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Thread: Former NBA player Lorenzen Wright found deceased after going missing; his ex-wife is charged

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    Senior Member azkarisma's Avatar
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    Former NBA player Lorenzen Wright found deceased after going missing; his ex-wife is charged

    Wright played for 13 seasons in the NBA, most recently for the Cavaliers.  He previously played for the Clippers, Hawks & Memphis Grizzlies.



    The family of Lorenzen Wright, a former University of Memphis and Memphis Grizzlies basketball player who has been reported missing, said Saturday they suspect foul play.

    The 6-foot-11 power forward was last seen Monday at a Memphis barbershop, where he had his hair cut, said his sister, Adriane Harris.

    Before that, Wright was seen July 18 at his ex-wife’s house in Collierville, she said.

    The family reported his disappearance Thursday to Collierville police, and since then investigators have not found any indications of foul play, said city spokesman Mark Heuberger.

    But family members are not so sure, Harris said. Wright has been out of touch before, but “not to this extent.”

    “If he did go somewhere, someone could get in touch with him,” she said. “No one can.”

    The disappearance of the Memphis native follows several financial and personal setbacks, including a divorce and the foreclosures of two houses.


    His custom-built 17-room home in Eads, Tenn., was repossessed in May by BankTennessee for $1.3 million after Wright and his ex-wife, Sherra, defaulted on their $2.7 million loan, records show.

    Golden State Warriors player Monta Ellis bought the house May 21 for $1.7 million.

    The former couple also bought a house in Atlanta, Ga., in 2006 for $1.3 million. That house was repossessed for $1.1 million by Citibank in January, records show.

    Wright, a 13-season veteran of the NBA, most recently played for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2009 before he fractured his thumb. He has played for the Los Angeles Clippers, Atlanta Hawks and Memphis Grizzlies since being drafted No. 7 overall in 1996.

    — Ryan Poe: 529-2623

    http://www.commercialappeal.com/news...pect-foul-pla/
    Knowing that he had gone missing before makes me wonder if he struggled with depression or maybe something like compulsive gambling?  The financial problems of late are also a cause for concern.  Hope he's found soon.
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    Re: Former NBA player Lorenzen Wright missing from Memphis, TN

    Man, way too many basketball players have been having financial problems lately. This guy is one of several NBA players who have gone missing over the past decade, for various reasons. I hope this guy is just sitting at a bar and letting off some steam, wanting to be alone for a while. If not, he wouldn't be the first well known person to go missing and have a terrible outcome out of it.
    "God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now I am so far behind that I will never die.” - Calvin & Hobbes (God's favorite comic strip)

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    Re: Former NBA player Lorenzen Wright missing from Memphis, TN

    The galling thing is that Lorenzen Wright made 55 million in salary in his pro career, so let's say he was left with 30 mil after taxes.  10 percent of the 55 million probably went to his agents so he should have still had 24 million left to blow after taxes.  He spent maybe 10 million on houses in his career assuming mortgages and that he had more than the 2 houses listed in the article.  Wtf happened to the other approximately 14 million? 

    I just hope he took a road trip to the middle of nowhere TN/MS/AL/AR to get his head straight and will show up safe and sound.  IF the worst case scenario happens, hopefully he is paid up on his life insurance(assuming he has it). 

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    Re: Former NBA player Lorenzen Wright missing from Memphis, TN

    You left out the ten million dollar bling factor.

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    Re: Former NBA player Lorenzen Wright missing from Memphis, TN

    [quote author=HyperU2 link=topic=26217.msg1679486#msg1679486 date=1280036403]
    You left out the ten million dollar bling factor.
    [/quote]

    No doubt!

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    Re: Former NBA player Lorenzen Wright missing from Memphis, TN

    he's been found dead in SE Memphis

    http://www.ajc.com/sports/report-family-friends-mourn-580574.html

    allegedly was shot from 12-18 times.

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    Re: Former NBA player Lorenzen Wright missing from Memphis, TN


    allegedly was shot from 12-18 times.
    Damn.....
    Lurker checking in.

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    Re: Former NBA player Lorenzen Wright missing from Memphis, TN

    It's now coming out that Wright's ex-wife got a visit from some 'wiseguys' not long ago...  :-o

    Attorney: Armed men visited Wright's ex-wife before death

    http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/E...g-visit-073010

    Lorenzen Wright's ex-wife was threatened at her home by three men who were carrying guns and looking for the former NBA player about six weeks before he was shot to death, the woman's attorney said Friday.

