Attorneys representing a Texas property tycoon accused of murdering his realtor wife are trying to pull apart the state’s case against him as her body remains missing.
Brad Simpson, 54, was arrested three days after his wife, Suzanne Simpson, 51, was spotted late at night outside her $1.5million home in San Antonio’s ritzy Olmos Park neighborhood getting into an altercation with him.
He has since been indicted on first-degree felony murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon causing serious bodily injury charges, which carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Simpson is also facing charges of tampering with a corpse, as well as two counts of tampering with physical evidence and possession of a prohibited weapon.
Authorities have said they believe he killed Simpson on the night of October 6, then disposed of her body.
But on Wednesday, Simpson’s defense attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the indictment against him, according to the San Antonio report.
When they appeared in court with Simpson later that day, the defense attorneys said they still needed about one terabyte of evidence to go through before they could move forward with their motion to quash the indictment, Fox News reports.
Prosecutors then said they were still waiting to receive about five to six terabytes of evidence from the Texas Rangers, and admitted they were having trouble transferring some of the data to the defense, according to My San Antonio.
Brad Simpson, 54, appeared back in court on Wednesday for a pre-trial hearing
He is accused of murdering his wife, Suzanne Simpson, 51, the night of October 6
As a result, the judge in the case delayed a hearing until next month.
In the meantime, Texas Department of Public Safety spokesperson Deon Cockrell said authorities will continue their search for Suzanne’s remains.
‘They won’t stop looking,’ Cockrell vowed. ‘We still want to find her, just ass much as her family does.’
Authorities have previously said they believe Suzanne died on October 6, the last time she was seen alive, as they have not found any evidence of life from cellphone records, financial records, family, friends and co-workers.
Prosecutors have explained that on the night Suzanne vanished, she and Brad were seen walking toward nearby bushland when a neighbor said he heard screams.
The neighbor said he saw Brad ‘grabbing her upper torso area to gain control of her body,’ according to a police report.
At some point, he said Suzanne ‘was attempting to get away from Mr. Simpson’s grasp as he tried to pull her downward’, and he then chased after her when she ran away, according to an affidavit.
The neighbor claimed they heard screams from a wooded area, before Brad re-emerged around an hour later and drove off in his truck.
Authorities have previously said they believe Suzanne died on October 6, the last time she was seen alive, as they have not found any evidence of life from cellphone records, financial records, family, friends and co-workers (credit: Olmos Park Police)
When detectives later questioned him about his wife’s disappearance, authorities said Brad appeared ‘unconcerned about his wife being missing and showed little to no emotion,’ the affidavit said.
It added that he had several scratches and lacerations on his hands and arms.
The affidavit also noted that when the couple’s five-year-old child was questioned by a school counselor, she claimed that on the night of October 6 Brad ‘pushed her mother against the wall, hit (physically) her mother on the face and hurt her mother’s elbow inside their residence.’
Brad also allegedly ‘turned off her mother’s phone because they were fighting.’
Following his arrest, Suzanne’s mother, Barbara Clark, claimed that just hours before Suzanne went missing, she received a harrowing call from her.
‘She called me up and told me things Brad had done to her physically,’ Barbara said at a vigil for her daughter.
She explained that Suzanne confided in her, revealing that at about 9pm that night, Simpson had injured her arm and her back.
Brad and Suzanne’s daughter, Chandler Simpson, also claimed on social media that her father ‘took my mother’s life in a state of rage and control,’ adding that he was abusive.
The missing woman’s mother, Barbara Clark, explained that Suzanne confided in her, revealing that at about 9pm on October 6, Simpson had injured her arm and her back
She was last seen outside her $1.5million home in San Antonio’s ritzy Olmos Park neighborhood getting into an altercation with Brad
Brad now remains locked up at the Bexar County Jail, with his bond set at a combined $3million.
Texas criminal defense attorney, Sam Bassett, who is not involved in the case, suggested his layers could now ‘make a deal for him to give full disclosure and plead to 40 years instead of life, because in Texas, life means 60 years.
‘Anything less than 60 years is better than the likely life sentence he might receive if he goes to trial,’ he said, adding: ‘The best way they’re going to find her body is if he ultimately decides to tell them.’
Still, he said, ‘The Texas Rangers are… very thorough in their investigations.
‘I would guess the investigators are still hoping to find the body… but you have to be preparing for a trial if you’re a prosecutor as if you’re not going to have a body.’
Brad’s longtime business partner James ‘Val’ Cotter (pictured), 65, was also indicted by a grand jury in connection to Suzanne’s death
But Brad is not the only one charged for the mother-of-four’s murder, as his longtime business partner James ‘Val’ Cotter, 65, was also indicted on felony charges of tampering with evidence with intent to impair an investigation and possession of prohibited weapons.
He is accused of entering Brad’s gunroom on October 8 and removing an AK-47 that prosecutors say was illegally modified into a ‘machine gun’ and was not properly registered, according to KSAT.
An arrest warrant, obtained by My San Antonio, claims Brad reached out to him that day, asking for help hiding a weapon.
He later allegedly told Cotter ‘make sure to leave all that s*** in the pump house, especially the gun.’
‘Sorry for the urgency, but you’re all I got especially now… social media is destroying me,’ Brad texted his longtime friend, according to the warrant.
When questioned by police, James initially claimed Brad was referring to a .22 caliber rifle that he had taken from Brad’s home.
But an anonymous witness later told police Cotter had actually taken an AK-47 from the family Brad’s walk-in vault that was stocked with weapons, according to the warrant.
Simpson is now due back in court on March 12, while Cotter is scheduled to go on trial on May 21.