The House of Horrors — The Turpin Family
Were they the happy, big family as they portrayed? What happened behind the closed doors of the Turpin house?
We always listen to people saying not to believe what we hear but believe what we see. But how much is it true? Can we believe what we see? Nowadays people are so skilled at faking happiness, that we believe they are happy.
Look at the photo before reading, you see a big and happy family. Look at the same photo after reading the horrors, you will see a completely different picture, that gives an uneasy feeling.
The Turpin family too portrayed a happy and loving picture of their family to the outsiders, but what actually happened inside their house was complete insanity.
The Turpin Family
Who is David Allen Turpin?
David Allen Turpin was born on October 17, 1961, in Princeton, West Virginia, to Betty and James Turpin. His family was quite religious, and he had a typical childhood. David was a member of the Bible club, chess club, science club, and A-cappella chorus at Princeton High School, where he was quite involved in extracurricular activities.
David pursued electrical engineering at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia, after graduating from high school. David was a brilliant computer engineer who went on to work for Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin, two well-known defense technology corporations.
Who is Louise Anna Turpin?
Louise Anna Turpin was born on May 24, 1968, in Princeton, West Virginia, to Phyllis and Wayne Robinette. She was the eldest of six children. Wayne was a preacher, and Phyllis sang in the church choir in addition to working as a cashier at Walmart.
The Robinette children had a horrible childhood. Wayne and Phyllis were often at odds, and the children were treated harshly. From an early age, Louise, her sisters, and her mother were sexually molested by a relative. Teresa, Louise’s sister, claimed that the family’s sexual assault was a “huge secret” that was constantly present but never addressed.
Louise’s younger sister Elizabeth later informed People magazine that Louise was fiercely protective of her younger siblings. Louise, she claimed, was “kind, soft-spoken, and sweet,” doing her best to soothe them after their parents’ heated confrontations and protect them from their predatory relative.
The meeting and start of their family life
Louise met David Turpin, 22, at church when she was 15 years old, and the two started dating. They maintained their relationship a secret because they were afraid of Louise’s parents’ reaction if they discovered it. After learning about the connection, Phyllis accepted it, considering that David came from a solid Christian family and that she believed Louise. They proceeded to keep it hidden from Wayne, knowing he would be enraged.
In January 1985, David, then 23 years old, strolled into Princeton High School, where he had graduated five years ago and where Louise was attending. He managed to persuade school officials to let him take Louise out of class. Louise voluntarily left school with David, and the two of them started traveling south with the intention of eloping.
When Louise’s parents noticed she was missing, they alerted the authorities. Before the authorities caught up with them, the young couple already had reached Texas, where they intended to elope to. Interestingly, they consented to return to West Virginia without any protest.
When the couple returned home they expected Wayne and Phyllis to be angry, but instead, they were calm. Wayne was initially angry with Phyllis for letting their daughter date David. But later he understood separating this couple in love is beyond difficult. So Wayne agreed to get the couple married, which happened in a small ceremony in Pearisburg, Virginia on Feb 11, 1985.
Two years later, Wayne and Phyllis separated and Wayne became the chief deputy assessor for Mercer County.
After marriage, Louis started to distance herself from the family. Attaining freedom from her strict parents, she was eager to start a life with complete freedom and happiness.
In 1988, Louise gave birth to their first child, a daughter and 18 months later in 1990, David moved the family to Fort Worth, TX, after he was transferred by General Dynamics.
The Turpin family were living in Meadowcreek, a modern neighborhood. With David earning a good amount of money, the Turpin family was living an amazing life. Louise even invited her family from West Virginia to come and visit. With Louise not having a financially well-off childhood, she wanted to show off how well she was doing at the present. David and Louise paid for the travel and other costs for the family’s visit.
In 1991, the Turpin family had one more addition, a boy.
The turn of events
In 1992, the Turpin family was in immense debt, though David earned a six-figure income. But this factor didn't stop them from living a lavish life or expanding their family. In 1993, Louise became pregnant with their third child, a girl.
