After apparent sale, Turpin house in Perris going back on auction block
The house in Perris where prosecutors say the children of David and Louise Turpin were tortured, which appeared to have sold last week, is going back on the market.
The house at 160 Muir Woods Road, which sold at auction on Jan. 2 for $310,360 to an unidentified bidder, will be up for bid again on the Hudson and Marshall website starting Jan. 12. The minimum bid is $177,255. In the previous auction, a reserve of about $300,000 had to be met before the house would sell.
The most recent appraisal of the property by Riverside County for tax purposes was for $353,138.
A Hudson and Marshall customer service representative on Tuesday said she didn’t know why the house is being resold. The house, with four bedrooms and three bathrooms, was foreclosed upon in November.
On Jan. 3, a day after the auction closed, the television show Inside Edition aired a video that showed toys, bedding, clothing and broken furniture strewn throughout the house, as well as a plea for help written on a cake box.
The auction listing still does not note that the Turpins are accused of shackling and starving 12 of their 13 children who were ages 2 to 29 at the time of the parents’ Jan. 14 arrests. California real estate law requires notice only when there has been a death of any kind at a residence within the past three years or exposure at any time to a controlled substance such as methamphetamine or fentanyl.
A different Hudson and Marshall representative said Dec. 29, the day the house first went up for bid, that the auction company was aware of the accusations against the Turpins and was trying to get information on the case to add to the listing.
The criminal case has attracted worldwide attention.
The Turpins face trial set for Sept. 3 on a collective 88 felony charges including torture, child cruelty and false imprisonment. David, 57, and Louise, 50, are accused of neglecting and psychologically abusing all but their youngest child to the point where doctors say the now five minors and eight adults suffered varying levels of cognitive and physical impairment. They have pleaded not guilty to all charges.