California 'House of horrors' children like 'clones' and were 'forced to march in circles'
The 13 children from the California 'House of Horrors' were forced to march in circles in the middle of the night, according to a former neighbour.
A man named Mike, who used to live across the road from David and Louise Turpin, the couple arrested yesterday for torture, told the New York Post that the family was "like a cult."
He said: "They would march back and forth on the second story at night. The light would be on the whole the time, and they would be marching the kids back and forth."
Because he worked at a hospital, he often came back home in the early hours of the morning, which is when he says he saw the children engaging in the strange behaviour.
Mike, who didn't give his last name, said he saw them being marched through the upstairs rooms between midnight and 3am.
'Clone' children 'spoke robotically and at the same time'
David Allen Turpin, 57, and Louise Anna Turpin, 49, have been charged with nine counts of torture and 10 of child endangerment after being arrested at their home in Perris, California.
It followed a dramatic rescue of thirteen children aged between 2 and 29 who were discovered starving and some chained to items of furniture in the “filthy” and “foul-smelling” house.
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Police uncovered the abuse after a 17-year-old girl fled the property through a window, stole a mobile phone and alerted officers to the children’s plight. She was so emaciated police thought she was only 10.
Despite the fact Mike thought the situation was strange, he didn't feel anything serious enough to call the police was going on.
He said: "My wife called them clones. They spoke robotically, in a monotone and at the same time."
Family appeared 'obsessed with Disney'
The Turpin family took multiple trips to Disneyland, and posted the evidence on Facebook.
The children were seen in these pictures wearing matching Disney clothing.
Reporters on Monday gained access to the family's back garden, where they saw Disney merchandise including pet food bowls (though it is not thought they had any pets) and a Mickey and Minnie Mouse fountain.
Two cars parked outside the residence had personalised number plates, one reading DLand and another reading DL4ever.
Although it is thought the first numberplate reads "Disneyland", the other could either mean David and Louise forever or Disneyland Forever.
The family also appeared obsessed with Elvis Presley
The Turpin couple renewed their vows three times, in the exact same location with the same Elvis impersonator performing their vow renewal ceremony.
They also wore the exact same outfits, at the Elvis Chapel in Downtown Las Vegas – Mrs Turpin’s changing hairstyles being the only difference.
Kent Ripley, the Elvis impersonator at the chapel, said he was "still disturbed" by the reports of abuse. "I mean they were sitting right around here three different times," he told Fox5 Vegas, indicating the rows of empty chairs in the chapel.
"[The Turpins] seemed to care about each other and care about the kids. They seemed to smile, the kids were smiling they didn't hide behind themselves, they were very quiet."
The family outings appear to have all stopped last July – five months after Mrs Turpin’s mother, Phyllis Robinette, died aged 66 in Princeton, West Virginia.
Shortly before she died, Mrs Robinette wrote on Facebook: “Would love to come and see you all.”
Louise Turpin's sister: we were not brought up like this
Teresa Robinette, the sister of Louise Turpin told NBC News: "I've never felt such a diferent mixture of emotions. Like seriously I'm so heartbroken for my neices and my nephews. I'm so angry, I'm so mad, I'm hurt.
"Our life wasn't perfect growing up but she didn't live like that. Neither did David, he was raised in a very wealthy home.
"As a matter of fact my dad was a preacher at one point when I was very little – they weren't raised like this. I don't know where it came from. I feel like it's a bad dream."
