For over a decade as the Murdaugh family’s housekeeper, Blanca Turrubiate-Simpson said she never knew Alex and Margaret Murdaugh to argue, only “some minor disagreements.”
But in the months before June 2021, when Alex Murdaugh would call 911 to say he found Margaret and the couple’s youngest son, Paul, fatally shot on the grounds of their sprawling South Carolina estate, Simpson said the family matriarch made coffee, pulled her into a room and shut the door.
“She was worried about a lawsuit and stated they wanted $30 million and was crying, stating, ‘We don’t have that kind of money. If I could give them everything that I got and make this go away, I would do it in a heartbeat. I’ll start over. We’ll start over. I just want it gone,'” Simpson testified that Margaret told her.
The lawsuit was in connection to a deadly boat crash case in which Paul was facing trial for three felony counts of boating under the influence at the time of his death.
Simpson’s testimony, at moments tearful as she recalled her friendship with Margaret, gave a glimpse into her apparent state of mind prior to the slayings, and provided the jury further insight into Margaret’s nearly three-decade marriage with Murdaugh, a once-powerful lawyer who is standing trial in the murders of his wife and son.
The prosecution’s line of questioning about whether Margaret was concerned about money issues had led defense lawyer Richard “Dick” Harpootlian to call for a mistrial, and he argued that it amounted to hearsay and so should not be heard by the jury. But Circuit Court Judge Clifton Newman disagreed.
Simpson in her testimony before the jury said that Margaret confided in her that her husband “doesn’t tell me everything.”
“She felt that Alex was not being truthful to her with regard to what was going on with that lawsuit,” Simpson said.
On cross-examination, Simpson told the defense the pair had small tiffs, like over the paint color of their beach house remodel, and that Margaret complained that she just…
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