Convenience store denies liability in Paul Murdaugh’s 2019 fatal boat crash
Lawyers for a South Carolina convenience store chain argued this week that it should not be held liable for Paul Murdaugh’s booze-fueled 2019 boat crash that took the life of a 19-year-old woman.
The Parker’s Corporation – which operates the convenience store where Murdaugh was seen purchasing alcohol underage before the collision – was represented on Wednesday at a hearing in the wrongful death suit filed on behalf of the family of Mallory Beach, who was killed in the Feb. 24 accident.
Attorneys for Parker’s argued that Paul, then 19, “defrauded” the store when he purchased the drinks with a valid South Carolina Driver’s License, WIS said.
The lawyers also pointed out that the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) did not charge the store with selling alcohol to a minor.
“Tragic events occur, and they are most unfortunate,” attorneys for Parker’s wrote in the court filing.
“But we must never turn away from the truth. The truth is that Parker’s was not negligent because there is no evidence to support the position that Parker’s knowingly sold alcohol to a minor.”
Paul, then 19, was caught on surveillance footage purchasing alcohol from a Parker’s location with his older brother Buster’s ID just hours before he drunkenly crashed his motor boat into a piling of the Archers Creek Bridge, WCSC reported.
All of the passengers were ejected from the vessel – but only Beach failed to return to shore. Her body was found seven days later.
The Parker’s legal team also argued that Beach and the other passengers on Paul’s boat assumed certain risks when they knowingly boarded the vessel after a night of heavy drinking.
“The undisputed facts show that the plaintiff must have knowledge of the facts constituting a dangerous condition, that dangerous condition being getting on a boat with no lights, no life jacket, on a cold, foggy night with someone who you know has had a history of drinking in excess and making a decision are you going to get on that boat or night?” lead attorney P.K. Shere said.
Representatives for Beach’s family, however, argued that the underage passengers did not have the ability to make informed decisions and could not assume the risks.
Judge Daniel Hall will rule on whether or not to dismiss the suit against Parker’s sometime before May 26 as the case prepares for a jury trial, WIS said.
The proceedings over Beach’s death are the latest in the ongoing saga of the Murdaugh family, the Low Country legal dynasty that has dominated national headlines for almost two years.
Paul Murdaugh and his mother, Maggie, were executed at the family’s Moselle hunting lodge in June 2021. His father, Alex Murdaugh, was convicted of their murders earlier this year.
Alex, 54, is also named as a defendant in the Beach wrongful death suit.
At the time of his death, Paul was facing three felony counts related to the accident. Alex Murdaugh also testified in court that his son received several death threats in the wake of the Beach’s death.
Beach’s father, Phillip, was present in Colleton County court when the disgraced attorney was sentenced to two consecutive life terms for killing his wife and son.
While he declined to speak to Alex’s brother after the proceedings, he did tell a local outlet that “justice has been served.”
