Alex Murdaugh’s housekeeper reveals one major question she has left after he killed his wife and son
Blanca Turrubiate-Simpson worked with the family for 14 years
Alex Murdaugh’s housekeeper has revealed the one unanswered question she has after her former boss murdered two members of his own family.
In 2023, disgraced South Carolina lawyer Murdaugh was convicted of two counts of murder after fatally shooting his wife, Maggie, 52, and their son, Paul, 22, at their estate.
Their bodies were discovered on June 7 2021 by Murdaugh, who called 911 at 10.07 pm. The personal injury lawyer claimed to have been returning home after visiting his mom when he found their bodies.
Now, the Murdaugh's former housekeeper, Blanca Turrubiate-Simpson, has written a book about her life with the family.
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Having worked with them since 2007, she forged a close bond with socialite Maggie.
In Within the House of Murdaugh: Amid a Unique Friendship - Blanca and Maggie, Turrubiate-Simpson recalls the moment she realized Murdaugh was guilty of the unthinkable.
She had been asked by Murdaugh to help clean up the house the morning after the murders, and noticed Maggie's pyjamas laid out; something she never did.
Turrubiate-Simpson also noted Maggie's SUV was parked on the wrong side of the road.
She told PEOPLE she suspected Murdaugh had worked with an accomplice in an attempt to stage the murders. But it was when she was watching the January 2023 trial unfold live from home that her suspicions were truly confirmed.
When police body cam footage was shown, she noticed a beach towel in Murdaugh's Suburban; but this wasn't just any towel.
It was one she remembered washing and placing on a high shelf the day of the murders.
Seeing it in the car made her realize Murdaugh's story certainly didn’t add up.
That was the moment she thought: “Oh my God. He did it," she told PEOPLE.
Turrubiate-Simpson reckons Murdaugh used the towel to clean up after the murders, possibly wiping away DNA evidence.
Both the towel and the shirt Alex wore that night later disappeared.
She’s left haunted by one lingering question: "What happened to that towel?"
Before the murders, the Murdaugh family’s once-gilded reputation was already beginning to crumble.
In 2018, their housekeeper Gloria Satterfield died after a 'trip and fall' accident at the property, but Murdaugh later admitted he lied about the cause to defraud her family.
The following year, Murdaugh and Maggie’s son Paul was charged in connection with a boating crash that killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach, a tragedy that sparked multiple lawsuits and intense media scrutiny. At the same time, Murdaugh faced growing financial pressure as his law firm began uncovering missing client funds and alleged embezzlement.
Behind the facade of so-called 'Lowcountry royalty,' the family’s wealth and influence were slipping - and Murdaugh's personal and legal troubles were closing in fast.
"The secrets he carried got to be too much,” Turrubiate-Simpson added.
In 2024, Murdaugh was additionally sentenced to 40 years in prison for 22 federal financial crimes, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, bank fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.
This is to be served concurrently with his two life sentences for the murders of Maggie and Paul, and previous financial crimes he admitted to.
The court also ordered Murdaugh to pay $8,762,731.88 in restitution to his victims and slapped with him a $10,034,377.95 forfeiture order.
Topics: Crime, Money, South Carolina, True crime, US News
Ellie Kemp