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Crime & Safety

Hearing Rescheduled For Wildomar Couple Accused Of Robbing Walmart

Heather Dawn Simpson and Nehemia James Mackenzie, both 27, are charged with one count each of embezzlement, grand theft and burglary.

With their attorneys seeking more time to review the case, a preliminary hearing was postponed today for the former manager of a Murrieta Walmart and her probationer boyfriend, who are accused of staging a robbery at the store that netted $16,000.

Heather Dawn Simpson and Nehemia James Mackenzie, both 27, are charged with one count each of embezzlement, grand theft and burglary.

The Wildomar residents appeared today before Riverside County Superior Court Judge Angel Bermudez, who agreed to reschedule the hearing -- which will determine whether there's sufficient evidence to warrant a trial -- to Feb. 17 after the defendants' lawyers requested additional time. The prosecution did not object to the postponement.

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Both Mackenzie and Simpson are free on $16,000 bail.

According to Murrieta police Sgt. Phil Gomez, Simpson reported on Oct. 8 that the Walmart on Murrieta Hot Springs Road, where she worked as overnight supervisor, had been robbed by a lone bandit.

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"Simpson was moving $16,000 cash from the registers to the safe when she was assaulted by Mackenzie, who ran off with the cash," Gomez said earlier. "At that time, Simpson played the role of a scared robbery victim, and Mackenzie was unidentified."

According to the sergeant, investigators pursued leads over the ensuing weeks that pointed to the couple as likely co-conspirators in the robbery.

A search warrant was served on Nov. 9 at the apartment they shared in the 24800 block of Prielipp Road, where detectives "recovered a large amount of cash and other evidence linking both suspects to the crime," Gomez said.

The defendants were arrested on the spot.

Mackenzie was convicted of misdemeanor burglary in December 2010, according to court records. He was on probation at the time of the Walmart robbery.

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