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Murder case filled with tension Jacksonville man gets 25 years By Chris Bristol of the Mail Tribune An unrepentant Jacksonville man flashed a jaunty "hang loose" sign at supporters as he was led from court Thursday, only moments after he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for murder. Brian Whitten never confessed to the killing of Doug Simpson, who was shot twice in the head Oct. 29, 1998, as he waited in his car outside a Jacksonville restaurant. Whitten's attorney has said his client was too drunk to remember anything, including the part where prosecutors say he took a shot at Jennifer McNeilly, the woman Simpson was waiting for. Two months ago, Whitten, 40, pleaded no contest rather than guilty to charges of murder and attempted murder. He didn't have anything to say then, and he didn't have anything to say Thursday. "No, sir!" he replied loudly when Jackson County Judge Ray White asked him if he wanted to make a statement. The proceeding was unusually tense. Whitten's supporters slightly outnumbered the victim's, and one of them even sneered out loud when prosecutor Holly Smith announced that Simpson's elderly parents did not wish to make a statement. Prosecutors believe Whitten shot Simpson, 41, in a drunken rage, imagining a love triangle that existed only in his head. Whitten turned himself in the day after the shooting, but he never confessed and the murder weapon was never recovered. With his plea, Whitten escaped a mandatory sentence of 30 years to life for aggravated murder. As part of the plea agreement, he was supposed to get credit for the year he has served in jail awaiting trial. Smith said she agreed to a plea bargain because her case hinged almost solely on the testimony of McNeilly, who tended bar at the Back Porch BBQ and was the state's only eyewitness. McNeilly attended court Thursday, sitting with Simpson's family. She said she used to date both men, but wasn't seeing either one at the time. Simpson was only there that night to give her a ride home from work, she added. "Brian grabbed me as I was leaving, and when Doug rolled down his window to see what was going on, he shot him just like that," she said. "He never said a word." After court recessed, Simpson's friends and family said they were bothered by the attitude of some of Whitten's supporters, one of whom snapped "Whatever happened to `innocent until proven guilty' in this country?" at a television reporter as she left the courtroom. "Why don't they grow up and realize this guy's a murderer?" McNeilly asked. Simpson's widow (the couple was separated at the time of the attack) said Brian Whitten had a reputation around town as a mean drunk that dated back to his boyhood. A self-employed painter, Whitten had a criminal record that included drunken driving, car theft, assault, possession of a controlled substance and criminal mischief. A pending theft case was dismissed Thursday as part of the plea bargain. "I grew up in Jacksonville always knowing Brian was the bully," Melissa Simpson said. "Everybody knew it." The murder left her sons -- Gavin, 14, and Garrett, 10 -- without a father. Whatever his marital shortcomings might have been, Doug Simpson had his paternal priorities straight, she said. "Doug was a wonderful father, a really good daddy," she said. "He'll be missed forever." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA