← True Crime with Kendall Rae
True Crime with Kendall Rae
Neighbor Heard Screaming From the Woods & Then She Vanished: Where Is Suzanne Simpson?
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Kendall Ray
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It's the case of Suzanne Simpson, a Texas mom of four who disappeared and it is believed that she is most likely no longer with us and to this day her remains have not been found, which has definitely made things very challenging. And like I said, I got a ton of requests to cover the case and oftentimes when there is a new and breaking case, I tend to wait until there is enough information to cover it to the best of my ability with what is out there. And an affidavit did drop in December and we got a ton new information. Plus the trial starts in two weeks so I feel like now is a good time to cover it and get you guys caught up on everything in case you want to follow along with the trial. I do want to warn you and I don't know if you can tell in my voice already, but I am getting over a pretty gnarly cold. I have a terrible cough. But I really still wanted to record today while this is fresh in my head. I'm very fired up. I'm very angry and eager to share the details of this case with you guys so that you have this information before the trial begins. Unless it gets delayed. Hopefully it won't. So yeah, I've got my tea in my stay safe out there mug which you can get at Kendall Ray shop and a percentage does go to the Higher Hope foundation if you're interested in supporting us and supporting that. It would mean a lot. So I'll have that linked below. But let's get into it. And as always, as this is an active case, everyone that I am going to be speaking about today is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. I've got to make that clear. Although I am sure when you hear the details of this one, you are going to have some strong opinions. But with all that being said, let's go ahead and jump in. And I want to start out how I always do by telling you about our victim and who she was while she was alive. So Suzanne Clark was born on June 16, 1973 in Bear County, Texas to her parents, Philip and Barbara. And she also had one older sister, Teresa. Her mom has said that Suzanne was both easy to raise and a joy as a child. And her loved ones often boast about her kind hearted nature. People say that she was the type of person who would smile at every stranger and introduced herself to everyone she met. She was very social like that. And they also say that she always put the needs of others above her own. And that's just a fraction of the wonderful things that people have had to say about her. She very clearly impacted a lot of people and people are just absolutely devastated by what has happened. Growing up, Suzanne attended the Texas Military Institute where she graduated from in 1991. And after that she received her bachelor's degree in communications from the University of Texas in Austin. And it was there while she was in college that she ended up meeting the man that she would eventually marry. And that brings us to Brad, Brad Simpson, a fellow UT student. And in May of 2002, after the two of them dated for several years, they did end up getting married. Now Suzanne and Brad both had careers in real estate and eventually they purchased a beautiful home in Almost Park, Texas, which is just north of San Antonio. And they lived there with their four children. They had three daughters and one son. And at the time of her disappearance, her children were ages 20, 18, 15 and 5. Now in 2024, Suzanne was an employee of Nick's Realty, a luxury real estate company co owned by Brad's sister in law. And she was a very passionate agent. She had this natural ability to buy and sell homes and it was really just a part of her life that brought her a lot of joy. However, what truly brought Suzanne the most joy was being a mother and she was a damn good mother. One of her daughters has said that if her mom had any faults, it was that she always put others above herself and that selflessness is What I imagine made her, everything that she had done in life was for her family. And to have allegedly lost her life at the hands of a family member, her husband, who she once loved, it's hard to even wrap your mind around. And it's not just what he allegedly did to her. In October of 2024, this had been going on for years. Through stories told by other family members, it's believed that Suzanne was a victim of domestic violence. And I'll be sharing examples of that throughout this episode. But in order to do so, I really need to go over the events that led up to her disappearance and kind of how it all unraveled. And that brings us to October 6, 2024, which was not that long ago. And so this is the information we have at this point about how all of this went down. That day, Suzanne and Brad were invited to attend a party at the Argyle, which is this, like, exclusive member and guest only dinner club. Originally, Suzanne had called her mom to ask if she could watch their youngest daughter, the five year, but ended up changing her mind and they brought her with them instead. There's actually this blurry surveillance photo that shows her there that evening. And so the three of them were at the Argyle from 6 to about 8:30pm and during that time, witnesses say that Suzanne and Brad had some type of verbal altercation. Now, we don't know exactly what was said, but whatever it was, it was, you know, loud enough and upsetting enough that other people took notice. And then following this altercation, Suzanne and her daughter ended up leaving and going to the HEB supermarket, where they stayed from 8:40 to 8:51pm and after this very quick trip to the grocery store, it's believed that Suzanne and her daughter went back home. But shortly after returning home, Suzanne ended up leaving again at 9.15pm she calls a friend of hers and let her know that she was on her way over. And while driving there, she placed another call to her mom. And this phone call to her mom was extremely upset. Setting in the call, Suzanne explained to her mom, confided in her mom that Brad had assaulted her and caused pain to her neck, her back and her arm. And then I'm not sure if she ended up telling her friend about this. I'm sure that information will come out in court. I think there's a good possibility she told her friend this as well. What we do know though, is that Suzanne got to her friend's house at 9:25pm but an hour later, she was already back home, which was confirmed by The Find My Friends app. And it was shortly after this that something terrible must have happened. Allegedly. Now, what I'm about to share with you actually comes from a neighbor who has been a key witness in this case. Because not only did he see some incredibly alarming things, but he was also the last person, as far as we know, to see Suzanne alive, besides Brad, of course. So what were these very alarming things that he saw? Well, according to this Neighbor, sometime between 10 and 11pm he hears this loud altercation from outside his window. And when he goes and looks outside the window, he sees Brad and Suzanne in the street right in front of his house having a physical altercation. And the court documents read, quote, the neighbor stated he observed that Ms. Simpson was attempting to get away from Mr. Simpson's grasp as he tried to pull her downwards. The neighbor told me that he observed that after an approximately one minute struggle, both Mr. Simpson and Ms. Simpson were last seen headed westbound from his residence. The neighbor advised that it appear appeared Mr. Simpson was clearly attempting to keep Ms. Simpson from running away. But Suzanne did manage to get away. And then after this, she ran off into this wooded area near their home. And Brad followed her out into the woods. And that's where this neighbor lost sight of them. But then he decides to go ahead and get a flashlight and see if he could figure out what's going on, see if he could see anything. And that's when he hears, and this just gives me chills. Two to three loud screams coming from the woods and then just silence. Then an hour or so later, he hears Brad start up his GMC Sierra truck and leave the area. And about an hour after that, he heard Brad return. Now, I already know I'm gonna get comments asking about this and I totally understand why you would want to know. And I want to know as well. Did the neighbor call the police? The answer is no, and I don't know why. I have a million thoughts on this. It's very frustrating, but maybe there's more information as to why that we will understand more later. It's one of those situations where calling could have made a massive difference in this case. So it's frustrating, but again, I don't know all the details. I always try to encourage people that if you see something, you hear something, you say something, you try to get help, because you never know, it could save someone's life or help solve a case in a big way. So, yeah, it's, it's just frustrating. And ultimately this is all we know about the ordeal as far as what the neighbors saw or what has been released at this time. After I gave birth to my daughter in 2022, I ended up having so much hair thinning and shedding and it made me so upset. I was so self conscious and so I started looking into solutions and I looked at a couple treatments but they seemed painful, they were very expensive and not guaranteed to work. So that's when I ended up coming across Nutrafol on my own and I decided to try it out and had amazing results. 