Murdaugh Murders Podcast - MMP Remastered #7 - Who Killed Mallory Beach? Part Three

Episode Date: October 13, 2025

Investigative journalist Mandy Matney looks back at the Murdaugh family's involvement in the 2019 boat crash on Archers Creek near Parris Island that killed Mallory Beach and the subsequent investig...ation. She shares the challenges she faced while investigating the Mallory Beach case, expresses suspicion over missing evidence, and emphasizes the importance of persistence and listening to sources in investigative reporting. On this episode, we dive into dash cam videos and depositions, that suggest a potential cover-up by law enforcement and the Murdaugh family. Paul Murdaugh's blood test revealed he was 3.5 times over the legal limit. Anthony Cook, a passenger, identified Paul as the driver, but this was not reflected in official reports. The Beaufort County Sheriff's Office and SC DNR's initial handling of the case is criticized for bias. Matney also mentions ongoing legal actions and the impact of the Murdaugh family's influence on the criminal justice system.Lots to cover, so let's dive in... 🥽🦈 Stay Tuned, Stay Pesky and Stay in the Sunlight...☀️ On October 15th, LUNASHARK Premium Members are also getting access to a wealth of additional content matched to each Hulu series episode… We’re calling it LUNA VISION! Soak up The Sun Members get to explore the case documents, new case videos, ad-free video episodes, invitations to live events and so much more.  Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠lunashark.supercast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ to learn more.  Premium Members also get bonus episodes like our Premium Dives, Corruption Watchlist, Girl Talk, and Soundbites that help you Stay Pesky and Stay in the Sunlight. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠lunashark.supercast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Here's a link to some of our favorite things: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.to/4cJ0eVn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ *** ALERT: If you ever notice audio errors in the pod, email ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠info@lunasharkmedia.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and we'll send fun merch to the first listener that finds something that needs to be adjusted! *** For current & accurate updates: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠lunashark.supercast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram.com/mandy_matney⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   |   ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram.com/elizfarrell⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠bsky.app/profile/mandy-matney.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠bsky.app/profile/elizfarrell.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TrueSunlight.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠facebook.com/TrueSunlightPodcast/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram.com/TrueSunlightPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/@LunaSharkMedia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tiktok.com/@lunasharkmedia Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 In July 2021, when this episode first aired, I had been reporting on the boat crash for over two years. I had enough sources and evidence at that point to build a pretty much complete picture of the events that occurred on that terrible evening in February 2019 that Mallory Beach lost her life. I knew what to look for, and I knew enough to know when something was shady. Like when the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources released hundreds of files related to the boat crash investigation and chose not to include a particularly important one-hour Buford County Sheriff's Office dash cam video showing Mallory Beach's boyfriend distraught immediately after the boat crash and clearly identifying Paul Murdoch as the driver. It was shady that DNR left that out, which made me want that video more. So I filed a FOIA request with the source, the Beaufort County Sheriff's office, and it ended up working. This episode is a good lesson and going the extra mile and listening to sources when they tell you that there is more to the story while doing investigative journalism. Here is episode 7 of MMP, Who Killed Mallory Beach, Part 3.
Starting point is 00:01:22 I believe I know who killed Mallory Beach. And now that more evidence has come to light, I'm troubled by what we know happened during the investigation of her death. My name is Mandy Matney, and I've been investigating the Murdoch family for more than two years now. This is the Murdoch Murdoch murders podcast. So before we start this episode, I want to give a quick shout out to all of the low country locals who have supported us with this podcast. We've been fortunate to receive feedback from people literally all over the world, but the support we have from our own backyard means the most of us.
Starting point is 00:02:12 From the very beginning, we've been sponsored by a local law firm, the band and law group, and so many businesses have helped us with little things along the way. If you've noticed, our theme song got a little facelift this week, thanks to our new friends at a local business called October Genius Music. We've also been featured in the Celebrate Hilton Head September issue, also known as CH2 Magazine, so be sure to check that out. When I first started reporting on the story in 2019, I was working for a soulless corporate news organization for employers that didn't care about me, this story, or any of my sources.
