Nearly six weeks ago, Texas realtor and mother Suzanne Simpson mysteriously disappeared, and authorities are still searching for her remains after charging her husband with murder.
The 51-year-old mother of four and luxury real estate agent went missing on Oct. 6 after allegedly fighting with her husband of 22 years, Brad Simpson, 53, in Olmos Park, in the San Antonio area.
“Yesterday, the Olmos Park Police Department along with the Texas Rangers have charged Brad Chandler Simpson with murder in the death of his wife Suzanne Clark Simpson,” Olmos Park Police Chief Fidel Villegas said during a press conference on Nov. 8. “We realize that this doesn’t bring closure to Suzanne’s family, but we hope it will allow them to enter the next phase of their grieving process with more clarity.”
“Officers in law enforcement have gathered enough evidence in order to charge him with murder,” Texas Department of Public Safety spokesperson Deon Cockrell added during the press conference.
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Authorities say there are no signs of Suzanne Simpson being alive since Brad Simpson physically assaulted her on Oct. 6, according to a recently unsealed arrest affidavit. This has been verified by her cellphone records, financial records, family, friends and co-workers, the report continues.
Here’s a timeline of events that unfolded before and after Oct. 6 based on court and police records and statements:
Suzanne Simpson told her personal banker that she was being physically abused by her husband, Brad Simpson, that he would commonly take her cellphone away and “that if she went missing to look for her in a lake.” Suzanne also told the banker that her husband would tell her children that she had lost her cellphone after he had taken it from her.
Brad Simpson sent a text message to a female, writing, “I still feel bad about tonight. I never should’ve grabbed her phone and drove off but she was so protective of it. My dumb ass didn’t know her passcode so I got locked out and had to bring it back. I really have no interest in looking through her phone or anybody else’s. these devices are the Devil.” This female later told authorities that Suzanne Simpson was aware that her husband would “track” her and that he was “extremely jealous.”
The Simpsons and their 5-year-old daughter attended a party at the Argyle club, a ritzy private club in Alamo Heights on the evening of Oct. 6. They were witnessed having a “verbal altercation” while at the party, according to an arrest affidavit.
At about 8:30 p.m., Suzanne Simpson and her daughter left the party and went to the H-E-B grocery store in San Antonio from 8:40 p.m. to 8:51 p.m., according to surveillance footage obtained by police. Suzanne Simpson and her daughter arrived at their house soon after, documents show.
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At 9:15 p.m., Suzanne Simpson called a family friend to say she was coming over.
At 9:16 p.m., she called her mother to report that Brad Simpson had just assaulted her, “causing pain to her arm, back, and neck.”
At 9:25 p.m., she arrived at the family friend’s house.
After 10 p.m., a neighbor witnessed Brad and Suzanne Simpson arguing loudly and “physically struggling” in front of his residence. The neighbor said he later heard screams coming from a nearby wooded area. The neighbor observed that “Ms. Simpson was attempting to get away from Mr. Simpson’s grasp as he tried to pull her downwards” and that Brad Simpson chased after his wife and was trying to grab her, according to documents. The neighbor later heard screams coming from the wooded area across from his home.
At 10:22 p.m., Suzanne Simpson’s iPhone “Find My” application” showed her at her house, which was the last location listed for Simpson on the app.
About one hour after witnessing Suzanne and Brad Simpson fighting in front of his home, the same neighbor observed Brad Simpson’s truck leave the area and then return about another hour later.
The 5-year-old child of Suzanne and Brad Simpson later told a school counselor that on the evening of Oct. 6, Brad Simpson allegedly “pushed her mother against the wall, hit (physically) her mother on the face and hurt her mother’s elbow inside their residence” and also “turned off her mother’s phone because they were fighting.”
At 12:33 a.m., Brad Simpson and his truck were seen on surveillance footage at a San Antonio H-E-B grocery store, and his truck bed was clear of anything except a large ice chest.
At about 7:53 a.m., Brad Simpson’s truck was observed dropping his 5-year-old daughter off at school. Simpson’s truck bed area contained two white trash bags and a large ice chest, according to surveillance video obtained by police.
At about 9:12 a.m., Simpson’s vehicle was seen on the drive-through camera of Whataburger in Kendall County, Texas, where Simpson purchased food using his debit card. The surveillance footage shows three white trash bags, a heavy-duty trash can, an ice chest and a “large bulky item wrapped and secured in a blue tarp” that was held down by a firewood rack in the back of Brad Simpson’s truck, according to the affidavit.
At about 9:53 a.m., Simpson purchased two bags of cement, a construction bucket, a box of heavy-duty trash bags, Clorox disinfectant spray and insect repellent with cash at a nearby Home Depot, police learned through cellphone data, surveillance footage and a Home Depot receipt. Prior to his purchase, Simpson asked an unknown male in the parking lot for directions to the nearest dump in Boerne.
During this time, Simpson “intentionally shuts off his cellular device” and his vehicle was later seen near the Kendall County Solid Waste site, according to the affidavit.
