The man charged in the death of Brittanee Drexel allegedly confessed to the crime and led officers to her body, according to the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office.
Georgetown County officials confirmed at a news conference Monday that remains found Wednesday in a wooded area along Old Town Avenue in Harmony Township were those of Drexel, who went missing more than a decade ago.
Georgetown County Sheriff Carter Weaver said the remains were identified using dental records.
Raymond Moody, 62, of Georgetown, is charged with murder, kidnapping and criminal s*xual conduct in the first degree, according to arrest warrants.
The warrants show that Moody allegedly strangled Drexel around April 25, 2009. Moody also s*xually assaulted Drexel that same night, according to the warrants.
15th Circuit Attorney Jimmy Richardson said evidence shows Drexel was raped and murdered in the Santee River and then her body was taken to Old Town Avenue.
Richardson said Moody is the only suspect and he doesn’t expect any more charges against him unless the evidence changes.
Moody can either plead guilty or take his case to trial.
“That could be something they’re looking at, ‘I want to get this over with,’ or it could be ‘I’m going to let it die down a little bit, and then I’m going to ask for bail.’ Richardson said.
Richardson said a lot of evidence against Moody has emerged.
READ RELATED: What Happened To Pierre Rinfret? Radio Columnist Died Age 72
“It was actually in place about three months ago, but it really kicked in two or three weeks ago,” he said.
Richardson said Moody’s arrest on May 4 for obstructing justice was a way to put him in jail. At that moment, they knew that he had done it.
“Knowing and being able to prove are two different things,” Richardson said. “And I wanted to be able to prove that what he was saying was true.”
Richardson said that when a person goes to jail for almost any crime, the person goes before a magistrate. Moody decided against it and also waived all appearances by him and decided not to accept bail.
If he says guilty plea, it will go on the plea list and will be heard next week,” Richardson said. “If it says test, they go to the test list. It could be a year, a year and a half.”
In 2016, an FBI agent said Drexel was kidnapped, gang-raped, shot to death and dumped in an alligator-infested swamp, citing an inmate statement. On Monday, Richardson said that it is now null and void.
News13 asked the FBI on Monday for a statement about the alligator allegations and whether Timothy Da’Shaun Taylor, who was named a person of interest in the disappearance, was still connected to the case. The FBI sent the following statement:
“Throughout the investigation, multiple leads were followed by law enforcement wherever they led us based on the information we had at the time,” the statement read. “We have an obligation to follow the leads to their conclusion. The person we believe to be responsible for Brittanee’s murder has been charged.”
In 2011, News13 confronted Moody, who said that he knew nothing about the case and told our reporter to leave or he would call the police.
Source: https://wikisoon.com/