Starting point is 00:02:51 Thank you to every single person who subscribes and believes in our mission. investigative journalism is not dead, and I believe our company is the future of news. In the two months since Paul Murdoch and his mother Maggie Murdoch were murdered on their hunting property, about 60 miles west of Charleston, South Carolina, we've learned a whole lot about the 2019 boat crash that killed Mallory Beach. For a recap, when Paul Murdoch was murdered, he stood accused. of three felony boating under the influence charges in the boat crash. On February 24, 2019, he allegedly crashed a 17-foot center-consul fishing boat into a piling just outside of Parris Island, South Carolina.
Starting point is 00:03:38 While the criminal investigation of Paul Murdoch ended with his death, authorities are now looking into obstruction of justice allegations involving his powerful family members, according to sources, and attorneys representing boat crash victims. In the weeks since Paul's murder, officials and attorneys have released a mound of information in the case. That information has been released for two reasons. One, because the criminal investigation is over and two, because one of the passengers on the boat, Connor Cook, recently filed a bombshell petition alleging that law enforcement officers conspired against him before Paul Murdoch was charged. And in the last few
Starting point is 00:04:15 weeks, we've learned so much. We've read hundreds of pages of depositions from officers who responded to the scene. We've watched hours of dash cam footage. from the scene and listen to horrific audio. We've read shocking affidavits from hospital staff members who watched Alec Murdoch and his father, who was a solicitor for decades, moved from room to room and allegedly orchestrating a plan.
Starting point is 00:04:39 And we've read heartbreaking statements from the survivors on the boat who witnessed Mallory Beach's last few moments. But this week, the Beaver County Sheriff's Office released more than an hour of video, a huge missing piece in this puzzle. The recently released dash cam videos raised questions about the alleged conspiracy between the Murdoch family and their law enforcement
Starting point is 00:04:58 connections. The videos released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request further confirm what attorneys have previously alleged in depositions that Mallory Beach's boyfriend Anthony Cook, who was also Connor Cook's cousin, was very clear with officers who was driving the boat. The audio from the dash cam is gut wrenching. underneath the bridge is still in the vote? The most severe of the injured is on the boat underneath the bridge off the walk down to him. Here, Anthony Cook is sobbing as he speaks to Stephen Domino, a Beaufort County Sheriff's Deputy. He's in disbelief that his girlfriend is gone, and he's hesitant to get in the backseat of a cop car when he's instructed.
Starting point is 00:05:43 Domino reassured Anthony that he's not in trouble, but he wants him to calm down. Sit right here. I'm not closing the door. I'm going to get you a cigarette. Sit right there. Sit right here. out here you're you're my concern okay no you're not listen listen Pete I'm here for you all right we're we're chilling I understand you upset I ain't about to sit here and tell you to calm down okay but I'm gonna get you a cigarette okay I'm 14 that fire they can bring their their their thermal man. My mom works for me. Okay, listen, my mom
Starting point is 00:06:27 always said. I told you you're not in trouble. I need to call her. I need to call her. So that's Anthony saying that his mother works for the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. This is interesting that he feels the need to say that in that moment. So on the phone, Anthony tells his mother what happened. Mom, y'all need to come to me for quick.
Starting point is 00:06:50 with them we hit a bridge in the boat Conner's fucked up Conner's messed up bad We can't find Mallory
Starting point is 00:07:05 Morgan's messed up bad We can't find Mallet Where we are we at? We're at Paras Island bridge. No, it's just telling you come to interest to Paris Island. Interest to Paris Island.
Starting point is 00:07:27 Interest to Paris out. Interest to Paris out. Yeah. Yeah. Tell me. I don't know, Mom. There's 50 cops out here. Everybody's shit up.
Starting point is 00:07:46 I said there's 50 cops out here. and one of the cops is nice enough to let me call you. Mom, there's 50 cops here, Coast Guard, everything. We can't find Mallory. It's been 30 minutes, Mom. You probably need to call Mr. May here, Mr. Phillips. He's telling his mom to call Mallory's parents and tell them the news.
Starting point is 00:08:21 So here, Domino takes the phone and speaks to Anthony's mother. Your son's not in trouble or anything right now. Like I said, he's very asking to have the right to be in the shop right now. Oh, he's sitting on this dog. He probably knew he'd end up eventually coming down this way. You don't have a problem with that.