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Okay, so she is seen having this physical altercation with Brad. She breaks away from him. She runs off into the woods. He is seen falling after her. Then there's a couple Loud screams and then silence. So it tells you a whole lot just from that. So then the following day, October 7, Suzanne was reported missing. But her husband wasn't even the first person to do it. Despite the fact that his five year old school had called at 3pm to say that Suzanne had failed to pick her up. Brad didn't bother to report her missing until after 10pm that night. And it was actually a friend of Suzanne's who made the report first. A couple of friends actually had grown concerned that day when nobody had heard from her and they even tried to talk to Brad about it. One friend called him up and basically said, hey, we're all worried and I'm gonna go file a missing persons report. And she did at 9:57pm and only after that did Brad go ahead and make a call himself to report her missing. So he reports her missing at 10:11pm and in this report, he specifically said that he had not heard from his wife since the night before at 11pm and from this point forward, 51 year old mother of four, Suzanne Simpson has been missing. And to this day, like I said in the beginning of this episode, her remains have yet to be found. Now, I wish I could say that law enforcement took this seriously from the moment they found out, but that is certainly not how everyone feels. Chandler, her oldest daughter, the oldest of their kids, was living in New York at the time. And when she found out that her mom hadn't been responding to anyone, she flew home immediately. And when she got there, she felt like police weren't doing anything about it. According to Chandler, it took her and her siblings actually going to the police station and making a statement for them to really get the ball rolling. Which is crazy that they didn't take this seriously from the second they found out because Brad was not acting like a concerned husband of his missing wife. I mean, there were just red flags all over this case from the beginning. A day after reporting her missing on October 8, he failed to show up for an interview at the police station. And instead he went to his ranch property, which was located about an hour away in Bandera County. But even if he wouldn't talk to investigators, several other people did. And one of those people was actually Brad's own brother, Barton. And I've got to say, right off the bat, big fan of Bart. He has been so outspoken in condemning his brother's actions and showing massive support for Suzanne and her family. And I just want to get ahead of the comments here because I know people are going to have to say Something. Yes, I know his name is Bart Simpson, and he was named before the show even came out. And I'm sure he's aware of it, so there's really no need to make comments about it. It's just so unnecessary and, quite frankly, rude. So let's just. Let's refrain. Let's just not. We're moving past that. Okay. So anyway, when he spoke to the police on the 8th, he shared that Brad called him and apologized for, quote, all the problems he's caused. And I guess he had been kind of separating himself from the family and not acting how he usually did, which is not super damning information or super relevant to the case, I guess, but it's noteworthy nonetheless. The really damning information, though, came from that neighbor who had witnessed all of this happening. And he did an interview with police on the night of the 8th. He told police everything that he had seen, everything that he had heard, everything that I just went over with you guys a couple minutes ago. Then there was also an interview with a school counselor that definitely shed some light on Brad and Suzanne's relationship. During that interview, investigators learned that just one day prior, their child told the counselor that on the day her mom went missing, her dad, quote, pushed her mother against the wall, hit physically her mother on the face and hurt her mother's elbow inside their residence. And then she also stated that her dad turned off her mom's phone because they were fighting. And that last part, the part about the phone, would end up contradicting one of Brad's own statements. He claimed that Suzanne had lost her phone earlier that day, not that he had turned it off. And that wasn't the only contradictory statement that he had made. He later told police that the last time he saw his wife was on the morning of the 7th, around 6:30am when he was leaving to drop his daughter off at school. He said he peeked his head into the room that she was sleeping in and saw her in bed. Yet when he reported her missing, he said that the last time he saw her was on the night of the 6th. But now he's saying it was on the morning of the 7th. So which is it? So it became pretty clear pretty quickly that this guy was full of shit. And thankfully, after getting all this information, police did finally do something about it. In the early morning hours of October 9th, Brad Simpson was arrested for assault, causing bodily injury, family violence, an unlawful restraint. And I'm really happy that at least his arrest came pretty quick. He was booked into the Kendall County Jail, and the following day he was transferred to the Bexar County Jail, where he was held on a two million dollar bail. And apparently he showed no emotion when he was being arrested and didn't even ask why. And he continued to show no emotion as he was questioned about his wife's disappearance. Plus, and this is a big one, he had a number of lacerations and bruises on his hands and arms that law enforcement noticed right away. And along with his arrest, a search warrant for their home was obtained. And during that search on the 9th, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Almost Park Police Department found what appeared to be an indentation in the wall at the bottom of the stairway. An indentation that Chandler said was not previously there. And keep in mind, you guys, this was not some, like, little ding on the wall. This was a big indentation, like someone had been thrown against it, pushed against it, slammed up against it, something like that. And this was information that we know now, but at the time, the public did not know any of this. This investigation was kept incredibly close to the vest. And all people really knew was that Suzanne was missing and Brad was in jail on unrelated charges. Well, the charges had to do with her, but not about her disappearance, you know what I mean? And another thing that's interesting to note is the community was also very quiet in the beginning of this investigation. People didn't seem to be willing to talk about Brad and Suzanne's relationship on the with the media. And I found that to be pretty interesting. And of course, I can understand that a lot of people probably just wanted to play it safe and not speculate on things too much until more was known about the case. But Chandler, her daughter, actually went on this one podcast. It's called the Connect with Jonathan Mark podcast, and he's a celebrity psychic medium. And she mentioned that part of the reason she moved so far away from home before all of this even happened was due to their community. And in the aftermath of her mom's death, I can only imagine how hard this has been on her and her siblings to be surrounded by people that they feel haven't done everything in their power to vocalize their support for their mom. There was a candlelight vigil that was held for Suzanne on October 13th, and it was actually there where Suzanne's mom spoke out for the first time publicly. Barbara shared that she'd spoken to her daughter only an hour before she went missing. And get this, she'd even come up with a plan to get her away from her abusive husband. A plan that she says she never got to share with her.
- [19:23]
Chandler Simpson
And when she went to the party, they came back from the party. Now, my speculation is maybe the whole thing is alcohol related, because when she got back, she called me up and told me the things that Brad had done to her physically. Well, I came up with an alternative plan for her and hoped that she'd move in with me and have her little toddler go to the elementary school in my neighborhood. I never got to tell her the plan.
- [19:54]
Kendall Ray
And it was also made clear during this vigil that their family no longer believed she was alive, even without proof of her passing. They just all knew in their hearts that she was gone. And for Barbara, although she first thought Suzanne might have been staying with a friend, she said she knew by then that her daughter would have reached out if she could. And her sister Teresa was actually in Hong Kong when she got the news. And here's a clip of her talking about it.
- [20:19]
Teresa Simpson
The first time I heard about it, I was on a trip coming back from Thailand, and I was in Hong Kong. And because of the time difference, it was on a Tuesday, and this took place on a Sunday. And I knew as soon as I heard that my sister had been missing for 16 hours, that she was no longer with us. And so then I actually thought it was this very cut and dry situation, just because I was, you know, on the other side of the world. And so from my understanding, you know.
- [20:46]
Chandler Simpson
They had this fight at the Argyle.
- [20:48]
Teresa Simpson
Club, they came home, the neighbors witnessed it, and I just assumed that, you know, they had figured the whole thing out that night. And so I didn't fully understand the severity of the situation. But once I understood that, you know, the. The children hadn't spoken to her in 16 hours, that's when I just knew, okay, she's already in heaven. That's just all there is to it.
- [21:11]
Kendall Ray
So, like you heard her say, there were just signs that her sister wasn't alive. And one of the biggest ones being that she hadn't reached out to her kids. I mean, she was a very involved mother who loved her children more than anything and just would never not reach out to them and let them know that she was okay if she was alive. And then obviously, another big one was that she didn't pick up her daughter from school. She just never would have done that. And then they also say that she missed a hair appointment, and they explained that she never would have missed that. So since then, search efforts have kicked off to try and locate her. But like I've said, at this point, law enforcement knew that they were looking for a body. And in addition to searching their home, they also searched an area along Interstate 10 in Bernie, Texas, along with a shopping center in that area. Now, Suzanne's phone last pinged a day after she went missing at 7.15am but it doesn't appear as searches related to that have yielded any results. And then obviously that wooded area surrounding the Simpsons home was very thoroughly searched. And all that's been reported is that two items of interest were found. And at this point we have no idea what those items were. Their biggest search though, and the one that has definitely received the most media attention was the search of the landfill. It was announced on October 15 that an extensive search effort was being conducted at a landfill in San Antonio. Texas Rangers, the Department of Public Safety and the almost Park Police Department scoured through heaps and heaps of trash in hopes of finding evidence connected to Suzanne's disappearance. And honestly, you guys, they thought they were going to find Suzanne herself. They quite literally said that they were confident they would recover her there. So for four days they sifted through truckloads of trash. But they did come up empty handed in terms of a body. And if they did find anything else, well, at this point, we just don't know. I do know that they were very hopeful to find her phone, which would be a major piece to this case that they definitely want to find. But to my knowledge, that remains missing as well. For many, many years I just completely stopped wearing underwire bras. They were so uncomfortable. It wasn't worth the lift to me. But now I get the best of both worlds. I get the comfort and the lift and support through the fits. Everybody push up bra from Skims now this has seriously become my favorite bra. I have four of them now. I have them in multiple colors and it is truly the only bra I wear these days. I feel comfortable in it, I feel confident in it. And I'm just so happy that I gave underwire bras another chance because these bras feel like they were made for me. 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And it's available in sizes for women, men and kids. Now, at the time, investigators weren't saying anything as to why they were searching this landfill specifically. All they said was that they were there based on evidence, statements and solid police investigation. Meaning just trust us, we're here for a reason. And really trust is all anyone has been able to do. You know, trust that the investigation is thorough, trust that they're doing their best to figure out what happened to Suzanne, to find her, and trust that whoever did this will be brought to justice, which I hope is the case pretty soon. So over those next few days, the searches of the landfill continued and investigators also expanded their efforts to include some other Simpson family properties, including the property in Bandera. Etc. No information was released to the public about what was found at the time, but things were definitely found. And what's interesting is despite the intensity of the search efforts, at no point did they ask for the public's help or involvement in the searches at all. In fact, they asked them not to help. So when I said they were keeping this close to the vest, they were keeping it very close to the vest and they had the support of the Simpson family. Here's a statement that BART released. It says, we are so appreciative of the endless grueling hours they've committed to uncovering solid information. We are comforted by the fact that they might be close to determining what happened to Suzanne. We are grateful to Chief Viegas, the almost Park Police Department Ranger, Jesse Perez and the Texas Rangers and all assisting law enforcement agencies for their non stop professionalism. And this would be one of just many statements that BART has given. And I've just again gotta say how awesome, how refreshing it has been to see a family member of an accused person acting this way publicly to be in full support of the victim's family and the victim herself. I mean, I understand that it's only natural when a family member is accused of something as terrible as this to want to protect them and to stay silent. Or there are plenty of people that vocalize their support for their family member even when the evidence is very stacked against them. But Bart hasn't done that at all. And I just think it's so awesome. And again, refreshing to see. And it was really from the beginning, I mean, from day one, he was on the right side of this whole thing. And yeah, I'm a big fan of Bart. And someone in his family actually shared information, vital information, with law enforcement that led to additional charges against Brad. While the landfill search was taking place, it was announced that Brad was being charged with the unlawful possession of a short barreled rifle. Basically, a family member told police that Brad owned multiple firearms that they wanted to surrender. And among those firearms was a modified short barreled rifle. Now, of course, this is America. Owning a weapon isn't illegal, but owning it without registering it absolutely is. And because it wasn't, these additional charges were added and a federal hold was placed on Brad. Which basically means that if he were to post his $2 million bail, he would immediately go into the custody of the U.S. marshals. And because of that, a bond reduction hearing he was scheduled to attend in mid October was canceled. Basically, there was no point to argue to reduce his bail because if he posted it, he would immediately just go back into custody anyway. And if he is convicted on that charge alone, he faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. And