Republican AG candidate Steve Simpson's "Willie Horton"?

In a horrific story, the Bay Saint Louis Sea Coast Echo reports today that Jeremy Wayne Manieri, a 31 year-old Waveland man, was arrested and charged for the murder of Father Edward Everitt, a 70 year-old Catholic priest.  According to authorities, Manieri shot Father Everitt in the head, stole the priest's car, and then drove his estranged family to Disney World in it.  Manieri was tracked down through the vehicle's On Star system.

This is not Manieri's first brush with the law, however.  According to the Sea Coast Echo:

Manieri has an extensive criminal history in Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, Varnell said. At the time of his arrest on Tuesday, Manieri was also wanted for grand larceny in Escambia County, Fla., Varnell added.

Locally, Maneri has been charged with several misdemeanors, and felonies including credit card fraud, uttering forgery, child molestation, and failure to register as a sex offender.

Despite his long criminal history, Manieri has avoided lengthy prison sentences.

In October 2006, he pleaded guilty to molesting a female under the age of seven. Former Circuit Court Judge Stephen Simpson sentenced Manieri to two years in jail, with one of those years suspended. (Emphasis added.) 

Yes, that is Republican Attorney General hopeful Stephen "Steve" Simpson sentencing Manieri to one year to serve for molesting a girl under the age of seven.  There's no mention of the statute Manieri was charged under in that case, but presumably it was Section 97-5-23, which is typically known as "gratification of lust," and carries a 2-15 year sentence in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

Is Simpson's candidacy even serious anymore? There's the property tax issue, the Hatch Act problems, the Edna Mae Sanders case, the the Ruble issue, and now this, which sure looks every bit like Simpson's "Willie Horton."