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

Lawsuits brought by four other passengers on the boat, allegedly piloted by an intoxicated 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 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 approved by a state circuit court judge, Tinsley said. That should happen this week, he said.

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, P.K. 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 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.

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.

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.

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