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Alex Murdaugh, the South Carolina lawyer accused of attempting to stage his own death in a life insurance scam, faces a new trial alleging he orchestrated a “whisper campaign” to deflect the blame of a fatal 2019 boat crash from her son and put it on another passenger.
That passenger, Connor Cook, 21, said in the complaint filed Monday that Murdaugh and others were “campaigning” to be held “criminally and civilly responsible for the boat accident, through an inadequate investigation, “a” campaign of whispers in the Hampton County Community, misdirection by law enforcement and possible obstruction of the investigation. “
Cook is seeking a jury trial and compensation not specified in the lawsuit for “serious injuries and damages for which he sought medical treatment and continues to suffer today.”
Murdaugh, 53, has been in the spotlight after the unresolved fatal shooting in June of his wife, Margaret, 52, and their youngest son, Paul, 22.
At the time of the murders, Paul Murdaugh was on trial for the February 2019 boat accident.
Six young people, including Cook and Paul Murdaugh, were on a boat owned by Alex Murdaugh when it hit a stake under a bridge near Parris Island in Beaufort County at 2:20 a.m. Paul Murdaugh is said to have driven, according to the police. cases, although there was initially some confusion as to who could be at the stand.
One of the passengers – Mallory Beach, 19 – was reportedly seated on her boyfriend’s lap when she was thrown from the boat under impact.
A police report said the passengers, not all of whom were of legal drinking age, were “grossly intoxicated”. The Beach family have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Murdaughs and the convenience store chain that allegedly sold alcohol.
Local reports after the boat accident indicated that the Murdaugh family did not initially cooperate with the law enforcement investigation and that officers never took Paul Murdaugh for a blood alcohol test, according to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, which conducted the investigation.
Paul Murdaugh had pleaded not guilty to three counts of navigation under the influence. At the time, he was on bail for a personal commitment of $ 50,000.
State prosecutors last month officially dropped all charges against Paul Murdaugh over a matter of protocol. The wrongful death trial is still ongoing.
Cook’s lawsuit also names Murdaugh’s other son, Richard Alexander “Buster” Murdaugh Jr., as well as the convenience store’s gas station and clerk accused of selling alcohol to the group.
According to Cook, who was 19 at the time of the crash, Paul Murdaugh was able to purchase around $ 50 worth of alcohol using Buster Murdaugh’s driver’s license and a family credit card.
Cook’s body struck the frame of the boat and he lost consciousness, later waking up with a “severe cut to his face and multiple fractures to his jaw,” according to the suit.
Cook said Murdaugh “encouraged and instructed” him to retain the services of a certain lawyer in the event of a criminal investigation, but that lawyer never disclosed his relationship as Murdaugh’s “best friend” and ” godfather “of Paul. Such a conflict, according to the prosecution, “served to convert the involuntary plaintiff into a protection officer for Paul Murdaugh, exposing the plaintiff Cook to the potential of being charged as a boat operator and therefore responsible for the accident.” .
“Only the plaintiff Connor Cook was invited by the police to undergo field sobriety tests,” said the trial.
A spokesperson for the Murdaugh family did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday about the lawsuit. A member of Murdaugh’s legal team, Jim Griffin, declined to comment pending a review of the case and said their goal “is to support his recovery.”
Last week, Alex Murdaugh surrendered to authorities after his lawyers said he tried to “get executed” so his son Buster could collect a $ 10 million life insurance policy. Murdaugh, whose bail was set at $ 20,000, was charged with insurance fraud, conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and filing a false police report. He did not plead and was allowed to return to a drug rehab center for his opioid addiction.
His lawyers said he was not involved in the deaths of his wife and son.
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