Murdaugh housekeeper haunted by white truck she saw night of murders

Blanca Turrubiate-Simpson, the Murdaugh family’s longtime maid, said a white pickup truck was still “pursuing” her even after the brutal murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh in the Lowcountry.

His book, “Inside the Murdaugh House: In the Middle of a Unique Friendship,” written with Mary Frances Weaver, chronicles not only his close relationship with Maggie Murdaugh, but also the details surrounding the night Maggie and her son Paul were murdered.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Turrubiate-Simpson described the moment that still haunts her more than four years later; this included a white pickup truck he spotted near the family property on Moselle Road in South Carolina’s Colleton County. The property was known simply as “Moselle”.

“The part that really bothered me,” he said, “was not looking at that white truck parked next to the hangar.”

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He recalled initially assuming it was Paul’s and feeling no reason to check.

“When I heard testimony during the trial that Paul’s phone was ringing in Okatie, I said, who was driving that truck? Who was driving the white truck? The white F-150? That’s one of the main things that bothered me.”

Disbarred attorney Alex Murdaugh appeared in court on Thursday, September 14, 2023, in Beaufort, SC. (AP Photo/James Pollard)

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Turrubiate-Simpson said she often replays that moment in her mind and wonders why she felt compelled to leave the property through a different gate instead of walking past the dog kennels.

Police say Maggie and Paul were found dead near their dog kennel at the family’s home. The Colleton County Sheriff’s Office said both victims suffered multiple gunshot wounds.

“Maybe it was like divine intervention or something that said, ‘No, you need to go out the other door,'” he said. “I wasn’t worried because the truck looked like Paul’s truck, so it wasn’t a red flag at the time.”

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

In the book, Turrubiate-Simpson shares several minor inconsistencies about the property the morning after the murders that only a longtime confidant would have caught.

He told Fox News Digital that Maggie’s car was parked in a spot he had never seen used before.

“Maggie always sidled up to Paul’s left,” he explained. “But that morning Maggie’s car was on the right and not near the house. It was a little further to the right, like the entrance to the hunting room. I knew she didn’t put it there.”

He said the placement didn’t make sense: “There was no need for it to park there when there were no other vehicles there.”

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

‘My god. ‘He did it.’

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

During the hearing, prosecutors played video of Deputy Daniel Greene, the first officer on the scene. Turrubiate-Simpson said her husband encouraged her to watch the video, even though she initially said she wasn’t interested in seeing the scene.

“He said, ‘I think you should watch at least some of it,'” he said.

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

“I saw that one of the towels I washed was going to be sent back to Edisto. [Murdaugh family’s island getaway]’ he said. ‘Something caught my eye at a glance.’

Alex Murdaugh speaks with defense attorney Jim Griffin during a jury tampering hearing on Monday, January 29, 2024, at the Richland County Judicial Center in Columbia, S.C. (Andrew J. Whitaker/AP, Post and Courier via Repository)

She said she immediately asked her husband to rewind.

“So I said to my husband, ‘Come back, come back, come back.’ ‘What’s going on?’ he said. I said, ‘Get back in the truck, get back in the truck.’ So it’s coming back steadily and I’m thinking, ‘Oh my God.’ ‘He did it,’ I said. And at that point my husband said: ‘What are you talking about?’ ‘He did it,’ I said. ‘This was it.’ ‘That towel was going back to Edisto,’ I said. I had just washed it and put it on the shelf.’ “And I said, ‘He… he… he did it.'”

“To me, there was no point in being there unless he was holding that towel,” he added, suggesting that he believed Alex used the towel during a frantic clean-up as he wandered between the house and the kennels.

“His demeanor did not match the caring, loving father I saw at home,” she said.

A view of the road leading to the kennel house on the Murdaugh Moselle property in Islandton on Wednesday, March 1, 2023. (Andrew J. Whitaker/Pool via Imagn via USA TODAY NETWORK)

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In her book, Turrubiate-Simpson puts forward a theory in which she believes that Alex may not have acted alone that night, not during the murders but afterwards.

“My theory in the book is that he had help with the cleanup and possibly the setup,” he told Fox News Digital.

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

“It takes a few minutes to go back and forth. There’s not enough time in the amount of time they say it’s done.”

Turrubiate-Simpson said her theories stemmed from her intimate knowledge of the family’s routines, noting that there was “no evidence” that she was aware that Alex had suggested she was getting help.

“Inside the Murdaugh House: In the Midst of 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’

Turrubiate-Simpson said in her memoirs that her goal 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,” he said. “I don’t want him to be forgotten. When they hear his name, I’m tired of just hearing his name. In all of this, both victims are forgotten.”

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 that he was not given a fair trial because of Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill’s alleged jury tampering.

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

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“I think we all deserve a fair trial,” Turrubiate-Simpson said. “If they determine he didn’t get it, then we have to take action. It’s the law.”

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

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

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