    Sherra Wright warned her ex-husband, the father of her children, about the visit by men dressed in sport coats with weapons tucked in their waistbands, lawyer Gail Mathes said. But she was frightened by their threats and didn't tell authorities about it until Monday, when she alerted police in the Memphis suburb of Collierville, near her home.

    ''She was told that if she said anything she would be killed, or her children,'' Mathes said. ''Mrs. Wright was terrified.''

    The body of the 34-year-old athlete was found in woods in Memphis on Wednesday, six days after his family reported him missing. He was last seen around midnight July 18, when he stayed over at his ex-wife's house.

    Sherra Wright told officers he left in the middle of the night with an unidentified person. Police records indicate Wright was probably carrying a large amount of cash when he disappeared.
    From the same article, there are also some concerns about how a 911 call from Lorenzen Wright's cell phone was handled.  Gunshots were heard in the background of the call, but it wasn't reported to police right away.  :|

    An investigation is now under way by police in nearby Germantown, another Memphis suburb, about how a 911 call from Wright's phone early on July 19 was handled.

    Autopsy results haven't been released, so it's not clear when Wright died or how many times he was shot. Police said the medical examiner had to use dental records to establish a positive identity, indicating the body might have been in the woods for some time before it was found by a police search team.

    Memphis police are leading the homicide investigation and won't discuss a motive or if they have suspects. Memphis police Lt. Alan Ruhl said Friday that the department isn't discussing details of the case because the investigation is ongoing.

    Rodney Bright, Germantown's deputy police chief, said department officials did not know about the 911 call until Tuesday, eight days after it was received by a dispatcher in the early morning hours of July 19.

    Bright said Friday he can't discuss what was said on the call, which has been turned over to Memphis police. They also won't talk about the call.

    The Commercial Appeal newspaper, which first reported the call, said the dispatcher heard a garbled male voice utter an expletive and then heard at least 10 gunshots. The call went dead and no one answered when the dispatcher called back, the newspaper reported.

    Police said area law enforcement agencies didn't meet until Wednesday to discuss the case. Investigators were able to locate the source of the call and a few hours after that meeting, officers found Wright's body nearby.

    Police in Collierville had taken the July 22 missing person report. Before Wright was found dead, they had repeatedly said they didn't suspect foul play.

    Wright's friends have questioned why police didn't act with more urgency. Mathes said Germantown police were negligent in failing to report the call to other law enforcement in the area, and the delay has hurt the homicide investigation.

    ''I do believe there was a disregard with a transparent obliviousness to the significance of a call where you hear 10 shots,'' Mathes said.
    It's starting to look like maybe some money problems caught up to him, or perhaps there was a shakedown going on.  But to have timely evidence like a 911 call mishandled is tragic and infuriating at the same time.

    R.I.P., Lorenzen Wright.
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    Re: Former NBA player Lorenzen Wright missing from Memphis, TN

    According to the latest article in the Memphis Commercial-Appeal, Lorenzen Wright's ex-wife is saying that he was somehow involved in drugs.

    The ex-wife of slain former NBA player Lorenzen Wright told Collierville police he left her house on the night of his death with a box of drugs and an unspecified sum of money, according to court records.

    In a sworn statement, Memphis Police Department Sgt. W.D. Merritt said Sherra Robinson Wright called a Collierville detective July 27 and told him Lorenzen Wright left her home July 18 "around 10:30 p.m. carrying a box of drugs."

    He returned a short time later then left a second time with cash, she said.

    Her account to police came five days after his mother reported him missing.

    Sherra Wright told detectives her ex had a conversation on "a 'tracfone' or similar cellular telephone" with an unidentified person before he left with the drugs and money. She also told police he owned an iPhone and made calls from both cells while at her house.

    "During the conversation with the unidentified individual, Sherra Wright told Det. Young she heard Lorenzen Wright say he was going to flip something for $110,000," according to an affidavit obtained by The Commercial Appeal on Tuesday.

    Lorenzen Wright left the Collierville home on Whisper Woods Drive in a vehicle driven by an unidentified person shortly after the call, she said.

