FT389 17me”.Amidst the squalor,dirtand
human fæces, eight small desks,
ablackboar d, and alphabet and
number posters were discovered
in the livingroom.Aformer
neighbour of theTurpinsata
previous address in RioVista,
Texas, described it as “waist-
deep in filth”. RickyVinyard,a
tree feller,claimed “therewere
dead dogs and cats in there”,
further stating that “every thing
had locks on it: the closet, the
toychest, therefrigerator”. He
also recalled the housebeing
full ofreligious material,“stuff
likepreparingforArmageddon.
It looked likeacult house”.
Anotherformer neighbour,Mike
Clifford, 60,amachinist who
had livedopposite theTurpins at
Murrieta, California,remembers
seeing thechildren beingforced
to walk in circles“liketheywere
marching forhoursatatime”.
Mr Clifford’s wife recalls twoof
the girls speaking together in a
monotone. Shereferred to them
as “the clones”.
LouiseTurpin, who,
according toaRiverside County
sheriff’s captain,had seemed
“perplexed” at seeing police
officers in her home at the time
of theraid, told the court shewas
“trulysorry” and that she loved
her children“so much”, adding
“I reallylook forwar dtothe day
Ican see them, hug them and
tell them I’m sorry”.Thecouple,
Elvis Presley fans, hadrenewed
their marriagevows in LasVegas
with an Elvis impersonator on
three occasions.
Thecourtwas told that the
Turpins would buy apple or
pumpkin pies and leave them
withinsight of theirchildren but
forbid them to eat any. Judge
BernardSchwarz berated the
pair fortheir “selfish, cruel and
inhuman treatment”, telling
them that the onlyreason their
sentencewasless thanthe
absolute maximum allowed(life
without parole)was that they
had acceptedresponsibility
fortheir crimes early on in
the proceedings, thus sparing
theirchildrenfrom“having to
relive the humiliation and harm
theyendured in that house of
horrors”.Thedeepl yreligious
coupletoldthe courtthat theybelievedGod had called upon
them to have this manychildren.
LouiseTurpin’sbrother Billy
Lambert claimsthe pairwere
planning on havinga14th child
so theycould be the subjects
of arealityTV show. He told
reportersthat his sister believed
the publicwould befascinated
by their lives, and that they
could makemillions.This,Mr
Lambert says,wastheir reason
formoving to California–tobe
close to Hollywood.
Familyphotosshowthe
children all dressed alike, the
sons in blacksuits withred
ties and the same pudding-
bowl haircut as theirfather,
the daughtersall having
long centre-parted hair and
wearing the same pink plaid
dresses.According to David
Turpin’smothe rBetty,the
parents dressed theirchildren
in identical clothes “for safety
reasons”.
Neighbours, who described
theTurpins asextremelyprivate,
were shoc kedtolearnthat seven
of the 13childrenwere adults;their malnourished diet and
lackofexercise had stunted
theirgrowth.Apparentlythe
Turpins were known locally as
“thevampire family”due to
their pallor and thefact that
theywereonlyseen at night
when theyscavenged through
neighbouring houses’bins. One
neighbour,AndrewSantillan,
denied knowing therewereany
children in the outwardlysmart,
terracotta-painted bungalow.
Another,WendyMartinez,
who liveddirec tlybehind the
Turpins, recalled seeingfour of
the children in 2017 kneeling
on the front lawn, looking “very
thin andvery albino”.When she
tried talking with them theydid
not respond.They were “very
afraid”, she said,“liketheyhad
neverseen people before”.
Thechildrenwould be
made to sleep duringthe day
(presumablytoprevent them
from being seen), becoming
active forafew hoursatnight.
Dubbed ‘the twilightchildren’
by journalists, theywereonly
allowedtoshoweronce ayearand were fed onceaday.The
parents alsokept twoMaltese
dogs that appeared in better
condition and better fed than
the children.When rescued, all
13 were admitted to hospital
with severe malnutrition and
muscle wastage.Theeldest, a
29-year-oldwoman,weighed
just 70lb (32kg).Thechildren
were forced to memorise lengthy
passages from the Bible,the
parents administeringfrequent
beatings and hog-tyingtheir
children withropes as further
punishment.After some learned
howtoescape,theTurpins began
usingchains and padlocks.
Psychologistssaid that due to
the abuse, some of thechildren
were suff eringfromcognitive
neuropathy,sothat theirmental
ageswere farlowerthan normal.
The17-year-oldgirlwho raised
the alarm,forexample, has a
readingage of se ven.
Photographs circulatedfor
publicconsumption onFacebook
depicted an apparentlyhappy
family. But LouiseTurpin’s
younger sister ElizabethJane
Flores told journalists that she
and otherrelativeshad known
somethingwaswrong. However,
their attempts to intervene
had beenrebuffed. Offersto
visit were repeatedlyrejected;
she hadn’tvisited in 19years,
and thegrandparents said they
hadn’tseen thechildrenforfive
years. TheTurpinskept their
addressasecret, andwouldn’t
allowrelativestos peak to the
children if theytelephoned.
DavidTurpin’smotherBetty
said her sonwas“averygood
man”, despitenot having been
allowedtosee hergrandchildren
forsol ong,adding: “He is
very protective of the kids”.
Ivan Trahan, another of the
Turpin’sneighbours,described
them as “avery nice couple”.
Around 20 people across the
USA, includingnurses and
psychologists, have offered to
carefor them.independent.co.uk,
16 Jan; D.Mail, 17Jan; Metro,
17+26Jan; E.Standard, 16+17+
Jan; D.Telegraph, 17-19Jan;
S.Mirror,21Oct 2018;BBC News,
19+20+22 April 2019.Forsome
earlierfamilyimprisonments,
seeFT37:51-55.ABOVE:Afamily photo with the children wearing Dr Seuss-inspired Thing 1, Thing 2
(and so on) T-shirts.BELOW:Louise and David Turpin appear in court.LO
UISE TURPIN/FAC
EBOOKMIKE BLAKE/AFPVIAGET
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