Minn. motivational speaker faces attempted murder charges

His message: 10 seconds can change your life forever.

But now in custody on attempted murder charges, prosecutors say motivational speaker Russell Simon Jr. used his 10 seconds to make horrible choices.

Earlier this month at his home in east-central Minnesota, Simon allegedly took off all his clothes and fired shots at his girlfriend and his old prison buddy. He also got into fights with the man and kept his gun nearby as he forced his girlfriend to perform oral sex on him. He threatened to kill her and her 9-year-old son - who was in the house - if she didn't comply, according to a criminal complaint.

At least six shots were fired, one grazing the woman's arm, the complaint said.

Isanti County Attorney Jeff Edblad said Friday that tests show Simon had cocaine, THC and methamphetamine in his system.

"We're very fortunate that we're not dealing with a multiple homicide case," Edblad said.

Simon, a 45-year-old convicted felon who used his life experiences and a frank, tough-guy approach to warn students about the dangers of drugs and a criminal lifestyle, is in custody on $1 million bail. He's charged with nine counts, including attempted murder, criminal sexual conduct and assault with a dangerous weapon. (He was previously in prison for assault.)

Calling from jail Friday, Simon declined to comment about his recent arrest. He directed questions to his attorney, Barry Voss, who did not return messages left at his office.

Simon's Web site says he's "a dynamic speaker who talks to over 250,000 teens and parents throughout the U.S. each year on being set free from cycles of drug/alcohol abuse, addiction, and violence."

Some counselors and school administrators who have heard Simon speak said he connected with his audience by talking about his own life - how alcohol affected his home life, the poor decisions he made, and the dangers of prison life. He talked seriously. And his program, "10 Seconds Can Change Your Life Forever," showed how he beat his demons to succeed.

Steve Pointer, former principal at Bridgeport High School in Bridgeport, Wash., said Simon spoke to about 200 students there in 2000 and again in 2001. After the first presentation, Pointer wrote a recommendation letter, saying "He held students spellbound for 80 minutes with his true-to-life message. And the students gave him a standing ovation - something I had never seen them do."

Pointer recalled Friday that Simon connected to the kids because he wasn't preachy. Pointer wrote in 2000 that Simon conveyed the "sheer horror of the everyday experiences of a user: the gradual loss of family closeness ... and most of all, the decay of the spirit - the single most important resource of a person's life."

On Friday, Pointer told the AP he couldn't comment on Simon's legal troubles.

According to the criminal complaint, police were called May 15 to the Isanti home where Simon lives with his girlfriend on reports of shots fired. In talking with the male victim, authorities learned that the two men had been out drinking, and when they returned home, Simon took off all his clothes and began fighting with the man, at one point hitting him in the face with a statue of John Wayne.

It's not clear what the argument was about, but it allegedly ended with Simon getting a .380 automatic handgun and firing as many as six or seven times, the complaint said.

The man fled the house and the woman remained inside because of her son, the complaint said. Police eventually arrested Simon without incident.

Edblad said that because a child was in the house, prosecutors will ask for stiffer penalties against Simon if he's convicted. In addition, bail was kept at $1 million because Simon made threatening phone calls from the jail to his former wife. And, Edblad said, authorities are also investigating possible fraud or identity theft because Simon had four credit cards belonging to someone else.

"It sounds like Russell ended up going back into drugs, and it leads you down that kind of path where you do things that you normally wouldn't do. He's going to end up right back where he started," said Vicki Langemo, a prevention counselor at a suburban Twin Cities high school who thought highly of Simon after hearing him speak years ago.

While saying she doesn't know if the allegations are true, Langemo added: "I'm just very sad to hear that those are the choices he made."

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On the Net:

Simon's Web site: http://www.russellsimon.com