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slash wondery. He

2:32

was right inside. Nice move. Lorenzen

2:36

was the hometown boy

2:39

that makes good. He

2:42

made it out of his situation and

2:44

made big. He

2:46

fought so hard on the court and he

2:49

was such an imposing figure. The city just

2:51

would melt with his accomplishments on

2:53

the court. There's thousands

2:55

of little boys in Memphis

2:58

who were impacted by Lorenzen

3:00

Wright. You look at the pictures of

3:02

him, a big smile on his face. He

3:05

was a person who would volunteer for the community.

3:07

He had time for the youth of the city.

3:13

You know, we all fed him love with Lorenzen. It's just the way it

3:15

is. When

3:23

he first disappeared,

3:26

people just thought that maybe he was tired

3:28

and he wanted to get away. His

3:33

mother called me saying that, have you talked

3:35

to Lorenzen? I can't reach him. 911,

3:40

where's your emergency? I don't

3:44

have nothing but gun shots. Lorenzen

3:48

Wright's mother runs toward investigation. Police in

3:51

Memphis, Tennessee have found the body of

3:53

former NBA player Lorenzen Wright. According

3:55

to the autopsy report, it appears that he

3:58

was shot by at least two men. different people. You

4:04

can just listen to that tape and know the

4:06

Houston phone. All

4:09

the speculation started then, you know, what happened. Who

4:12

was involved? This is a big mystery

4:14

in Lincoln. His

4:17

wife basically said that the last time

4:20

that she saw him, he was

4:22

getting into a car with him, an

4:24

unidentified individual. We

4:27

literally threw everything we had at this

4:29

investigation. We wanted to solve it. We

4:32

really, really wanted to solve this case.

4:36

Days become weeks and weeks become

4:38

months and months become years and

4:40

you don't have any answers. We

4:43

never knew if we were ever going to find out

4:45

who killed the Rinsons. Police

4:49

have found the gun they think is used

4:51

to kill the Rinsons right seven years

4:54

ago. How unusual

4:56

is it to find a key piece

4:59

of evidence some seven years

5:01

later? It's the needle in the haystack. They

5:03

found the needle in the haystack. Do

5:07

you believe that someone,

5:09

some people over the last seven

5:11

years, knew who the killer or

5:14

killers were but withheld the

5:16

information? I think that you can

5:18

say for a certainty there was two people that knew. Today

5:23

we're able to announce another piece of

5:25

the puzzle is in place. All

5:29

I can say right now is both defendants have attorneys now.

5:35

How? Why? Who?

5:37

This is Lorenzen Wright. Who

5:40

would be hating

5:42

him that much? First

6:14

on the banks of the Mississippi River, Memphis

6:18

Tennessee has caused a city of contrast.

6:23

As sporadic

6:35

demonstrations continued into the evening, Governor Busse

6:38

has been shot to

6:47

death in Memphis, Tennessee. Memphis

6:51

is a city that unfortunately has

6:53

been divided by race for

6:55

many, many years. Pastor Bill Atkins has

6:58

been a long time advocate for unity

7:00

in the city of Memphis. It's a

7:02

lot better than it used to be,

7:04

but there are still divisions, decisions unfortunately

7:06

are still made along racial lines. But

7:09

in a city divided, both racially

7:12

and economically, there is something that

7:14

brings people together. Basketball

7:24

in Memphis became an instrument

7:26

of change in which brought

7:28

races together. You know, Memphis

7:31

basketball was literally everything and

7:33

Lorenzen was a big part of that. Once

7:40

celebrated as one of Memphis' favorite

7:42

sons, the memory of Lorenzen Wright

7:44

still haunts this town. Put

7:47

in perspective how big the Lorenzen Wright

7:49

story is here in Memphis. It's

7:52

huge. I mean, Lorenzen Wright was

7:54

a true hometown hero. He was beloved. the

8:00

commercial appeal for almost 30 years. We

8:03

talk about big murders in the history of

8:06

Memphis. You got Martin Luther King, okay? You

8:09

can't trump that one, but he comes very close. That's

8:11

significant. That's significant.

8:15

Born in Oxford, Mississippi, Wright moved

8:17

to Memphis to play basketball at

8:19

Booker T. Washington High School. And

8:22

being 6 feet 11 inches tall at 17

8:25

years of age, he turned a lot of

8:27

heads. I

8:29

decided to go take a look for myself. What

8:31

did you say? Oh yeah, I saw this huge

8:33

kid that could run the floor like a gazelle.

8:35

I mean, he could run the floor better than

8:37

any big man I ever saw in my life.

8:41

Lorenzen went on to dazzle fans at the

8:43

University of Memphis, but

8:45

not for long. Think

8:47

about what I'm going to be doing next year, whether I'm

8:49

going to be at the University of Memphis or at the

8:51

NBA. The Los

8:53

Angeles Clippers select Lorenzen Wright.

8:57

When he stepped into that podium, everybody

8:59

just cheered. I

9:01

mean, every waterhole, every sports bar

9:04

in this town had it on the TV screen. Everybody

9:06

was watching. Everybody was cheering.

9:09

Lorenzen Wright spent the next 13 seasons

9:11

in the NBA, playing for

9:13

five different teams around the country.

9:15

He reportedly earned a career total of

9:18

$55 million. Wright

9:21

was known for his hard work on the court. This

9:24

is the line of Wright's reject, Jordan and the fans. But

9:27

it was his work off the court that

9:29

truly endeared him to his fans at home.

