Murdaugh, son phone conversation released, he’s ‘in a tough spot’: Jonna Spilbor
Criminal defense attorney Jonna Spilbor reacts to Alex Murdaugh’s icy phone call with his son Buster, saying he must be ‘careful’ considering he is ‘being looked at’ for the suspected homicide of his former classmate.
Parker’s Kitchen and its insurance companies agreed to pay a settlement of $15 million to the family of a 19-year-old woman who died aboard a boat owned by the prominent Murdaugh family in South Carolina in 2019.
Mallory Beach was 19, when she died during an allegedly booze-fueled boating trip on the South Carolina coast in the Murdaugh family's boat on Feb. 23, 2019.
Paul Murdaugh, son of disgraced lawyer Alex Murdaugh, was driving the boat before it crashed into a bridge near Parris Island, tossing several passengers overboard.
MURDAUGH BOAT CRASH VICTIM MALLORY BEACH'S FAMILY SEEKS ‘ACCOUNTABILITY’ IN SUMMER TRIAL
Mallory Beach's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Murdaugh family in 2019 after she died aboard their boat. (Facebook/ Mallory Beach)
Beach's body was found nearly five miles from the crash site eight days later.
Paul allegedly used a credit card belonging to his mother, Maggie Murdaugh, and an ID belonging to his older brother, Buster Murdaugh, to purchase alcohol illegally while underage from a convenience store owned by Parker’s Corporation earlier that day.
Beach family attorney Tabor Vaux confirmed to Fox News Digital that Parker’s settled with the family for $15 million in a wrongful death lawsuit.
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Relatives of Mallory Beach arrive for Alex Murdaugh’s sentencing at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, on Friday, March 3, 2023. Alex Murdaugh was found guilty on all counts of killing his wife and son. (Larry Paci for Fox News Digital )
Vaux also said additional occupants on the boat settled their claims against Parker’s, including Conor Cook, Anthony Cook, Miley Altman and Morgan Dowdy.
"It wasn't about the money, but that's a number that represents a level of accountability that they hope would make people who sell alcohol take their responsibility seriously and keep it out of the hands of minors," attorney Mark Tinsley, who also represents the Beach family, said. "The Beach family didn't want this settlement confidential because they want other ‘Greg Parker’s' to know, that if you sell alcohol illegally, you will be held accountable."
The wrongful death lawsuit trial originally scheduled for Aug. 14, has been canceled.
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In January, the Beach family reached a settlement with Buster Murdaugh and the estate of Alex Murdaugh's deceased wife, Maggie Murdaugh. In a sensational trial, Alex Murdaugh was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for murdering his wife Maggie, 52, and son Paul, 22, in June 2021.
"The Beach family’s fight is not over," Vaux told Fox News Digital. "The [civil] conspiracy case is alive and active and we look forward to exposing the corruption and the depths to which Parker's was willing to harass and intimidate the Beaches, trying to diminish their resolve to hold those accountable who contributed to the preventable death of their daughter."
PK Shere, an attorney for Parker's, said it is "disappointing that the contents of settlement discussions have been disclosed today counter to the mediation agreement that was signed by all who participated."
"The fact remains that [Parker's store employee] Tajeeha Cohen made a legal and valid sale, as was determined by SLED," Shere told Fox News Digital. "This case was never about that legal and valid sale nor was it about the repeated bad decisions that these young adults made that night. For Mark Tinsley, it was all about using the Murdaughs’ bad actions and the unfair law of joint and several liability in South Carolina to make Parker’s pay for a verdict intended to punish the Murdaughs."
Shere spoke out against a court's decision to tether Parker's and Alex Murdaugh at the scheduled trial, saying it "all but ensured Parker’s would not receive a fair trial."
"The application of the joint and several liability law in South Carolina meant that, if Parker’s was found even 1% at fault, it would have paid for the entirety of any verdict rendered against the Murdaugh family," he continued. "The unfairness of that caused Parker’s insurance carriers to resolve these suits to avoid paying the likely award intended to punish Alex Murdaugh. This marks the conclusion of all the boat crash cases. We sincerely hope that all involved parties will find some measure of closure."