keep in mind, this is separate from the murder case. It seems that investigators are stacking things against him in order to at least get some conviction. Because without a body, this murder is going to be a lot harder to prove. So this at least means that Brad will remain behind bars for something. And I'm sure you could have guessed this, but Brad's lack of cooperation has held strong throughout all of this. So much so that on October 16, his brother Bart released another statement. And it reads, until Brad chooses to cooperate, we will continue to cooperate for him as we have from the very beginning of this heartbreaking ordeal. The devastation this has caused to our family is overwhelming. Brad's refusal to cooperate is unacceptable. My sister and brother in law have stepped up to take care of the children, but the impact on our parents has been shattering. Our lives have been irreparably changed. We will not rest until we find Suzanne. And that promise to not rest until Suzanne is found is shared by law enforcement. They were, and they are to this day, determined to do everything in their power to locate her remains and bring her home. Now, a clear alert had been issued Shortly after her disappearance, which is like an Amber alert, but for adults. And as the landfill searches came to an end, people were waiting for what was next. And what was next was enlisting the help of the Texas Search and Rescue organization and focusing their efforts once again to the wooded areas in and around Almost Park. Meanwhile, Suzanne's sister spoke publicly about all of this and shared what she was able to about how things were going and the need for answers for the sake of Suzanne's children.
- [30:08]
Chandler Simpson
One of the reasons that this is so crucial is because when a mother goes missing, they don't go missing by accident. Because mothers have very set schedules of like coming home at night and making dinner, waking up and making breakfast, you know, doing the hustle to make some money, taking the kids to their activities. So, you know, when a mother goes missing of children, children need their mothers the most. And that is the reason that we've been able to get so many people involved in this situation is because Suzanne was a beloved mother. She was an incredible person and she just had the sweetest disposition. You know, she always aimed to please. My mom's like, she's so easy to raise. And so when you have an incredible mother that is no longer there to cook three meals a day and get the kids to the activities and be involved in their schoolwork, their homework, everything that has to do with them getting their hair done or getting them dressed or whatever the situation may be, it's just very heartbreaking. Not for somebody not to have their mother is basically the bottom line.
- [31:18]
Kendall Ray
The pain that all of this has caused their children is just unimaginable. It is so horrific. My heart is absolutely broken for them. I mean, this is both parents that we're talking about here. Their mom is gone, likely at the hands of their father. And on top of that, they don't even know where she is. They don't have any answers. And coming to terms with all of that is going to be something that takes a long time. I'm not sure how much the five year old knows at this point, but unraveling that and understanding that as she gets older is going to be, oh, just horrific. My truly, I'm just beyond heartbroken for them. It's, it's. There just are no words. It's horrible. I wish so badly that there is something that I could say that if any of them saw this, that would be comforting or change anything, but obviously that's just not possible. But there actually are a few things that we can all do to support their family during this time. In the description box or the Show Notes. If you are listening to the podcast version of the show, I'm going to put put a link to a meal train page where money is being raised to support all four of the Simpson children. And this is amazing. They have incredibly been able to already raise $90,000 for the four children. But obviously in the grand scheme of life for them to have lost their parents and there's four of them, you know much more support is going to be needed. So I encourage any of you who are in a position to make a donation to do so. I will again have that linked below for you guys are in the Show Notes. But also I will be setting aside funds for them through my foundation, Higher Hope and we are in the process of reaching out to them to get them a HOPE grant if they are interested in receiving those funds. And then this little detail I need to share with you pisses me off beyond okay, there are people out there who have tried to profit off this situation by making fake go fund me. That's right. People have made fake gofundme accounts to try to exploit this tragedy. Chandler even had to post her Instagram account and tell people that it was a scam. And it's just awful they have to deal with something like that on top of everything else. God, our society is so sick. I just who are these people and how do you ever get to a point in life where you see a situation like this and a family suffering this way and think oh, this is a good opportunity for me to try and make some cash out of it? It sickos. But anyway, back to the case and there are more charges to go over and that makes me happy.
- [33:56]
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- [34:32]
Kendall Ray
On October 22nd, Brad was hit with an additional two charges. And buckle up because this is crazy. That day he was charged with two felony counts of tampering with evidence and possession of a prohibited weapon. It turns out that he had asked his business partner to hide his unregistered AK47. After Suzanne went missing on October 8, Brad texted James Cotter, who is his business partner, saying the following at 4:35pm he said, if you're in Bandera, can you haul ass and meet me at your house? Followed by I don't have much time and sorry for the urgency, but you're all I got, especially now social media is destroying me. Then a text from James reads, I will be there in 40 minutes. Minutes. Then another text from Brad saying, okay, make sure and leave all that shit into the pump house, especially the gun. And James responds later at 8:41 by saying, get over here. I won't tell anyone and you're my brother. No, don't you worry. This James Cotter piece of shit was also arrested and charged too. He was arrested on the 22nd as well and his bail was set at $1 million on charges of tampering with evidence and possession of a prohibited weapon. And even though it hasn't been stated whether or not the weapon is connected to Suzanne's disappearance, maybe they don't even know if that's the case. You can't tell me that this isn't extremely shady, especially when you hear this next bit. They found the weapon in the wall behind James's TV and they're very confident that this weapon belongs to Brad because when they searched his house on the 9th, it was nowhere to be found. Plus plus think about those text messages between him and James, okay? It really. They say it all. The two of them truly deserve the titles of dumb and dumber. Alright, now, in addition to these new charges, dummy one, Brad also had his bail increased like dummy two, James. His bail was set at $1 million, bringing his total bail to a whopping $3 million. All in all, he was facing four charges including unlawful restraint, family violence, tampering, slash fabricating with visible evidence and possessing a prohibited weapon. And during all of this, Brad and his attorneys were fighting for him to be able to see his children. A judge had initially put in a no contact order for all four of them, so they were filing motions to get this revised. They basically said that none of these charges had to do with his kids, so he should be able to speak with them. Now, a decision on this wasn't made until December, so I will get back to that lot closer to the end of this episode. And if things in this case weren't already insane and disturbing enough, get ready for this next part. Because in early November there was a major update in the case. On November 7, it was announced that Brad Simpson was being charged with murder. And that day he was temporarily taken out of the county jail for further questioning by the Texas Rangers.
