A Housekeeper Still Haunted by One Image
Years after the shocking murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh, one memory continues to torment the family’s longtime housekeeper, Blanca Turrubiate-Simpson: the sight of a white pickup truck sitting quietly near a hangar on the Murdaughs’ expansive Moselle property.
Blanca had spent years inside the Murdaugh household cooking, cleaning, organizing, observing daily routines becoming so close with Maggie that she considered her not just an employer, but a dear friend. It’s this closeness that makes the details she noticed both significant and haunting.
In her memoir, Within the House of Murdaugh: Amid a Unique Friendship, she describes the intimate rhythms of life inside the prominent Lowcountry family along with the unsettling clues that stood out on the night Maggie and Paul were killed.
And among all her memories, one moment keeps replaying in her mind.
“The part that really haunts me was not looking into that white truck parked by the hangar,” she said.
At the time, she brushed it off. The truck looked like Paul’s, and there was no urgent reason to inspect it. But years later, during the trial, she learned that Paul’s phone was pinging in Okatie, miles away, around the same time. That revelation shook her.
If Paul wasn’t driving the truck she saw…
then who was?
This question, she says, remains a constant shadow.
Unusual Details the Morning After the Murders
Blanca returned to Moselle the next morning to help straighten the house, and immediately because she knew the family’s routines better than almost anyone noticed several subtle but deeply unsettling inconsistencies.
1. Maggie’s Car Was Parked Somewhere She Never Parked
Maggie habitually pulled up on the left side, closer to the house and near Paul’s usual spot.
But on that morning, her car was:
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Off to the right side
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Slightly farther away from the home
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Near the hunting room entrance
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Parked in a place Blanca had never seen her use
To Blanca, this small detail felt glaring.
There were no other cars on the property that night. No reason for Maggie to have shifted her normal parking spot. And no indication that she had driven around seeking a place to park.
“I knew she didn’t put it there,” Blanca later said.
“It didn’t make sense.”
2. A Decision That Still Puzzled Her: Leaving Through a Different Gate
After finishing her tasks that evening, Blanca felt compelled she doesn’t know why even now to exit the property through a different gate instead of passing by the kennels.
The kennels where Maggie and Paul were later discovered.
The kennels where investigators say the shootings occurred.
At the time, she dismissed the instinct. Looking back, she wonders if it was a protective nudge something telling her not to drive into whatever had just happened.
The Moment Everything Changed ‘He Did It.’
For a long time, Blanca resisted the idea that Alex Murdaugh could have murdered his wife and son. The Alex she knew:
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Dotingly cared for Maggie
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Adored Paul
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Spoke lovingly about both
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Often played the role of a charming, affectionate father
But during the trial, her husband suggested she watch body-cam footage from the first responding officer, Deputy Daniel Greene. She initially resisted she didn’t want to see the aftermath of the murders.
Her husband encouraged her:
“Just watch a little bit.”
She did.
And that changed everything.
As the officer’s camera swept past the family’s black Suburban, Blanca caught a split-second glimpse of something inside.
A towel.
Not just any towel one she had washed shortly before. One she had folded and placed aside to send to the Murdaughs’ beach house on Edisto.
Her reaction was immediate and visceral.
“Go back. Go back. Go back!” she told her husband.
When she saw it clearly, she said:
“Oh my God… he did it.”
To her, the presence of that towel suggested involvement. She believed Alex might have grabbed it in a frantic attempt to clean himself or something else during the moments following the murders.
That was the moment her doubts evaporated.
Did Alex Have Help? Blanca’s Theory
In her book, Blanca outlines a theory not of who committed the murders, but of what may have happened after them.
She believes it’s possible that Alex had help cleaning up or preparing the scene in the aftermath.
Her reasoning:
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The distance between the house and the kennels is significant.
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Travel between the two areas takes several minutes each way.
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The prosecution’s timeline is extremely tight, almost impossibly so for one person acting alone.
Blanca stresses that she has no evidence of a second person.
Her theory is based entirely on:
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Her familiarity with the layout
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Her understanding of the timeline
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Her intuition from years in the household
She is not claiming Alex had an accomplice in the murders themselves, but she suggests he might not have managed the aftermath alone.
Her True Purpose: Remembering Maggie and Paul
While much public attention is focused on Alex, his trial, and the twisted unraveling of the Murdaugh legacy, Blanca says that the two victims Maggie and Paul have been overshadowed.
“I wrote this book because of Paul and Maggie,” she said.
“Their names have been forgotten in all of this.”
She wants people to remember:
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Maggie as a warm, generous woman with a gentle presence
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Paul as a vibrant young man with flaws but also kindness and humor
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The family she knew before tragedy consumed their name
Her memoir is as much a tribute as it is a witness account.
Looking Ahead: A New Appeal
The South Carolina Supreme Court is scheduled to hear Alex Murdaugh’s latest appeal on February 11. His defense team argues that alleged jury tampering by former Colleton County Court Clerk Becky Hill tainted the verdict and warrants a new trial.
The outcome could determine whether Alex Murdaugh already convicted and serving life gets another chance to fight the charges.