A neighbor described the Turpins — the parents accused of shackling their children to furniture — as engaging in many strange “cult” rituals, according to a Tuesday interview.
The man identified only as Mike, a neighbor of Louise and David Turpin, claimed he “thought they were like a cult” during an interview with The New York Post. Mike lived across the street from the Turpins and, while he thought they were strange, he never saw anything that would warrant a call to the police, according to Fox News.
“The light would be on the whole the time, and they would be marching the kids back and forth,” Mike said, adding that the events usually happened between midnight and 3 a.m.
Mike said that his wife called the family members “clones,” claiming that they all spoke in a monotone voice. His wife had brief interactions with the Turpins at a local grocery store.
The Turpin parents were arrested Sunday on nine counts of torture and 10 counts of child endangerment after their 17-year-old daughter escaped from their house through a window to call 911. The daughter used a deactivated cellphone to call the police, alleging that her siblings were shackled to furniture. The children are currently hospitalized, and the parents will appear in court Thursday. (RELATED: Sister Claims She Was Never Allowed To Visit Family Who Shackled Kids To Bed).
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