- [37:22]
Bart Simpson
Good afternoon. Yesterday, the Almost Park Police Department, along with the Texas Rangers, have charged Brad Chandler Simpson with murder in the death of his wife, Suzanne Clark Simpson. 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. Support and strength throughout this investigation. There are also many agencies that have helped us in this investigation, and we offer them our sincerest gratitude. This thorough and tireless investigation has been conducted in efforts to find justice for Suzanne and her family.
- [38:04]
Kendall Ray
And I just had to include this. Here is Barton reacting to those charges.
- [38:08]
Barton Simpson
It's always important to do what is right, especially when it is most difficult. The situation is heartbreaking for us, but it brings some peace to our family 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, allowing us to continue the difficult process of grieving and focus on rebuilding our lives for the sake of the children and our extended family. It is our sincere hope and prayer that Brad will find the compassion and courage to end his family suffering by cooperating with the authorities to help us find his wife. Thank you very much.
- [38:58]
Kendall Ray
Now, I'm sure you're all wondering, how did these charges come about? And we were able to get that information because court documents were unsealed on November 12 that for the first time explained what evidence investigators had uncovered. Now, I'm going to go over all that evidence with you, but it is going to require us backtracking to really the very beginning. As a reminder, on the night that Suzanne went missing, she, her daughter, and Brad all attended this party at the Argyle. Then, after returning home, there was that physical altercation which caused Suzanne to go to a friend's house and call her mom. And after coming home again, she and Brad had another physical altercation that was seen by that neighbor, and that ended with them running into the woods, followed by two to three loud screams and then silence. Well, in the affidavit, we learned that on the night of October 6, Brad allegedly accessed Suzanne's AT T account and suspended her phone, making it impossible for her to make calls, receive texts, and other things like that. And obviously, this is another direct conflict with Brad's statement that Suzanne had lost her phone prior to coming home that evening. So with this information, it appears, and is, can I say, just incredibly obvious that Brad was trying to prevent her phone from being used or traced. And on top of this, a witness that was interviewed by investigators stated that when Brad and Suzanne would get into arguments, it was common for him to take her phone away from her. And here's a text of his that highlights exactly that. I still feel bad about tonight. I never should have grabbed her phone and drove off, but she was so protective of it. My dumbass didn't know her passcode, and 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. These devices are the devil. Strange statement, but you know what? I do agree with him in that he is a dumbass. And then he also, in his text, said he feels bad, which I don't believe for a second. I don't think he ever felt bad. That's just my opinion, of course. But I think this is a perfect example of what Brad would do when he was feeling angry or jealous. And Brad was definitely a jealous person. The woman that he had sent that text to spoke to the police, and she claimed that Suzanne was aware that her husband was extremely jealous and that he would track her location. And then the affidavit goes on to explain what Brad had done with his own phone that night. And this is weird and also just extremely stupid. I mean, he really thought he was doing something here, thought he was smart, but in his own words, he's a dumbass. And, yeah, now you're dealing with the FBI. So the FBI forensic examiners said that Brad shut down his phone in a manner that is rarely seen, that they referred to as lockdown mode, which they described as a shutdown of a cell phone done by a person who wants to avoid detection. They say he, quote, intentionally engaged in a series of on off cycles to include complete shutdowns of his cellular device, preventing data collection. Now, this began at 1109 on the night of the 6th and continued into the following day. And speaking of the following day, we ended up learning a ton about what he did on the 7th. Now, remember how I said Suzanne and her daughter went to the HEB supermarket on the night of the 6th? Well, at 12:30am on the 7th, Brad's truck was seen on surveillance video at the HEB and that camera captured what appeared to be a large ice chest in the bed of his truck. Weird, right? And, you know, if you are familiar with true crime cases, you know exactly where this is going. And it gets even weirder because later that day at 7:53am we know that Brad dropped his daughter off at the Howard Early Childhood Center. And when he dropped her off, school surveillance cameras captured footage of something in the bed of his truck, which was at least two white trash bags with red strings as well as that same large ice chest, which thinking of what could have been in those trash bags and in that ice chest and the fact that his daughter was in that car as well and then he brought her to school, obviously we don't know exactly what was in there at this point, but very disturbing to think about. And throughout that day there would end up being several security cameras that caught glimpses into the back of Brad's truck. And man, does it look bad for Brad. So let's go through it all. Okay? So at 9:12am Brad was captured at a Whataburger Drive thru located in Bernie. And in the back of his truck, cameras captured three white trash bags, a heavy duty trash can, an ice chest, a large bulky item wrapped and secured in a blue tarp. And on top of that tarp was a firewood rack meant to conceal and weigh down the tarp. So yeah, very disturbing. And man, am I thankful that those security cameras, multiple security cameras, picked all of this up because it's going to be absolutely vital.
