear, when he asked Williams why he shot Simenson, Williams answered that he did not want to go back to jail.

Will County prosecutors revealed the criminal history of Williams included theft, robbery and gang activity. An inmate from Pontiac Correctional Center testified that Williams told him in the months leading up to the murder trial that Williams and Shaw planned to do the robbery and if the police stopped them, Williams intended to shoot them.

Court files indicate that Williams showed no remorse for shooting Sgt. Simenson, and he even wrote a song about the shooting.

Elwood Chief Fred Hayes Notified Simenson’s Widow Of Tragedy

Retired Joliet Police Chief Fred Hayes, now police chief of Elwood, was one of a handful of area police officers responsible for visiting the Simenson house in Plainfield, informing Simenson’s wife of her husband’s tragic and senseless murder.

“Very sad,” Hayes said, “Very sad set of circumstances. Tim was a good friend of mine, and Tim worked some of the biggest drug trafficking cases in the Chicagoland area.

“Out of the Tim Simenson tragedy, the seeds of a legacy were born,” Hayes explained. “Because Tim did a lot of good, and his hard work, he passed that on, and we continued where he left off.”

Hayes told Joliet Patch he was a very close friend of Simenson; the two worked on numerous Will County area undercover narcotics investigations. Simenson was responsible for sending dozens of high-level drug dealers to prison; making Will County a much safer place, Hayes said.

At the time of his death, Simenson was 39 years old.

In addition to being known as one of the top undercover narcotics investigators in the region, Simenson was an incredibly talented and aspiring writer, according to Hayes.

Simenson once gave Hayes one of his book manuscripts to look over.

“Tim prided himself in that he was a heck of a writer. He aspired to write a book, and he shared with me a DOS manuscript. It was true crime,” Hayes said.

As far as Simenson’s writing pursuits, “It was fiction and non-fiction writing. He was really good at it,” Hayes said.

Even though Simenson was promoted to Crest Hill sergeant, he continued to work with his police sources to gather information and leads for other criminal investigations even though he was no longer on the Joliet area drug task force, Hayes explained.

Just days before his death, Simenson went out in the middle of the night to meet with Hayes about another undercover police investigation.

“Tim was always gathering information,” Hayes remarked. “He called me to meet him in the middle of the night. It was information on high-level gang activity. He worked closely with the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency), ATF and FBI. He really dealt with some dangerous areas.”

Hayes said that police officers everywhere changed their tactics and approaches to inspecting vehicles based on Simenson’s tragedy.

“I have no doubt that Tim’s tragedy has saved lives,” Hayes reflected. “Everyone reevaluated their training and tactics and something that was taught in police academies was this tactic, to double-check that trunk.”

Hayes also pointed out that there are three high-profile officer deaths in the Joliet area that all happened exactly 10 years apart.

Forty years ago, Joliet police officer Marty Murrin was slain by Manuel Salazar on Sept. 12, 1984.

Then 20 years ago, Joliet patrolman Jonathan Walsh died following a traffic crash on Aug. 20, 2004. Walsh was responding to a burglar alarm at Pilcher Park when an SUV collided with him, causing Walsh to crash into an unoccupied lift crane east of Briggs Street.

“We just had the 20th anniversary, the 40th anniversary and now the 30th anniversary,” Hayes pointed out.

30 Years Later, Gregory Shaw Pursues “Actual Innocence” Claim

Will County court records show that the post-conviction case for Elton Williams, now 53, has been dormant for years, but that is not true for Shaw, now 60.

In fact, Shaw, serving as his own pro se attorney from prison, has filed several documents this year with the Will County Courthouse. He has had multiple hearings this year, but none of his efforts to overturn his murder conviction for Simenson’s death have been successful.

Shaw is now awaiting a ruling before the Illinois Court of Appeals Third Judicial District in Ottawa.

He was sentenced to life back on Jan. 5, 1996 and he is serving his prison term at the Menard Correctional Center. On April 10, Shaw wrote in his notice of appeal, asking that the Office of State Appelate Defender be appointed because “appellant is indigent and has no attorney.”

Shaw calls his filing “Actual Innocence Claim.” It’s many pages of handwritten prose, and boils down to this:

“He obtained a sworn signed affidavit from his co-defendant Elton Williams that Shaw attached to his first pro se successive post conviction petition filed in 2013 in the Circuit Court of Will County which Elton stated in his affidavit that categorically and unequivocally that Shaw had no prior knowledge or planning in the armed robbery he had committed or of his actions when he shot and killed Officer Timothy Simenson. Elton Williams also admitted the gun used was his and Shaw had no involvement or planning that Williams was going to use the gun.”

Meanwhile, Chief Hayes said that as far as he’s concerned, Shaw is just as guilty as Williams, Simenson’s actual killer, because Shaw knew Williams was hiding in the trunk armed with a loaded rifle and Shaw kept silent the entire time knowing Williams was lying in wait, ready to shoot at a moment’s notice.

“For this to occur with two scumbag street-level criminals was absolutely shocking because most of us learned from Tim,” Hayes said. “So when this tragedy happened, it was difficult to see how a street-level group of scumbags could take someone like Tim down.”

Crest Hill Dedicates Police Memorial After Simenson’s Death

One year after Simenson was killed, current Crest Hill Mayor Ray Soliman, then a city alderman, along with several community leaders, raised thousands of dollars in donations to build a monument to remember Simenson as well as other fallen police officers.

In 1967, Crest Hill Officer James Nink also died in the line of duty. Nink was in a police pursuit of a burglary suspect about 15 miles west of Crest Hill, toward Yorkville, when he lost his life after crashing into the suspect’s overturned car.

“We certainly wanted to honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice,” Soliman said.

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Soliman was a Crest Hill police officer from 1980 until 1985. The Crest Hill Police Memorial is in addition to the Veterans Memorial that Crest Hill has to honor its military soldiers.

In 2023, both memorials were moved from their long-time location outside the Crest Hill Municipal Building off Plainfield Road to the new Crest Hill City Offices off Weber Road across the road from Siegel Farms.

“I worked with Tim for five years,” Soliman told Joliet Patch on Thursday. “We were good friends and he taught us a lot as a police officer. He was a great guy and we miss him a lot.”

As far as the tragedy of 30 years ago, Sept. 28, 1994, “that one hit me hard when it happened,” Soliman said. “We dedicated the Police Memorial during our Memorial Day ceremony on May 29, 1995. We then formed our veterans and police memorial committe which still stands to this day and we honor all of our veterans of the city of Crest Hill and our two slain police officers during our annual Memorial Day ceremony to honor and remember the sacrifices they made to improve the quality of life for all of our residents.”

Police Chief Ed Clark said that Simenson’s badge has been retired by the Crest Hill Police Department.

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