Former prosecutor and current defense attorney Nico LaHood said it is possible not all the evidence the DA has is laid out in the arrest warrant.
OLMOS PARK, Texas — Prosecutors believe they have enough evidence to file a murder charge against Brad Simpson, but is it enough for a conviction?
The Olmos Park husband is accused of killing his wife, Suzanne Simpson on October 6. The nine-page warrant laid out evidence they gathered regarding Brad’s whereabouts the next day. But they have not located Suzanne’s body and do not know how she died.
Former Bexar County District Attorney and defense prosecutor, Nico LaHood said what they have right now is circumstantial evidence, which can be enough for a conviction.
“Probable cause it the level needed to produce a search warrant, an arrest warrant and that’s what they have in this warrant,” LaHood said. “A district court judge signed it but it doesn’t mean that’s all the evidence they have.”
LaHood has no ties to this case but reviewed the arrest warrant. He said when he was in office from 2015 to 2018, they did successfully prosecute a murder case without a body.
He said while it is difficult without the body, it is not impossible.
“In cases like this you have to piecemeal them in,” LaHood said. “You’re never going to have that one piece of evidence that is going to be glaring if you’re missing the body unless you have omission from the accused or omission from a coconspirator.”
He said what prosecutors will need to do now is corroborate with other evidence before presenting to a jury to the standard beyond a reasonable doubt.
The warrant alleges the day after Brad killed his wife, he drove his truck to Boerne and Bandera with two large trash bags, a heavy-duty trash can and a bulky item covered by a blue tarp in the bed of his truck. At one point, it alleges he bought cement form a Home Deport in Boerne and then asked someone in the parking lot where the nearest dump was.
It states by the time Brad picked up his daughter from school that afternoon, the trash bags and the bulky item were gone. It also accuses Brad of burning a laptop and three cell phones at his Bandera property. In one of his phone’s, investigators found on the notes app where he wrote an apology for assaulting his wife on October 6.
“If you read that affidavit, they’re laying out a case, circumstantially,” LaHood said. “But again people get convicted on circumstantial evidence all the time.”
The warrant also mentioned Brad’s business partner, James Cotter who is accused of hiding one of Brad’s illegal guns behind his bedroom wall.
“I was curious when I read the affidavit, I wanna know what this gentlemen Cotter, the friend, what did he say?” LaHood said.
LaHood said getting Cotter to talk could be crucial for the case. But he pointed out, there is no requirement from the government to put all the evidence in the arrest warrant. So it is possible he already did.
When KENS 5 asked LaHood how he would approach this case from a defense attorney standpoint to get it dismissed. He said the following:
“This case is not getting dismissed,” LaHood said. “I don’t see it.”
The initial two charges of assault and unlawful restraint Brad was facing were dismissed yesterday. The DA’s office told KENS 5 in a statement, they rejected to use them in the murder case.
LaHood said it is likely because those charges were just placeholders to keep Brad in custody until they had enough evidence for this murder charge.
Brad remains in the Bexar County jail with bonds totaling $3 million and a federal hold by the ATF for a weapons charge.
His business partner, James Cotter bonded out of jail Friday.
Investigators said last week they are still actively searching for Suzanne’s body and that search has taken them to the Bandera-area.