John Glatt - The Family Next Door: The Heartbreaking Imprisonment of the Thirteen Turpin Siblings and Their Extraordinary Rescue

The unspeakable crimes that David and Louise Turpin stand accused of committing against their own thirteen children are unparalleled. When Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin first briefed reporters about the depths of depravity the couple had sunk to, he elicited gasps from even the most hardened reporters.

The Turpin parents, who had their children affectionately call them Mother and Father, apparently lacked any conscience about the lasting mental and physical injury they were inflicting. According to the evidence, Louise would physically beat her children, and chain them to beds for months at a time. While they starved she and David dined out at good restaurants.

Although brought up in the Pentecostal Church of God, it remains a mystery how they could twist the churchs teaching into madness. Chillingly, they flew under the radar, living in good, respectable neighborhoods with neighbors on either side. But no one ever reported anything untoward in the house. David Turpin officially filed papers with the California Department of Education to run his own homeschool. But none of the relevant authorities ever checked up on whether its self-appointed principal was actually teaching them.

Ten years ago, I wrote Secrets in the Cellar, the horrific story of how Austrian monster Josef Fritzl imprisoned his own daughter, Elizabeth, for more than twenty years, siring her seven children. In 2010, my book Lost and Found recounted how Phillip Garrido and his wife Nancy abducted eleven-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard, holding her hostage for eighteen years in Antioch, Californiajust four hundred and twenty-five miles from the Turpins own house of horrors.

Then in 2013 The Lost Girls chronicled the so-called Cleveland Abductions, where Ariel Castro snatched three young girls off the street and turned them into his sexual slaves for more than a decade. Like Jordan Turpin five years later, Amanda Berry bravely risked her life to escape and summon help to save the others.

As Cult Education Institute founder Rick Ross told me: Who knows how many there are around the United States. This is not uncommon but we only find out about it when something horrible happens.

This book is the result of many months of research into David and Louise Turpins lives. I started my journey in Princeton, West Virginia, tracing their roots from the beginning. Then I followed them west to Fort Worth and Rio Vista, Texas, where they had almost all their children, before finishing up in Perris, California.

There are so many people who made this book possible with invaluable help along the way. First and foremost I would like to thank forensic psychiatrist Dr. Michael Stone of Columbia University for adding his own expert analysis of this often baffling case. Child trauma expert Allison Davis Maxon provided invaluable help in understanding the full depth of damage the children suffered and the specialized treatment they will need. Renowned cult expert Rick Ross, who has been following the Turpin case from Day one, explained how super-narcissist David Turpin had first recruited Louise to form a self-styled family cult to worship him.

I would also like to thank: Jessica Barmejo, Gilbert Bolling, Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld, Jared Dana, David Downard, Janie Farmer, Dr. David Fenner, Richard Ford, Mike Gilbert, Todd Gray, Dr. Ray Hurt, Mary Hopkins, Greg Jordan, Donald Kick, Tyler Kyle, Erica Llaca, Brian McCabe, David Macher, Assemblyman Jose Medina, Lois Miller, Jeff Moore, Verlin Moye, Aaron Pankratz, Brent Rivas, Kent Ripley, Brian Rokos, Ricardo Ross, Lindsay Gatlin, Tim Snead, Bobby Spiegel, Mayor Michael Vargas, Becky Veneri, Ricky Vinyard, and Pamela Winfrey.

I would also like to thank Dollys Diner in Princeton, West Virginia, Annies Caf in Lake Elsinore, California, and Jennys Family Restaurant in Perris, California, for their hospitality and help, as well as Bobbie Herrera, Felipa Guerra, and the staff at Cleburne Public Library.

As always I am deeply indebted to Charles Spicer and Sarah Grill of St. Martins Press for all their help and good advice throughout. Much gratitude too to my super-agent Jane Dystel and Miriam Goderich of Dystel, Goderich and Bourret Literary Management, my pillars who are always there with unstinting encouragement and support.

Id also like to thank my wife, Gail, Emily Freund, Debbie, Douglas, and Taylor Baldwin, Pamela Martin, Chris Vlasak, Lenny Millen, Bernie Freund, Annette Witheridge, Ian and Helen Kimmet, Jo Greenspan, Galli Curci, Chris Frost, Roger Hitts, Danny, Cari and Allie Tractenberg, and Gurcher.