Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Murder Suspect Hubby Brad Simpson Fights To Suppress Discovery Hearing

Episode Date: June 8, 2025

Brad Simpson, husband of missing Suzanne Simpson, and his attorney  fight to squash his indictment. As state attorneys continuing  gathering evidence from the Texas Rangers, the attorney say prosecutor has enough evidence to proceed with a motion to quash the indictment. The arrest affidavit for Brad Simpson, accused of murdering his wife, provides a detailed timeline of his activities the day before he reported her missing. The husband and father spent the day running suspicious errands, some of them in front of his 5-year-old daughter. The day after neighbors overheard the Simpsons fighting, Brad Simpson’s truck filled and emptied as he drove around San Antonio. First, Simpson placed his phone in “lockdown mode,” preventing location tracking. Forced to rely on surveillance footage, police spotted Simpson’s truck at a grocery store at 12:33 a.m. The truck bed was empty except for an ice chest. The next morning, when Simpson took his daughter to school, two full white trash bags had been added to the bed. Later, when Simpson was seen at a Boerne Whataburger drive-thru more than an hour later, police observed a heavy-duty trash can and a firewood rack weighing down an object covered by a blue tarp. Law enforcement uncovered damning evidence that led a grand jury to indict Simpson not only for tampering with evidence but also for murder. Lab testing revealed Suzanne Simpson’s DNA on a reciprocating saw from Simpson’s toolbox. In his first court appearance, Brad Simpson wore red prisoner attire with his hands cuffed in front of him. He swayed back and forth in his swivel chair, speaking only to confirm his identity and converse with his attorney. Although the hearing was brief, Simpson was observed with what has been described as a sly grin. Joining Nancy Grace today:  Jeff Horny - Longtime Friend of Suzanne and Brad Simpson   Caryn Stark -  Psychologist, renowned TV and Radio trauma expert and consultant, www.carynstark.com, Instagram: carynpsych, FB: Caryn Stark Private Practice Ben Powers -  Criminal Defense Attorney, Facebook: Legal Powers PLLC, https://legalpowers.com  Brian Fitzgibbons  - Director of Operations for USPA Nationwide Security, uspasecurity.com, Instagram: @uspa_nationwide_security, Fmr. Marine and Iraq war veteran  Dr. Kendall Crowns  - Chief Medical Examiner Tarrant County, Lecturer: Burnett School of Medicine at TCU (Texas Christian University) Zachary-Taylor Wright  - Trending Digital Reporter with MySA; website: MySanAntonio.com; Twitter: @Zachthereporter  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime stories with Nancy Grace. A gorgeous young mom, Suzanne Simpson, is seen arguing with her husband outside their elite, argyle country club. The neighbor after that hears screams outside, is convinced it's Suzanne, everything suddenly goes quiet. She's never seen again. In the last days, another development in the search for Suzanne. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. In the last days, Brad Simpson has filed a motion to quash a hearing.

It was set for 30 days in connection with wife Suzanne's murder case. Still, no body. Brad Simpson, the husband, surprise, the husband. Brad Simpson, an almost-part man, is believed to have murdered his wife last year. The discovery hearing was originally scheduled in Judge Joel Pettis's 437th District Court, but now Brad Simpson wants to quash it. What does quash mean?

Basically, kick it out of court. Okay, what do we know about Suzanne's disappearance and where is she or her body? They met in college at the University of Texas. Nice guy, charismatic, engaging. You know, Suzanne was a little tiny thing. But for Suzanne, it wasn't perfect at home. It's just tragic, man.

I can't even imagine. She didn't deserve that at all. If just the thought of Suzanne's body out decomposing in a trash site or a disposal site, it's getting worse. The handheld reciprocating saw belonging to the husband absolutely has Suzanne Simpson's DNA on it. Why?

Why would that be there? Take a listen to what the almost PD chief had to say. So we're holding out hope that maybe, you know, maybe she's trying to be away from the home to get away from that situation. That's not totally uncommon, but what is uncommon, what is unusual, is that this was a woman who worked and was very dependable and loved her children and was always in contact with her children and her family and her friends. We would love for her to be alive, obviously. There's nothing concrete that says she's not alive. And again, I owe it to the family. We all owe it to the family to speak of her

in a way where other people have been found, like I said, injured and distressed, lost, troubled, hiding away. All of those things are possible. That from our friends at WOAI, joining me in All-Star panel to make sense of what we are learning right now. This is not the update.

