A man who was a passenger in a 2019 South Carolina boat crash that killed Mallory Beach has come forward to say he believes some police officers may have deliberately hampered the investigation into the crash in order to shift blame away from Paul Murdaugh, long thought to be behind the wheel.
Last month, Murdaugh and his mother, Maggie, were found shot to death on their hunting lodge before any trial could take place.
But now Connor Cook who is one of six people on board the Sea Hunt boat and broke his jaw when it crashed, believes some people in law enforcement may have intended to frame him as the driver of the boat at the time of the accident.
Connor Cook who was on board a boat when it crashed in 2019 launched a court petition in which he believes law enforcement 'hampered' the investigation and tried to frame him
Cook believes some evidence gathered at the scene of the boat crash scene is missing and has now petitioned to have the officers involved questioned about why they 'failed to conduct an appropriate investigation.'
Cook believed law enforcement may have first attempted to frame him because of Murdaugh’s status whose wealthy family had ties spanning several generations to the local prosecutor’s office.
At least five law enforcement officers were interviewed by attorneys about their actions during the boat crash investigation.
Mallory Beach (pictured ) was killed in a 2019 boating accident in which the investigation is still open
Paul Murdaugh had been awaiting trial on charges relating to the 2019 boating death of Mallory Beach (pictured), who was thrown from the boat Murdaugh was allegedly driving while drunk when it crashed
Cook believes they failed to conduct an appropriate investigation, according to the petition.
That failure includes the fact officers did not give Murdaugh a sobriety test and 'other investigative irregularities,' according the filing.
The petition names the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office and 'Unknown Others,' as defendants.
Cook is hoping a judge will allow him to depose, and obtain the cell phones of the police officers who investigated the boat crash.
The petition, as seen by the Island Packet suggests law enforcement officers who investigated the boat crash colluded to blame Connor Cook for the crash instead of Murdaugh.
Former SCDNR officer and current S.C. Law Enforcement agent Michael Brock is one of those named in the petition as having colluded to blame Connor Cook for the crash instead of Paul Murdaugh
They include, Former SCDNR officer and current S.C. Law Enforcement agent Michael Brock; SCNDR officer Austin Pritcher; Beaufort County Sheriff's Office Sgt. John Leroy Keener, III; Former SCDNR officer Robin Camlin; Beaufort County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Troy Andrew Krapf.
Lawyers hired by Cook will seek to the law enforcement officers about the boat crash investigation; statements collected at the time from the boat crash including body camera footage and other video and audio footage; physical evidence collected; DNA and other biological evidence collected; Phone, verbal and other communications throughout the investigation; 'Investigative failures and deficiencies and the officers' relationship to the people involved in the investigation.
'Brock, Pritcher, Kenner, Camlin and Krapf may have information as to a 'campaign' to cloud the investigatory issues and disseminate false information in the community with the intention of misleading law enforcement and prosecution charging parties, and the public, into wrongly and falsely believing Connor Cook should be arrested and charged as the boat operator with multiple counts of Felony Boating Under the Influence,' the filing reads.
Pictured: Victim Mallory Beach (left) with her best friend, who survived, Miley Altman, in an April 2017 photo
The accident occurred in February 2019 when a boat carrying six people crashed in Archer's Creek near Parris Island.
Mallory Beach, 19, who was one of the passengers as killed. Her body was missing for a week before it was found.
Murdaugh, who was 20 at the time of the crash was indicted on three counts of boating under the influence in April 2019.
Others on the boat were Anthony Cook, Connor Cook, Miley Altman and
