Secrets from the house of horrors
IT’S THE CASE THAT’S SHOCKED THE WORLD
To the outside world, they were a Christian family of 15 who drove flashy cars and enjoyed trips to Disneyland. But behind closed doors, US authorities allege David and Louise Turpin forced their 13 children – aged between two and 29 – to live in putrid squalor, chained and shackled to beds, refused food and forced to carry out bizarre rituals.
The couple were arrested last week after their 17-year-old daughter – who was so pale and malnourished that police officers believed she was just 10 – broke out of the Californian home and called police for help from a deactivated mobile phone, showing authorities photos of the horrific conditions her siblings were forced to live in to prove her shocking story.
When police arrived, they found at least three of the Turpin offspring – who included six children and seven adults – in chains and padlocked to their beds in a dark, foul-smelling room of the home. The victims, say police, were ‘malnourished and very dirty’, and begged for food and water.
Currently in jail on child torture and endangerment charges, David, 57, and Louise, 49, ran a ‘military-like’ home and refused all contact with family. Having so many children – who are believed to all have names starting with J after Jesus – was because they felt it to be God’s will.
As authorities sift through the facts of the case, we reveal the nine most shocking secrets...
1 MARCHING IN CIRCLES
Neighbour Mike Clifford said the ‘House of Horrors’ children were forced to march in circles around a small bedroom for ‘hours at a time’, revealing the siblings seemed ‘robotic’. ‘I never saw them play,’ Mike, who lived opposite the Turpins up until 2014, told the Daily Mail. ‘We thought they were mentally handicapped kids, so they kept them in.’
2 DAUGHTER THOUGHT SHE’D BE KILLED
The courageous teen who alerted police about the plight of her tortured siblings has been hailed a ‘hero’ by authorities. In a shocking twist, it’s believed the girl told officers she feared her parents would kill her if they caught her trying to escape from the home.
Climbing out of a window with a mobile phone she’d taken, the girl was able to call 911 and rescue her starved brothers and sisters.
‘In her mind, she was risking her life,’ a source told The Mirror.
3 KNEELING IN THE YARD
Housewife Wendy Martinez, who lives behind the Turpins, revealed she saw four of the children kneeling in the front yard late at night at the end of October, claiming they looked emaciated and pale.
‘They were on their knees, four little kids, and they were just rolling on the grass. It was odd at that
time of night,’ Wendy said.
‘Their mother was in the archway... and I said: “Hi.” There was like no movement, not even to look over to see who’s saying hi... like if they were told not to speak to anybody.’
4 MIDNIGHT CAR TRIPS
The Turpins were often spotted bundling their children into their minivan in the early hours of the morning, prompting one neighbour to wonder if the parents were selling the children.
‘They would load up the kids at about one in the morning,’ former neighbour Mike, who often worked night shifts, said.
‘The garage doors would just pop open and half a dozen kids would get into the van and then they’d drive off.
‘My weirdest thought was that they were selling the kids, sexually or whatever...
‘Because why would you be driving half a dozen kids out in the middle of the night?’
5 BIZARRE, FLASHY LIFESTYLE
David and Louise’s joint Facebook account is filled with bizarre images of their many trips, showing the mum dressed in Disney costumes and as a bride in Las Vegas for three marriage renewal ceremonies.
But while it’s been reported that the couple had been declared bankrupt, neighbours say they lived a flashy lifestyle.
‘They made money which is why I was so surprised that they were bankrupt – they had a convertible Mustang, a hard top Mustang and that big van,’ Mike said.
6 THE SISTERS SPEAK OUT
Louise’s sister Elizabeth Flores claimed she knew something was ‘not right’ about her sister’s parenting, revealing how she went to great lengths to keep visitors away from the ‘House of Horrors’.
When Elizabeth did go and stay with the family in Texas for a short period of time, she said David made her feel uncomfortable.
‘If I was to get in the shower, he would come in while I was in there and watch me – it was like a joke,’ Elizabeth told Good Morning America.
‘He never touched me or anything. I was young, I was scared. I was in Texas where I knew nobody. I was treated like one of the kids, I had rules.’
Louise’s other sister Teresa Robinette said Louise would laugh at comments her kids were skinny.
‘She would laugh it off, saying: “Well, David’s so tall and lanky. They’re going to be like him,”’ Teresa told NBC’S Today.
7 SEXUAL ABUSE MYSTERY
While there’s been no evidence of sexual abuse in the Turpin home so far, Louise’s sister Elizabeth has revealed that she was molested as a child by a family member.
In a book she co-wrote with her cousin, Elizabeth revealed that she was attacked throughout her childhood and that their mother was in an abusive relationship.
‘I think I was around nine years old when a family member that I loved so much and I was supposed to be able to trust, molested me,’ Elizabeth wrote.
8 ‘THEY WERE CLONES’
It’s believed that two of the Turpin children are twin girls, aged around 10, who acted like robots.
‘[My wife] called them the clones,’ neighbour Mike revealed.
‘When she spoke to them, they were monotone, they spoke together.’ 9 THE STRANGE SCRATCHES Their California home wasn’t the only one the Turpins lived in with their family.
The owner of another property in Texas that the family occupied between 1992 and 1999, claims it was left in complete squalor when they moved out.
Scratch marks were allegedly left on the back of doors and the carpet was covered in stains.