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EXHIBIT O
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- 1 of 10 - OFFICIAL RECORD
FD-302 (Rev. 5-8-10) Document participants have digitally signed.
All signatures have been verified by a
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION certified FBI information system.
Date of entry 11/19/2024
CHILD VICTIM AND CHILD WITNESS IDENTITY INFORMATION
This document contains information regarding a child victim's or child witness's
identity, which may only be disclosed to individuals who have a need-to-know such
information by reason of their participation in the associated investigation or
proceeding, or if disclosure is necessary to protect the welfare and well-being of the
child.
RAYMOND MOODY, date of birth (DOB) 05/09/1960, was interviewed at
Lieber Correctional Institution, Ridgeville, SC. Present for the interview
were FBI Special Agents Michael Connelly and James Cavanagh, and South
Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) Office of Inspector General (OIG)
Special Agent Josh Anderson. MOODY had expressed to SA Connelly and others
an interest in speaking with the FBI about the abduction and murder of
Brittanee Drexel, hereinafter referred to as "Brittanee." Knowing the
identities of the the interviewing Agents and the nature of the interview,
MOODY provided the following information:
[The interview was audio recorded. The following is a summary of the
recording however the recording itself, which was placed into ELSUR
evidence, serves as a full record of the interview. The times provided
below pertain to when the statements occurred on the recording. The FD-302
was written in the same sequence in which the interview occurred.]
The first hour of the recording includes general conversation about
Moody's prior experiences in prison. In the past few days, MOODY wrote a
letter to his girlfriend, Angel Vause, an individual charged federally with
involvement in the abduction and murder of Brittanee. MOODY requested the
letter be delivered to her or her attorney. The letter explained why MOODY
intended to tell the FBI the full truth about the abduction/murder of
Brittanee. A copy of that letter was obtained by SA Connelly from SCDC
Special Agent James "Rusty" Davis, provided to Assistant United States
Attorney Winston Holliday, and is attached to this FD-302.
At [Link] MOODY advised he was ready to discuss Brittanee's abduction and
murder.
Investigation on 11/13/2024 at Ridgeville, South Carolina, United States (In Person)
File # 7C-CO-32083 Date drafted 11/14/2024
by CONNELLY MICHAEL F, CAVANAGH JAMES
This document contains neither recommendations nor conclusions of the FBI. It is the property of the FBI and is loaned to your agency; it and its contents are not
to be distributed outside your agency.
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At [Link] MOODY reviewed an FD-395 Advice of Rights Waiver and signed the
form. A copy of FD-395 is attached to this FD-302 and is enclosed as a
physical 1A. MOODY identified his grandchildren as the top priority in his
life, even more than Vause.
At [Link] MOODY reviewed a letter provided by SA Connelly from Roy T.
Willey, a civil attorney representing the Drexel family in a pending
lawsuit against MOODY. That letter included Drexel family approval to allow
a portion of MOODY's property to remain in a trust for his grandchildren in
exchange for complete and truthful information about the abduction, rape,
and murder of Brittanee.
At [Link] MOODY acknowledged and accepted that the information he will
provide today could influence Vause's prison sentence. In his opinion,
Vause would accept his decision to be truthful because his intentions were
in the best interests of their grandchildren.
At [Link] MOODY would consider testifying in court, but would
request transfer to another facility following his testimony because he is
concerned how other inmates would react towards him for being a cooperating
witness.
