Stockton Rush's friend said the OceanGate CEO designed a 'mousetrap' for billionaires: 'He definitely knew it was going to end like this'

• Karl Stanley said OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush made a "mousetrap for billionaires."
• Stanley, a friend of Rush's, also said he believed Rush "knew" the Titan sub would end in disaster.

Karl Stanley, who once was a passenger on the Titan sub, said that OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush knew the Titan sub would end in disaster, but continued to create his "mousetrap for billionaires."

Stanley, a friend of Rush who went on a dive in the Bahamas with him in 2019, began speaking out publicly following the deaths of five people, including Rush, on a trip to the RMS Titanic wreckage in June. Behind the scenes, however, he warned his friend that the Titan was dangerous.

"He definitely knew it was going to end like this," Stanley told told 60 Minutes Australia in an interview published Sunday. "He literally and figuratively went out with the biggest bang in human history that you can go out with. And he was the last person to murder two billionaires at once and have them pay for the privilege."

Stanley also told 60 Minutes there was "no doubt" in his mind "that it was the carbon fiber tube that was the mechanical part that failed" during the Titan's final trip, during which, investigators believe, the vessel imploded. Experts previously told Insider that evidence supports the theory that the hull made of carbon fiber — a material not used in underwater subs — failed first.

The events that led to the implosion are being investigated by the US Coast Guard, along with international agencies such as the Transportation Safety Board of Canada and the United Kingdom Marine Accident Investigation Branch.

"I think Stockton was designing a mousetrap for billionaires," Stanley said, per the outlet, referring to the submersible.

Stanley previously warned his friend following his venture in the sub that he had heard "cracking" sounds that had him concerned. Emails obtained by Insider's Lloyd Lee revealed that Stanley was desperate to convey to Rush that he believed there was a defect in the hull, and worried that the sub would "fail catastrophically."

Rush brushed off Stanley multiple times, railing against the "uninformed accusations from industry pundits." These criticisms, Stanley believed, were actually encouraging Rush to move forward with his sub.