Alex Murdaugh’s double life: How greed and corruption brought down Lowcountry legal empire
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The Murdaugh family’s former housekeeper, Blanca Turrubiate-Simpson, remains haunted by the memory of a white pickup truck years after the tragic murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh in the Lowcountry region.

Her book, “Within the House of Murdaugh: Amid a Unique Friendship,” co-written with Mary Frances Weaver, delves into her deep bond with Maggie Murdaugh and the fateful night when Maggie and her son Paul lost their lives.

In a conversation with Fox News Digital, Turrubiate-Simpson recounted the detail that continues to disturb her more than four years later: the sighting of a white pickup truck near the family’s estate on Moselle Road in Colleton County, South Carolina, known simply as “Moselle.”

“What truly haunts me,” she revealed, “is not having looked into that white truck parked by the hangar.”

Blanca Turrubiate-Simpson answers questions from prosecutor John Meadors

Blanca Turrubiate-Simpson testified during Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial, responding to prosecutor John Meadors at the Colleton County Courthouse on February 10, 2023. (Joshua Boucher/Pool via USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn)

She recalled that she initially assumed it belonged to Paul and felt no reason to check it.

“When I heard testimony during the trial where they specified that Paul’s phone was dinging in Okatie, I said, well, who was driving that truck? Who was driving the white truck? The white F-150? That’s one of the main ones that bothers me.”

Alex Murdaugh arrives in court in Beaufort

Disbarred attorney Alex Murdaugh arrives in court in Beaufort, S.C. Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023. (AP Photo/James Pollard)

Turrubiate-Simpson said she has often replayed that moment in her mind, wondering why she felt compelled to leave the property through a different gate rather than drive past the kennels.

Maggie and Paul were found dead near dog kennels at the family’s home, police said. The Colleton County Sheriff’s Office said both victims suffered multiple gunshot wounds.

“Perhaps it was like a divine intervention or something that said, ‘No, you need to go out the other gate,’” she said. “I wasn’t worried because the truck looked just like Paul’s truck, so it wasn’t a red flag then.”

A side view of the house at the Murdaugh Moselle property

A side view of the house at the Murdaugh Moselle property on Wednesday, March 1, 2023, in Islandton, South Carolina. (Andrew J. Whitaker/Pool via USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn)

In the book, Turrubiate-Simpson shares several small inconsistencies on the property the morning after the murders that only a longtime confidant would catch.

She told Fox News Digital that Maggie’s car was parked in a spot she had never seen her use.

“Maggie used to always pull up to the left of Paul,” she explained. “But that morning, Maggie’s car was to the right, and it was not close up to the house. It was a little bit further to the right, kind of where the hunting room entrance is. I knew she didn’t put it there.”

The placement didn’t make sense, she said: “There was no need for her to park there when there were no other vehicles really there.”

Bullet holes are seen in the glass at the Murdaugh Moselle property

Bullet holes are seen in the glass at the Murdaugh Moselle property on Wednesday, March 1, 2023, in Islandton.  (Andrew J. Whitaker/Pool via USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn)

‘Oh my God. He did it.’

Turrubiate-Simpson said that she had her doubts about Alex Murdaugh’s responsibility in the double murders until body-camera video was played in court.

During the trial, prosecutors played video from Deputy Daniel Greene, the first officer to arrive at the crime scene. Turrubiate-Simpson said her husband encouraged her to watch the video, even though she initially said she had no interest in seeing the crime scene.

“He said, ‘I think you need to watch at least a little bit of it,’” she said.

When the camera briefly passed the family’s black Suburban, she immediately recognized a towel.

“I saw one of the towels that I had washed, that was going to be going back to Edisto [Murdaugh family’s island getaway],” she said. “In a glimpse, something caught my eye.”

Alex Murdaugh appears in a South Carolina Courtroom

Alex Murdaugh talks with his defense attorney Jim Griffin during a jury-tampering hearing at the Richland County Judicial Center, Monday, Jan. 29, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. (Andrew J. Whitaker/The Post And Courier via AP, Pool)

She said she immediately asked her husband to rewind.

“And I told my husband, ‘Go back, go back, go back.’ He’s like, ‘What’s going on?’ I said, ‘Go back to the truck, go back to the truck.’ So he’s steady going back, and I’m thinking, ‘Oh my God.’ I said, ‘He did it.’ And at that point my husband said, ‘What are you talking about?’ I said, ‘He did it. That was him.’ I said, ‘That towel was going back to Edisto. I had just washed it and set it on top of the shelf.’ I said, ‘He… he… he did it.’”

“To me, that towel being there made no sense unless he grabbed it,” she added, suggesting she believed Alex used the towel during a frantic cleanup as he moved between the house and the kennels.

“His demeanor didn’t match up with the nurturing, loving father that I saw within the home,” she said.

View of the kennels on the Murdaugh's family estate in South Carolina

A view from the path towards the house of the kennels at the Murdaugh Moselle property on Wednesday, March 1, 2023, in Islandton.  (Andrew J. Whitaker/Pool via USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn)

In her book, Turrubiate-Simpson floats a theory where she believes Alex may not have acted alone that night, not in the murders themselves, but in the aftermath.

“My theory in the book is that he had help to clean, possibly setting up,” she told Fox News Digital.

The distance between the main house and the kennels, she said, plays a critical role.

“It takes a good few minutes to get back and forth. In the time that they said it was done, there’s just not enough time.”

Turrubiate-Simpson said her theories are rooted in her intimate knowledge of the family’s routines, noting that “there’s no evidence” that she’s aware of suggesting that Alex had help.

'Within the House of Murdaugh' book cover

“Within the House of Murdaugh: Amid a Unique Friendship, Blanca and Maggie” is a 2024 book by Blanca Turrubiate-Simpson that offers a personal account of her experiences with the Murdaugh family. (Palmetto Publishing)

‘Because of Paul and Maggie’

In her memoir, Turrubiate-Simpson said that her purpose was not to fuel speculation, but to remind the world of Paul and Maggie’s lives.

“I wrote this book because of Paul and Maggie,” she said. “I don’t want her forgotten. When they hear his name, I’m tired of hearing just his name. The two victims have been forgotten in all of this.”

A possible new trial

The South Carolina Supreme Court is scheduled to hear Murdaugh’s appeal on Feb. 11.

Murdaugh’s team requested a new trial, arguing he did not receive a fair trial because of alleged jury tampering by Colleton County Court Clerk Becky Hill.

Murdaugh family poses in formal attire

Alex Murdaugh, right, is shown here with his family.  (Fox News)

“I think we all deserve a fair trial,” Turrubiate-Simpson said. “If they determine that he did not receive one, then we just must follow through. It’s the law.”

Headstone for Paul Murdaugh and Maggie Murdaugh

Maggie and Paul Murdaugh’s headstones mark their final resting places in Hampton. (Michael M. DeWitt Jr. / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn)

Turrubiate-Simpson said she doesn’t plan to watch Hulu’s recent dramatization of the Murdaugh saga.

“I’ve watched some documentaries,” she said. “But I don’t feel the need to watch the Hulu series because I lived it. There’s no point in watching something that I already lived.”

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