At 1:32, MOODY explained events on the night Brittanee was abducted,
raped and murdered. MOODY described his and Vause's actions that night as,
"we were hunting." MOODY clarified "hunting" as looking for a girl they
could lure into their car willingly. The plan included abducting her,
transporting her to a tent they had already set up in Georgetown, and
raping her. On the night they abducted and murdered Drexel, MOODY and Vause
drove up and down the boulevard (a reference to Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle
Beach) multiple times hunting for a girl. They passed Brittanee at least
twice, once while she was walking south on the boulevard. MOODY said, "I
had my eye on her (Brittanee), and I thought, she's the one." But, they
lost visual on her for a while before seeing her again walking north on the
boulevard. Brittanee was on the sidewalk and MOODY was driving the
Explorer. Vause exited the Explorer to talk to Brittanee to "kinda soften
her up a little bit, maybe trust us." Vause succeeded and led Brittanee
back to the car. They used a ruse that they were tourists from out-of-town
and learned that Brittanee was also a tourist. Brittanee told them the name
of her hotel and they offered to drop her off. However, as they drove north
on the boulevard towards her hotel talking casually, MOODY turned off the
boulevard acting like he was lost. Brittanee did not say anything at that
point. MOODY drove across Kings Highway and then stopped, claiming he was
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lost and needed to change drivers. This was part of the abduction plan and
MOODY quickly initiated the next step. When he walked around the car to get
in the back seat to restrain Brittanee, the back door was locked from the
outside. MOODY instead entered the passenger side front door and before
Vause put the vehicle in reverse, MOODY dove through the seats and
immediately physically restrained Brittanee with his arms and hands. He
told her not to panic because he kidnaps girls, demands a $5,000 ransom
from the city chamber of commerce, then returns the girls. MOODY told
Brittanee that the city usually paid the ransom without question because
they didn't want negative media attention. MOODY recalls handcuffing at
Brittanee at some point, either in the car or at the Pole Yard Boat
Landing, and stayed with her in the back seat. Brittanee did not say much
during her transport.
They drove straight to the Pole Yard Boat Landing in Georgetown without
stopping except for traffic lights. To keep Brittanee calm, MOODY told her
she would be held at a campground they already set up. Brittanee never
begged or screamed for her life. Brittanee froze and didn't speak for most
of her abduction. When they arrived at the Pole Yard Boat Landing, they
walked into the woods to the tent, talked briefly, then Vause left to get
keys to their apartment. MOODY previously lied to Agents saying the trip to
retrieve the keys pertained to getting drugs from the apartment. MOODY
truly believes Vause went to get keys from her son who lived at Gene Wards
Apartments in Georgetown city. Vause told MOODY not to have sex with
Brittanee until she returned. MOODY and Vause's plan all along was to have
sex with Brittanee together. Vause was gone for a long time, but MOODY
didn't remember touching Brittanee sexually while Vause was gone. He does
not remember what he talked about with Brittanee.
At [Link] MOODY left in the Explorer after Vause returned. When he left,
Brittanee was restrained, likely with handcuffs because, as MOODY said, "If
I was out hunting or something, I always had me a kit." The kit usually
contained handcuffs, keys, and Vasoline. The ice pick may have been in the
kit. MOODY left the Pole Yard Boat Landing in order to get his sex toys
from their apartment which he stored in a briefcase. While at the
apartment, he took a shower for some reason he couldn't explain other than
an obsession for washing.
Vause remained with Brittanee in the tent at the Pole Yard Boat Landing
while MOODY was gone. Vause had time to let Brittanee escape, but she did
not. MOODY brought the briefcase that contained his sex toys back to the
Pole Yard Boat Landing to use during the rape of Brittanee. Upon his return
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to the tent, he raped and sodomized Brittanee while Vause was present in
the tent. MOODY did not recall Vause participating directly in the rape.
MOODY explained that he deliberately didn't have an orgasm while raping
Brittanee for a reason he described later in the interview. MOODY also
couldn't orgasm because he was thinking about having to murder Brittanee
after the rape. MOODY never murdered anyone previously. MOODY claimed Vause
did not know he intended to kill Brittanee. MOODY had to kill Brittanee
because of all he had done to her. MOODY, "doesn't give a fuck" about
people he doesn't have an attachment to." He explained his lack of care for
these people as just the way he is "put together."
After MOODY raped Brittanee, he took a yellow nylon rope from the
briefcase with the sex toys, told Brittanee to lay face down on the ground
because it would be easier to kill her that way, put the rope around her
neck, then strangled her without warning. MOODY said Brittanee never said a
word during the final fatal attack, which bothered him because he wondered
what she was really thinking about. MOODY strangled her for a while because
he didn't know how long it took to strangle someone to death. Once he was
tired and she appeared to be dead, he stopped to rest. Then, MOODY choked
her again with the rope to make sure she was dead. Vause was sitting in the
tent at that time, but MOODY did not recall her participating directly in
the murder. Vause did not say anything or attempt to stop MOODY from
killing Brittanee. MOODY often wondered what was going through Vause's mind
at that moment. Vause may have been scared from witnessing the rape and
murder. Brittanee did not fight at all during the sexual assault, but did
struggle by kicking once he began to strangle her.
