Robert Simmons in court on May 23, 2023, for his sentencing hearing. Jurors convicted him of murder for beating Isabella Mehner, 85, to death. (Screenshot: News12)
A 54-year-old convicted murderer is set to spend the rest of his life behind bars after being sentenced to 85 years in prison for beating a 93-year-old woman to death in her home. Prosecutors in Stamford, Connecticut, said the defendant, Robert Simmons, had done drain work for the victim, Isabella Mehner, but left the home and returned later to carry out the “deplorable” act.
“At trial, the decedent’s daughter testified about how she found her mother at the bottom of the basement stairs on the evening of September 25, 2019,” prosecutors wrote. The family checked on Mehner after she did not pick up her phone.
The daughter, Ellen Blanchard, said in a victim impact statement on Monday, “Finding her that night at the bottom of her basement stairs has been pretty much impossible for me to get over,” according to News 12.
Police initially believed that Mehner died falling. Further investigation unveiled the truth.
“After an autopsy the following day, the medical examiner ruled the death a homicide,” prosecutors wrote.
Simmons had beaten her to death.
This is the home of Isabella Mehner, 93, who was found dead at the bottom of her basement stairs. Police thought she died from a fall but an autopsy found her injuries weren’t consistent. Now it’s been classified as a homicide. Police call it “a troubling case.” @News12CT pic.twitter.com/xr17rlgV70
— Marissa Alter (@MarissaAlter) September 27, 2019
According to prosecutors, Simmons’ DNA was under her fingernails, and her DNA was on his pants. She was going to turn 94 the following month.
“You’re a coward for preying on a defenseless 93-year-old woman,” Isabella’s daughter-in-law Kathy Mehner told Simmons on Monday. “I only wish that your punishment could be the same as you gave to Isabella: six bashes to the head and two broken fingers.”
The evidence established Simmons entered Mehner’s home at around 5:39 p.m. that Sept. 25 and left approximately eight minutes later. He was wearing the same clothes in downtown Stamford less than 48 hours later, prosecutors said.
Jurors convicted him on Feb. 17, 2023, of murder, felony murder, home invasion, and burglary.
The family described Mehner as “active and independent,” and she lived alone in the home, News 12 reported. Neighbors described her often working in her garden.
“Mr. Simmons’ premeditated acts of extreme violence perpetrated against a defenseless 93-year-old woman warranted the court in meting out maximum consecutive jail sentences on the murder and home invasion convictions,” Stamford/Norwalk State’s Attorney Paul J. Ferencek said. “Although the 85-year sentence is in many ways symbolic given the defendant’s age, hopefully the victim’s family will find some closure in knowing that he will in all likelihood spend the rest of his life incarcerated.”
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