    Sherra Wright told police her ex-husband owned two guns, a shotgun kept at her Collierville home and a handgun kept inside the family van. Collierville police searched the home and van but didn't find the weapons.

    Lorenzen Wright's body was found July 28 near a wooded area in Southeast Memphis, six days after his mother reported him missing. His death was ruled a homicide by gunshot wound.

    According to the affidavit, shell casings of different calibers were recovered with Wright's body, but the cell phones he used on the night of his death were not recovered.

    MPD, now in charge of the homicide investigation, sought the search warrant to find documentation that would help determine "if the weapons owned by Lorenzen Wright match the calibers of the bullet shell casings recovered at the location where Mr. Wright was shot to death."

    According to the affidavit, records of the missing cell phones "will be examined in an attempt to identify the individual he was speaking with before he left" the house on July 18.

    Records show MPD's search of the home on Aug. 1 netted only two items: pieces of burned metal and one letter addressed to Lorenzen and Sherra Wright.

    Coleman Garrett, Sherra Wright's attorney, said he has not heard from police since his client's home was searched and doesn't know what the letter was about or why police took it.

    Garrett has advised his client not to make any more statements to police.

    "We don't have anything to say," he said. "We don't have anything to hide either. ... She's saying she didn't have anything to do with it, doesn't know what's behind it and has nothing to add other than what she already told (police) prior to the time that the body was located."

    He said police have never indicated Sherra Wright is a suspect or person of interest.

    "I would not allow her to make any further comment about this matter other than me representing to them that we had nothing to add because we had no knowledge of what was going on here or why it happened," he said. "Our main concern was the welfare of the children. And they (police) are free to do whatever in their investigation, wherever it takes them. But we don't have a dog in this fight."

    He added: "Whatever they're looking for, we don't have it."

    --snip--

    http://www.commercialappeal.com/news...ney-his-death/
    There is so much that is suspicious about her statement.

    First, other articles have said he was supposed to be paying her $20,000 a month in child support, but that he was behind in the payments.  So why let him leave your house with thousands of dollars in cash if he owes you child support money?

    Second, he wasn't reported missing until 4 or 5 days after he was gone.  He left the ex-wife's house with money, drugs, and an unidentified person.. and she wasn't the one to report him missing!  Wright's mother was.  It's as if she was not concerned at all about the circumstances under which he left, or she "expected" him to not return.

    Third, this article says that they kept a shotgun in the family van.  Really?  They have kids at home and she allowed a shotgun to be kept in the family's van?  I find that hard to believe.

    Finally she mentions a Tracfone that he used for a conversation, along with his personal iPhone.  That's convenient that neither phone was ever found, but burnt metal was found at the house.  Any calls he made from his iPhone would of course have records available to back them up from the carrier.  But if there wasn't really a call, it's awfully convenient to make up a throw-away tracfone that's completely untraceable.

    I'm stopping short of saying that she's involved with his death, but IMHO she definitely knows more than she is telling.
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    Senior Member Words Words's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by azkarisma View Post
    There is so much that is suspicious about her statement.

    I'm stopping short of saying that she's involved with his death, but IMHO she definitely knows more than she is telling.
    I know arkarisma isn't here anymore, but they basically called it
    Ex-wife is charged in his death along with someone she went to church with
    http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2...orenzen-wright
    Quote Originally Posted by Jolly Roger View Post
    Because they are probably not ghetto and hood like me.

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    Damn shame!

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    From that link...

    Media reports have said Turner, a landscaper, and Sherra Wright attended the same church. Rallings would not discuss the connection between Turner and Wright, but he said police were confident they knew each other.

    A release from the Shelby County District Attorney's office says Turner and Sherra Wright conspired to kill Lorenzen Wright. Sherra Wright has a court hearing Monday in California. Officials were not certain Saturday when she would be returned to Memphis.

    Police said last month that they had found a gun used in the killing in a lake near Walnut, Mississippi, about 75 miles east of Memphis.

    "The weapon was key," Rallings said.

    The District Attorney's office said the first attempt at killing Wright occurred between April and July 2010 and involved Turner traveling to Wright's home near Atlanta. The indictment says Sherra Wright and Turner acquired firearms and recruited a co-conspirator, who was not named.

