Timothy Taylor Cleared on All Charges In Brittanee Drexel Murder Case

With one man’s arrest for the murder of Brittanee Drexel, another man once questioned in the teen’s disappearance has been effectively cleared of murder.

Timothy Taylor has repeatedly said over the years that he had nothing to do with Drexel, and his name was first floated around the investigation six years ago. An FBI agent testified in court that several people came forward saying Taylor was involved in Drexel’s disappearance, and that her body had been put in a gator pit in McClellanville so the body would be eaten.

That was a part of testimony in an armed robbery case in which Taylor served a probationary sentence.

Over that time, there were some rallies in defense of Taylor with his mother saying he was in class at the time Drexel went missing.

Others said with Taylor having lost one of his arms in a childhood accident it would be impossible for him to kidnap or kill anyone. They also accused investigators of pursuing federal charges against him for the armed robbery despite the fact he had already answered to them on the state level just to press him for information about Drexel.

The Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office announced Monday afternoon that a different man, Raymond Moody, who was named a person of interest in the case in 2012, had been charged with kidnapping, first-degree criminal sexual assault and murder, in addition to an obstruction of justice charge filed against him earlier this month.

The FBI released the following statement Tuesday afternoon:

Throughout the investigation law enforcement followed multiple leads to wherever they led us, all in effort to find Brittanee. We have an obligation to follow leads to their conclusion. To that end, the person we believe is responsible for Brittanee’s murder has been arrested and charged.

Georgetown County Sheriff’s office spokesman Jason Lesley confirmed Tuesday that Moody admitted the rape, kidnapping and murder of the New York teen. Arrest affidavits released late Monday afternoon state that a man strangled Brittanee Drexel to death then concealed the evidence of the crime.

Taylor’s attorney from the federal case has not responded to a request for comment.