‘Angel of death’: Drexel’s relatives give emotional courtroom statements before Vause sentenced to 18-year prison term

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WBTW) — Before Angel Vause was sent to a federal prison for 18 years for lying to the FBI during their investigation into the 2009 kidnapping and murder of Brittanee Drexel, she had to face the wrath of her family.

“You messed with the wrong mom. A mother who will never stop in the fight to get justice for Brittanee,” Drexel’s mother Dawn Conley said at a Thursday sentencing hearing in U.S. District Court’s Charleston district. “You are the Angel of death.”

Vause, 57, whose longtime boyfriend Raymond Moody is spending life in prison for Drexel’s killing, was handed three consecutive 72-month sentences by Judge Richard Gergel — an 18-year punishment far above what Vause’s defense attorney requested but below prosecutors’ request for 24 years.

She was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release once she’s out of prison.

Among the things she lied about was not have Drexel’s cellphone for the roughly 90-minute period that Moody was alone with the teen at remote Georgetown County boat landing.

Drexel, a 17-year-old from Rochester, New York, was last seen walking down Myrtle Beach’s Ocean Boulevard on April 26, 2009 — she texted her boyfriend to say she was leaving the Bar Harbor Hotel.

“She is a key facilitator in this, and she takes the only means of escape,” Gergel said. “She lured this girl into a car and from that point on, she’s on a road to death.”

Vause’s defense attorney Charles Cochran started by claiming Vause was manipulated by Moody and had a history of domestic violence relationships. 

“I’m not a monster or a horrible person,” a tearful Vause said in court.” I’m simply a person who became a victim early in life. My past is full of mistakes. I’m sorry for not speaking up sooner.”

Vause’s attorney Charles W. Cochran reiterated in court the same arguments he laid out in a sentencing memorandum last week in which he asked for a maximum 87-month sentence — pointing to her lack of a criminal history and multiple incidents of abuse from Moody.

“He was always the mastermind here .. We understand there’s no emotional argument that will turn the tide in our direction.”

Drexel’s grandmother Carol Wagner said Brittanee was an accomplished soccer player with an outsized personality who would make up songs and dances as a little girl. She dreamt of being a marine biologist.

“Angel, you and Ray are such a disgrace to society, and you both belong in hell. Your name should be Devil, not Angel,” Wagner said. “You and your serial rapist boyfriend took a large piece of my heart. Brittanee was our world.”

It wouldn’t be until 2016 that Moody and Vause emerged as suspects after the FBI picked up the case.

Drexel’s relatives and U.S. Assistant Attorney Winston Holliday said in court that Vause was as responsible for the teen’s death as Moody was simply by not coming forward before the FBI pressed her.

“He is representing somebody who is almost as hollowed out as Raymond Moody,” Holliday said of Cochran. “There are so many moments when could have changed the course of action. I wish I could ask for more (prison time).”

Conley said she plans to meet with Myrtle Beach Police chief Amy Prock and 15th Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson in an effort to get kidnapping charges levelled against Vause.