    Rallings said police are looking at other people in the investigation.
    Sherra Wright spoke with police after her ex-husband's body was found. According to an affidavit, Sherra Wright told police she saw him leave her home carrying money and a box of drugs on July 18, 2010.

    Before he left, Sherra Wright said she overheard her ex-husband on the telephone telling someone that he was going to "flip something for $110,000," the document said.

    Sherra Wright said Lorenzen Wright left her home in a car with a person she could not identify. The affidavit said Sherra Wright gave the statements to police in the Memphis suburb of Collierville, where she lives, on July 27 -- nine days after he left her house for the last time.

    In the early morning of July 19, a police dispatcher in the suburb of Germantown received a call from Lorenzen Wright's cellphone. Dispatchers acknowledged they heard noises like gunshots before the call was dropped.

    Dispatchers said they didn't alert patrol officers or commanders because they couldn't confirm it came from their jurisdiction. They didn't send a patrol officer or relay the information to Memphis police until days later.

    Wright's mother filed a missing-person report with Collierville police on July 22, 2010. Authorities in Collierville were accused of dragging their feet in the days after the report was filed, and an apparent lack of communication kept authorities from linking the 911 call to the missing-person report.

    Wright's body was found in a field near some woods at the height of summer, complicating the investigation because evidence had likely deteriorated in the heat. An autopsy report showed bullet fragments were lodged in Wright's skull, chest and right forearm.

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    https://www.commercialappeal.com/sto...ght/634487002/

    Bond for Sherra Wright was set at $20 million on Wednesday by Criminal Court Judge Lee Coffee, who cited among other factors the high likelihood of conviction.

    Sherra Wright and co-defendant Billy Ray Turner are charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder in the 2010 death of her ex-husband and NBA star Lorenzen Wright.

    Both have pleaded not guilty. The motive for the killing was the $1 million insurance policy, prosecutors said.

    Coffee also gave significant weight to Sherra Wright's behavior on Tuesday at Shelby County Jail East where she stripped naked and used her clothes to stuff the toilet in an attempt to flood her cell, saying she was "going swimming, y'all."

    The report submitted into evidence by prosecutor Paul Hagerman stated that Sherra Wright caused a "verbal riot," cursed the guards, refused to comply with their orders and was slow to comply when she did.

    It's behavior defense attorney Blake Ballin attributed to her "deteriorating mental health."

    For Coffee, Sherra Wright's failure to conduct herself appropriately while in custody indicates that she would be a danger to Shelby County if released.

    Deborah Marion, Lorenzen Wright's mother wasn't surprised.

    "That's Sherra. All eyes on her," Marion said.

    It's why when she entered the courtroom she mouthed to Marion "I didn't do it."

    "That's just attention," she said of the woman she's known for 20 years.

    Earlier this month bond for Turner was set at $15 million.

    Sherra Wright's bond was higher, as Coffee called her the "linchpin" behind the plot that resulted in Lorenzen's Wright's death.

    Ballin and co-counsel Steve Farese Jr. had asked the court for a $100,000 bond, listing their client's ties to the community, that she would live with her brother, Julius Robinson, and because she was indigent, any bond would be difficult to make.

    No one testified on her behalf.

    They won't appeal the bond issue, Farese said outside the courtroom, because even if it were lowered to $2 million or $500,000 the likelihood of her being able to make it "is not great."

    During Turner's bond hearing prosecutors named a third person in the conspiracy _ Jimmie Martin _a cousin of Sherra Wright's and the person who provided information that led to recovery of a gun used in the murder. The gun was dumped in a lake in Mississippi.

    Hagerman read that document again on Wednesday, which included the revelation that there were other member's of Sherra Wright's family knew about the plot to kill Lorenzen Wright.
    The affidavit read by Hagerman revealed extensive details in the plan to kill Lorenzen Wright, including a failed attempt at his Atlanta condominium in April 2010. The the co-conspirators found an unknown man sleeping on Lorenzen Wright's couch and aborted their plan.

    Lorenzen and Sherra, high school sweethearts, were married for 13 years, had seven children and together buried a young daughter.
    Lorenzen Wright made a 911 call seconds before he was shot, but the call went to Germantown. Although the 911 operator heard multiple gunshots, it was days before the call was reported.

    An autopsy showed Lorenzen Wright was shot in the head, chest and forearm.

