Associate of Suzanne Simpson's husband arrested on tampering with evidence charge
SAN ANTONIO - An associate of Suzanne Simpson's husband was arrested Monday on a tampering with evidence charge.
According to Bexar County Court records, James Valle Cotter, 65, was charged with tampering or fabricating physical evidence with intent to impair an investigation. His bond was set at $500,000.
Brad Simpson is also facing two additional charges, including Tampering and or Fabricating Physical Evidence, as well as a Prohibited Firearm Charge. He was originally arrested on a Family Violence charge.
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Valle Cotter is also named alongside Suzanne Simpson's husband, Brad Simpson, in a recent lawsuit against his company Cotter Sons, Inc.
Court records reveal that Simpson collaborated with one of the Cotter sons to establish and manage a janitorial company after expressing dissatisfaction with the services at Cotter & Sons facilities. When other executives deemed Premier Facilities Solutions, the company founded by Simpson, to be inadequate, Simpson and his co-founders sold the business to the National Business Services (NBS).
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The sale included a promise of providing new janitorial contracts to clean the Cotter buildings, but NBS eventually filed a lawsuit after Cotter & Sons slowly paid or underpaid the invoices.
A jury found Cotter & Sons had breached the contract with NBS and awarded NBS over $850,000.
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According to his arrest, Valle is ordered to surrender his passport and is under full house arrest. His bond has been set at $500,000.
The Texas Department of Public Safety issued a statement on Cotter's arrest, outlining the circumstances of his detention.
The Texas Rangers and the OPPD arrested Mr. James Vallee Cotter at his home yesterday," said DPS Sergeant Deon Cockrell. "During the Missing Person investigation in Olmos Park, investigators learned that Mr. Cotter had committed the offense of Tampering with Evidence, which is a 3rd Degree Felony. Mr. Cotter is a business associate of Mr. Brad Simpson, husband of Suzanne Simpson, who has been missing since 10-07-2024. We will not comment further on the ongoing."
On Tuesday, the CLEAR Alert issued for Suzanne Simpson issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety was discontinued, as Olmos Park Police declared the search now a recovery effort.
One local attorney, who is not involved with the case, spoke with reporters on Tuesday, saying she thinks that pressure from the community to arrest Brad Simpson may prove detrimental to the case.
"The rush to judgment, and the push to arrest, I think destroyed where this case should be right now," said Attorney Robbie Ward. "We are no closer to knowing anything today than where we were 2 1/2- 3 weeks ago. Who knows what would have happened if they had given him the opportunity to have him come in talk to them and leave."
She believes that police failed to properly gather all the necessary evidence, which may have compromised Brad Simpson's right to a fair legal process.