I wanted to report to you tonight. First out to Zachary Taylor Wright joining us, a trending digital reporter with My Essay, My San Antonio. Zachary, thank you so much for being with us. Explain to me how the husband's reciprocating saw, what, you know what, just pause. Zachary, I want to hear everything you've got to say, but for people that don't know what a reciprocating saw is, let me go to Dr. Kendall Crowns joining us. The Chief Medical Examiner in Tarrant County, that's Fort Worth, the Texas jurisdiction, esteemed lecturer at the Burnett School of Medicine, TCU. Dr. Kendall Crowns, thank you so much for meeting with us. Before I get into

your usual topics, and that is the discovery of bodies, what you can tell from bodies, what you can tell from an autopsy, could you explain and demonstrate what is a reciprocating saw? Certainly. So, reciprocating saws are saws that use a blade. I actually have mine here, So reciprocating saws are saws that use a blade. I actually have mine here, is a large, fairly large saw. It has a blade that goes backwards and forwards, which is the reciprocating movement of the saw. And they can be used to cut through metal, wood, bone, tissue, you name it. They use them in the meat cutting industry to cut apart cattle.

Hold on. Let me see that again. Could you turn that on one more time, Dr. Kimmel-Crowns? Sure. Jeff Horne is joining me right, I heard it, thank you. Jeff Horne is with us right now, joining us from San Antonio. Long time friend of both Suzanne and Brad Simpson, her husband. Jeff Horne, I don't know how you can sit there and look at that saw. It looks like a giant version of the electric knife people use at Thanksgiving and Christmas to cut a turkey or a roast or something.

Sure. He knew what he was doing. How can you look at that knowing Suzanne? It's terrible. Sad and disgusting actually. And he's a hunter, you know? If you've used one of those saws, you know that it's not real clean. It doesn't just make a beautiful, clean cut. And yes, I saw him in the courtroom and he looked like he'd been doing pushups for months.

You know, he looks like a thug is what he looks like, what he's turned out to be. So it's sad, man. We were talking to Jeff Horne, who's been a longtime friend of not only Suzanne, the missing mom, but the husband. Zachary Taylor Wright, thank you for holding. A trending digital reporter with My SA, My San Antonio. Zachary, again, thank you for holding. A trending digital reporter with My SA, My San Antonio. Zachary, again, thank you for being with us. I want to backtrack just a moment.

You know, I just heard Jeff Horne state that the husband who is presumed innocent under the law, these are just allegations right now. Zachary, I don't know how him being a hunter has anything to do with his wife's DNA being on a reciprocating. So, oh, I do. I do know the connection he made. He was making the connection that the saw could be, let me just say, contaminated or still caked with animal detritus from prior hunting trips. I don't know a nice way to say it. That's why I'm searching for the words. But Zachary Taylor writes, tell me how and where this reciprocating saw was discovered. So the reciprocating saw was

discovered in Brett's possession in their, I believe in their family home, but it was hidden away, which is part of his, the accusations against him, is that he attempted to conceal it from investigators. And of course the DNA did link back to Susanna. Zachary, you stated that the DNA is found on Simpson's saw, but where was the saw? The reciprocating saw was found in Brad Simpson's toolbox.

You know, Zachary Taylor Wright, joining us from my San Antonio, Zachary, I understand that the husband, Brad Simpson, tried to hide the saw. Absolutely. So that's part of the accusations made against him, is that he attempted to conceal the saw from investigators initially. And so when they were able to find it and link it back to Suzanne, they charged him with tampering with evidence. Well, if it's right there in his toolbox, I don't understand how he's trying to hide

it. I'm certainly not taking his side, but you know, Ben Power is joining me, high profile defense attorney at legal powers, then the worst thing you can do if this ever makes it to a jury is for the prosecutor to state something in opening statements like, yes, and he tried to hide the saw. And then it comes out that he didn't because if you're wrong as a prosecutor on one fact, it tanks everything else. It takes your good facts.

So when you stand up in front of a jury and you say he tried to hide the saw, because you know what? The hiding part is the big indicator that something nefarious has occurred, Ben Powers. How do I know she didn't try to use the saw one time and cut her finger on it? I mean, it could have been a million things,

but the fact that he then tried to hide it puts it in a whole nother light, then powers. Yeah, I agree. I think it's important that if you're gonna use an accusation that he tried to hide the saw, and it turns out he's in his toolbox, obviously where that toolbox was found is gonna be key to describing it as trying to hide it.

