The DNA of missing Texas real estate agent Suzanne Simpson has been found on a handsaw. Police say her husband, a real estate magnate, hid from authorities during the search for her.
Brad Simpson, 53, was indicted by a grand jury on Tuesday for first-degree murder, two months after she went missing.
Suzanne’s family has done so ever since said KAB that authorities told them her DNA was found on a portable reciprocating saw – a motorized handsaw, which was mentioned in a recently released indictment.
It alleged that Brad “knowing that an investigation was underway, namely a missing persons investigation” hid the saw on October 8 “with the intent to impede its availability as evidence in the investigation.” My San Antonio Reports.
The indictment does not specify how he hid the gun or where it was found.
Prosecutors also alleged in the indictment that the father of four attempted to conceal a machine gun that was not registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives or the National Firearms Registry.
It’s the same firearm that investigators say Brad had his friend and longtime business partner, James Cotter, hide from him after his wife disappeared.
The real estate mogul was first arrested on Oct. 9 in Kendall County — three days after the 51-year-old mother of four was last seen walking late outside her $1.5 million home in San Antonio’s posh Olmos Park had an altercation with him.
Brad Simpson, 53, was indicted by a grand jury on Tuesday for first-degree murder, two months after his wife, Suzanne Simpson, went missing
Police have said Brad (pictured with Suzanne) showed ‘no emotion’ during the first few days of the missing persons investigation
A neighbor had claimed that shortly before 11pm on October 6, they witnessed Brad and Suzanne in the middle of a heated argument in their garage and “physically wrestling with each other.”
At one point, they said Suzanne “tried to break free from Mr. Simpson’s grasp as he tried to pull her down,” and that he then chased her as she ran away, according to the affidavit.
The neighbor also claimed he heard screams coming from a wooded area before Brad emerged about an hour later and drove away in his truck.
The Simpson’s five-year-old child was also questioned by a school counselor and alleged that his father “pushed her mother against the wall, punched her mother (physically) in the face and hurt her mother’s elbow at their residence.”
Brad also “turned off her mother’s phone because they were arguing,” the child reportedly said.
Police now say that the next day Brad was seen with large trash bags and ice coolers, covered in a tarp, in the bed of his truck as he pulled into a Whataburger. according to the New York Post.
He allegedly bought concrete and visited a landfill before spending 13 minutes in nearby Bandera, where he apparently unloaded a large object from the bed of his pickup truck.
It was that day that Brad first reported his wife missing, and the next day he was reportedly seen buying Clorox wipes and cement.
Suzanne’s family has since said authorities told them her DNA was found on a portable reciprocating saw — a motorized hand saw, which was named in a recently released criminal complaint
In the first few days of the missing persons investigation, police said Brad “showed no emotion.”
They said he was “not concerned about his wife being missing and showed little to no emotion,” with a Texas ranger also noting that Brad had several scrapes and cuts on his hands and arms.
Detectives later explained that his chilling behavior was a factor in Brad “intentionally and knowingly causing the death of his wife” on October 6 in San Antonio.
They noted that Brad initially cooperated with police, but said he then told conflicting stories when asked for details about his wife’s disappearance.
She was last seen walking through her exclusive Texas country club hours before a neighbor said she got into a physical altercation with her husband
Brad initially claimed he last saw her at 11pm on October 6, hours after Suzanne was last seen walking around her exclusive country club in Texas.
But at another point, he claimed he last saw her around 6:30 a.m. on October 7, shortly before he said he dropped one of their children off at school.
He said that that morning he “looked into a separate room and saw his wife sleeping.”
When investigators searched his phone, they reportedly discovered that he was “involved in a series of complete shutdowns” that began at 11:09 PM on October 6 and ended the next day.
He allegedly went beyond turning off his phone and instead put it in “Lock Down” mode, which the FBI classified as “done by a person wishing to avoid detection,” according to his arrest affidavit.
By the time Brad was first arrested, officers said he “did not appear surprised at the time of his arrest” nor did he question why he was being arrested on charges of assault occasioning bodily harm, domestic violence and unlawful restraint.
A newly released statement said Brad attempted to conceal a machine gun that was not registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives or in the National Firearms Registration, which he later had with his friend and longtime business partner James Cotter (photo) , hide from him
Police also say that the next day Brad was seen with large trash bags and ice coolers covered in a tarp in the bed of his truck as he pulled into a Whataburger on October 7, the day he reported his wife missing.
Brad is now charged with second-degree tampering with evidence with intent to harm a human corpse, third-degree possession of a prohibited weapon, and third-degree tampering/fabrication of physical evidence with intent to harm.
If found guilty, he could be sentenced to two to 99 years in prison or life in prison, depending on the charges he is convicted of.
But his lawyer has argued that prosecutors cannot charge Brad without saying how he killed his wife.
Public Defender Steven Gilmore said the indictment is “vague, indefinite, ambiguous and uncertain,” and argued that if the indictment does not state how Simpson killed his wife or where he hid the body, it is impossible to make a reasonable to establish a defense.
He said the state must present more evidence before pursuing prosecution.
In the meantime, investigations are underway, and according to My San Antoniolocal police have expanded their search to other Simpson family properties.
Simpson and his family have an extensive real estate portfolio in San Antonio and Texas.
A thorough investigation has already taken place into the Olmos Park family’s four-bedroom, five-bathroom home, worth an estimated $1.5 million.