- [43:51]
Ryan Seacrest
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- [44:17]
Kendall Ray
No purchase necessary. VGW Group void. We're prohibited by law. 18/plus terms and conditions apply. And the insanity doesn't even end there because at 9:53am Brad's geolocation data shows him arriving at the Home Depot in Bernie, which for reference is about 30 minutes away from their house. And as you could probably guess, especially again if you are a regular true crime consumer, he ends up buying some very suspicious items in cash. Now these items include two bags of Quick Crete cement, an orange Home Depot construction bucket with a lid, a box of 32 count heavy duty trash bags, one 30 ounce bottle of Clorox disinfectant spray and insect repellent. But wait, there's more. Because idiot over here goes up to someone in the parking lot of the Home Depot depot and asked them if they knew where the closest dump in Bernie was. And he was then directed to the Kendall county solid waste site, which is about 10 minutes up the road. Now, I do want to clarify that. To my understanding, this is not the same place that was searched back in October. That search was conducted in southeast Bexar county at the Republican Services Testament Road landfill. It was kind of confusing to piece this together, but my best guess is that trash from the Kendall county solid waste site site is sent to this other landfill. I mean, that's the only thing that would make sense to me because investigators are fairly confident that Brad did in fact go to the Kendall county solid waste site. Now, even though he did put his phone on lockdown mode after leaving Home Depot trying to make it so they couldn't trace it, his truck's GPS system did place him right by that dump. Not to mention a business that is close to the way site actually did pick up on their surveillance cameras. Brad driving away from that area. It is unknown at this point in time how long exactly he was there, but we do know a few of his next movements. After leaving the general area of this way site, Brad was traced to a nearby Valero gas station at 11:15am where he used his debit card to buy gas, but then used cash to go inside and buy two 1 gallon jugs of water. And it's noted that Brad appeared to have changed his shoes before he was wearing flip flops and now he was wearing cowboy style boots. Boots. Most notably, though, was what was captured in his truck bed. Or I should say, what wasn't captured in his truck bed at the gas station. Surveillance video showed that the three white trash bags were now missing. Everything else, though, was still there. And then following this, Brad's vehicle could be seen traveling westbound from Bernie into Bandera county, which, if you remember, Brad and Suzanne owned a home there. Then at 1:41pm his truck was captured by a license plate reader traveling back into Bernie from Bandera. And this time the blue tarp is no longer visible and the firewood rack has been repositioned in the bed of his truck. But by the time he goes to pick up his daughter at School at 3:27pm Surveillance video shows that the firewood rack was gone. However, that ice chest and the large gray heavy duty trash can were both visible. And it's a lot to follow, I know, but just stick with me. Next, at 4:07pm Brad's truck was traced to the bubble bath car. Wash on San Pedro Avenue, located 10 minutes away from the school. And while he was there, he could be seen cleaning the driver's seat as well as the back seat of the car. Now, just FYI, his truck was seized back on October 9th, and a full forensic examination was done, which included photographs being taken of the truck. And according to the affidavit, when those photos were reviewed, they saw dried cement splashes located in both the rear passenger compartment apartment and the bed of the truck. There was also a photo showing a 30 ounce Clorox bottle in the back seat as well. And at this point in time, only the ice chest was left back there. And despite his efforts to clean his truck, traces of his own blood were found in it when it was searched on October 10th. And if all that weren't enough, there was even more information in the affidavit. It turns out that during a search of Brad's Bandera property, they ended up finding a burn pit. And inside the burn pit, they found a laptop and three cell phones, all which are believed to belong to Brad. We also learned that a deputy went to that Property on the 8th to speak with Brad, and he just so happened to be standing next to a lit fire. At this point in time, it is unclear what, if any, information was found on those devices. I'm assuming if he burned them, there was probably something on there, and hopefully they are able to retrieve it. But when Brad was originally arrested, he had a different phone on him, and that that phone was definitely searched. And when they did get this, they found two notes in his note app. And here's what they said. One was titled this Next Life, and then the other was titled Last Will and Testament, where he apologized for assaulting Suzanne back in August of 2023, and for assaulting her on October 6, 2024, the night that she went missing. And truthfully, I don't know if he admitted to murder in these notes. I don't know if it was any type of confession. This is all the information that we have have was that he was apologizing for assaulting her, not to mention the fact that these were written two days after she went missing. So talk about a guilty conscience. And the affidavit goes on to say another incredibly shocking thing which I absolutely had to mention, which is that two months before she was murdered in August of 2024, Suzanne confided in her personal banker that if she went missing to look for her in a lake, I guess Suzanne had shared some of the abuse that she had been experiencing. And for reasons we don't know, she. She told this woman that's where to look for her. And there are several lakes in the Almost park and Bandera area, which I'm guessing will probably be a focus of at least some search efforts going forward. Or at least I hope so. And speaking of search efforts, the last thing from the affidavit that I want to share here today is that on October 23, an additional search was executed at their Almost park home. And during that search, they located one bag of Quick Create cement, a box of heavy duty black trash bags, which contained 28 of the 32 bags, a gray heavy duty trash can, and the metal firewood rack, which I imagine is all currently under forensic testing or has been already. So obviously the amount of evidence and circumstantial evidence here is pretty shocking. And things do not look good for Brad. And what's crazy to me is that even after all this has come out, he has continued to maintain his innocence. This monster even had the nerve to say that Suzanne was probably in Austin with her sorority sister. Yep, Just chilling in Austin with the girls. Okay, dude, just stop saying anything at this point. God, I really hope that they absolutely destroy his stupid ass in trial. Which, by the way, could really be an uphill battle for prosecutors. Again, if you are an avid true crime consumer, you probably know just how difficult it is to get a guilty verdict without a body. Difficult, but not impossible. Of course, but the burden of proof is so much higher without a body, because not only have to prove that Brad was responsible, but they have to prove that she's not alive to begin with. And then we also have to keep in mind that there's no obvious murder scene. I mean, there's hunches, there's little things. For sure, there's plenty of potential places that this could have happened, but there's not one specific place where there's a big arrow pointing to murder happened here. They're obviously going to continue to search for Suzanne's remains, and let's hope maybe by some miracle they are able to find them before trial begins. But in the meantime, they've got to be ready to convince a jury that she's dead without any direct evidence that that is the case. But again, I want to be so clear here that I am by no means saying that it's impossible to get a conviction without a body. We see it happen all the time. It's definitely doable. It does make it a lot harder. But in this case, the circumstantial evidence is. Is Incredibly damning. So I feel like they've got a pretty good shot, I mean, at least I hope, because, oh, if