I agree with what you just said. You don't wanna lose credibility with the jury by overstating or trying to extend your proof beyond what your proof actually can show. And so I think the importance for the saw in this context is how it's a thread in the larger tapestry of the story. And so I wouldn't unnecessarily try to extend it past its value, which is her DNA is on

the saw. And for the state, that's a good fact. For the defense, that's certainly a problem that we're going to have to address at trial. Let me nail this down. Zachary Taylor, right? If the saw with his wife's DNA on it, and you know, another thing I've got to find out, Zachary, we may not know it yet. Is it blood? Because just go with

me for a moment. Do I believe this is true? No. Could one juror believe it? Absolutely. What if she was using the saw and she cut herself? Do I believe this luxury real estate mom was out working with a reciprocating saw? No. I don't. Okay. But that is a legitimate argument to be made to a jury. Or Zachary, what if it is bone? Now that's a whole nother can of worms. What if it is hair, hair, scalp? It could be a number of things that would clearly tell a jury that the saw was used on her to dismember her. So A, I got a nail down. Is it true he tried to hide it? And you know what Zachary, when you don't know a horse, look at his track record. We already know he asked a friend,

as a matter of fact I believe you told me this, he asked a friend to hide a gun and the friend hid the gun in a false wall and the gun was found and the friend of course blabbed he told me to hide it so we know he has a track record of hiding evidence now that's one thing but that doesn't prove to me he tried to hide this saw I need to know how did he try to hide the saw where are we getting that so that comes directly from the charges against him but we don't have the exact details on where police found the saw

other than it being in his toolbox. So your points are completely accurate, and we also don't know precisely what DNA they found on the saw. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Crime stories with Nancy Grace. Brad Simpson moving to quash a hearing set in connection with his wife Suzanne's murder. Judge Perez had initially set a 30-day window for the hearing to occur. As evidence from the Texas Rangers is still being collected.

I hope that includes her body. But as of yet, nobody has been found. Now as the state's attorneys continue to gather evidence, the Texas Rangers still conducting an investigation translation looking for her body. Simpson's lawyer said they had enough evidence to proceed with a motion to quash the indictment. That's right, throw out the indictment. The judge offered Simpson's lawyers a 30, 60, or 90-day option for the next hearing. Of course, they're sticking with a 30 day window holding the state's feet to the fire to get the evidence to move forward.

Now if they were smart, I think they'd file for a motion for speedy trial and make the state go forward without a body. You can't be held indefinitely under the Constitution waiting for trial. That's why we have the right to a speedy trial under our Constitution. Typically, a speedy trial is within the term or the next two terms of the indictment being handed down. A term in most jurisdictions is about three months. Every three to four months, a new grand jury is impaneled, which would mean a speedy trial demand would guarantee a trial within, let's

say, three, six, nine months-ish from the day of the indictment. What is in that discovery? What do we know about Suzanne's disappearance? Brian Fitzgibbon is joining me. Brian is the director of operations for USPA Nationwide Security, who leads teams of investigators all around the country trying to find missing people. Brian, just go with me for a moment. The saw in the toolbox, that's not damning, that's not incriminating, that means nothing to me. I need to know what kind of, what part of DNA, what type of DNA is it. For instance, if it's hair and scalp, it's over for him. If it's just a little blood, well that could have an innocent explanation. Not that I believe it, but it could.

So what about this, Brian? If the toolbox itself, we know the saw is in the toolbox, but if the toolbox itself, let's just say, was buried in the backyard, okay, that indicates nefarious intent. If it was flung in a river, we have to know more facts before we can just blur out it was hidden. Yeah. As attorney Ben Powers just said, we can just blurt out it was hidden. Yeah. As attorney Ben Powers just said, we're looking at a whole tapestry of things laid out in this charging document. So where it was concealed, how it was concealed is certainly going to come out later.

