NEWSMAKER Tuesday: What Happened to Christie Spanos

Christie Spanos is now Christie Simpson and her three young children keep her on the go almost all the time.<br><br>J.C. and Davis are two and a half year old twins. And their baby sister Cayman is a 6

Tuesday, May 8th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Christie Spanos is now Christie Simpson and her three young children keep her on the go almost all the time.

J.C. and Davis are two and a half year old twins. And their baby sister Cayman is a 6 month old treasure.

Christie married Jeff Simpson - a sales representative - in 1995. The couple has made peace with the past including that fateful night eight years ago when officers showed up at Christie's door and rushed her to the hospital where her then-husband Gus lay dying.

Christie Simpson: "I just remember there being a lot of people and just crying. And just being sick to my stomach, in shock."

A shock that would soon turn to sorrow.

Gus had been a T-U football player. And he loved his job on the force. He was just 24 years old when Christie buried him.

Christie Simpson: "I was 23 and I remember when I hit 25. It was so devastating to me. It brought the realization to me he was so young because I'm older than Gus now."

The man who cut Gus' life short was a Tulsa drug dealer named Anthony Kimbrough.

Kimbrough got life in prison without parole. And Christie got motivated. The Camcorders for Cops campaign became her passion.

School kids and businesses raised half a million dollars to put video cameras in Tulsa patrol cars.

The cameras couldn't prevent tragedy like the one that took Gus' life, but if a police officer ever got in trouble, the camera would show who was to blame.

Christie Simpson: "Camcorders for Cops was a way for me to turn something good out of such a bad situation and also to take my mind off the bad situation."

Two years later, Christie's mind got off the bad and onto Jeff. He and a buddy ran into her at a Tulsa convenience store almost literally.

Jeff Simpson: "One day we were at Git-n-Go driving through the parking lot and here's this girl with these long legs and I about hit her. I made a comment to my friend about those legs."

And the rest as they say is marital history. The Simpsons have been married almost six years now.

Jeff considers Christie courageous for all she's been through.

Jeff Simpson: "She's the strongest person I know for a 23 year old to go through that it wsa amazing."

Christie Simpson: "When Jeff and I got married he was amazing, just wonderful, it was a hard situation to to come into."

A situation made easier by their love for each other and their respect for the way Gus gave his life in the line of duty.

Christie Simpson: "Gus. I didn't think I could replace him and I can't replace him. I feel very fortunate. I'm so lucky to have two wonderful men in my life."