Moody’s girlfriend signed cooperation agreement after his confession

GEORGETOWN COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) - Raymond Moody’s girlfriend signed an agreement with state prosecutors just days after his confession to the rape and murder of Brittanee Drexel.

Leading up to his guilty plea in court, investigators spoke with Angel Vause at least three times on the record, according to the investigative files.

In both her 2011 and 2022 interrogations that lasted hours, Vause never indicated that she had met the then 17-year-old Brittanee Drexel.

It was not until she gave a proffer statement that she admitted she was with Moody the day the crime took place.

“You have to make a deal with the getaway driver to get the armed robber,” 15th Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson said at the Oct. 19 hearing. “She would have been an accessory.”

Richardson indicated he believed Vause had a bigger involvement than either she or Moody indicated but did not say how.

A proffer statement is not an immunity agreement but can have benefits for the person talking. It is a common tool used to corroborate stories and fill in gaps in information.

“It’s generally understood that if a client comes in a does a proffer statement... as long as they’re truthful, there’s certainly nothing they say that can be held against them,” Mark Peper, a Charleston attorney, said.

Vause was one of the first people who warned authorities about what Raymond Moody was capable of.

In her first interview, she said he was abusive and had vivid dreams about murder.

READ MORE: Newly released interview with girlfriend of Brittanee Drexel’s killer reveals callous pre-planning, history of threats, abuse

A subsequent search warrant of his apartment led the case to a standstill. In late April 2022, law enforcement re-interviewed her.

“No. Never in a vehicle with me. No, Period,” Vause said after investigators asked if she had ever been in a car with Drexel in April 2022.

Moody’s confession a few days later told a different story, one where Vause was sitting in the passenger seat.

The pair had gone to Myrtle Beach and were people-watching along Ocean Boulevard when Moody spotted the 17-year-old.

The pair then drove Drexel to a campsite in Georgetown, where Moody later raped and strangled Drexel to death.

READ MORE: Newly released documents show Brittanee Drexel’s last text before disappearing

It was not until the proffer statement on May 11, that Vause admitted to her involvement when Drexel voluntarily got into the car Moody was driving.

“[Moody] pulled over to a little parking lot on the side of the road. [Drexel] walked over to the car. He spoke to her out the windows and said something like ‘hey do you want to, let’s smoke, do a line or two’ you know. And she said yes. She got into the vehicle,” Vause said.

Moody confessed on May 4, and shortly thereafter led authorities to where he buried the remains.

Both maintain that Vause was not there for the crime. She told investigators that her son had called her and had to leave to hand over some keys.

Vause says she was never alone with Drexel without Moody present.

“Angel never even knew the real story. She never did,” Moody told authorities. “I’m the one that’s gonna be held completely responsible for what happened and nobody else. ‘Cause it ain’t right.”

READ MORE: ‘She was scared and I was scared’: Solicitor’s office releases Raymond Moody confession tape

Moody pleaded guilty to rape, murder and kidnapping last month.

No charges have been filed against Vause and the solicitor’s office has not mentioned any intent to do so.

However, if it is learned that she was not being 100% truthful during that statement, charges could still be pursued in the future.

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