    Despite rewards offered through Crime Stoppers and pleas from the family, the case remained cold for years until a tip in 2016 lead to the discovery of the murder weapon in a lake in Walnut, Mississippi.

    Sherra Wright and Turner return to court on July 11

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    I would absolutely love to be on this jury!

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    https://ktla.com/2019/07/25/ex-wife-...renzen-wright/

    THe Verdict in Lorenzen Wright Murder case is out.

    The ex-wife of slain former NBA player Lorenzen Wright pleaded guilty Thursday to facilitation of first-degree murder in his shooting death nine years ago, a surprise development in one of Memphis, Tennessee’s biggest murder cases.

    Sherra Wright also pleaded guilty to facilitation of a criminal attempt to commit first-degree murder in a hearing in Shelby County Criminal Court. Judge Lee Coffee sentenced her to 30 years in prison. Coffee said Sherra Wright would be eligible for parole once she served 30% of her sentence, which would be around nine years.

    Sherra Wright had been scheduled to face a jury in a September trial on first-degree murder charges in the death of her ex-husband. His body was found riddled with gunshot wounds in a swampy field in suburban Memphis in July 2010. He had been missing for 10 days before his body was found.

    The nine-year anniversary of the discovery of Wright’s body is Sunday.

    During the hearing, Sherra Wright answered questions from the judge in a soft voice. She said she has been taking medication for anxiety and depression.

    She had faced a life sentence if convicted at trial.

    Lorenzen Wright’s family members agreed to the plea deal, prosecutor Paul Hagerman said.

    “This is obviously a violent offense, an offense that has torn apart a family, an offense that’s been highlighted throughout Memphis and the media and everything else,” Hagerman said after the hearing.

    Sherra Wright and co-defendant Billy Turner were charged in December 2017 with first-degree murder. Turner’s trial remains scheduled for Sept. 16. He has already pleaded guilty to a gun charge related to Lorenzen Wright’s shooting.

    Hagerman would not say whether Sherra Wright would testify during Turner’s trial.

    Turner, a landscaper in the Memphis suburb of Collierville, and Sherra Wright attended the same church. Witnesses said Sherra Wright masterminded a plan to have two men kill Lorenzen Wright at his home in Atlanta, but that attempt failed, according to an affidavit.

    She and Turner then conspired to kill him in Memphis, and they dumped one of the guns used in the shooting in a Mississippi lake, authorities have said. A gun that was allegedly used in the killing was found in the lake weeks before charges were filed in the case.

    After Sherra Wright entered her plea, the judge allowed Lorenzen Wright’s mother, Deborah Marion, to address the court. Marion spoke directly to Sherra Wright, telling her she wants to see her grandchildren. Marion said she has not been able to visit them.

    “I just hate what happened to my child, but he left some nice-looking kids for their grandma,” Marion said.

    Outside the courtroom, Marion said family members would be attending parole hearings. Marion said she would like to see Sherra Wright serve the full 30-year prison sentence.

    “My son is serving life,” Marion said.

    Defense attorney Juni Ganguli told reporters outside of the courtroom that Sherra Wright’s defense at trial would have been that her ex-husband beat her for years and she was tired of it. He said the defense would have been “scorched earth.”

    “The beatings were consistent, and it led to her face being disfigured,” Ganguli said. “She feared that Mr. Wright would never leave her alone, and she recruited Billy Turner to kill Mr. Wright.”

    Sherra Wright received $1 million from her ex-husband’s life insurance policy. She agreed to a settlement in 2014 in a court dispute over how she spent the insurance money meant to benefit their six children. Defense attorney Laurie Hall said she did not think the life insurance money was a motivation for Wright’s killing.

    Wright’s death shook his hometown of Memphis, where he was a fan favorite thanks to his charity work with youth and his father’s involvement as a coach in summer leagues. Former NBA players and friends including Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway and Elliot Perry attended a memorial service for Wright in the days after his body was found.

    Wright played for the Memphis Tigers in college and the Memphis Grizzlies during his 13 seasons as a forward and center in the NBA.

    Hagerman, the prosecutor, said the case frustrated law enforcement for years and the guilty plea was an important step toward healing by Lorenzen Wright’s family and the city.

    “Celebration is not the right word,” Hagerman said. “This brings them a little bit closer to some closure.”