But there was a reason that investigators put that in the documents. Okay. We see him concealing the cell phone. We see him concealing the guns. Now we read about him concealing the cell phone. We see him concealing the guns. Now we read about him concealing the saw. They're laying out a pattern of behavior from Brad Simpson here. You know, Ryan, I gave up cursing or I said I was giving up cursing when I had the twins. But on this special, special occasion, let me just say they damn well better show me later

because Karen Stark joining me, renowned psychologist TV radio trauma expert You can find her at Karen Stark dot com Karen you and I lived through the AJ Simpson trial. May he rot in hell one little bitty thing the glove one little Bitty thing and I guarantee you Karen Stark if I could have gotten in that courtroom and gone up to Simpson, I would have gotten that glove on his hand. No question.

But that one thing tainted the whole case. It messed up the whole case. Like here, if the state says he hid it, and then you can't prove he hit it, a technical legal term, they're screwed. You know, I would think, Nancy, that they would not say that he was tampering with the evidence or hiding it unless there was actually a reason. Stop. Judge Kimmel's found is demonstrating what a reciprocating handheld saw is.

Does that come with another blade, a detachable blade? Yes, it comes with multiple different blades depending on what you're trying to saw. It can come with ones that will work on metal. It also comes with ones that will trim trees, things of that nature. Let's see it. For those of you just joining us, medical examiner Dr. Kendall Crowns is demonstrating a reciprocating saw. Go ahead. Okay. Thank you Dr. Crowns. You know, to Zachary Chiller right, the big bombshell tonight is that Suzanne's DNA is found on that reciprocating saw. But there is other evidence that's extremely disturbing. The problem with the reciprocating saw is that in the leading up to tonight, we were looking for a body.

Because nobody, wouldn't you agree, Jeff Horny, there's no way Suzanne would have stayed away from her children this long? No, absolutely not. So that means we're looking for a body, but now that the reciprocating saw has entered the scene with her DNA on it, that means she is very likely been dismembered.

That is going to make the discovery of her remains much more difficult. What does that mean to a prosecutor? That means this may very well be a no body case, as in there will never be a body discovered. But what else do we know? Zachary Taylor Wright joining us from my San Antonio. We were just describing Brad Simpson going out for a Whataburger. He certainly did not lose his appetite in light of his wife missing. Now, I know I'm projecting Zachary Taylor Wright, but when I learned my fiance had been murdered, When I learned my fiance had been murdered, I lost down to 89 pounds. The thought of food literally made me sick, nauseous.

And I went so long, I remember the first thing I ingested and it was orange juice and something my mom had in the fridge. So I know that's just my experience. But when I hear about Brad Simpson in the middle of his wife missing, pigging out at Whataburger, I'm not a shrink or a dietitian, but that just doesn't sit right with me.

I mean, we don't know exactly what he purchased at Whataburger so far, but we do know that he did in fact stop at Whataburger with some, we'll say suspicious items in his trunk that he later unloaded after making two separate stops. And we also know, according to the arrest warrant affidavit, he's accused of burning a couple of electronics as well at a Bandera home. First of all, he puts his phone in, quote, lockdown mode.

Brian Fitzgibbon is joining us, USPA Nationwide Security. I don't know what lockdown mode means. I guess that means like airplane mode, right? This is gonna go this is gonna go one step beyond that, Nancy. So once that phone enters lockdown mode, you have no data being transmitted from that phone to the cloud, to any towers. So tracking Brad Simpson's movements with the phone would become nearly impossible at that point. Ben Power is joining me, high profile lawyer with Legal Powers. Ben kind of reminds me of Brian Koberger.

Just so happens, he turns his phone off exactly the time the four University of Idaho students are murdered in their beds. What a co-incu-dink, Ben. I do agree that him turning off his phone is certainly not a good fact in the defense. You know, definitely it's consistent with trying to hide his activities, where he's going, what he's doing. There are other layers of allegations in the war against them. The show, he was pretty active after the altercation that he had with Suzanne and that activity involved going to Home Depot to get different items like trash bags, tarps, concrete, buckets, things

like that. There's the discovery. Can we talk about lockdown van powers? Van powers, the phone being put in lockdown mode. Is that the same thing as airplane mode or is it something more? What is it? It's something more.

