Editor’s observe: This text accommodates particulars that could be thought of disturbing.
On the night time of Oct. 6, 2024, Suzanne Clark Simpson and her husband, Brad Simpson attended a celebration at The Argyle, a personal membership in Alamo Heights the place it’s reported a verbal altercation happened between the 2.
Hours later, a neighbor on East Olmos Drive reported listening to the couple combating outdoors of their residence. The witness reported seeing a bodily wrestle earlier than Suzanne broke free and ran away, Brad adopted till the neighbor overpassed them.
The neighbor later instructed police he later heard screams coming from the wooded space throughout from his home. An hour later, he heard Brad’s truck begin up and depart the world earlier than returning residence an hour later.
Suzanne has not been seen since.
The subsequent day, when she failed to choose up her 5-year-old from faculty, her buddies gathered to debate her disappearance. A good friend of Suzanne referred to as Brad together with her considerations. When she discovered Brad had not referred to as the police about Suzanne, she knowledgeable him that she can be submitting a lacking individuals report herself.
At 9:57 p.m. following that cellphone name, the primary lacking individuals report was filed by Suzanne’s good friend.
Fourteen minutes later, at 10:11 p.m., Brad Simpson left a voicemail for the Olmos Park police chief reporting his spouse as lacking.
Two days later, on Oct. 9, Simpson was arrested in Kendall County on prices of assault–household violence and illegal restraint.
At this time, Brad Simpson stays in Bexar County Jail dealing with prices of homicide, tampering with a corpse, tampering with bodily proof and possession of a prohibited weapon.
The next info comes from public information together with the arrest affidavit for Brad Simpson. Unsealed by a decide on Nov. 12, the paperwork present particulars on the disappearance of Suzanne and the case in opposition to her husband.
The night time of her disappearance
Oct. 6, 2024 was a Sunday night time. Suzanne and her 5-year-old daughter left The Argyle at roughly 8:30 p.m. and headed to an H-E-B the place they stayed till 8:51 p.m. in line with video surveillance footage obtained in the course of the investigation.
Shortly after they returned to the Simpson residence, mobile information reviewed by Texas Division of Public Security Legal Analysts revealed that at 9:15 p.m. Suzanne referred to as a household good friend and headed to their residence in Alamo Heights. At 9:16 p.m. she referred to as her mom to report that she had been assaulted by her husband, inflicting her ache in her arm, again and neck.
At that very same time, Suzanne’s mobile service was suspended on the request of the account subscriber. Information indicated that Brad Simpson accessed the AT&T utility on the identical time the request to droop her cellphone was made.
The affidavit reveals that Suzanne arrived at her good friend’s residence at 9:25 p.m., whereas particulars of her return residence haven’t been revealed, shortly after 10 p.m. a neighbor witnessed Brad and Suzanne in a bodily wrestle. Suzanne would slip away and run westward, with Brad chasing her as they exited their yard.
The witness reported later listening to screams coming from the wooded space throughout from his residence and seeing Brad depart the world in his black GMC Sierra truck.
FBI forensic examiners suggested investigators that at 11:09 p.m. by way of the following day, Simpson started shutting his cellphone on and off in cycles, which prevented information assortment.
This shut off cycle, FBI forensic examiners say, is known as “Lock Down” mode and is usually carried out by an individual who desires to keep away from detection.
The next days
Brad Simpson would drop their daughter off at college the following day. When Suzanne didn’t present to choose up her baby as she usually did, her buddies turned involved and met to debate her absence. A good friend reported her lacking to the police.
Brad Simpson instructed the police chief of the Olmos Police Division in a voicemail that he had not seen his spouse since 11 p.m. the night time earlier than and that she had misplaced her cellphone whereas at H-E-B.
The subsequent morning in a comply with up interview, Simpson instructed police he had final seen his spouse the morning of Oct. 7, at 6:30 a.m. as he was leaving to drop off his baby at college, contradicting his assertion made within the authentic report.
Through the investigation, an officer spoke with a faculty counselor at Howard Early Childhood Middle, who relayed that the kid acknowledged that on Sunday night at residence, her dad had pushed her mom in opposition to the wall and hit her within the face, hurting her mom’s elbow. She stated her father turned her mom’s cellphone off as a result of they had been combating.
Suzanne Simpson’s 20-year-old daughter would subsequently present the final recognized ping on the “Discover My” app putting her mom’s cellphone on the Simpson residence at 10:22 p.m. on Sunday night time, over an hour after she left H-E-B.
Following an preliminary investigation, Simpson can be arrested in a neighboring county on prices of assault-family violence and illegal restraint on Oct. 9.
The investigation unfolds
Over the next week, Texas Rangers obtained and reviewed location information from Brad Simpson’s cellphone and truck alongside surveillance footage tracing the motion of his truck on the times after Suzanne Simpson’s disappearance.