Every year Louise’s family used to visit the Turpin family and this year wasn't any different. Louise made sure they don't know about the financial trouble they are in and paid for all the expenses for her family’s trip.
In 1994, the oldest girl of the Turpin family started her first grade in Meadowcreek Elementary. She went to school with greased and unkempt hair, dirty clothes, and the obvious fact that she didn't bathe regularly. All these signs pointed towards the neglectful behavior of her parents. Her classmates began teasing the Turpin girl in her school for her unhygienic looks.
In 1995, the Turpin family had another addition, a boy. The following year, the Turpin family of six, visited Louise’s family for a vacation. The Turpin family seemed to not care for their financial condition and kept spending money by taking the family to expensive restaurants.
The visit of Louise’s sister
Louise’s sister, Elizabeth, came back to Fort Worth with the Turpin family, in 1996, to spend the summer holidays. While returning the family stopped by a casino in Louisiana. She asked Elizabeth to take care of the kids while she and David went to gamble. She also asked Elizabeth to not tell anyone about this.
Elizabeth was stunned by the behavior of Louise. Having been brought up in a Christian household, gambling was considered a sin.
David and Louise ended up losing in the gamble which led to an argument between the two. David blamed Louise for having a gambling problem and she was the reason they ended up losing all the money.
During Elizabeth’s stay in the Turpin’s house, she learned about the family’s condition which shocked her. David and Louise never showed affection towards the children. The children needed the permission from the Turpin couple to do any activity in the house. Whether it was visiting the bathroom or eating or drinking.
And David had this strange and creepy habit of walking into the bathroom and watching while Elizabeth showered.
The beginning of the abuse
In the May of 1997, the Turpin family had the fifth addition.
The September of the same year, the hygiene of the eldest daughter was not only becoming worse, but she was also talking about matters that could indicate sexual abuse. She was sent to the principal office to talk about her home life, but later no action was taken regarding the matter.
In 1998, the Turpin family had their sixth addition. David and Louise continued gambling regularly. Their finances were down the drain despite David having a high-paid job.
In the spring of 1999, the eldest daughter stopped attending school. The other children too weren't attending school. Louise and David said the kid was being ‘homeschooled’.
Around late 1998, the bank foreclosed on the Fort Worth home. The Turpin family moved to a less populated, Rio Vista, TX. The Turpins kept the house in a very disgusting manner which surely repulsed the new owners moving into the house. The house had dirt and stain everywhere and also emanated a putrid smell. The new owners think those dirt and stains resemble excrement.
Before moving to the Rio Vista house, they had the seventh addition to the Turpin family.
Unsettling events that happened in Rio Vista house
The Turpin family had five more additions to their family in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2007 respectively.
On top of neglecting the children and the Turpin couple started to physically abuse them by slapping, choking, whipping them with belts for reasons like not asking their permission to visit the restroom.
The children were allowed to take bath only once a year. David and Louise would buy delicious food, but would not allow the children to eat it. The children were made to look at the food while starving. They were fed with cheap frozen food which led the children to be extremely malnourished. Their growth became stunted, skin became pale and pasty which made them look much younger than the their actual age. The children had delayed cognitive development due to the lack of socialization and psychological abuse.
In 2004, the Turpin family moved into an expensive trailer and abandoned the Rio Vista house as the house was filled with garbage and dead rats, basically uninhabitable.
In 2008, Louise, who was then 40-year-old had revealed shocking information while talking to her sister Teresa. Louise revealed that they don't visit church nowadays, which shocked Teresa. Both David and Louise were brought up in devout Christian households. The Turpin couple had instead started focusing on satanisma and ouija boards. Louise then revealed that David and her were engaged in swinging. They both would leave the younger children at home under the care of the older ones and go out to meet strangers they met at online to have sex. It also seems that Louise is the only one who had sex outside marriage while David used to support her in these events by dropping her at places and waiting till its over and picking her up. Teresa was shocked to the core to hear the endeavours of her sister. The sister who was once caring and responsible has become completely unrecognisable.
