Beach family settles wrongful death lawsuit against store operator, Alex Murdaugh for $15M

The highly publicized lawsuit brought by Mallory Beach’s family in her 2019 boat crash death against a Lowcountry convenience store operator and former lawyer Alex Murdaugh was settled Sunday for $15 million, lawyers connected with the case said.

Lawsuits brought by four other passengers on the boat, allegedly piloted by an intoxicated and underage Paul Murdaugh, were also settled Sunday after an hours-long session at a law office on Daniel Island, lawyers said.

The settlement of the Beach family wrongful death lawsuit means that a much-anticipated civil trial in her case scheduled to begin Aug. 14 against store operator Greg Parker and Alex Murdaugh will not be held.

The trial would have pitted the Beach family and the loss of their daughter against well-to-do Parker and his successful chain of convenience stories and his co-defendant, convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh. A clerk at one of Parker’s stores was alleged to have unlawfully sold Paul Murdaugh alcohol the night of the crash. Alex Murdaugh was alleged to have known about and encouraged the drinking of his underage son.

The trial was expected to attract national news coverage, including daily broadcasts by Court TV.

Under the settlement, Parker and his insurance carriers will pay $15 million to the Beach family, said Beach family attorney Mark Tinsley of Allendale.

As part of the settlement, Parker will admit no fault, said Tinsley.

“They don’t admit it, but there is $15 million worth of admissions in it,” Tinsley said.

The settlement has been reduced to writing, but it still must be approved by a state circuit court judge, Tinsley said. That should happen this week, he said.

Late Sunday night, P.K. Shere, the lead lawyer for Parker, criticized Tinsley for making the settlement public before it had been approved by a judge.

“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,” Shere said in a text to The State newspaper.

Being a co-defendant with the notorious Murdaugh meant it would have been difficult to get a fair trial for Parker, Shere said.

“Given the outsized publicity this case has received, being tethered to a convicted murderer all but ensured Parker would not receive a fair trial,” Shere wrote.

Columbia attorney Joe McCulloch, who represents Connor Cook, a passenger in the boat who was severely injured in the crash, has settled with Parker and his insurance carriers for $1 million, McCulloch said Sunday.

Cook’s jaw was broken in multiple places and his face was badly cut, McCulloch said.

Sunday’s agreement came two days after Tinsley persuaded a judge to nix two crucial motions by Parker’s lawyers that were

aimed at avoiding a big money verdict in the wrongful death trial.

In a Friday hearing at the Hampton County courthouse, Judge Daniel Hall ruled against Parker’s efforts to move the case out of Hampton County and to try Parker alone rather than with Alex Murdaugh, the convicted murderer of his wife and son, as co-defendant.

Parker’s lawyer, Shere, had unsuccessfully tried to convince the judge that for Parker to be tried with one of South Carolina’s most notorious criminals would prejudice a jury against Parker.

The death of Beach, 19, in February 2019, after a crash in Archer’s Creek near Beaufort, led to revelations about Alex Murdaugh’s numerous financial crimes. In Murdaugh’s murder trial, prosecutors also argued the financial revelations led Murdaugh to murder his wife, Maggie, and son Paul.

After Beach’s death, Tinsley filed suit on behalf of her estate seeking damages from Parker and others alleged to have unlawfully provided alcohol to Paul Murdaugh, who was 19 and not allowed to purchase alcohol when Beach died.

On the night of the crash, Paul Murdaugh had used a driver’s license belonging to his older brother, Buster, who is more than 40 pounds heavier and six inches taller than Paul, Tinsley’s lawsuit said. The lawsuit contended that Parker’s clerk should have detected the discrepancy and refused to sell alcohol to Paul. Parker alleged the clerk exercised due diligence and did nothing wrong.

For years, Tinsley pressed Alex Murdaugh to reveal details of his financial situation. When those details were finally released, they revealed that not only had Murdaugh stolen millions from his law firm and clients over the years, but Murdaugh was millions of dollars in debt.

In his Sunday night statement, Shere referred to Judge Hall’s ruling and the sale of alcohol at one of Parker’s convenience stores to Paul Murdaugh on the evening of the fatal boat crash.

“Recently the court ruled that Parker’s (case) would be tethered to Alex Murdaugh at the upcoming trial. The fact remains that (store clerk) Tajeeha Cohen made a legal and valid sale, as was determined by SLED (the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division).

“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 (law) in South Carolina to make Parker pay for a verdict intended to punish the Murdaughs.”

That law, Shere wrote, would have required Parker to pay the entire amount of any damages awarded the Beach family, even “if (Parker) was found ... one percent at fault.” (Murdaugh, who is serving two consecutive life sentences in prison, is believed to have few, if any, assets with which to pay damages.)

“The unfairness of that caused Parker’s insurance carriers to resolve these suits to avoid paying the likely award intended to punish Alex Murdaugh,” Shere wrote.

“This marks the conclusion of all the boat crash cases. We sincerely hope that all involved parties will find some measure of closure,” Shere wrote.

Other defendants involved in the lawsuit have previously settled. Alex Murdaugh was a defendant because, Tinsley alleged, he encouraged and abetted drinking by his underage son and should have known it was dangerous to let Paul use the family boat.

Settlements involving three other passengers in the boat — Miley Altman, Anthony Cook and Morgan Doughty — were not revealed Sunday. All three had brought separate lawsuits against Parker.

Claims against Alex Murdaugh will be settled as well, with a court dividing up what is left of Murdaugh’s assets, Tinsley said.

The settlement means that the families of the people involved in the crash will not have to endure grueling trials, McCulloch said. “That’s the best part of settling — people can resolve the thing and find an end.”

A separate civil lawsuit alleging a conspiracy by Greg Parker and associates to damage the Beach family is still proceeding, Tinsley said.

This story was originally published July 17, 2023 at 5:00 AM.