Husband of missing Texas mother Suzanne Simpson charged with murder

Brad Simpson, the husband of missing Texas mother Suzanne Simpson, has been charged with murder, officials said, as authorities continue to search for her body.

Suzanne Simpson, a 51-year-old mother of four, has been missing for more than a month after she was last seen arguing with her allegedly abusive husband outside her Olmos Park home on Oct. 6.

Brad Simpson, 53, was charged with murder in jail Thursday and is being held on $5 million bond, Bexar County officials told Fox News. The local real estate tycoon was originally arrested on October 9 and charged with prohibited weapons, tampering with evidence, unlawful restraint and battery on a family member in the case.

Investigators have not found Suzanne Simpson's body, but believe they have enough evidence to charge her 23-year-old husband. He was transported from the Bexar County Jail on Thursday for questioning by Texas Rangers, a law enforcement source told KSAT.

Hours later he was charged with his wife's murder. According to News4SA, a judge ruled that his affidavit will be sealed for 30 days.

“It's heartbreaking, but it gives our family some peace knowing that authorities have gathered enough evidence to be confident in moving forward with charges,” Brad Simpson's brother Barton Simpson said in a statement to the medium.

“This also helps us come to terms with the reality that Suzanne is no longer with us and allows us to begin a difficult grieving process and focus on rebuilding our lives, particularly for the benefit of the children and our extended family.” We continue to thank all law enforcement agencies involved for their professionalism in handling this situation.”

Suzanne Simpson, a real estate agent, disappeared after she and her husband allegedly got into an argument after she returned home from a party at the Argyle, a private club in Alamo Heights.

Just an hour before she disappeared, Simpson allegedly told her mother that Brad had physically abused her.

A neighbor also told police he saw the couple arguing outside their Olmos Park home between 10 and 11 p.m. that evening. The same neighbor claimed the couple went into the woods a short time later, where he heard “two or three screams.”

An hour later, Brad allegedly left the house in his pickup truck and didn't return for two or three hours, the neighbor said.

Authorities searched a local landfill for her remains for weeks and were “confident” she would be found – but her body has not yet been found.

Brad's former business partner, 65-year-old James Valle Cotter, 65, was also arrested at his home last month on a third-degree felony count of tampering with evidence with intent to impair an investigation, the Texas Department of Public Safety said .

Cotter allegedly tried to dump a gun for Brad, which may have been related to her death.

On Wednesday, Suzanne and Brad's eldest daughter, Chandler Simpson, accused her father of killing her mother and trying to leave him.

“My mother was abused by my father,” the 20-year-old wrote in a series of Instagram posts, exactly a month after her 51-year-old mother was last seen in a violent fight at home.

“My father took my mother’s life in a state of rage and control,” she wrote.

“My mother tried to leave my father and died,” claimed the grieving daughter.