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    https://wreg.com/2019/07/25/billy-ra...-wrights-plea/

    MEMPHIS, Tenn. — With Sherra Wright's case wrapped up, attention now turns to her alleged accomplice, Billy Ray Turner. The death penalty was off the table for both Wright and Turner, but he could still get as much as life in prison.

    His attorney John Perry maintains his client's innocence, but worries that Sherra might testify against him.

    "I still got a concern. Why? Because that person has the ability to take the stand, and be it a lie or be it the truth, has the ability to point towards my client and say they did x, y, z," he said.



    Sherra Wright’s defense claims years of abuse from Lorenzen

    Perry says he can refute any testimony that connects Turner to Lorenzen's death. He adds that his client had nothing to do with planning or executing the murder.

    But prosecutors tell a different story. They say Turner, Sherra and her cousin Jimmy Martin all conspired to kill the Memphis basketball star.

    Perry says he'll be ready to cross examine Martin should he decide to testify against his client. Martin, as we've reported, isn't indicted in this case, but he's currently in prison for killing his girlfriend.

    Turner pleaded guilty to a gun charge unrelated to this case last month. He faces eight to 30 years in prison for that.

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    https://wreg.com/2019/07/25/sherra-w...urce=related_1


    Here is the reason why the defense went with the plea deal though.

    MEMPHIS, Tenn. ? Sherra Wright pleaded guilty not for shooting Lorenzen, but for having a role in his 2010 murder.

    The admission of guilt was already a surprise, but more shock came from outside the courtroom when her lawyers laid out what her defense would have been had the case gone to trial.

    "The beatings were consistent," defense attorney Juni Ganguli said. "It would have been a scorched earth sort of defense. We would have detailed abuse by Lorenzen Wright against Sherra. She feared that Mr. Wright would never leave her alone and she recruited Billy Turner to kill Mr. Wright, because she was sick of getting beaten."

    Rewis Williams, close friend and former teammate of Lorenzen, told WREG by way of hone that he lived with Lorenzen and never witness abuse. In fact, he's calling the plea deal "no justice" for his long-time friend.

    But Sherra's lawyers are firing back and say the evidence of that abuse can still be seen.

    "The reason her face looks the way it does is because Mr. Wright beat her. If a man that's 6-foot 11-inches hits a woman and fractures her face I suppose there could be some anger from that woman," Ganguli said.

    Wright's attorneys never said if there were medical records to back the accusations of abuse.

    "We had witnesses that would have supported it," Ganguli said.

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    https://wreg.com/2019/07/28/lorenzen...are-mad-at-me/

    MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Nine years after he was killed, and just three days after his ex-wife pleaded guilty to helping facilitate his murder, the family of Lorenzen Wright allowed themselves a small celebration on Sunday.
    Sherra Wright was sentenced to 30 years in prison, but because of the conditions of her plea deal, she could be eligible for parole after serving just nine. It's a face that enrages Lorenzen's family.

    After her alleged crimes, there's only a few sentences that would have satisfied them.

    "Life. Fifty would be good for me. Actually, I would've been better with 50. Because I know she would've been approaching the age where she could't kill nobody else," Lorenzen's mother Deborah Marion said.

    Another topic that will set Lorenzen's family off are the allegations of abuse from Sherra's defense team. They are adamant that Lorenzen was not an abuser and markings on his ex-wife's face can be explained.

    "You know, he was around a lot of people. Somebody would have seen a bruise or something. They said that her face is like that because he beat her face like that. Tell Ganguli to go to the doctor. She's got Bells Palsy. That's why her face is twisted," Marion said.

    Lorenzen and Sherra have six children together that have sadly been caught in the middle of this tragedy. Marion says they've been tricked to side with Sherra in this ordeal.

    She says she loves them all unconditionally, but doesn't understand their negative perception of Lorenzen's side of the family.

    "I don't know why my grandchildren are mad at me. I didn't kill him. Be mad at your mama. I didn't kill my child. I gave him to them, and the mama took him away. I would have never been a part of the murder, period."

    Lorenzen's family says they don't want the public to forget one of Memphis' favorite sons, and they still feel there's a long road ahead.

    "It ain't over. I just want y'all to remember. Just keep on watching. I got some more stuff to tell you, but just not right now," Marion said.

    It was obviously an emotional time for the entire Wright family.