The Turpin family moved to Murietta and visited Disney land repeatedlyand took lot of happy family pictures while dressed similarly. These photos were sent to Louise’s family with whom she had stopped skyping and stopped the family from talking to the children. These photos were the only relief to Louise’s family that the children were well and good even though they looked thin. Somehow it seems the Turpin couple were obsessed with Disney land.
The House of Horrors
In 2014, the Turpin family relocated to Perris, CA, 20 miles north of Murietta. By now the abuse became violent. David and Louise would tie the children to bed using ropes and in case they try to escape the rope would be replaced with chains and padlocks. The children would spend about 20 hours a day inside the room which had a thick, putrid smell in the room.
In 2015, the Turpin family had their 13th addition, the last one.
Soon, the entire family travelled to Las Vegas to celebrate the 30th wedding anniversary of the Turpin couple. David and Louise renewed their vows at the Elvis Chapel.
The rescue of the children
The 17 year old girl had enough of the horrors and decided to report everything to the police. She jumped through the window and contacted the police through her phone. The call to the 911 happened for 20 minutes, where she told all the details about their living conditions and everything that they went through. She also had photos taken of the house to show to the police as evidence. The police soon arrived and met with the girl who looked so thin and weak and no more than 10 years old. She showed the photos of inside of the house after which the police knocked on the front door and a confused Louise opened the door.
The moment the police entered the house they were hit with the stinking and putrid smell rendering them unable to breathe through their nose. The went further inside and found three of the younger children shackled to the bed. The house was filled with dirt and garbage. It seems the children weren't allowed the go to the restrooms for a while.
The police took the younger children to the Riverside University Medical Centre and the adult children to the Corona Regional Medical Centre.
The arrest and sentence of the Turpin couple
On Jan 14, 2018, the Turpin couple, David and Louise, was arrested on the suspicion of child abuse and torture. Four days later, they were each charged with the following:
- 12 counts of torture
- 7 counts of abuse of a dependent adult
- 6 counts of child abuse/neglect
- 12 counts of false imprisonment
- David Turpin was charged with one count of lewd act on a child under the age of 14.
The two-year-old child was the only one without any signs of abuse or torture.
Other than the above mentioned abuses the Turpin couple also:
- Threw the children down the stairs
- Due to prolonged physical abuse the children suffered from nerve damage
- Lacked basic knowledge of life. Eg., Didn't know what is medicine
- The Turpin couple bought toys, but never allowed the children to play with it.
- The children were forced to stay awake until morning four or five am and not allowed to go to bed before that.
On January 24, 2018, the judge barred David and Louise from meeting the children for three years and can only approach them through the lawyer. On June 21, 2018, the evidence was sufficient for the Turpin couple to stand trial. On February 22, 2019, David and Louis changed their pleas, each pleading guilty to 14 counts of torture, abuse of a dependent adult, false imprisonment and child endangerment.
During the court hearing the parents met their children face to face. According to the statements of the children it seems all of them have forgiven their parents and love them. They wish good for their parents and each individual is doing well in their life. David and Louise also were emotional and apologized for the way they brought them up and told that they loved them a lot and wished them success in life.
The Turpin couple was sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole in 25 years.
As of March 2022, Louise is 53 years old and is eligible for parole in 2037 while David is 60 years old and is eligible for parole in 2037.
The life of the Turpin children
Some might not understand the concept behind the children forgiving their parents despite the abuse and torture they went through. But as a victim of prolonged abuse, the victim starts forming a bond the one who abuses. In this case it is the parents, whom children consider as their protector and authority figure in life, so the bonding would have been much more stronger. This bond is what made the children to easily forgive their parents.
Though the children underwent through immense torture and abuse they have still managed to retain their inner child and the joy in experiencing life. According to an attorney, the children were so joyful to spend time with. They had this warm and happy nature in them which was very admirable.
They also have become more strong and are working towards a life that they had lost all these years.
