Maggie Murdaugh expressed worries about boat lawsuit, money troubles before murder, witness says
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The Murdaugh family saga has dominated the news after another shooting, a resignation and criminal accusations — with Alex Murdaugh at the center of it all. Here are the latest updates on Alex Murdaugh.
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One question from prosecutors in Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial had the defense calling for a mistrial.
Murdaugh attorney Dick Harpootlian on Friday objected during testimony from the Murdaugh family housekeeper, Blanca Turrubiate-Simpson, as she described a conversation she had with Maggie Murdaugh before she was killed.
Harpootlian jumped to his feet after prosecutor John Meadors asked the witness if Maggie was concerned about money.
Harpootlian said the question was irrelevant and prejudicial, arguing that Maggie’s mindset before the murders was irrelevant to the question of whether her husband allegedly killed her and their son, Paul, on the night of June 7, 2021. The jury was briefly asked to leave the room while the judge and attorneys hashed out the objection.
“You can’t unring the bell,” Harpootlian said, calling for Judge Clifton Newman to end Murdaugh’s three-week murder trial right then and there.
But Newman declined to rule for a mistrial, and allowed Meadors to move forward with the question.
“We’ve had testimony elicited by the defense portraying the family as having a loving, happy marriage,” Newman said, including questions to other witnesses about whether there was any anxiety or issues among the family. The testimony of Turrubiate-Simpson was relevant to that understanding of the family, Newman said.
Turrubiate-Simpson relayed a candid conversation she had with Maggie in which Maggie expressed concern about the lawsuit over a 2019 fatal boat crash Paul was involved in.
“Maggie was crying and said, ‘We don’t have that kind of money,’” Turrubiate-Simpson said. “If I could give them everything I’ve got and make it go away, I will. We’ll start over, I just want it gone.’”
On cross-examination, Harpootlian asked if the Murdaughs ever argued, and if Turrubiate-Simpson had ever seen any evidence of violent quarrels between the couple. Turrubiate-Simpson said she only ever witnessed minor disagreements about the remodeling of the family’s Edisto Beach house.
Where are the clothes?
Turrubiate-Simpson also testified that after Maggie and Paul were murdered, she never saw the clothes Murdaugh was wearing that day again.
Turrubiate-Simpson testified she saw Murdaugh leave for work the morning of June 7, 2021, wearing a pair of khaki pants, a sea-foam color polo shirt, a blue shorts coat, and what she called his “regular work shoes.”
The outfit she described is similar to one Murdaugh is seen wearing in a Snapchat video shot by Paul at the property later that day, but are different from the clothes Murdaugh was wearing when he visited his mother that night, according to earlier testimony from the mother’s caregiver, that matched what Murdaugh can be seen wearing in police video footage later that night.
“Did you ever see that shirt again?” Meaders asked. “No,” she said.
“Did you ever see those house shoes again?” Meadors asked. “No,” she said.
Turrubiate-Simpson also indicated that in August 2021, Murdaugh talked to her about the shirt he was wearing the day of the murders, indicating he was wearing a different shirt.
Harpootlian attempted to ask whether that conversation came after an interview Murdaugh had given to the State Law Enforcement Division, but Meadors successfully objected, arguing the defense can’t bring in statements made by the defendant without calling him to the stand.
She also testified she found a pair of khaki pants in the bathroom of the Murdaugh house the day after the shooting, and towels as though someone had recently taken a shower. It was unclear at this point if investigators had conducted a thorough search of the house in response to the killings.
Under questioning from Harpootlian, Turrubiate-Simpson said she saw no blood on the pants, or elsewhere in the bathroom.
She also told the defense attorney that Murdaugh stayed away from the Moselle house after the murders, often staying with family elsewhere, while she and her husband stayed at the house for caretaking reasons.
“You don’t know what clothes he took with him, or what shoes he was wearing,” Harpootlian said.
Turrubiate-Simpson said it was common for Murdaugh to keep clothes in other locations, including his office and his car.
In one potentially significant development, under questioning by Meadors, Turrubiate-Simpson said Murdaugh asked Maggie and Paul to be at the house the evening they were both murdered there.
“Maggie texted me that Alex wanted her to come to Moselle,” Turrubiate-Simpson said.
This story may be updated.
This story was originally published February 10, 2023 at 12:37 PM with the headline "Maggie Murdaugh expressed worries about boat lawsuit, money troubles before murder, witness says."
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