Mother of Kamloops, B.C. teen beating victim looks to turn the page on traumatic 7 years

Sue and Jessie Simpson are getting ready to close a very long and traumatic chapter in their lives.

It will be seven years in June since Kristopher Teichrieb, 39, beat Jessie, then 17, with a metal baseball bat causing catastrophic injury. He alleged Jessie had trespassed on his property, and that’s what prompted the attack.

That allegation wasn’t proven. The prevailing belief is that Jessie had been on his way home from a grad party when he crossed through Teichreib’s property and the older and much bigger man went on to unleash an attack that crushed the teen’s skull and left him with irreparable brain damage.

“He lost five litres of blood, his teeth were knocked out, his collar bone was broken, there was road rash all over him and gravel (embedded) in his back where he was dragged down the street,” Sue, Jessie’s mother, said.

“His brain was sticking out of his head for months while the swelling went down.”

Countless surgeries and around-the-clock care have followed, as have multiple court cases. The first was Teichrieb’s attempted murder trial turned guilty plea to aggravated assault. He was sentenced to 40 months in prison and was released last April.

“When he was being sentenced, I turned my chair around and faced him in court and said, ‘What you did to my son won’t be forgiven or forgotten’,” she said. Teichrieb, Sue added, avoided eye contact and seemed unmoved.

2:01 B.C. mother of 2016 beating victim prepares to welcome her son home

Then, in 2021, Sue won a nearly $7-million judgment against Teichrieb in a civil suit filed to meet the financial need created by the care required since the attack.

No money ever materialized so another civil suit followed.

It dealt with the fact that Teichrieb transferred ownership of his home to his parents just seven months after the attack. The move was aimed at avoiding paying any potential financial settlement to Sue and Jessie.

Last month, Kamloops Supreme Court Justice Joel Groves ordered that Teichrieb’s parents would have to vacate the house, worth around $600,000,  by the end of April and it would then be sold with the proceeds earmarked for the Simpsons.

“I can’t say anything about the decision or what’s happening,” Sue said.  As for when she will see the proceeds of that sale, it will be another year at least,  she thinks.

So, she’s back to doing what she’s used to. She’s hustling trying to find ways to fund bringing “her baby” home and they’re making plans for a new future.

First, she said, will be an event in the lead-up to the seven-year marker of that traumatic event, honouring Jessie’s journey.

“On May 6 we are having Jessie come home and we’re going to honour him from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.,” she said. “There will be an elder saying a prayer, and we have an award being made for Jessie. It will be all about him. He will be home, he can nap, eat listen to music. Seven years later, I feel like I can start healing. I will never forgive, but I can try and heal.”

Part of that healing is putting her story to print.  Sue said she’s written a book and expects it to be published in the next eight months.

“You go back right to day one when you’re writing a book, and you have to look at all of the days you went through,” she said. “I don’t know how I sat here for seven years. It’s hard, mentally and physically, being in a constant state of stress.”

Managing the costs associated with being forever changed by that night has been difficult, as have the surgeries she’s had to watch her son go through and simply the act of keeping him in a care home. She said the cost to keep him alive for the rest of his life is $3 million.

But, Jessie amazes Sue every day.

“He won’t be who he was but he is still there and he is witty and smart and happy and these days he is so positive,” she said.

“But I know he can’t get married, I won’t have grandchildren, and I have to keep raising money so I can bring him home.”

She has a fundraiser set up and she’s also asking the community to send cards for Jessie.

“This time it will be an honour card. Reading those will show him how much people honour him,” she said. “Last time there are 700 cards and he read them all. It makes a major impact ane he loves them.”

To send a card, the address is PO box 233, Savona, B.C. V0K 2JO.