Blanca Turrubiate-Simpson, the Murdaugh family’s longtime housekeeper, still sees it in her mind’s eye: a white pickup truck parked near the hangar on the Moselle property. It’s a haunting image, a lingering question mark from the night Maggie and Paul Murdaugh were brutally murdered, years ago in the South Carolina Lowcountry.
Her new book details a close friendship with Maggie, but also unravels the unsettling details surrounding that night. It wasn’t the scene at the kennels that initially gripped her, but the presence of that truck. She’d assumed it belonged to Paul, a familiar sight, and dismissed it. But later, when evidence placed Paul miles away, a chilling thought took root: who was driving the white F-150?
She often replays the moment, questioning a strange impulse she felt to exit the property through a different gate, avoiding the kennels altogether. Was it coincidence, or something more? A silent warning she unknowingly heeded? The memory is a constant echo, a “divine intervention” perhaps, steering her away from a horrific discovery.
The morning after the murders, subtle inconsistencies began to surface, details only a close observer would notice. Maggie’s car, usually parked to the left of Paul’s, was positioned differently – further to the right, near the hunting room entrance. A placement that made no sense, a deviation from her established routine.
Doubt about Alex Murdaugh’s involvement lingered until she saw the body-camera footage from the first officer on the scene. Her husband urged her to watch, despite her reluctance to revisit the tragedy. Then, a fleeting glimpse of a familiar towel changed everything.
It was a towel she’d just washed, destined for the Murdaugh family’s island getaway. Seeing it in the back of the Suburban, she demanded her husband rewind the video, again and again. “He did it,” she whispered, the realization hitting her with devastating force. The towel’s presence was inexplicable, unless Alex had used it during a desperate attempt to conceal his actions.
His demeanor, she realized, didn’t align with the loving father she knew. The facade had crumbled, revealing a darkness she hadn’t imagined. The nurturing presence she’d witnessed within the home was a stark contrast to the man implicated in such a horrific crime.
Turrubiate-Simpson believes Alex may not have acted alone, suggesting someone assisted him in the aftermath, perhaps helping to clean up or stage the scene. The distance between the house and the kennels, she points out, makes it improbable that he could have acted entirely on his own within the timeframe suggested by investigators.
Her theories are born from an intimate understanding of the family’s habits and routines. While acknowledging a lack of concrete evidence, she feels compelled to explore the possibility of a hidden accomplice. But ultimately, her book is a tribute to Maggie and Paul, a plea to remember them as individuals, not just footnotes in a sensational crime.
She’s tired of hearing only Paul’s name mentioned, of the victims being overshadowed by the scandal. She wants their lives, their personalities, to be remembered. As Alex Murdaugh’s appeal approaches, she believes everyone deserves a fair trial, and that the legal process must run its course.
She has no interest in watching the dramatized retelling of the events. She lived it. There’s no need to revisit the pain through a screen. Her story, she believes, is the true account, a firsthand perspective on a tragedy that shattered a family and a community.
