BillM16,
If you are questioning me, I gave my answer in the first paragraph of my last reply: "The player that mucked-obviously by mistake- either mucked the best hand, or he is entitled to his share of the pot."
Another answer from my last sentence: "Back to the question...unless the player that mucked had too many cards he is entitled to one third of the pot!"
So your example would kill the best hand if he were allowed to muck, (which is not good). Or it would award the total pot to the player that mucked if he were allowed to retrieve his hand, (which in my opinion, would assure that the pot is awarded to the proper player)! This would prevent any possible "chip dumping" or suspicion of collusion. Not only that, how could the player that mucked not get at least 33.33% of that pot?
The only logical fix is to insist that all players, in for all bets that are at showdown, must table their cards...they can not muck!
We are talking about tournament poker only...in a cash game, there is little "protection" for any player that chooses to muck a winner. That's unfortunate but acceptable, especially if you get the chips!