Greg Parker is asking Judge Daniel Hall, to once again, to sever Parker’s Kitchen from the Murdaugh defendants and move the trial location in the wrongful death suit filed by Renee Beach.
In a motion filed in Hampton County on July 7, Parker’s attorneys offered a two-part argument, saying in part that the Murdaughs have too much notoriety due to Alex Murdaugh’s double homicide conviction and alleged financial crimes and that Parker deserves to have his civil trial heard without the weight of Murdaugh as a codefendant.
Parker and Murdaugh were among seven defendants named in a civil wrongful death suit filed by Renee Beach after her 19-year-old daughter, Mallory, was killed after a boat crash in February 2019. Murdaugh’s youngest son, Paul, was alleged to have been driving the boat while intoxicated before it struck a pylon on Archer’s Creek outside Parris Island, South Carolina.
Beach, who is represented by Mark Tinsley, filed the wrongful death suit later that year.
As the case has slowly worked its way through the court system, two of the original defendants — Paul Murdaugh and Randolph Murdaugh III — have died. Paul Murdaugh was murdered by his father on June 7, 2021. Randolph Murdaugh III died just three days later. Paul’s older brother, Buster Murdaugh, was accused of giving Paul his ID to allegedly purchase alcohol and was removed from the case in early 2023 after he settled out of court.
This is not the first time Parker has asked the court to sever him from the Murdaughs for the wrongful death trial. In August 2022, the judge granted the original motion to sever, writing in part that “if there was ever a case in which a Court may exercise its sound discretion to order separate trials to prevent delays or prejudice,” in an order dated Sept. 13, 2022.
Tinsley fired back in a 21-page motion asking the judge to reconsider the severance, and the judge reversed his decision on Sept. 27, 2022.
Ultimately, the wrongful death trial did not begin in January and is now slated to begin on Aug. 14 in Hampton County.
Severance is not Parker’s only goal in his latest motion. He is also asking for a change of venue because “the media hurricane around the Murdaughs had not reached full strength when this Court last considered venue, and the storm is unlikely to pass anytime soon. Transferring venue out of Hampton County—and out of the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit entirely—would mitigate the damage to Parker’s fair trial rights.”
Parker also included two signed affidavits with the change of venue motion. Those come from Angela Brown and Gerald Brant, both of whom identify as Hampton County residents and who swear in their nearly identical affidavits that a fair trial for Parker would be impossible.
The judge has yet to issue an order on this matter.
Contact Beth Braden
Beth Braden
Beth Braden is an award-winning investigative journalist who cut her reporting teeth in the hills and hollows of East Tennessee. She joined the LUNASHARK® Media team in 2023 as a researcher and journalist who handles FOIA requests, wading through and analyzing public records, and connecting with sources. She also provides a monthly update for premium members called Soundbites, which is a monthly review of everything happening at LUNASHARK®, and she occasionally writes and records for True Sunlight. Beth has her own solo podcast called Time of Death, which explores the 1992 homicide of Tommy Griffin and Connie Branam in East Tennessee.
Prior to joining the team, Beth’s newspaper work had taken her into deep-dive stories about faith-based serpent handling and Appalachian coal mining, as well as data journalism work to analyze euthanasia drug irregularities at an animal shelter, uncover the most dangerous intersections on her beat, and see whether or not the local judge’s rulings passed muster when cases were appealed to the state appellate court. And of course, she’s been to her fair share of court hearings, city council meetings, and board of education work sessions.
In addition to her newspaper experience, her byline appears on HGTV.com, nytimes.com, and other internationally known websites.
In her spare time, she enjoys quilting, rock climbing, strange museums, and good cups of coffee.
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