CHARGES: Ex-Boyfriend Set Woman on Fire After Fatal Stabbing at St. Paul Warehouse
A Bloomington man has been charged with 2nd-degree murder after allegedly stabbing his ex-girlfriend multiple times and lighting her on fire at a Saint Paul shipping warehouse, then fleeing the scene and starting his own house ablaze.
Patrick Morris Simmons, 47, was formally charged Wednesday, with the court documents giving more insight into the circumstances of the woman’s grisly death.
WARNING: The following contains graphic details of domestic violence
Shortly before 9 a.m. on Tuesday, March 15, officers were sent to a shipping warehouse on the 1700 block of Wynne Ave. in Saint Paul’s Como Park neighborhood. They had initially been called there for a report of an assault.
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Officers found that the victim, Kelli Ranning Goodermont, 44, was unresponsive, had multiple stab wounds and had been lit on fire. Paramedics responded to the scene Tuesday morning but Goodermont was pronounced dead shortly after 9 a.m.
Goodermont, of Bloomington, had three daughters. She had reportedly sought an order for protection against Simmons last year.
Witnesses told officers that they recognized Simmons as the man who had stabbed Goodermont, saying he fled the area in a maroon Chevrolet Cruze.
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One of the employees at the business told officers she saw Simmons and Goodermont speaking closely together earlier that morning when Simmons allegedly punched Goodermont and she fell to the floor. The witness reported seeing Simmons pouring a liquid on the woman and seeing flames as Simmons walked away. The coworker fled, thinking Simmons would do the same to her if confronted.
Responders outside the business where Goodermont was found dead Tuesday, March 15, 2022. Photo from SPPD
Officers spoke to another coworker who was in his office when he heard a scream and someone yell, “Fire! Fire! Someone call the ambulance.”
Kelli Ranning Goodermont. Photo from GoFundMe
The coworker saw Goodermont, running back and forth with her body engulfed in flames. The coworker grabbed a fire extinguisher and saw Simmons kicking Goodermont on the floor, the charges say.
After extinguishing the fire, the coworker said Goodermont was motionless on the floor and Simmons then lunged at him through the smoke with a lighter in his hands.
Simmons “looked crazed” and “had an evil look in his eyes,” the coworker told investigators. He recalled telling Simmons, “Hey, I ain’t on that with you,” with Simmons then casually walking around the employee and out of the building.
Investigators spoke to Goodermont’s boss at the shipping warehouse, who reported that Goodermont had come into work in the past with a black eye, saying she had gotten the bruise from Simmons. She also had said her tardiness was due to Simmons in the past, the witness told police.
Other coworkers said that Goodermont had shown them photos of injuries Simmons had inflicted on her and that she’d recently broken up with him.
With the information gathered at the scene of the homicide and through initial interviews, police pinned Simmons as a suspect. They learned Simmons had fled to his Bloomington home on the 5000 block of Nine Mile Creek Circle, set it on fire and drove away.
Coworkers went to Simmons’ residence and found him parked nearby, documents said. Simmons yelled that Goodermont was a witch and was “killing babies and kids.” The coworkers flagged down police who were responding to the area.
Firefighters extinguished the blaze at the Bloomington home and there were no injuries reported, though it appeared to have sustained heavy damage.
Bloomington officers arrested Simmons about one block away from his burned home and he was transported to SPPD headquarters to be interviewed. When he was arrested, Simmons reportedly had blood on his clothing, his face was covered in soot and his facial hair and eyebrows were singed.
The scene of a house fire on the 5000 block of Nine Mile Creek Circle in Bloomington on Tuesday, March 15, 2022. Photo from Bloomington Fire Department
When investigators introduced themselves to Simmons and shook his hand, Simmons said, “Sorry, guys, about the blood,” in reference to the dried blood on his hands.
Simmons was told of his constitutional rights and told investigators the only thing he had to say was “that it was self-defense with a bad group of people,” documents said.
After waving his right to an attorney, Simmons told investigators he had dated Goodermont for 11 years and that she had raised his kids. He said that Goodermont “was a witch” and he carried out the acts because he was standing up for babies being “killed and sacrificed with witchcraft,” the documents read.
Simmons said he threw gasoline on Goodermont and lit it with his lighter. When asked where he had obtained the gas, Simmons replied, “I got the gasoline at my house. So, yeah, it’s premeditated.”
Simmons said he thought he stabbed Goodermont with a knife six or seven times in the neck and wanted to make sure she was dead because she was a “witch who hurt kids.” Simmons told investigators that he then returned home and burned the residence because there was “paranormal activity” going on and he didn’t want anyone else to move into it.
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Simmons admitted he brought a knife and gas from home to the Saint Paul business with the intent and purpose to kill Goodermont, that he had been planning to do it for weeks.
Simmons also said Goodermont had told him she had made a deal with the devil and that he was going to be killed for his organs.
As investigators left the room, Simmons reportedly told them, “you guys, I’m so sorry about the family part, but I’m not sorry for standing up for them kids.”
The Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office conducted an autopsy on Goodermont, finding that she had multiple sharp force injuries to her face, neck, and left shoulder regions that perforated her right and left jugular veins. Her manner of death was ruled a homicide.
For the charge of 2nd-degree murder, Simmons faces a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison. Prosecutors may seek a 1st-degree premeditated murder charge, though a grand jury is required to be convened for such a charge to be brought in Minnesota.
A charge of arson is also expected to be filed against Simmons.
If you or a loved one is or may be at risk of domestic violence, please get help as soon as possible from services like Violence Free MN.