Sex offender who raped, murdered teen says 'I was a monster' as he gets life
Drexel, of New York, vanished on a spring break trip in April 2009 while walking alone on the beach
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A South Carolina sex fiend who raped and killed a teen girl on spring break vacation in 2009 in Myrtle Beach called himself a "monster" as he was hit with a life sentence.
Raymond Moody, 62, pleaded guilty to murder, rape and kidnapping for the slaying of 17-year-old Brittanee Drexel.
Before the attack on the teen, he had already served two decades in prison for raping an 8-year-old girl in California.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Raymond Moody was sentenced to life in prison Oct. 19 for the 2009 rape and murder of 17-year-old Brittanee Drexel in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. (Georgetown County Sheriff's Office/ Associated Press)
"I served 20 years, and I thought it was enough, but it wasn’t. I was a monster then, and I was a monster when I took Brittanee Drexel’s life," Moody said Wednesday in the Georgetown County courthouse in South Carolina.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Drexel, a high school student from Rochester, New York, vanished in April 2009 while walking alone on a beach.
Raymond Moody, 62, pleaded guilty Oct. 19, 2022, in Georgetown, South Carolina, to raping and killing 17-year-old Brittanee Drexel in 2009. (Jason Lee/The Sun News via AP)
The case went cold until Moody's ex-girlfriend came forward in 2011.
She said that Moody had invited the young girl back to his campsite 35 miles north in Georgetown County to smoke marijuana, and she agreed.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}But police didn't have enough evidence to charge him until May 2022 when he confessed and led them to her remains.
A photo of Brittanee Drexel with a friend on the beach before Raymond Moody raped and murdered her. (Myrtle Beach Police Department )
After Moody's girlfriend left the campsite, he told police he tried to have sex with Drexel, but she refused.
The registered sex offender strangled the high school senior because he feared if she reported him he'd be locked up.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The victim's grieving mother, Dawn Drexel, who spent 13 years in excruciating limbo, praying her daughter might still be alive, blasted Moody at his sentencing.
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"I hope you suffer in prison for the rest of your useless life," she said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Associated Press contributed to this report.