this man gets away with this, allegedly murdering his wife, it's going to be devastating, just devastating. And you have to keep in mind, you know, you have to think back to cases like Casey Anthony. They weren't able to prove that she was responsible for the death of her daughter. And so, so she was found not guilty of murder, which, oh, that case still just makes me angry to this day. And there's so many cases like that, and truth be told, and of course, it's their job, but Brad's defense attorneys didn't think that they had enough evidence to charge him with murder in the first place. So much so that in November, they actually called for an examining trial. Now, an examining trial is a hearing to determine whether or not there's sufficient evidence to justify bringing the case to a grand jury for an indictment. They basically called for prosecutors to turn all their cards over and show them what they had so a judge could decide if this was even going to move forward. They asked to see any evidence, including written and recorded statements from Brad Simpson or any witness, physical evidence, pictures and videos, and a potential witness. And on top of that, his defense attorney has tried to get his bail reduced. He said that his client is being illegally confined because there wasn't enough evidence to lock him up, according to him. But luckily, his efforts have not been successful, at least as of now. Interestingly, though, the domestic violence charges against him, the ones that he was originally arrested for, ended up being dropped, which I believe is so the DA's office can focus on the bigger picture at hand. So maybe that's for the best. And the bigger picture at hand here is murder and God, for the sake of Suzanne, for this family, for their kids, I just hope more than anything that justice is actually served. And I wanted to share a very emotional social media post from Chandler, their oldest daughter. And it reads, my mom was a victim of abuse from my father. My father took my mother's life in a state of rage and control in our community. This should not be happening. And I will not stop speaking as the voice of my mother until she is found. I will forever represent all victims of domestic abuse and assault. As my mother's daughter, I will tell our story over and over again with every breath. I will make sure you remember her name. Name. Suzanne Simpson was a victim of abuse and a victim of this community. Beyond being a victim, she was a phenomenal mother. Hard working, driven, loving, and kind. Shame on my community for not speaking about domestic violence within Alamo Heights. Women are marginalized by society and misogyny every day and told to keep their mouth shut. This is the time to speak. Speak for my mom. Speak for your yourself. Your voice will be heard. My mom fought for her life, fought for her family and herself. Our community needs to come forward with strength and bring awareness and change to uplift women who brought us life. Those who choose to remain silent are choosing to blind themselves from domestic violence in our homes. My mother tried to leave my father and lost her life. If you stand with my mother and our family, please be present at my Dad's hearing on November 13th in San Antonio. You stand with us all in silence for my mother. Justice will be served and my mom will be brought home. Shame on Alamo Heights for not educating youth and community on domestic violence and sexual assault as women across this world suffer in silence as victims. Any woman of the AHS community that has experienced any kind of verbal, physical or sexual abuse, this is your time to speak. Be strong like my mother and speak up. I've read through that a handful of times and every time I do, I am just. Just left almost speechless. It is so powerful, so brave, so true in so many ways. She had so much courage to say this and say it in such a bold way. And to be honest, her posts were the last push that I needed to cover this case. I wanted to tell Suzanne's story. I wanted her words to be amplified. And I'm glad that this episode is going out when it is, right before this trial, so that we can show this family as much support as possible. She is right.
- [56:30]
Chandler Simpson
Right.
- [56:30]
Kendall Ray
There is danger in not speaking out about domestic violence and there is especially danger in not educating people on what it looks like because it's not always physical. And based on what she's written, it sounds like Suzanne was a victim who died while trying to get away, which, as we know, is the most dangerous time in an abusive relationship. Now, I also wanted to read another social media post that was written by her daughter Chelsea, and it reads, it has been a month without the most joyful, devoted, beautiful, kind hearted, courageous and nurturing mother in our lives. Without the presence of her radiant smile and positive spirit, there is a void here on earth and in my heart which will never be filled or forgotten. The world was a better place with my mom. She lit up every room she walked in with her unfiltered, hilariously energetic and welcoming personality. Those who knew her understood how easy and light hearted it felt. To be around her. Not only was she a joy to be around, she was also the most hard working, resilient and patient woman to walk this earth. And her words there just really bring Suzanne to life. And with everything that's happened, it's really important that we take the time to learn about who she was. And man, did she sound like such an incredible person that anyone would have been lucky to know. And I know all four of her children were so lucky to have her as a mother while they had her. But getting back into the case here, I wanted to briefly circle back to dummy number two, James, Brad's business partner. I mentioned earlier that his bail was set at $1 million, but after just over weeks behind bars, his attorney got it reduced to a hundred thousand dollars, which he posted the very next day. As a condition of his release, though, he had to surrender his passport and be under house arrest with a GPS monitoring device. Plus, he's not allowed to have any contact with Brad. Then on December 16, he was indicted on charges of tampering with evidence with the intent to impair an investigation and possession of prohibited weapons. And as of now, this is the most recent update we have on his case. Brad, on the other hand, we have a few more big updates. On December 3, 2024, he was officially indicted by a grand jury on several charges including murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, causing bodily injury, tampering with a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and possession of a prohibited weapon. His bail was also increased again to $5 million. Then just two days later, and I'll warn you ahead of time, this is really disturbing. Oh, I hate even saying this, but it was revealed in an indictment that Suzanne's DNA was found on a motorized saw that belonged to Brad. They call it a reciprocating saw, which is a handheld power tool that can cut through some very tough material. And I don't think I need to paint that picture for you guys. And at this point, we don't know how the saw was used or we don't really know much information about this. I'll explain what we do now, but it's just. God, when I learned that detail, I was just. I felt sick to my stomach. I don't understand how someone could get to that point where they would want to use a saw on someone that I'm assuming they loved at some point in their life. Someone that birthed their four children. There's just no words. I can't even. I can't even speak any further on it. But no, now when it comes to this saw, all we learned is that Suzanne's DNA was found on it and Brad tried to hide it. We don't know where they found it. We don't know how they found it. We also don't know what kind of DNA was found. Was it a fingerprint? Was it blood? Was it hair? We have no idea. But following this, on December 9th, Brad had a hearing. And it was mostly just procedural stuff, really. Nothing that's important to go into detail on. But after that hearing, his brother did make another statement. Statement saying that he hoped Brad would do the right thing and come forward. He also did give a small update on the kids. The two youngest have been in his care. So let's take a listen to that.
