Blanca Turrubiate-Simpson, the longtime housekeeper for the Murdaugh family, has revealed the moment she became certain that Alex Murdaugh murdered his wife and son. In her new book, 'Within the House of Murdaugh: Amid a Unique Friendship – Blanca and Maggie', she describes how police body camera footage shown during the trial led to her realisation.
The footage showed a beach towel in Murdaugh's Suburban. Turrubiate-Simpson recalled washing that towel and placing it on a high shelf in the laundry room on the day of the murders. 'I looked at the towel and I said, 'Oh my God. He did it,'' she writes. She believes Murdaugh used the towel to clean up after the killings, and that it later disappeared, along with the shirt he wore that day.
On 7 June 2021, Maggie Murdaugh, 52, and her son Paul, 22, were shot dead near the dog kennels on the family's estate in Islandton, South Carolina. Murdaugh was convicted in March 2023 and sentenced to two consecutive life terms without parole. Turrubiate-Simpson testified at the trial about the family's finances and tensions between the couple.
She also recounts the morning after the murders, when Murdaugh called her frantically saying, 'They're gone, B. They're gone!' Later that day, he asked her to clean the home before Maggie's parents arrived. She noticed unsettling details: Maggie's car parked on the wrong side of the driveway, and her pyjamas and underwear laid out neatly, despite Maggie never wearing underwear to bed.
Turrubiate-Simpson speculates that Murdaugh may have had an accomplice who helped stage the crime scene. She says that when she tried to offer information to police, no one listened. 'In the end the Murdaugh name meant more,' she said. 'Maggie and Paul were just collateral.'
The housekeeper also reflects on her close friendship with Maggie, who she says always treated her as an equal. After Maggie's death, Turrubiate-Simpson adopted her Labrador, Bubba, who helped prosecutors place Murdaugh at the scene through his voice on a cellphone video. 'I took care of Bubba and he kind of emotionally took care of me,' she said.
