SAN ANTONIO – Slight modifications were made to Brad Simpson’s bond during a hearing on Thursday morning.
Simpson is charged with the murder of his wife, Suzanne Clark Simpson, who has yet to be found.
The modifications will allow the couple’s 15-year-old son to communicate with Brad Simpson through letters, which Child Protective Services will monitor.
Simpson is also not allowed to have contact with the couple’s 5-year-old daughter or James Cotter, his longtime business partner who is also facing charges in the case.
>> TIMELINE: Disappearance of Suzanne Clark Simpson, arrest of husband Brad Simpson
The couple’s two adult children asked for no contact; however, they asked for autonomy to decide if that should change, according to the state.
Judge Joel Perez reprimanded Bart Simpson, Brad’s brother, and Theresa Clark, Suzanne’s sister, for speaking to the media after a gag order was issued barring anyone from doing so. The court decided the following people involved in the case cannot discuss Simpson’s case with the media:
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All attorneys and their staff
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Law enforcement
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Witnesses who have provided statements in Simpson’s case to law enforcement, representative of the District Attorney’s Office or who have testified in investigative or adjudicative proceedings.
Brad Simpson’s case has drawn significant attention due to the unusual circumstances surrounding the disappearance and the subsequent murder charge.
He was arrested following an extensive investigation that led authorities to believe he was involved in his wife’s disappearance in Olmos Park in October.
Simpson was indicted on charges of murder, tampering/fabricating physical evidence with the intent to impair and prohibited weapons.
He is being held at the Bexar County Jail on bonds totaling $3 million.
Simpson’s next court date is Feb. 12 at 9 a.m.
BACKGROUND
Brad Simpson was charged with Suzanne Simpson’s murder last month. While authorities have not found her, sources said they believed they had enough evidence to charge Brad Simpson in her death.
Earlier this month, two sources told KSAT that law enforcement officials told Suzanne Simpson’s family that her DNA was found on a reciprocating saw that Brad Simpson allegedly tried to conceal.
This information became available two days after Brad Simpson was indicted on multiple charges, including murder. In the paperwork for the indictments, investigators mentioned for the first time that Brad Simpson allegedly attempted to hide a reciprocating saw.
Suzanne Simpson, a real estate agent and mother of four, was reported missing on Oct. 7, one day after she was last seen outside her home in Olmos Park. A neighbor told police that he saw the couple in a physical altercation outside their home on Oct. 6, according to an arrest warrant affidavit for Brad Simpson. Earlier that day, witnesses said the couple had been in a fight at The Argyle, a dinner club in Alamo Heights.
Extensive searches, including sweeps of Olmos Park and a landfill in southeast Bexar County, have so far yielded no clues about Suzanne Simpson’s whereabouts.
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