It's something that's intended to avoid hitting those things on the towers so that he could conceal his movement. Okay. The thing I guess he wasn't banking on was his car had GPS on as well, so it kind of... Idiot. Defeated the purpose of what he hoped to achieve. You know, Ben Powers, would you agree that at this juncture in our technological world,

a jury is going to view putting your phone in airplane mode or locked down as being as bad as placing you at the scene. I mean if he had had any sense at all he would have left his phone on at his home but instead he put it in lockdown. So I think it has a very nefarious or sinister connotation to juries because juries didn't just fall off the turnip truck bin powers. They don't have their phone in lockdown. They may not even know how to find lockdown on their phone. So that is going to signal to them that something sinister was happening. And I agree with the promise that still

is going to have is that's all proof that we come in after the fact, after the allegation that he killed Suzanne. They don't have anything before. They don't have any premeditation, any planning before this is all post. And so they're still going to have a problem with establishing, you know, with this voluntary manslaughter. Ben Powers, you're right. They've got a problem. establishing, you know, was this a voluntary manslaughter? Ben Powers, you're right.

They've got a problem. Crime stories with Nancy Grace. Apparently, evidence from the Texas Rangers is taking longer than anyone expected to be received by the state. The prosecution's still waiting on forensic testing to be completed. Prosecutors say they expect to have five to six terabytes of evidence originating from Texas Rangers.

And let me tell you something, those Rangers don't play. Meanwhile, the defense says it's got about one terabyte of discovery. It still needs to go through before moving forward with their motion to quash the indictment. Okay, that's a lot of legal mumbo jumbo about when we're going to have a hearing and will the indictment be quashed. I can tell you right now that indictment is not going to be quashed.

Okay, just because there's not a body. From what we know, circumstantial evidence indicates that Brad Simpson was arguing with his wife and grabbing her, pulling her by her arm outside their home after the argument outside the country club. A scream occurred from Suzanne, then everything went quiet. Now, she's missing. I guess a jury can add two plus two to get four. That indictment is not going to be quashed just because there is only circumstantial evidence. But actually, we don't know what all the evidence is yet, because all the discovery has not been assimilated by Texas Rangers and handed over to prosecutors.

So we don't know what there is. There could be a lot more. But what do we know? You know, Jeff, how exactly do you know them? Who did you know first? I knew Suzanne first. And then I met I met Brad after that before they even knew each other. So how would you describe him? You know, he was a different dude. He was a little weird, a little different. But, you know, a little different, but you know, he was always smiling. And I'll be honest with you, being a year younger than me, I didn't see him a lot. The only time I saw him was back at the frat house

and everybody was drinking beer and doing what we do there. So, I've spent a summer with Brad before his freshman year, you know, rushing our fraternity and getting to know him and trying to get him to, you know. Okay, well, I don't need to hear about rush season. What I want to hear about, Jeff Horne, is when you said he was odd.

That's what I want to hear about. You know the old quote, everyone is odd but me and the, and I think the a bit queer at times. What that means in everyday parlance is everybody thinks everybody else is weird but themselves. Okay. So when you say he was odd, you just can't put that out there and leave it hanging. What did he do that was odd? Well, he never went anywhere with Suzanne. She was always by herself.

Football games by herself to watch her daughter's cheer. Parties by herself. Never Brad was very rarely there. So that was odd to me. I don't know what else you want me to say. I was around them because I Suzanne was a friend of mine. She's the one that would call me and invite me to their parties. I wasn't, you know, Brad would not call me and invite me. He is a party-driven community. You know, there was a lot of partying and alcohol, and there's this group of mainly Alamo Heights men that raise money for underprivileged folks. And they, the Cavaliers is what they're called and he was a Cavalier.

So you know, he had some good qualities, I think. You know, I think he might have been an okay father and took his kids hunting and fishing. I just know he was not a very good husband. I don't know that allegedly murdering the mother of your children qualifies as being a good father. Hey, Zachary Taylor Wright, got a question for you. I'm trying to go along with the police

and these recent court filings as to everything that they have uncovered. With his phone in lockdown mode, police had to go to extreme methods, gathering surveillance video from all over, homes, businesses, red lights, you name it. Let me talk to you about that because what they have put together without the use of his phone is surveillance video showing his truck at a grocery store 12 33 a.m. Uh-oh, he must have had a snack attack. 12 33 a.m. he's at the grocery store 12 33 a.m. uh-oh he must have had a snack attack 12 33 a.m.

he's at the grocery store nothing in the bed of his truck but an ice chest then when he takes his daughter to school the next morning where was Suzanne she normally takes him to school there are two full white trash bags added in the truck bed okay then when he's spotted at that Bernie Whataburger an hour later, now he's got a heavy duty trash can with a firewood rack weighing down an object now covered with the blue tarp. Wow, a lot happened after he dropped his daughter off, huh?