After he believed Brittanee was dead, MOODY rolled her over, felt for a
space between her ribs, then stabbed her in the heart with the ice pick. He
felt for space because he did not want to break the ice pick on a bone
while stabbing her. The ice pick was approximately six inches long with a
wooden handle and a metal sleeve between the handle and the blade.
MOODY carried Brittanee over his shoulder to the edge of the river and
laid her face down in the shallow portion of the water. Brittanee did not
sink or drift away. MOODY went back to the tent for a flashlight, then
returned to the river to ensure Brittanee was dead. After approximately ten
minutes in the water, MOODY removed Brittanee, carried her across a small
fence back down to the Pole Yard Boat Landing parking lot, and placed her
naked body under a tree. MOODY returned to the tent, where Vause had
already assembled all the items used in furtherance of the rape and murder.
They carried the tent and supplies out of the woods and placed them in the
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Explorer. At some point that night, MOODY wrapped Brittanee in a sleeping
bag or blanket.
MOODY and Vause drove north towards Georgetown, crossed the Maryville
bridge, and stopped at the Gene Wards apartments. MOODY and Vause left the
Explorer there and took MOODY's pickup truck back to the Pole Yard Boat
Landing. Along the route, they stopped at Ernie Merchant's residence. MOODY
quietly accessed the tool shed and obtained a shovel to bury Brittanee's
body. Upon arrival at the Pole Yard Boat Landing, they both lifted
Brittanee's body into the bed of MOODY's pickup truck. They drove to their
apartment (known to Agents as the Sunset Lodge). He parked the truck at the
end of the lot where there was minimal traffic. They left Brittanee's body
in the back of the truck and went to sleep in the apartment for a short
period. MOODY did not sleep well because he was not done yet. MOODY
recalled Vause saying to him that she was "scared," which concerned MOODY
that Vause may not keep the murder secret. Based on his concern about this
comment, MOODY determined Vause should not know where he disposed of
Brittanee's body, so he went to bury Brittanee's body by himself.
MOODY drove on Pennyroyal Road looking for an area to bury Brittanee.
MOODY knew this area because Kim Pavow and Michael Pavow lived there. MOODY
saw Harmony Township and remembered it had a housing area under
construction. MOODY went into that area, parked, and dug a hole to bury
Brittanee. It was a relatively easy dig due to the loose soil and lack of
roots. Brittanee was buried face down in the hole, but that was not MOODY's
intention. MOODY laid Brittanee's body on a berm created by his digging,
but Brittanee's body slipped and fell into the hole. MOODY never forgot the
sound of Brittanee's body landing in the hole. MOODY filled in the hole and
returned to the apartment. MOODY never returned to the burial location
until he led the FBI there in 2022.
[At the 2:02 part of the recording, MOODY requested and was allowed a
bathroom break. MOODY was provided water upon his return. MOODY returned at
2:08]
The morning after they murdered Brittanee, MOODY and Vause drove his
truck to Pawley's Island to recover his motorcycle which was left there the
previous night before abducting Brittanee. The motorcycle was in a gym
parking lot, possibly behind a McDonalds. MOODY threw the rope he used to
kill Brittanee in shrubbery located between the gym parking lot and the
McDonalds drive through. They drove the motorcycle to Surfside and were
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cited for speeding.
MOODY discarded Brittanee's effects over a period of time starting the
night of her murder:
• MOODY threw Brittanee's cellphone in the North Santee River at some
point during the night of the murder;
• MOODY put Brittanee's purse and wallet in the Salvation Army box in
Georgetown;
• MOODY tore up the contents of Brittanee's wallet and threw them out
the window of his vehicle at some random location;
• MOODY discarded Brittanee's school ID in a marsh at Morgan Park in
Georgetown near the picnic tables area;
• MOODY had two ice picks that he kept for years, one of which was used
to kill Brittanee. At some point he became paranoid and discarded one
of the ice picks in a pond located at the property adjacent to 5498
Rose Hill Road. He walked through the fence, directly to the pond, and
threw the ice pick approximately 15-30 feet into the pond. Attached to
this FD-302 is a map with the approximate location of one ice pick.