Starting point is 00:08:39 He probably on with the ride. He told me you're in law enforcement? Okay. All right, yes, man. Ward here. Like I said, I'll say, not. let you come see your sons and do you get here i got them pretty much as calm as i can get them um you know i totally understand so me and him work i'll be hanging out within the entire time okay
Starting point is 00:09:03 just just just google paris island yeah just just google parasiland the main interest gate yes we're around the main roads one way in one way out you will not miss us all right just google baris island yeah the marine corps base one that's there we're So while Domino was on the phone with Anthony's mother, Paul Murdoch apparently walked past Domino's car, according to the dash cam recordings. We're on the main road, you want to mess up. You get that motherfucker right there away from me. All right. Yes, man, we'll be here.
Starting point is 00:09:41 All right. You're talking about that one with no shirt on? Hey, do not. I don't want you getting a new shirt on. You hear me? Listen me. We get no trouble. You do what I said?
Starting point is 00:09:54 All right. I was on the way. I told him, Hey, get him. Let me try. Let's see. Calm up. I'm hanging with you.
Starting point is 00:10:05 It's okay. That motherfucker ain't what's the fucking crit. You're not in trouble. What we're getting on, man. He ain't going to get no fucking trouble. Oh, yes. You're fucking smiling like you're fucking funny.
Starting point is 00:10:18 fucking funny my fucking girlfriend go on boat you think it's fucking funny sit down sit down sit down oh these right fucking hell sit down sit down it's the like put him in the far the one with the towel go ahead where's your cigarette where's your cigarette you need another one here here i ain't got a lot now don't always come here go ahead go ahead go here broke the cigarette and i got you he's going on Don't even look at the clock. We're going to put him in the cold. All right.
Starting point is 00:10:59 On another Beaufort County dash cam video, you can hear officers speaking to Paul Murdoch, and they are not at all treating him like a suspect. After y'all hit the bridge, did y'all beach the boat up there on the side of the thing, or did it end up? That's where it ended up. Okay. Y'all think y'all hit one of the markers that, In the beginning of it? Sure.
Starting point is 00:11:20 Okay. Can I use your phone? Can I use your phone? Hey, I can't get my phone on me, brother. You got your phone on you? No, you drop yours on the grass right back there. No. Okay.
Starting point is 00:11:32 Hey, you've been checked out? My name, ma'am. Oh. Hey, buddy. You go check on my name anymore? Yeah, I'm fine. Sure? Maybe you should check down, right?
Starting point is 00:11:40 Yeah, I'm fine. Yeah. What's your last name, buddy? Right off. N-U. R-D-U-G-H. U-D-H POMB-A-U-L
Starting point is 00:11:54 Very fine, man, at least, hey They're looking right now for, they're down right, okay Yeah I'll go and wait They're in fine, you okay They're down there looking right now, okay You know they got it That's good surgery, right?
Starting point is 00:12:12 Yeah, they got a good team down there looking for, okay? Can I use your phone? I don't have my phone. phone on me, buddy. Here. Hey. Here, stay right here. I'm going to go get that one.
Starting point is 00:12:22 You dropped on the ground back there, all right? Yes, sir. You got it already? Yeah. Okay. So there was six total people in the boat. Okay. They hit, I think, one of the burden pile and where you see the boat is where it ended up.
Starting point is 00:12:37 Okay. One, the young lady has got ejected, but she still has not been found. Tide's going out, and we tried walking down the marsh all the way. So the way, they're going to find her. But the young lady down there, they're most of the people that we have, the five of the people we have. So we got five,
Starting point is 00:12:55 a big total, five of them. Yeah, okay. It's going out. And they were running this way when they hit the bridge, so she probably got ejected in the current carrier, carried her down that way.
Starting point is 00:13:06 So while sitting in the back of Domino's police car, Anthony Cook told Domino what happened that night. He was in here. What about the driver of the boat, C-21? No. Is everybody on the bus been drinking?
Starting point is 00:13:18 Yeah. Especially the driver? How big to drive that fucking boat? But the driver, how much has he had to drink? Anthony then told Domino that most of the group wanted to go home after the oyster roast on Pocky Island around midnight. Dude, I can tell you this much, we left. I don't even know where the fuck we were. We left and stopped fucking downtown Buford.