Video footage from the Olmos Park H-E-B confirmed Brad Simpson’s truck at 12:33 a.m. Oct. 7 with a big ice chest in his cargo mattress.
That very same day video footage from Howard Early Childhood Middle confirmed the truck dropping off his daughter at 7:53 a.m., with not less than two white trash baggage with pink string and what seemed to be a big ice chest within the cargo mattress.
At 9:12 a.m. footage from a Whataburger drive-thru digital camera in Kendall County confirmed his truck with three white trash backs, a big, heavy-duty trash can, an ice chest and “a big cumbersome merchandise wrapped and secured in a blue tarp coated with a metallic firewood rack on high in a fashion to hide and weigh the tarp down”.
The Texas Rangers used geolocation information on Simpson’s cellphone to put him at or close to a House Depot in Kendall County. Surveillance footage within the retailer’s parking zone confirmed Simpson talking to a different man. That man instructed a ranger in a subsequent interview that Simpson had approached him and requested for instructions to the closest dump in Boerne. The person used his cellphone to offer him instructions to the Kendall County Strong Waste web site.
Inside the shop, footage captured him buying two baggage of Quikrete cement, an orange development bucket with a lid, a field of 32-count heavy responsibility trash baggage, one 30-ounce Clorox disinfectant spray and bug repellent with money.
After leaving the House Depot, investigators say Simpson as soon as once more entered a “Lock Down” mode cycle of powering on and off his mobile gadget. Car location information later positioned his truck close to the stable waste web site. Surveillance footage from a close-by enterprise captured his truck driving away from the waste web site.
At 11:15 a.m., footage from a gasoline station in Boerne captured Simpson buying gasoline and two 1-gallon jugs of water, evaluation of the footage confirmed that the three white trash baggage had been now not within the cargo mattress of his truck however all different objects remained. Simpson had additionally modified his footwear from sandals to “cowboy-style boots.”
Location information from the automobile tracked Simpson heading west towards Bandera and into Medina County. He continued to show his cellphone on and off.
A license plate reader digital camera captured the truck returning to Boerne at 1:41 p.m. with the blue tarp now not seen and the firewood rack repositioned within the truck mattress.
At 3:27 p.m. footage reveals Simpson choosing up his daughter from faculty with solely the ice chest and the heavy-duty trash can remaining seen within the truck mattress.
At 4:07 p.m. Simpson would take his automotive to the Bubble Bathtub Carwash the place he was noticed on digital camera cleansing the motive force entrance facet and rear left passenger facet of the automobile the place police would later discover dried cement splashes.
On Oct. 8, Texas rangers obtained an arrest warrant for the preliminary prices of assault-family violence and illegal restraint.
Simpson was arrested in Kendall County on Oct. 9 the place authorities say “he didn’t seem shocked on the time of his arrest nor did he query why he was being arrested.” He invoked his proper to an legal professional whereas being questioned over the bodily altercation between him and Suzanne on the night time of Oct. 6.
After the Arrest
Texas Rangers executed a search warrant on the Simpson residence shortly after the arrest. Through the search they noticed an indention on the wall on the backside of the stairway, investigators spoke with one of many Simpson daughters and confirmed it had not been there when she beforehand visited.
Rangers requested the Simpson’s housekeeper to establish the kind of trash baggage the household used. She described the luggage as white with pink handles.
Later that afternoon a search warrant was executed at Brad Simpson’s property in Bandera, the place they positioned a ground-level burn web site with a burnt laptop computer and a number of mobile units. Three cellphones belonging to Simpson had been later recovered from the burn pit.
Search warrants had been obtained for name element information for each Brad and Suzanne’s mobile providers and the cellphone Simpson had on him on the time of his arrest. FBI and Texas Division of Public Security analysts would discover two notes in his gadget titled “This subsequent life” and “Final will and testomony.”
Each notes had been created on Oct. 8, in them he apologized for bodily assaulting Suzanne in August of 2023 and once more on the night time of her disappearance.
On Oct. 10, Texas Rangers executed a search warrant on his truck the place they discovered blood that might later be recognized as belonging to Brad. That very same day they interviewed James Cotter, a longtime enterprise affiliate and good friend of Brad Simpson.
Upon reviewing textual content communication between the 2, authorities would discover messages despatched all through the day on Oct. 8.
At 4:35 p.m., Simpson texted Cotter “If you happen to’re in Bandera are you able to haul ass and meet me at your home?” … “I don’t have a lot time…”
Cotter responded, “I will probably be there in 40 minutes.”
Simpson responded, “OK, make certain and depart all that shit into the pump home, particularly the gun.”
At 8:31 p.m., Cotter despatched Simpson the next message, “Recover from right here!! I gained’t inform anybody.” Adopted by, “You’re my brother.”