MOODY discarded the other ice pick near the Dunbar Street bridge as he
was driving away from Rose Hill Road. Attached to this FD-302 is a map
with the approximate location of the other pick. MOODY discarded both
because he could not remember which one was used in the murder of
Brittanee.
• MOODY discarded the tent on Brick Chimney Road in Georgetown, a dirt
road that cuts across from Browns Ferry Road into a neighborhood.
MOODY left the tent in the woods in that area shortly after the
murder. He discarded most evidence from the night of the
murder relatively soon after the incident, except for the ice pick.
SA Connelly asked MOODY about a text message he previously mentioned
that pertained to he and Vause planning the kidnapping of a female. MOODY
would not have spoken about that text today if he had not already mentioned
it to SA Connelly. MOODY had a reputation for being a bad guy in
Georgetown, which Vause liked. He compared himself to a local criminal,
Jimmy Caegel, who MOODY wanted to kill. Approximately a week or so before
he rented a room at the Sunset Lodge, MOODY was in the Mount Pleasant area,
possibly with Ernie Merchant at a doctor's appointment, when he received a
text message from Vause saying she "had always fantasized about snatching
some girl." MOODY said, "that's all you needed to say to me. You know what
I mean? That just triggered me." The text surprised him because he was not
seriously contemplating that type of criminal activity with Vause
because he usually did that alone. MOODY said it is best to never involve
anybody else in that activity. MOODY said to Vause, "So you want to go
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hunting with me, huh?" She replied, "Yeah." It felt really awkward to MOODY
because when he was in hunting mode, he had an entirely different frame of
mind. Having someone with him was a distraction. When MOODY is hunting, he
is not on the phone or doing anything else. He is possessed and fixated on
the hunt.
When MOODY and Vause were hunting for a girl on April 25, 2009, they
really were not talking much during the search. MOODY never told Vause he
intended to kill Brittanee, but they both did intend to abduct a girl and
take her back to the tent to rape. MOODY and Vause previously had sex
together with females, and on one occasion with a transgender male named
"Madison" who frequented "Time Out," a gay bar in Myrtle Beach. MOODY
described Vause as volatile and impulsive. MOODY told a story about a time
at a bar when Vause physically confronted a girl who was hitting on MOODY.
MOODY described how, after the FBI interviewed Vause in 2022, she was
"coming apart" from stress. MOODY was concerned she may confess their
crimes, but it was "too late to kill her now." MOODY gave her a false story
to tell law enforcement about Brittanee's abduction and murder in case she
was ever confronted again. Specifically, MOODY told Vause to say that when
she returned to the Pole Yard Boat Landing, Brittanee was already gone.
MOODY told her to say she used his phone to coordinate a pick up by her
friends. Over the years, MOODY asked Vause if she was still bothered by
what they did to Brittanee. Vause usually said she was fine because she
doesn't think about it. MOODY was upset that Vause talked about the crime
with Ernie Merchant and one of her nurse friends.
At [Link] MOODY described the spot where Vause made contact with
Brittanee to lure her into the Explorer as a location where there was a gap
between buildings, possibly where a new building might eventually be built.
Vause made contact with Brittanee as she was walking and the purpose was to
talk Brittanee into "coming with us." MOODY wasn't sure if Brittanee came
right away or if it took some time. When Brittanee and Vause arrived at the
car, Brittanee stuck her head in the back window and looked at MOODY in
order to "size him up." Brittanee entered the car for the purpose of
getting a ride to the hotel. MOODY stated that it was his and Vause's
original plan to get a girl into the car to have sex with her in
Georgetown.
Vause never told MOODY what she talked about with Brittanee while MOODY
went to the apartment to get his sex toys for the rape.
At [Link] MOODY described the rape of Brittanee, which occurred after he
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returned to the tent from their apartment with his sex toys. MOODY told
Brittanee to take her clothes off, which she did, then he started to
rape her. The rape lasted about 10-15 minutes. MOODY described the size of
the tent as 1/3 the size of the small office where the interview occurred.
Vause was sitting in the tent, fully clothed. Vause watched MOODY rape
Brittanee, but he does not recall her participating or saying anything
specific. MOODY was not paying much attention to Vause during the rape.