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    A jury on Monday convicted a Tennessee man in the slaying of former NBA player Lorenzen Wright, whose bullet-riddled body was found in a field nearly 12 years ago in his hometown of Memphis.

    The 12-person jury deliberated for about two hours before it found Billy Ray Turner guilty of first-degree murder, attempted murder and conspiracy in the death of Wright, a 6-foot, 11-inch center who played 13 seasons in the NBA before he retired after the 2008-2009 season. Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Lee Coffee sentenced Turner, 51, to life in prison for the murder conviction. He will be sentenced for the other charges at a later date.

    Coffee called Wright ?a sacred son? of Memphis and told his mother, Deborah Marion, that the trial might not bring her closure but to ?celebrate the good? about her son.

    The slaying is one of the most highly publicized murder cases in Memphis history. Wright?s decomposing body was found riddled with bullet wounds in a swampy field in east Memphis on July 28, 2010. The 34-year-old father of six had been missing for days before his body was discovered.

    Turner had already pleaded guilty to possessing a weapon as a convicted felon after he was found with two guns when he was arrested in Wright?s killing in 2017. Turner is serving a 16-year prison sentence on the separate gun charge.

    Prosecutors allege Wright?s ex-wife, Sherra Wright, masterminded a plan to kill her ex-husband and recruited Turner and her cousin, Jimmie Martin, to help her.

    Turner and Sherra Wright were indicted in December 2017, more than seven years after the killing. Sherra Wright entered a surprise guilty plea to facilitation of murder in July 2019 and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

    Turner is a landscaper who knew Sherra Wright from church and, according to prosecutors, had a secret romantic relationship with her.

    At the time of Wright?s slaying, Martin was facing charges of killing his girlfriend, and he said his cousin helped pay part of his legal fees. Martin was convicted and is currently serving prison time, in that case. He has received immunity from prosecution in the Wright case.

    Martin testified that Sherra Wright recruited him and Turner to kill Lorenzen Wright. Parts of his testimony were challenged by defense attorney John Keith Perry, who said the information Martin gave to investigators was a farce and full of lies.

    Martin testified that he and Turner met with Sherra Wright to plan the killing and went to Lorenzen Wright?s condominium in Atlanta to shoot him, with an understanding that he would get paid.

    Armed with handguns, Turner and Martin went to Wright?s condo in Atlanta, entered through a window and found someone sleeping on the couch in the living room ? but it was not Lorenzen Wright, Martin testified. Turner and Martin returned home without killing anyone.

    Martin told prosecutor Paul Hagerman that he was in Batesville, Mississippi, at the time of the shooting just after midnight on July 19, 2010. Martin said he went to the Memphis field with Sherra Wright some days after the shooting and she essentially confessed.

    Lorenzen Wright was visiting Memphis from Atlanta. Sherra Wright said she lured her ex-husband to the field by telling him that she was going to meet someone there to get some money, Martin testified. According to Martin, she said that she and Turner ambushed and chased Lorenzen Wright, who jumped a fence and tried to run away before they shot him in the field.

    The jury has heard a gunshot-filled 911 call made by Lorenzen Wright the night of the killing.

    Martin also said Turner and Wright got rid of evidence from the shooting scene and he went with Turner to dispose of the weapon by dumping it in a north Mississippi lake. Martin said he told detectives in 2012 where the gun was located. It was later found by FBI divers.

    In closing arguments, defense attorney John Keith Perry said Martin?s ?crazy, contrived? story was not believable. Perry said Martin ? not Turner ? was in Memphis the night Lorenzen Wright was shot.

    ?You can?t really give him much credit,? Perry said of Martin.

    Prosecutor Paul Hagerman defended Martin?s testimony, saying Martin?s immunity agreement required him to tell the truth and statements given to investigators and prosecutors have been consistent.

    ?It?s been the same, literally, for 10 years,? Hagerman said.

    Neither Turner nor Sherra Wright testified during the trial.
    https://nypost.com/2022/03/21/man-ge...renzen-wright/
    Quote Originally Posted by bowieluva View Post
    lol at Nestle being some vicious smiter, she's the nicest person on this site besides probably puzzld. Or at least the last person to resort to smiting.
    Quote Originally Posted by nestlequikie View Post
    Why on earth would I smite you when I can ban you?

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