On Oct. 21, investigators executed a search at Cotter’s residence. There they found an AK-47 rifle hidden behind a wall-mounted tv in his bed room. He’s accused of hiding the AK-47 for Brad two days after Suzanne disappeared.
Cotter was arrested and charged with tampering with proof and possession of a prohibited weapon. He posted bond on Nov. 8.
On Oct. 23, the rangers interviewed Suzanne’s private banker who disclosed that Brad would usually take away Suzanne’s cellphone. The banker instructed rangers that Suzanne suggested her in August of 2024, that if she went lacking to search for her in a lake.
After the Homicide Cost
On Nov. 7, Brad Simpson was formally charged with homicide whereas in custody on the Bexar County Jail.
A Bexar County grand jury later indicted him on 4 counts: homicide, tampering with a corpse, tampering with bodily proof and possession of a prohibited weapon. He was arraigned in December and entered a plea of not responsible. That very same month, James Cotter was additionally indicted.
Within the first months of 2025, Simpson’s protection attorneys sought to weaken the fees. They filed motions to quash components of the indictment, arguing prosecutors had did not specify what act triggered Suzanne’s loss of life.
With out a physique, the protection claimed, the homicide cost was too obscure.
The state countered that the proof — surveillance footage, digital information and witness testimony — established sufficient for the case to maneuver ahead.
On April 29, Decide Joel Perez denied the protection’s movement to quash the indictment, ruling prosecutors had alleged sufficient to let the homicide cost stand.
Two months later, in a June listening to, Perez ordered prosecutors to complete turning over all discovery by Aug. 1. That included studies and information held by Olmos Park police, the Texas Rangers and a number of forensic labs.
Protection attorneys argued that they had been nonetheless lacking key proof. Whereas prosecutors acknowledged the delays they argued that the scope of the investigation — spanning a number of counties, businesses and forensic opinions — made the method advanced.
When the Aug. 1 deadline handed, prosecutors returned to court docket. On Aug. 5, prosecutors instructed the decide that the July 4 Hill Nation floods had pulled Texas Rangers and different investigators into catastrophe response mode, setting again the Simpson case.
Additionally they pointed to technical issues formatting 1000’s of information for switch. Perez granted the request, giving the state extra time.
As discovery deadlines had been pushed again, prosecutors pressed ahead with subpoenas. In August, the state issued subpoenas for all Little one Protecting Service and Texas Division of Household and protecting service information regarding the Simpson household and their 4 youngsters.
However even with that extension, issues continued. At a Sept. 8 listening to, Perez famous that discovery nonetheless wasn’t totally full and that file formatting remained a difficulty. He prolonged the deadline once more, this time to Sept. 22.
In the identical listening to, Perez modified Simpson’s no-contact order to permit restricted conversations along with his son Rowan about parenting points, whereas persevering with to bar any dialogue of the case.
On Sept. 9, the state subpoenaed remedy information from the 2 youngest Simpson youngsters extending again to Oct. 9, 2024.
On Sept. 17, Decide Perez heard arguments from James Cotter’s attorneys, who requested to have his GPS ankle monitor eliminated. The state argued that because of the ongoing investigation and Suzanne Simpson’s physique nonetheless not being discovered they’d not conform to the request. Perez denied the request, however stated he would contemplate it at a later date.
Cotter is about to return to court docket later this month.
5 days later, when Simpson appeared in court docket on Sept. 22, Perez dominated that each prosecutors and protection attorneys now had the invention supplies they wanted to proceed.
He scheduled the pretrial hearings for Jan. 20, 2026 and set jury choice to start Feb. 13, with juror questionnaires and choice to comply with.
The Simpson household’s Olmos Park residence — the place investigators consider Suzanne was final seen alive — was bought for about $1.2 million in September. That cash will probably be used to repay the mortgage and property taxes which have accrued with the remaining funds entered right into a belief for the Simpson household youngsters.
Again within the courtroom, prosecutors pressed ahead with one other spherical of subpoenas within the ultimate days of September.
On Sept. 26, they requested monetary information from Brad Simpson’s Chase and Financial institution of America accounts, together with card transactions tied to Suzanne’s Financial institution of America, TD Financial institution and UBS accounts.
Then on Sept. 29, prosecutors subpoenaed Suzanne’s Financial institution of America information courting again to June 1, 2024.
The newest spherical of subpoenas got here on Sept. 30 because the state is in search of extra information from James Cotter’s Chase checking account and Suzanne’s Financial institution of America account, once more — each famous as unserved on the time of reporting.
With Suzanne Simpson’s physique nonetheless undiscovered and pretrial hearings set for Jan. 20, Brad Simpson stays within the Bexar County Jail.
If you happen to or somebody you already know is experiencing home violence, name San Antonio’s Household Violence Prevention Companies at 210-733-8810 or the Nationwide Home Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233. The hotlines are open 24/7. Discover native sources right here.
