Brad Simpson, of Olmos Park, remains jailed on bonds totaling $3 million. He’s accused of killing his wife, Suzanne, and getting rid of her body last year.
SAN ANTONIO — When law enforcement from around the state streamed into Kerr County to assist in search and recovery efforts in the wake of devastating floods last month, it also impacted a major murder case that continues to unfold a short distance away in San Antonio.
Back in June, a judge had issued a deadline of Aug. 1 for the Texas Rangers and other agencies to turn over all the evidence they gathered in their investigation of Brad Simpson, the Olmos Park man accused of killing his wife, Suzanne, and disposing of her remains last fall.
In the wake of the July Fourth floods that overwhelmed parts of the Texas Hill Country, however, Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales on July 16 filed paperwork seeking for an extension in the evidence deadline, citing the “large-scale operation” in Kerr County that the Texas Rangers were a part of. Less than a week later, on July 22, District Court Judge Joel Perez approved the request.
The new date for Texas Rangers and Olmos Park police investigators to submit their evidence to prosecutors: Sept. 1, nearly a full year after Suzanne, 51, initially went missing from her Olmos Park home.
Authorities have yet to find her body. Nonetheless, an indictment handed down in December 2024 alleges Brad, 54, killed his wife and tried to hide a motorized saw that had her DNA on it. Brad was already behind bars for weeks at that point, having been initially charged with assault and unlawful restraint—both misdemeanor charges.
Brad was also indicted for aggravated assault with tampering with physical evidence and possession of a prohibited weapon. He faces anywhere from two to 99 years or life in prison if convicted.
According to an arrest affidavit, investigators were able to pinpoint Brad’s whereabouts in the early days of Suzanne’s absence. He allegedly was driving around with a “large bulky item wrapped and secured in a blue tarp” in the bed of his truck and bought cement, Clorox disinfectant and insect repellant with cash at a Home Depot.
While at the store, he also allegedly asked someone in the parking lot where the nearest dump was. In an August exchange with her personal banker, Suzanne – a well-known realtor in the community – said “that if she went missing to look for her in a lake,” according to Brad’s murder affidavit.
Olmos Park PD officials said the investigation, which involved the efforts of state authorities, uncovered probably cause that Brad Simpson “intentionally and knowingly” caused Suzanne’s death. Law enforcement have looked in multiple counties for her, including the family’s home and a landfill east of San Antonio.
The suspect’s family, which has cooperated with the police investigation while Brad has remained quiet, said in December they were “deeply troubled and heartbroken.”
“We have faith in our criminal justice system and believe that the grand jury has done their sworn duty to review the evidence and determine that it is sufficient to more forward to trial,” Bart Simpson, Brad’s brother, wrote on social media. “We urge Brad to do the right thing by fully cooperating with the authorities. For the sake of his children and the family who loves him, we ask him to accept responsibility and place himself at the mercy of the court.”
A date for the start of Brad’s trial has not yet been set. He remains jailed on bonds totaling $3 million.
Brad’s court-appointed attorney, Steven Gilmore, filed a motion to quash the murder indictment just six days after a Bexar County grand jury handed it down. Gilmore was arguing its validity in the absence of his wife’s body more than six months after her disappearance, stating the penal code doesn’t have the burden of defining the parameters “act clearly dangerous to human life.”
That motion to quash was denied by the judge on April 29.