Starting point is 00:13:42 And me and him about fall on the fucking dog because I told him. I'll go up there at a fucking bar that we need to be going home. Downtown? How are y'all drinking down there? Hell, I wasn't. I'll stay on the damn boat. But he was drinking actually at the bar? I reckon. I didn't go up there.
Starting point is 00:14:01 The group left downtown Beaufort around 117 a.m. on February 24, 2014, 2019. So y'all came from downtown through the creek, and that's when he was going way too fast. So seconds before the crash, GPS did. showed that the boat was traveling at around 29 miles per hour, which is very fast for a boat as it approached the narrow winding waterway of Archer's Creek. I don't even know. I finally got to the point I grabbed my girlfriend and put her in my lap in the bottom of the boat and was holding on my eyes closed. The next thing, I know I'm in the fucking water. I can't find it, man. Paul, Mallory, and Anthony were ejected into the water.
Starting point is 00:14:42 Connor Cook and Paul's girlfriend were severely injured and taken to the hospital. while Anthony, who dislocated his shoulder, stayed on scene. The Hulu original series Murdoch Death and the Family dives into secrets, deception, murder, and the fall of a powerful dynasty. Inspired by shocking actual events and drawing from the hit podcast, this series brings the drama to the screen like never before. Starring Academy Award winner Patricia Arquette and Jason Clark.
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Starting point is 00:15:31 if it doesn't move. Learn more at dynamic.ca slash active. Anthony Cook sensed that the Murdoch family influence would play a role in the investigation. Anthony, a Hampton County native, who grew up with Paul Murdoch knew of the Murdoch's power in the Low Country Criminal Justice System. The re-generations of Murdox all served as solicitors, which is South Carolina's version of a district attorney over a five-county region in the low country from 1920 to 2006.
Starting point is 00:16:06 This enabled the family to amass hundreds of political, prosecutorial, and law enforcement connections. You all know Helleck Murdoch? Oh, yeah, I know the name. That's his son. That's so driving the boat. Good luck. You matter who you know. Here, Domino rejected this assumption that good old boy politics would play a role in this investigation.
Starting point is 00:16:33 He said, well, it don't matter who you know to Anthony. Here, Domino asked Anthony one more time who was driving the boat. Thank you. The driver is the one with no clothes on, correct? Behanz. The one you were getting mad at back there, he had, he was in his drawers. The last one driving whenever I got down in the floor of the boat and had on boxers. Yes, sir.
Starting point is 00:17:00 Let me know if you didn't know a cigarette, I boat. This is my dude with the busted mouth thigh. He's got still got clothes on, correct? Yeah. All right, that's what, yeah, they're good. Everybody's good, physical-wise. good physical-wise. I was going to, okay, but I just wanted, we need to know exactly the driving, and that's,
Starting point is 00:17:19 you say I was the last one you saw, so that's what I told them, because his ass will be responsible, okay? Do you hear me? Don't worry about that. We're going to handle on that end, okay? All right. So several minutes after talking to Domino, Austin Pritcher, who was the first officer from the lead investigating agency, SCDNR, asked Anthony Cook who was driving the boat.
Starting point is 00:17:43 Hey, I'm with Department of Natural Resources. Who was driving the boat? The last time I grabbed my girlfriend and got down in the bottom of the boat. Paul was driving? Paul was driving? Yes. I begged and begged and begged and begged to let me drive. Uh-huh.
Starting point is 00:18:04 Where are we all coming from? Paul. Okay. And Paul was driving, not Connor? If Connor was driving, it happened after I had been flipping the fuck out and lay down the fire department of the DNR. They were both sitting on the front seat. You were laying in the front of the bottom, no, the back of the bottom of the boat. Before you hit?