Absolutely, he also made a stop at a Home Depot where he bought quick concrete, a large bucket, and some, I believe, cleaning spray with bleach before he asked for directions to the nearest dump site. Simpson then stops at the Bernie Home Depot. Simpson buys concrete mix, a bucket, trash bags, and Clorox spray. On his way out, Simpson asks for directions to the nearest dump. Surve surveillance footage captures Simpson leaving the dump, then stopping for gas. The two white trash bags are no longer in the bed. Simpson then drives to Medina, just west of the family home in Bandera. When Simpson is spotted again back in Bernie, the tarp and whatever was underneath it are gone.

Simpson is on his way back from Bernie when he receives the call but Suzanne isn't there for their daughter. Simpson picks her up around 330 then heads to his usual car wash with her. Video shows Simpson washing the interior around the driver's seat and rear left passenger seat cleaning up what he claims were concrete stains in his car. Cleaning up the vehicle at the car wash. You know, straight out of the playbook, a photos, Dulos, you know, Dulos, charged in the murder of his wife,

a Connecticut mother of five. And police in Connecticut did an incredible job of piecing together video from all sorts of origins. You know what? Listen. Investigators believe Fotis Dulos parks his employees red Tacoma a few blocks from Jennifer Dulos home, then rides a bike the rest of the way, lying in wait for her to return.

After attacking her in the garage, cops believe Dulos loads Jennifer, dead or unconscious, in the back of her own SUV, then transfers her body into the Tacoma. Less than a week later, without his employees' knowledge, Dulos takes the truck again. Dulos is caught on video paying for a car wash in cash. His girlfriend, Michelle Troconis, later tells authorities he was trying to clean a coffee spill. Despite Dulose's efforts, investigators still managed to recover Jennifer Dulose's DNA from the passenger seat. To Ben Powers high-profile defense attorney, why is it when there is a murder or somebody goes missing, suddenly husbands

and or suspects turn into Nate Nicks. You remember Jodie Arias did all the laundry after she murdered Travis Alexander. Whoopsie! She left her digital camera in the laundry and you see her foot by the dead body in the digicam. Ouch that hurt. Then Scott Peterson went on a laundry jag doing all the laundry in the home and cleaning up. It goes on and on and on, Ben Powers. I think it's for the obvious reason that they're very active and very busy and whatever it

is. Wait a minute, Ben Powers, aren't you the veteran defense attorney? Because I'm hearing an echo. You're just saying what I just said. What's your defense in this case of Simpson cleaning out his vehicle around the time his wife goes missing? I think that most people just say it's odd because they still don't have a body. They don't have anything to say how he took her life, when he took her life, where he

took her life, where he dismembered her, where she is, if he did dismember her. At the moment, all they have is DNA on a buzzsaw that no one can really explain. There's a lot of speculation they can go into. Okay, okay. Point well taken, Ben Powers. Point well taken. Zachary Chiller Wright, tell me about his movements that day. I want to talk about the tarp, the bleach, the stops at the grocery at 1230 in the morning, then going to a dump site, then driving all around the area making stops. And all those big bags of trash that then disappear. Every time he makes a stop in a surveillance video, something's been moved out of the bed

of his trunk. So, why is it that day suddenly it's in and out, in and out with the truck bed? Just tons of trash bags, a tarp for Pete's sake. I can't tell you why he did it. All I can do is tell you what he's accused of doing. And that is, like you mentioned, starting the morning with some suspicious activity, including driving out to Bernie after dropping off his daughter with only a nice chest in his trunk

and the urn started in the bed of his truck before he's then seen in Bernie with large trash bins and then stops at Home Depot where he's then seen that Whataburger with the large object covered by a tarp. And then he asked for directions to the nearest dump there in Burnie and he's shortly seen on surveillance camera footage after

visiting the dump with the two trash bags gone, but he still has the large item covered with the tarp. He then proceeds to drive to Bandera, which officers reportedly know from license plate readers and other surveillance footage that they see of his truck driving out there. He then stops in Bandera for only less than 15 minutes before he's then seen driving back towards Bernie with the tarp and the large item under the tarp being gone. Even though Suzanne Simpson's body has never been found, to date, a Bear County grand jury indicted Brad Simpson on charges of murder, of tampering with evidence, with the intent to impair a human corpse, tampering and or

