Hearing Set For Accused Murrieta Killer

The revealing of a possible motive in the Dec. 20, 2011, alleged stabbing death of a Murrieta 18-year-old girl is still months off.

William Gary Simpson, 19, is accused of breaking into the Milkwood Lane family home of Saskia Burke early the morning of Dec. 20, 2011, stabbing her to death and injuring her father and boyfriend in the process.

Simpson appeared in a Southwest Justice Center courtroom Friday, where a date was set for a preliminary hearing. That proceeding should last four hours and was set for June 15. At that time, a judge will be presented evidence in the case so a trial date can be set.

The murder victim's parents, Paul and Catherine Burke, sat quietly in the courtroom Friday, accompanied by a few family friends. Simpson is also charged with two counts of attempted murder on Paul Burke and Saskia's boyfriend, Connor McCormack, along with a special circumstance of committing murder while in the commission of a burglary.

Though Simpson was not immediately located following the accused attack, he was  at his mother's Victorville home after a four-day manhunt. Among items recovered during his arrest were a black thumb drive and a duffel bag, according to a Murrieta police search warrant affidavit.

As Simpson was brought out of a holding area to face a judge Friday, his hair appeared shorter. He was flanked on one side by his attorney, and answered "yes" when prompted by Judge Elaine Johnson. Simpson's mother and stepfather sat on the opposite side of the courtroom from the Burkes.

He pleaded not guilty to the murder when he was arraigned Dec. 29, 2011. Simpson is being held next door to the courthouse at the Southwest Detention Center, without the possibility of bail.

The life of Saskia was at a public service held Feb. 11 at Murrieta Valley High School, the school she was supposed to graduate from this spring.

A possible motive for the alleged murder is still unclear, but may come out when the case goes to trial.

The Burke family had taken Simpson in after he left his parents' home, but the suspected killer was asked to leave the home a year before he returned the night of the fatal stabbing attack, authorities said at the time.

Catherine Burke told Patch at the time that she had rushed to save her daughter from her killer but was too late.

"She died in pain," the mother said. "She died screaming for us to help her, and by the time we got there he'd already murdered her."