MOODY could have ejaculated while raping Brittanee, but he chose not to
because "I didn't want to give up, what I call, I don't know if I told you
or not, I used to call it my 'power.'" His "power" is a feeling of being
"super-human" when he is "jacked-up" on testosterone and adrenaline. But
after an orgasm, he becomes a "normal person" for fifteen minutes or so. If
he allowed himself to lose his intensity, MOODY felt he would deviate from
his "plan." MOODY described his plan as, "All along I knew once that we had
got her, I was going to have to kill her. No doubt." MOODY never
articulated that to Vause. MOODY reiterated that after he was done raping
Brittanee, when he took the rope out of his kit and started killing
Brittanee, MOODY was "not really paying attention to Angel, she was just
still sitting there...she wasn't saying a word." MOODY thought she may be
scared at that point.
MOODY described stories about a male he met on Craig's List, his
bisexuality, his sex and porn addiction, and his travels to South of the
Border to engage in sexual activity with other random males who he met
online.
SA Connelly went back to when they first arrived at the Pole Yard Boat
Landing and asked MOODY why Vause left for 90 minutes while he stayed in
the tent with Brittanee. MOODY called Vause multiple times to check on her
while she was gone. MOODY absolutely believed Vause went to meet her son,
Chris, to get the keys to the apartment. MOODY was asked about a nine
minute call with Vause during the time she was absent from the Pole Yard
Boat Landing. MOODY remembered becoming increasingly paranoid and
believed the call was for the purpose of checking on her. MOODY discussed
Vause's history of abusing pills.
MOODY said Brittanee was told, and remained under the understanding,
that the abduction was just a kidnapping for ransom and that once MOODY
collected the $5,000, he would let her go. Brittanee was compliant because
she thought she was going to be eventually released.
MOODY selected Brittanee because she was alone and attractive. MOODY
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always selected girls that were alone.
MOODY and Vause "hunted" for a girl on April 24, 2009, the night before
Brittanee was abducted. They did not abduct a girl that night because "they
had some phone activity." By using their phones during the "hunt," MOODY
was concerned they were leaving an electronic footprint that would cause
them to be more easily identified by law enforcement had they abducted a
girl that night. MOODY mentioned previously that on the night he abducted
Brittanee, he deliberately stopped using his phone prior to the hunt, but
was forced to use it later in the night to call Vause when she was gone
from the Pole Yard Boat Landing for longer than he thought necessary. MOODY
also said he was "stupid with the phone thing, I should have ditched her
(Brittanee's) phone right off the bat."
MOODY does not recall his specific driving route along Ocean Boulevard
the night Brittanee was abducted.
At [Link] MOODY reiterated that, when they were on the boulevard and
decided to abduct Brittanee, Vause was the one that exited the Explorer to
lure Brittanee into the car. Per their plan, Vause talked to Brittanee in
order to "see if we could get her to come with us." MOODY said, "She did.
Mistake of her life."
MOODY was asked about Brittanee's last words before she was killed. MOODY
replied that right before he killed her, Brittanee appeared to be in thought
and said the word "stupid" one time. It appeared she realized how bad she
"fucked up" that night and the mistake she had made.
MOODY asked how Agents knew with certainty that the Explorer on the
boulevard video the night Brittanee was abducted was Vause's brother's car.
Agents explained that there were several items of evidence that yielded this
conclusion.
MOODY recommended Agents talk to a person named "Daniel" who knows about
Vause's personality.
When MOODY left Brittanee at the Pole Yard Boat Landing, she was sitting
in the tent with Vause. MOODY, at some point, handcuffed Brittanee behind
her back before leaving to get his sex toys from the apartment.
Vause's motivation to be involved in the "hunt" which resulted in
Brittanee's abduction was to build her relationship with MOODY and pull him
away from Ernie Merchant. Vause willingly had threesomes with MOODY and
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other females. MOODY and Vause went to public places like "Airport Video" to
have sex. On one occasion, MOODY was having sex with Vause in a room at a
sex video store when he opened the door so others could watch. Dixie Bass is
Vause's friend who now manages a McDonalds in Georgetown. Vause participated
in threesomes because she enjoyed them, not because MOODY made her
participate. For example, Dixie and her boyfriend had a threesome with Vause
on one occasion at Brown's Ferry Landing and did not invite MOODY.
MOODY emphasized that he is telling the truth not to be spiteful to
Vause, but because he wants to take care of his grandchildren.
