Convenience store chain, Murdaugh sued after boat crash
By Thad Moore
The Post And Courier
Several lawsuits stemming from the fatal boat crash that set in motion the downfall of the once-powerful Murdaugh family were settled July 16, ending a yearslong battle over who was responsible when a group of teenagers’ night of partying met a tragic end.
The crash, which killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach, first made Murdaugh a household name in South Carolina and began to pull back the curtain on the family’s power. The lawsuits centered on how Paul Murdaugh — the younger son of the now-notorious ex-attorney Alex Murdaugh — got access to beer and liquor and how his parents allegedly enabled him, giving him access to a boat on a cold night despite a history of drinking.
The Beach family’s attorney, Mark Tinsley, said Parker’s Kitchen, the convenience store chain that sold Paul Murdaugh alcohol, had agreed to pay $15 million to settle their wrongful death case, an agreement that will need to be approved by a state judge before it is finalized. Parker’s confirmed that it also had settled with the boat’s other passengers, who were injured when Paul Murdaugh allegedly drove his family’s boat into a bridge piling in Beaufort County.
The terms of the other passengers’ settlements, reached after a day of weekend negotiations in Charleston, were not disclosed, though The Wall Street Journal reported they totaled $3.5 million.
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