Starting point is 00:18:28 Yes. Okay, and Paul and Connor were sitting on right behind the console? Yeah. I had done fought with both of them for 30 minutes about letting me drive and both of them thought it was fucking funny. Fun. Yeah. Okay. All right. Well, we're going to do everything we can find her, okay? I appreciate it. Yes. But Pritcher did not write this in his SCD and our report. Instead, he wrote that Anthony, quote, did not know, unquote, who was driving the boat. Pritcher wrote in his report that other officers who arrived on scene before he, him thought it was Connor Cook or Paul Murdoch driving the boat. Yet in all of the police
Starting point is 00:19:16 reports, there is no evidence of any witnesses on scene telling law enforcement that Connor was driving. On the other hand, Domino's Beaufort County Sheriff's Office report reflected exactly what Anthony Cook told him. Domino was the only deputy on scene who identified Paul Murdoch as the driver. Whereas Corporal Jack Keener, a deputy who had connected to him, to the Murdoch Law Firm offered a different assessment of the situation. At the time of the crash, the sheriff's office had said it was merely assisting SEDNR the lead agency in the investigation. Beaufort County deputies who arrived on scene before SEDNR laid the groundwork for the entire investigation,
Starting point is 00:20:03 and Keener wrote in his report that it was unclear who was driving the boat. But he admitted in his deposition that this assessment was his personal opinion and that no one else had said anything to him that would indicate Connor Cook may have been driving the boat. Specifically, when he was asked if anyone told him, if Connor Cook may have been driving the boat, Keener gave a strange answer about how he didn't think girls could handle driving the boat, and that's how he basically deduced it to either Paul or Connor. He said, I personally run this creek. I was born and raised here. It can get narrow and skinny at sometimes. And the tide was going out. I don't think any of the girls were driving the boat. I don't know what kind of experience they may have, but it has to be one of the three boys. Mrs. Beach's boyfriend was mad. He just said he wasn't driving the boat. And then he's mad at Paul Murdoch. Also, keep in mind that the Murdoch law firm previously represented Keener's family in a $2.5 million lawsuit. In Keener's dash cam video that was recently released, there is no indication that he ever questioned any of the other passengers about who was driving the boat. Keener's two driver theory was subsequently passed to SCDNR. Austin Pritcher, the SCDNR officer who was accused of manipulating his reports to favor Paul Murdoch, only offered Connor Cook a field sobriety test that night.
Starting point is 00:21:31 SCDNR never sought a warrant to compel the hospital to draw Paul's blood. that night, but the hospital did anyways because he was perceived as behaving so erratically, they were worried that he had a head injury. However, in the last few weeks, SEDNR has revealed that Paul Murdoch's blood at 4 a.m. on February 24, 2019, was about 3.5 times over the legal limit. But you have to think about it. If the hospital had not taken it upon themselves to obtain Paul's BAC, who knows of SEDNR would have had to have had to be. enough to file charges. Three weeks after the boat crash, the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office recused itself from the investigation due to its long-standing relationship with the Murdoch family. Still,
Starting point is 00:22:18 its involvement prior to this recusal clearly impacted the direction of this investigation. And because of the initial confusion in the investigation, it took two months for authorities to charge Paul Murdoch with three felony boating under the influence counts. And unlike the vast majority of felony BUI cases, Paul Murdoch never stepped foot in jail. At the time of his death, he was facing 25 years in prison for the charges. And I want to talk about those charges for a minute because it's another story, yet most of the media and the public is just not understanding. The Attorney General's office told a local newspaper last week that they were dropping charges against Paul Murdoch. That is not at all to say that they're clearing his name or that the charges wouldn't
Starting point is 00:23:03 have stuck had he been alive. They were dropping the charges simply because you can't have a trial for a dead person. While the investigation of Paul Murdoch ended with his death, authorities are now looking into obstruction of justice allegations involving his powerful family members, according to attorneys representing boat crash victims. Soon, a judge should decide on Connor Cook's which asks the court for permission to depose several law enforcement officers in connection with a potential lawsuit. According to the petition, the officers may have information of a collusion or a civil conspiracy to shift the blame of the boat accident away from Paul Murdoch by wrongfully shifting the focus to Connor Cook. In the explosive depositions attached to that petition, attorney's questions suggest that several pieces of evidence appear to be missing, including Paul's phone, which was picked up by another officer on scene, which you heard in the audio earlier.