- [60:24]
Barton Simpson
My hope is that, like I've said from the beginning, that Brad will do the right thing and come forward and tell us everything he knows so that we can end this awful ordeal deal for the children and all the rest of us.
- [60:42]
Kendall Ray
How are the family? How are you guys doing right now?
- [60:46]
Barton Simpson
Well, we're doing as well as can be expected. I mean, the Brad's children are surrounded with love and caring and, and compassion, and they're doing as well as I think you could for somebody in this situation.
- [61:01]
Kendall Ray
And what he's saying is all we can really hope for that and justice, which hopefully will be coming soon. Now, on December 10, a gag order was in place because of how much attention this case has gotten publicly. The judge understandably wants to ensure that Brad receives a fair trial, but unfortunately there have been some violations of that order. In the Dec. 19 hearing, Barton and Teresa were both cautioned about violating it. Barton wasn't actually there at the hearing, but Teresa was. And she had to go up on stand in front of the judge, where she was incredibly apologetic, which had to be very nerve wracking for her considering she's just a few feet away from the man who stands a key accused of killing her little sister. Now, for Barton, it was said that he violated the order by going on the San Antonio Express News podcast where he discussed domestic violence. But we know that you can't say anything directly about the case because of the gag order. But you have been very open and outspoken about a message to your brother Brad. Do you mind saying what that message is?
- [62:04]
Barton Simpson
Do the right thing. You know, I just think that. And without speaking specifically to my brother Brad. Brad, just saying, when somebody is in this situation, it would be so much better if you put yourself at the mercy of the court. There is a redemption in the truth. The truth will set you free. My hope is in that awful situation where God forbid somebody hurts someone, call an ambulance, call 9-11- get them the help you need.
- [62:33]
Kendall Ray
Now that's only 40 seconds of a nearly hour long episode episode. But in my opinion, I'm very proud that he, you know, went and took time to talk about something as important as domestic violence and is making so much effort to really stand up for Suzanne and for her kids and for women all over their community. But a lot of people feel that it violated the gag order just by mentioning the case at all. However, nearly the entire episode was focused on domestic violence. I thought it was very well done, very thoughtful, and again, brave and awesome of him to do this. So I wanted to link it below if you would like to take a listen to it for yourself. Now, as for Teresa, Brad's attorney argued that she'd still been in contact with the media even after the gag order was put in place. Luckily, neither of them were punished. It was more of a hey, be careful. I don't know if you realized you violated the gag order type of thing, but I really feel bad for both of them, especially Teresa. She definitely was a bit shaken up by the whole thing, understandably. But these violations weren't even the point of the bond bond hearing. The point was to go over Brad's bond conditions. Remember earlier when I said that Brad was fighting to see his kids? Well, that is what the hearing was about. And surprisingly, or maybe not surprisingly, it was determined that he would be allowed contact with some of his children. The judge ruled that Brad is allowed to write letters to his 15 year old son, but he's not allowed to have any contact with his five year old daughter. His two older children weren't ready at the time to speak with him, but if they choose to, to, it would be allowed. Obviously, though, with the stipulation that all communication is thoroughly monitored and at the end of the day, I do believe that his children should be able to make that call on their own. Whether they want to speak to him or not, you know, that should be entirely up to them. Their family held a private celebration of life on December 17. However, details of that event have been kept out of the media, which I think is for the best. I imagine though that there was great sadness in the unknown. Not knowing where she is or what exactly happened to her or what the outcome of this trial is going to be has got to be weighing so heavy on everyone. But hopefully some of these questions are answered soon and justice is right around the corner. So assuming that nothing gets pushed back, Brad's trial is scheduled to begin on February 12, 2025, which is very, very soon. He is facing up to 99 years in prison, which doesn't feel like enough, if you ask me. This is just my opinion. You know, he allegedly committed this murder. But I truly think that Brad is an evil, evil person, in my opinion. God, I just hope more than anything that there's some sort of resolution when all is said and done and that this family can get some peace and justice. And I'm sure there will be people that comment this, but this case reminded me a lot of the Brian and Anna Walshi case, which I covered in. In February of 2023, and Brian hasn't even gone to trial yet. That trial is scheduled for October of this year, and I likely will be covering that trial. There's so many disturbing similarities between these cases. And, you know, in both of these cases, they're going into trial without a body. And it makes me very, very nervous. And it's just so horrendous for these families not knowing where the victim, victim is. And what's really sad, too, is that Barbara, Suzanne's mom, has actually shared that she had always held Brad in high regard and thought of him as a good father. And it just goes to show you that people never really know what's happening behind closed doors. And it's really scary to think about. It's so heartbreaking that Suzanne was in this horrible relationship with this horrible person and she lost her life before she could get away. And now her kids have to live with the reality of what happened to her for the rest of their lives, especially the fact that it happened at the hands of their father, allegedly. Like I said before, our team at Higher Hope is reaching out to them to try and get them a hope grant if they are interested in that. And I really hope that we can help them in some way. And, you know, again, thank you to all of you who have supported Higher Hope and all of the work that we've done so far. And even just by supporting this show or any of the Mile Higher media shows, you are helping us to help others, and it means a lot. Oh, and again, I just wanted to mention that if you're interested in showing your support for their family, you can do so by visiting the Meal Train page that is linked in the description and show notes of this episode. I really wish I had something more positive to end on, more of a conclusion, but I hope that that is coming soon. Let me know if you guys would be interested in some post trial coverage and you know, hopefully justice is right around the corner. We're gonna have to see how this shakes out but I feel feel like again the circumstantial evidence is really damning. So hopefully it will be enough. That is going to be it for me today. Guys. Thank you for joining me for another episode and make sure you follow the show on Spotify and Apple podcasts. It really does help me out. If you want to watch the video version of this show you can find it on my YouTube channel which will be linked or you can just search Kendall Ray. I will be back with another episode soon, but until then stay safe out there.
- [67:57]
Ryan Seacrest
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Kendall Ray
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