Alex Murdaugh, store owner to be tried together in Mallory Beach civil trial, judge rules

A circuit judge on Friday ruled that Alex Murdaugh and convenience store operator Greg Parker will be tried together in the upcoming civil trial involving the 2019 drowning death of Mallory Beach.

Although Parker attorney Pankaj “P.K.” Shere argued that the “media hurricane” surrounding Murdaugh — the convicted killer of his wife and son — would damage Parker if the two were tried together, Judge Daniel Hall ruled that the trial will start with both as co-defendants on Aug. 14.

Hall also denied Shere’s motion to transfer the trial out of both Hampton County and the 14th Judicial Circuit in southeastern South Carolina.

“The court has full confidence it will find competent jurors in Hampton County,” Hall ruled.

The rulings were a victory for Beach family attorney Mark Tinsley, who argued that South Carolina law fully supports trying Murdaugh and Parker together.

Beach’s family sued Murdaugh, Parker and others after Mallory Beach was killed. The lawsuit alleged that Murdaugh’s son Paul was driving the boat drunk when it crashed. Parker owns a chain of convenience stores, including one that sold the alcohol to Paul that allegedly contributed to the crash, according to the lawsuit. Paul, 19 at the time, was too young to legally buy alcohol.

This story will be updated.