Starting point is 00:24:09 Also, DNA swabs from the boat and photographs of DNA processing, which could have proven where Connor was positioned in the boat at the time of the crash, considering a pool of his blood was on the right side of the boat. And an audio recording of Anthony Cook telling Michael Brock that Paul Murdoch killed Mallory Beach. Michael Brock has a long list of personal ties to the Murdoch family, yet he was named as a lead investigator in the case. Brock spoke with Anthony Cook on scene on February 24, 2019, later that day. He said that Paul Murdoch killed his girlfriend, according to a Paris Island military police officers sworn affidavit. But Brock didn't write that in his report. Instead, Brock wrote that Anthony flipped out and was yelling at Paul, failing to note,
Starting point is 00:24:59 why he was angry at Paul Murdoch in the aftermath of Mallory Beach's disappearance. In Mallory Beach, the beloved, bubbly 19-year-old who lit up every room she walked into unfortunately gets lost in the chaos of this story. Anthony
Starting point is 00:25:15 refused to leave Archer's Creek Bridge on the day she went missing. Is anybody in the water to look up for? Yes, we got tomorrow, we got DNR, fire departments got their boats in the water. Coach Guard is on the way with the chopper
Starting point is 00:25:30 and Dianard's in route Alright She's in the bottom of a roof They're gonna have a dive team We got a bunch of resources Regardless Like I told you Regardless the outcome
Starting point is 00:25:45 We will find this All right But you just got to keep faith That she's somewhere on the bank For You see what I'm saying Beach's body was found a week later by two men in a boat about five miles from the crash site. Beaufort County coroner Ed Allen determined that she died of blunt force trauma and drowning.
Starting point is 00:26:08 The three officers who are accused of falsifying their reports, Michael Brock, Jack Keener, and Austin Pritcher still work in law enforcement. Domino, the officer who showed kindness and compassion to Anthony and identified Paul Murdoch as the driver of the boat in his report, was fired from the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office for a alleged drug use in July 2020. However, he was never charged. So a few days after we said we were going to be taking a break, the Beaver County Sheriff's Office suddenly filled our freedom of information act request and gave us hours of audio, which is what you heard in this episode.
Starting point is 00:26:46 We didn't get much of a break, and we still need it. My wonderful fiance, David Moses, has a busy couple months ahead of him as he is spearheading the Savannah Seafood and Spirits Festival at the end of August and the Polo for Heroes event and bluffed in this October. So check both of those events out at seafood and spirits.com and polo, the number four, heroes.com. Those events and others help us support organizations making the world a better place. They assist with children that have nowhere to go, victims of violence, wounded military, first responders, and much, much more. Check out the links in the descriptions, and we hope to see you there. Thank you, David.
Starting point is 00:27:28 So while David is busy, I have a lot of reporting, digging, and FOIA requesting to do on this case. I need some time for that. But again, as we plan, if anything made your breaks, we will be back, and we can promise you that. Be sure to subscribe to the Murdoch Murders podcast. In the meantime, so you don't miss an episode. And follow me on Twitter at Mandy Matney or on Instagram at Mandy underscore In underscore Hiltonhead for updates on the latest episodes. And in the meantime, to support this podcast, visit Murdochmurterspodcast.com.
Starting point is 00:28:04 And thank you all for all of the support we've had over these last few crazy weeks. Thank you to everyone who gave us a five-star review. Thank you to everyone who shared this podcast on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, all of it. We so appreciate you. And thank you. We will be back soon. So stay tuned. The Mardock Murder's podcast is created by me, Mandy Matney, and my fiance, David Moses.
Starting point is 00:28:31 Produced by Luna Shark Productions. I remember feeling utterly defeated and exhausted at the end of this episode. Our original goal was to create 10 total episodes of the Murdoch Murders podcast. But by the time we published episode 7, I was mentally and physically exhausted and I could barely think straight. I was maintaining a full-time job, learning how to create a true crime podcast in real time, dealing with online harassment in a real way for the first time in my life, and it all just seemed impossible. It was so cute that I thought that I was going to be able to take at least a week off of the podcast so I could get to 10 episodes and just be done.
Starting point is 00:29:24 But old Ehrlich Murdoch had different plans in store for us. Just a few days after this episode was published, this story took a bizarre twist that took the world by storm.

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