Angel Vause, girlfriend of man who killed Brittanee Drexel, changes plea to guilty

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Angel Vause, the longtime girlfriend of the man who killed and raped Brittanee Drexel, has changed her plea to guilty.

Vause admitted on Monday that she lied to the FBI about her role in kidnapping the Chili teen. She pleaded guilty to all three counts of making false statements before a federal court judge in Charleston, South Carolina.

Vause had previously decided to put her fate in a jury’s hands, backing out of a plea agreement that her attorney filed. She pleaded not guilty in late August but has now changed her mind.

The guilty plea comes 15 years after Drexel was murdered when she was in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for a spring break trip.

In May of 2022, investigators found Drexel’s remains in a wooded area in Georgetown, about 45 minutes south of Myrtle Beach. Raymond Moody pleaded guilty to her murder and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Originally, Vause claimed that she and Moody saw Drexel walking on the strip in Myrtle Beach and approached her about “partying” with them. She claimed that Drexel willingly got in their SUV. But in a three-count indictment, the FBI says that was a lie and Drexel was abducted under false pretenses.

Vause is expected to be sentenced by the end of the year.