SAN ANTONIO – The next hearing for Brad Simpson, the Olmos Park man charged with murdering his wife last year, will be in 30 days, a judge said Wednesday.
The case against Simpson, 54, was handled before Judge Joel Perez in the 437th District Court.
Simpson’s next court appearance was initially scheduled for March 12; however, it was moved to March 19.
Perez had offered Simpson’s attorney 60- or 90-day options for the subsequent hearing; however, he chose to stick to the 30-day window.
Evidence from the Texas Rangers was taking longer than expected to be received by the state, with the prosecution still waiting on some forensic testing to be completed in the next one to two weeks.
The prosecution said it was expecting to have five to six terabytes of evidence coming from the Texas Rangers
Meanwhile, the defense said it had about one terabyte of discovery it still needed to go through before moving forward with the motion to quash the indictment.
This was Simpson’s first hearing since mid-December when the judge made slight modifications to Simpson’s bond.
Simpson, however, has been in custody since Oct. 9, days after his wife, Suzanne Clark Simpson , disappeared from the couple’s Olmos Park home.
Even though Suzanne Simpson’s body has never been found, a Bexar County grand jury in early December indicted Brad Simpson on charges of murder, tampering with evidence with the intent to impair a human corpse, tampering/fabricating physical evidence with the intent to impair and possessing prohibited weapons.
Background
Suzanne Simpson, an Olmos Park mother of four, was last seen at a party at The Argyle on Oct. 6, however, it wasn’t until around 10 p.m. on Oct. 7 that Brad Simpson reported her missing.
Investigators said the couple was involved in a dispute with one another the night of Suzanne Simpson’s disappearance.
On Nov. 7, investigators charged Brad Simpson with the murder of his wife, Suzanne Simpson.
Brad Simpson’s business partner, James Cotter, has also been charged in connection with the case.
Cotter is accused of helping Brad Simpson hide an AK-47 that was illegally modified. Authorities said the firearm was modified into a “machine gun,” which was not correctly registered.
Surveillance footage gathered by investigators showed Brad Simpson driving with three large trash bags, a heavy-duty trash can and a “large bulky item” wrapped in a blue tarp the day after her disappearance, an arrest warrant affidavit previously revealed.
Investigators told the media in November they believe Suzanne Simpson is dead and that her remains could be in the Bandera area, but have not provided an update since that time.
Brad Simpson has shown “little emotion” about his wife’s disappearance and is not cooperating with investigators, law enforcement previously told KSAT.
Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.
Related coverage on KSAT:
Judge orders slight bond modifications for James Cotter; GPS monitoring stays in place
