Anthony Simoneau pleaded guilty to second degree theft charges for stealing a hand bag from Nordstrom, and was sentenced to five years probation.
During the sentencing, Simoneau begged for the media frenzy surrounding the disappearance of his wife, Fumiko Ogawa, to stop. "On the 16th of September all the conditions that originally were set forth on me changed because of the media basically lynching me, and basically convicting me in the court of public opinion," Simoneau said before Circuit Court Judge Mike Wilson.
Nearly a dozen camera crews from Japan lined the hallway outside the courtroom waiting for Simoneau to emerge.
Just minutes later outside the probation office Simoneau stepped in front of the Japanese press proclaiming, "You don’t know half the story."
He also went on to say he will talk when he is ready, and once again asked the frenzy to stop.
Simoneau and Fumiko Ogawa were married in 1996.
Her body was found in a Southern California desert in 2007.
According to San Diego authorities, Simoneau never filed a missing persons report for his wife.
San Diego police detectives have gone on record in their report saying the circumstances of "Fumiko’s death suggests Anthony Simoneau killed her and moved on with his life."
Simoneau has not been arrested in connection with his wife’s death.
See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