At 11:15 a.m., Simpson’s truck was seen at a Valero/Stripes gas station in Kendall County, where he used his debit card to buy gas for his truck and used cash to buy two juge of water. The white trash bags were missing from his truck at the gas station, but the blue tarp, firewood rack and trash can were still present. Simpson had changed from black sandals into “dark colored, cowboy styled boots,” according to surveillance.
At 3:27 p.m., Simpson was observed picking up his daughter from school, and his truck bed was clear of the blue tarp and metal firewood rack.
At about 4:07 p.m., he was spotted on another surveillance camera “washing and cleaning the drive front (sic) side and the rear-left passenger side” of his truck at a car wash back in San Antonio.
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On the evening of Oct. 7, friends of Suzanne Simpson met to discuss her disappearance. At this point, Brad Simpson had not called police or 911 to notify them of his wife’s disappearance, and a friend informed him that she was going to call the police.
At 9:57 p.m., a friend of Suzanne Simpson contacted police to report her missing.
At 10:11 p.m., Brad Simpson called police and left a voicemail. When officers contacted Brad Simpson at his home, he told police he had not heard from his wife since Oct. 6 at 11 p.m.
Simpson exchanged a series of ominous texts with James “Val” Cotter, his longtime friend and business partner. “If you’re in Bandera, can you haul a– to meet me at your house?” Simpson allegedly texted. “I don’t have much time.” In a later text to Simpson, Cotter wrote, “Get over here!! I won’t tell anyone” and “You’re my brother.”
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In the early morning, Brad Simpson was arrested on charges of assault causing bodily injury, family violence and unlawful restraint.
Texas Rangers executed a search warrant at the Simpson home in Olmos Park, where a Ranger observed “an indention located on the wall at the bottom of the stairway.” Brad and Suzanne Simpson’s daughter told police that the damage on the wall was recent and not there when she had previously visited the home.
Later that day, Rangers executed a search warrant of Brad Simpson’s property in Bandera County, where they found a ground-level burn site with a burnt laptop and multiple cellular devices.
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Rangers searched Brad Simpson’s truck and identified stains that tested “presumtively positive for blood.” Authorities later learned the blood belonged to Brad Simpson.
A family member informed law enforcement officers that Brad Simpson owned multiple firearms they wanted to surrender. The family member recovered several firearms from a locked room in the Simpson home and then transported the firearms to the Olmos Park Police Department, records show.
A federal detainer or charge was placed on Brad Simpson by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for illegally owning a firearm, according to an affidavit.
After several days of searching both in and around the Simpson family home in Olmos Park and surrounding wooded areas, investigators began searching a landfill on the Eastside of Bexar County. They searched the landfill for four days, but in the end, it appears they did not find Suzanne Simpson there.
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Cotter was arrested on Oct. 21 and charged with tampering with evidence and possessing a prohibited weapon, both third-degree felonies, after being accused of hiding Brad Simpson’s gun.
On the evening of Oct. 22, two felony charges were filed against Brad Simpson for the exchange police say he had with Cotter.
Authorities charged Brad Simpson with the murder of his wife, Suzanne Simpson.
“It is heartbreaking, but it brings our family some peace to know that authorities have gathered sufficient evidence to feel confident in moving forward with charges,” Brad Simpson’s brother, Barton Simpson, told Fox News Digital in a statement.
“This also helps us come to terms with the reality that Suzanne is no longer with us, allowing us to begin the difficult grieving process and focus on rebuilding our lives, especially for the sake of the children and our extended family.”
Authorities held a press conference announcing Brad Simpson’s murder charge.
“It’s always important to do what is right, especially when it is most difficult,” Barton Simpson, who has been vocal on social media about his brother’s lack of cooperation with law enforcement, said at the press conference. “The situation is heartbreaking to us, but it brings some peace, knowing that the authorities have gathered enough evidence to move forward with charges. This helps us come to terms with the reality that Suzanne is no longer with us.”
“It is our sincere hope and prayer that Brad will find the compassion and courage to end his family’s suffering by cooperating with the authorities to help us find his wife.”
Texas Department of Public Safety spokesperson Deon Cockrell confirmed at the press conference that authorities are searching the Bandera area for Suzanne, adding to the list of locations law enforcement have previously searched.
“That is one of the areas where the evidence had turned us to, and we continue to search wherever any of the evidence comes up,” Cockrell said of the Bandera area.
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Authorities believe Brad Simpson “intentionally and knowingly caused the death” of Suzanne Simpson “on or about Sunday, Oct. 6, according to the unsealed arrest affidavit.
Suzanne Simpson’s sister, Teresa Clark, recently told People she “knew immediately that [her] sister was gone,” adding that two red flags were when her sister failed to show up for a hair appointment and then to pick up her youngest child from kindergarten.
“They will find her,” Clark said. “She was a great mom and a great daughter and a great wife. She was beloved. We’re going to do everything we can to bring her home.”
Brad Simpson remains in Bexar County jail with bonds totaling $3 million and the federal hold by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for the weapons charge.
His bond hearing scheduled for Wednesday has been delayed to Dec. 19. His attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.
