At the time of his death, he was facing 25 years in prison for the charges.
Unlike the vast majority of felony BUI cases, Paul Murdaugh never set foot in a jail cell.
Thanks to initial confusion in the investigation, it took two months for authorities to charge Paul with three felony counts of boating under the influence. Pritcher wrote in his report that other officers who arrived on scene “thought it was Connor Cook or Paul Murdaugh” driving the boat - yet in all of the police reports, there is no evidence of any witnesses on scene telling law enforcement that Connor was driving. Instead, he wrote that Anthony “did not know” who was driving the boat. Pritcher did not write that in his SCDNR report, however. “And Paul was driving, not Connor?” Pritcher asked again.Īnthony then explained to Pritcher that Connor and Paul were sitting at the center console, and Paul was at the wheel the last he saw before they crashed. Pritcher then asked Anthony where they were coming from, and Anthony said they were at Paukie Island earlier before heading home. “(When) I grabbed my girlfriend and got down to the bottom of the boat, Paul was driving,” Anthony said. “Who was driving the boat?” Pritcher asked. Particularly, Anthony Cook told Austin Pritcher - one of the SCDNR officers accused of manipulating his reports to favor Paul Murdaugh - that Paul was driving moments before the craft crashed into a piling. The videos, released in response to a FITSNews Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, further confirm what attorneys have previously alleged in depositions - that Mallory Beach’s boyfriend Anthony Cook (who is also Connor’s cousin) was very clear with officers about who was driving the boat.
#Little man in the boat pictures full
The recently released dashcam videos from the Beaufort sheriff’s office provide another piece of the puzzle that help paint a full picture of the investigation - and raise questions about the alleged conspiracy between the Murdaugh family and their law enforcement connections. GET SOUTH CAROLINA’S LATEST NEWS IN YOUR INBOX … Two weeks ago, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources ( SCDNR) released hundreds of documents related to the 2019 boat crash investigation. While the criminal investigation of Paul Murdaugh ended with his death, authorities are now looking into obstruction of justice allegations involving his powerful family members, according to FITSNews sources and attorneys representing crash victims. On February 24, 2019, Paul Murdaugh allegedly crashed a 17-foot center console fishing boat owned by his father, Alex Murdaugh, into a piling just outside of Parris Island, South Carolina. The video files were released four weeks after attorneys representing Connor Cook - who sustained a broken jaw in the crash - dropped a bombshell petition alleging that law enforcement conspired to shift the focus of the investigation away from Murdaugh before he was charged.
Eight weeks after Paul Murdaugh was found murdered on his family’s 1,700-acre hunting property, the Beaufort County sheriff’s office released more than an hour of audio and video footage from the fatal boat crash scene on February 24, 2019.Īt the time of his death, Paul Murdaugh was facing three felony boating under the influence charges in connection with that crash that killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach.