Records: Drexel kidnapping, murder suspect released from parole supervision less than 2 years before disappearance

GEORGETOWN COUNTY, S.C. (WMBF) – Information from the California prison system is providing more details on why the man accused of kidnapping and killing Brittanee Drexel did not serve his full 40-year sentence in a previous rape case.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) said Raymond Moody, 62, was sent to California State Prison Solano on Dec. 15, 1983. He was ordered to serve a 40-year, four-month sentence on several charges including sodomy of a child under the age of 14 while inflicting great bodily injury and rape with force/threat of violence.

BRITTANEE DREXEL CASE COVERAGE:

WMBF News spoke to one of his victims, Kerri Harding, who said that she was eight years old when Moody kidnapped and raped her for hours. Harding was able to escape and find help.

The CDCR said that Moody had a “determinate sentence” which means he had a specified amount to serve with a calculated release date. The spokesperson for the prison system said only “indeterminately sentenced” inmates such as those with a life with the possibility of parole sentence go through parole hearings.

Records show Moody was released to parole supervision on June 9, 2004 and he was discharged from parole supervision on June 9, 2007, which is less than two years before Drexel was last seen along Ocean Boulevard on April 25, 2009.

WMBF is trying to get Moody’s parole records. We asked Fifteenth Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson about them, who said they will be included in discovery. He added that already, there are more than 100 boxes of discovery in this case. WMBF has also reached out to Moody’s attorney, Scott Bellamy, several times.

“The skeleton of the trial is in my mind, and I’ve lived it for a while, but Mr. Bellamy hasn’t so it will take him a lot longer to catch up than it would me, but we could prepare our witness list for the most part, today,” said Richardson.

Moody’s name was first brought up in Drexel’s disappearance in 2012, when the Myrtle Beach Police Department named in a person of interest, but he was never charged.

Date marks nine years since Brittanee Drexel disappearance

Earlier this week, the Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office announced that after 13 years, Drexel’s remains were found in the Harmony Township neighborhood.

The sheriff’s office said Moody confessed after he was arrested and charged with obstruction of justice. Officials said he also provided information on where Drexel’s remains were found.

Richardson said that while Moody’s charges are death-penalty eligible, it is still too early in the process to make that decision.

According to Richardson, Moody has waived all rights to a bond hearing and arraignment. Richardson also told WMBF News a plea hearing is anticipated for later this summer.

He added that charges have not been filed in Myrtle Beach because they have reason to believe the kidnapping happened in Georgetown County.

Copyright 2022 WMBF. All rights reserved.