Spouse(s) Ann Nelson Name Simon Nelson Target(s) Family | Date January 7, 1978 Motive Divorce | |
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Born October 2, 1931 (age 93) ( 1931-10-02 ) Criminal penalty Six concurrent prison terms of 100 to 200 years Location(s) | ||
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Simon Peter Nelson (October 2, 1931 – June 18, 2017) was an American man who was convicted of murdering his six children, aged 13, 11, 8, 7, 5, and 3. He used a knife and rubber mallet to kill the children as they slept on January 7, 1978, in Rockford, Illinois. He then drove to Milwaukee to beat his wife, who was seeking a divorce at the time.
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Nelson claimed that he "snapped" when his wife announced her intention to divorce him, and alleged that he could not recall the killings because of amnesia. Sentenced to hundreds of years in prison, he was first eligible for parole in 1986, but was denied at least 15 times. He was an inmate at the Graham Correctional Center in Hillsboro, Illinois and died on June 18, 2017, aged 85, at a hospital in Springfield.