fabricating physical evidence with the intent to impair and possessing prohibited weapons. Suzanne, a mother of four, last seen at a party at the Ritzy Argyle Club. Now let's see, that was on October 6th, but it wasn't around 10 p.m. October 7th that husband Brad Simpson reported her missing. We know they were involved in a dispute the night she disappeared, not only at the country club, but outside her home, according to a neighbor. We also have Brad Simpson's business partner, James Cotter. He's been charged in connection

with the case for hiding a gun. He's accused of helping Simpson hide an AK-47 that was illegally modified. The firearm was modified into a machine gun and was not correctly registered. Whoopsie. Some of the evidence we do know about is surveillance footage showing Brad Simpson driving with three large trash bags, photos of Delos all over again, a heavy duty trash can and a quote, large bulky item wrapped in a blue tarp the day after she disappears. Now we learned that from an arrest warrant affidavit. Suzanne Simpson's remains, I believe,

are in the Bandera area, but they have never been found. Surprise, surprise, again, husband Brad Simpson has shown very little emotion about his wife's disappearance, and he is not cooperating with investigators. It's like the same old playbook. Come on. This is the same exact thing Fotis Dulos did. Okay, there's a copious amount of blood found in the garage outside of Jennifer's car after she came back from drop-off that morning at school. She's never been found, but he, Treconis, and his girlfriend, that's certainly one way to put it, Michelle Treconis are caught on video driving all around town going to, I believe it was five different trash receptacles caught on video throwing away sponges rags towels all soaked in

blood the wife Jennifer Dulos is shirt and bra soaked in blood so how smart is Simpson because he's just doing the same old playbook for Pete's sake. I don't think he's very smart. You know, after I heard that they found her DNA on the reciprocating saw, he's crazy. I mean, I don't know what he could have, to get all that done and the few hours that he got done, I'd like to know what he was on to do that, you know? Yeah, I'm sorry I don't have a better answer.

I mean, only as Brian Fitzgibbons. Brian, do you ever wish that a suspect, of course he's presumed innocent, would do something different? I mean, don't you know that if the authorities have already gotten him on video at the Whataburger and the grocery store and the here and the there, they're going to have video of him disposing of stuff, although he may have disposed of it in a remote area where we're never going to find it. Yeah, Nancy, at this point, I certainly wish all the time that, you know, a defendant

would come forward with the truth, right? But at this point, we're probably dealing with multiple disposal sites, potentially bodies of water, potentially different dump sites. And you know, this is going to be very complicated. But so far as a wish, of course, I feel that all the time. I wish you'd come forward and give us the truth. A major update in the search for Suzanne Simpson, the missing Texas mom, luxury realtor. Listen, this part police department, along with the Texas Rangers, have charged Brad Chandler Simpson with murder in the death of his wife, Suzanne Clark Simpson.

The Rangers have not stopped investigating this case as it has been turned over to the district attorney's department. The district attorney starts their process in the prosecution phase, even though we are not stopping our search for Suzanne Clark Simpson. That from our friends at KENS5. You were hearing the Olmos Park Chief of Police Fidel Vallejas and Sergeant Deon Cockrell from the Texas Department of Public Safety.

So now there is a formal charge. The district attorney now starting the prosecution phase. Will more be made clear? Maybe not. We don't have a right to know all of the details surrounding this case. Straight up to Dr. Kendall Crowns, chief medical examiner in Tarrant County, that's Fort Worth, Texas. Dr. Kendall Crowns, I'm thinking back on Fotis Dulos

and how he and his lover, Michelle Chaconis, were hiding Jennifer, the mother of his five children, I mean, hiding, throwing away into dumpsters, into trash receptacles all over town. What man throws the same bag of trash in five different trash cans? Okay, food for thought. But if we find, if we discover that Suzanne has been dismembered, that can mean anything from a leg to a digit. So how do you go about

if any part of her is found connecting that back to Suzanne Simpson? So what you would have to do is whatever you receive you would get tissue, bone marrow, whatever you can pull off of it and then submit that for DNA. If it would happen to be a finger, you could actually get fingerprints from it if it's still intact enough and you could do it that way. But in this type of case with the parts being found over time that each part that is found is going to have to have DNA testing done on it to make sure it's from her. But once you do find a part, especially if it's like a large portion, like a thigh or something like that, you know she's been murdered.

