The California mother accused of running a “house of horror” alongside her husband for their 13 children allegedly believes that she “did nothing wrong.”
Speaking to Good Morning Britain on Tuesday, Elizabeth Flores, the sister of alleged horror house” mom Louise Turpin, claimed that her sister is “living in la-la-land” and believes that she “did nothing wrong,” PEOPLE reports.
Videos by PopCulture.com
Flores said that she and her cousin, Tricia Andreassen, visited David Turpin, 56, and Louise Turpin, 49, last week in the California jail they are being held at in an attempt to make sense of the “nightmare” that they have learned of since the couple’s arrests in January.
“When we went and saw Louise, we walked out of there and we were like, ‘Oh my gosh, what in the world are we seeing? Is she just totally insane? What in the world?’” Andreassen said.
Flores claimed that David appears to be much more aware of what is happening and the severity of the charges that he faces.
“We went and saw David and he was just sobbing. He would sob, like his shoulders would shake up and down. I said ‘I don’t know all the things you’ve done,’ and he said, ‘It will come out.’” Andreassen said. “Was he crying because he got caught? Is he crying because he’s remorseful? Is he crying because he’s separated from Louise? We don’t really know. Louise on the other hand, I hope to God they’re going to give a psychological evaluation.”
Both David and Louise have been charged with 12 counts of torture, seven counts of abuse of a dependent adult, six counts of child abuse or neglect, and 12 counts of false imprisonment. David has also been charged with one count of lewd act on a child under the age of 14 by force, fear, or duress. If convicted, each could face 94 years to life in prison.
The charges came after their 17-year-old daughter escaped through a window in their home and dialed 911. Upon entering the house, authorities discovered the siblings, aged two through 29, bound and shackled to their beds and lying in their own feces. The children were allegedly abused, fed once per day, only permitted to take a shower once per year, and forced to march around for hours in the middle of the night. All of the victims, aside from the youngest child, were several malnourished.
David and Louise have both pleaded not guilty to all charges and are being held on $9 million bond.