You know she's been cut up. Joining me is renowned psychologist Karen Start joining us from Manhattan. Karen, the loss of your mother is overwhelming, I've been told. But then the additional shock that she's been murdered, then the additional shock that she has been dismembered. Now, if the children don't accept that, they are left with the specter of, my mom's not dead, she just abandoned me. So what are your thoughts? Well, no matter which way this turns out,

Nancy, these children don't have a mother anymore. So there is so much they've been exposed to, they're going to need a tremendous amount of help. In my hand, the newly released charging documents straight out to my St. Antonio's Zachary Tiller, right? Zachary, tell me in a nutshell about these allegations. And they are only that allegations. He has not been proven guilty. What do you know? So I know he's been charged with the murder of Suzanne Simpson. And I also know he's been charged with two counts of tampering with evidence.

One is linked to the gun that he had his friend hide and the reciprocating saw that they alleged that he attempted to conceal from investigators. Then he was also charged with tampering with evidence with the intent to conceal his wife's body. Although very little information has been presented on that charge. And then those are the charges he's facing, but they're all being questioned by his defense attorney. In the last hours, Brad Simpson in court before Judge Joel Perez. Will the attorney please identify themselves?

This is Dan Wachtman from the state of Texas. Steven Gilmore from Mr. Simpson. Okay, and sir, are you Brad Chandler Simpson? Yes, sir. That from our friends at KABB. Zachary Taylor, what happened in court? There is quite a bit that's set to happen in the coming months.

He, Brad Simpson, is set to be before the judge again on December 19th. Now, that's a motion to amend conditions, but very little has been filed with the court to tell us or offer any kind of insight into what his defense attorney might be looking to do. Although in the past, he has sought to reduce the bond amount and change the bond conditions to allow him to see his children.

And then he'll be back before the judge on February 12th. Well, you're right. Again, when you don't know a horse, look at his track record. Now, Brad Simpson is demanding that the charges be thrown out. Listen. There's a motion to squash the indictment, which I think we will dedicate at a later date. That's for our friends at KABB. To Ben Powers, in a nutshell, Ben, a nutshell, the state doesn't give a killer a gold star or an A++ because they get rid of the body. That's not happening.

The state doesn't have to lay out in the indictment how the victim was killed. If they can prove it, sure, put it in there. For instance, by manual strangulation, by shooting with a weapon, by stabbing. But it doesn't matter. The state doesn't have to prove how she was killed. They just have to convince a jury that she has been killed and that he did it in this jurisdiction. Well, I disagree with that.

They have to lay out what their theory of the killing is. You know, there's a big difference between a voluntary manslaughter, which is an accidental killing, and a first-degree murder, which is premeditated killing. It sounds like his defense attorneys are saying, you're saying he killed her, but you're not telling us how, when, where, any of the important details that go to your theory of premeditation.

And so that's what they're attacking with their most recent violence is the lack of proof that goes towards premeditation, like the state is trying to make it out to be. So Ben Powers, let me understand in your mind, the state has to lay out the exact mode of murder. So you've never encountered a case where there was no body to be found and the mode of murder was unknown? Are you telling me you've never seen a no body case indictment?

Well, what I'm saying is this most recent motion sounds like what I would call a bill of particulars. It's basically the defense throwing down the gauntlet and saying, okay, you say my client premeditated and killed this person. I know what they filed, Ben. I know what the defense filed. We just had reporters say that.

But then you said the indictment must show mode of murder. When I say mode, I mean, in this case, they're saying it's premeditated. So the indictment must include a factual allegation that supports premeditation being charged. For all of you would-be wife killers out there, an indictment does not have to show how you killed your partner, okay?

You getting rid of the body is not going to help you. And a diamond only has to allege that you committed premeditated murder, the jurisdiction, and the name of the victim. That's it. The rest can be proven at trial. The state is still building its case if you know or think you know anything about the disappearance of Texas mom Suzanne Simpson or the movements of her husband Brad Simpson, who is presumed innocent, please dial 210-209-2701. 210-209-2701. Let's remember now. An American hero, David Ensbrenner, adjacent PD, Kansas, shot and killed in the line of duty, served 24 years in law enforcement, survived by wife, now widow, Carrie, and children without a father, Avery, Abby, and Celia. American hero, Sergeant

David Enzabrenner. Nancy Grace signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.