9:33

He never met a fan that he didn't

9:35

like. He

9:38

would sign every autograph that he came across. Perhaps

9:41

no one knew Lorenzen better than

9:44

Phil Dodson, Wright's best

9:46

friend and fraternity brother at the

9:48

University of Memphis. He

9:51

was a pillar in the community, always volunteered,

9:53

always would be one of the first ones

9:55

to raise their hand when the team would

9:57

ask for a player to go into a...

10:00

a children's hospital or to go and speak at a

10:02

school or an event. He was just that type of

10:04

guy. He was one young

10:06

man that was working to make

10:08

a difference and he symbolized hope

10:10

in our community. Philanthropist Gail

10:13

Rose is as dedicated to the

10:15

city of Memphis as Laurentian was.

10:18

They were once king and queen of the Mardi

10:20

Gras. My relationship was

10:22

really about our mutual interest

10:24

in Memphis and

10:27

that generous big heart of it. It

10:30

was Gail's son Max that brought them

10:32

together at a summer basketball camp. Laurentian

10:35

took a very special liking

10:37

to Max and you know

10:40

for Max at age 11 this is a hero,

10:43

a real life hero that

10:46

he gets to be in the gym with. Laurentian

10:49

is an example to

10:51

every young boy. It doesn't

10:54

matter if white or black that

10:56

if you work hard and you have the

10:58

gifts that you can get

11:00

at this level, he loves

11:03

children. Especially

11:07

his own. Wright

11:09

was the father of seven children. He

11:12

married his high school girlfriend, Sherra

11:14

Robinson, after his second season in

11:16

the NBA. Laurentian

11:19

was in high school playing for Sherra's father.

11:22

Her father was one of Wright's coaches. And

11:26

she would come to practices and I believe that's

11:28

how they met. Life

11:31

in the NBA can be hard on a family.

11:34

Working on the road in cities far

11:36

from home for months at a time

11:38

can stress even the best of marriages.

11:41

The arguments primarily were about two

11:44

things, infidelity and finances. Being

11:47

married and having kids at such an early

11:49

age, he was I think forced to be

11:51

an adult really quick and

11:54

at the same time in that world

11:57

not really being focused on His

12:00

relationship and his marriage is probably should

12:02

have been in

12:05

2001 right signed with the Memphis

12:07

Grizzlies He was back home

12:09

with his family and with money in

12:12

his pocket I think he had just signed a

12:14

six-year forty two million dollar deal at that point

12:16

So he was he was great. It

12:18

turns out though that more money

12:21

meant more problems They

12:23

both unfortunately like to spin and I

12:25

do mean spend Most

12:27

married couples have trouble with lack

12:29

of finances His problem was

12:31

affluence and how to handle that

12:34

affluence and that caused severe issues

12:36

between him and his wife But

12:40

it was a family tragedy in 2003

12:43

that would break the renzen's heart and Eventually

12:46

his marriage for good His

12:48

daughter Sierra passed away of sudden infant

12:51

death syndrome. She was probably

12:53

around 11 months old at the time of her passing Which

12:56

was very hard on him Over

13:01

the next few years Lauren's and

13:03

Shera separated and later divorced Lauren's

13:06

and was traded to Atlanta which

13:08

he would call home after leaving the NBA in

13:11

2009 While

13:13

Shera and the kids stayed in Memphis

13:15

I Got

13:24

a phone call from him that he had gotten in

13:26

town Lorenzen often

13:28

returned to Memphis from Atlanta to spend

13:31

time with his kids That

13:35

Sunday evening we had gone to pick up

13:37

his son the resin jr. From the gym

13:40

even playing basketball that evening And

13:43

Dodson says Shera insisted right bring

13:45

their son home to her house

13:47

that night and I ended

13:49

up dropping them off That night

13:52

at about 10 o'clock p.m. And When

13:55

I dropped them off. He said let me go

13:57

in here and deal with this and I give

14:00

you a call later. But

14:02

Lorenzen never called his friend that night.

14:06

Instead, he called for help. Start hand

14:08

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episode is brought to you in part by

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15:05

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15:08

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15:11

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adventure awaits. Two

15:40

days after dropping off Lorenzen at

15:42

his ex-wife's home, his friend Phil

15:45

Dotson got an unexpected call. It

15:48

was Lorenzen's mother, looking for her

15:50

son. Have you talked to

15:52

Lorenzen? I can't reach him. And

15:55

I said, well, I figured he might just be out

15:57

of town. He's not answering the phone call. I

16:00

reached out to him as well and didn't hear anything back.

16:04

After not hearing from her son for

16:07

more than 48 hours, Deborah Marion filed

16:09

a missing persons report with the police.

16:12

This is April from Channel 3. April

16:14

Thompson, an investigative reporter at the

16:17

CBS affiliate in Memphis, was on

16:19

this story from the start. His

16:22

mother Deborah really kind of pushed that something's

16:24

not right and made people realize that he

16:26

wouldn't have been gone this long that no

16:28

one heard from him. Nowhere

16:31

he could be that I don't know where he is. He

16:35

checked all his friends from here to Atlanta,

16:38

Mississippi, everywhere, so I don't have a

16:40

clue. It

16:42

was really kind of strange in how it happened

16:44

that he had disappeared and he was gone over

16:46

all of these days and nobody knew anything. Most

16:50

troubling for Lorenzen's family was that he

16:52

seemed to have disappeared without a trace.

16:55

People can go straight to voicemail. Just

16:57

ring four tabs and go straight to voicemail. But

17:01

what they didn't realize at the time

17:03

was that Lorenzen had actually left behind

17:05

a clue. On

17:11

the 911 recording, Lorenzen's dying

17:14

words. Hi, how's it going?

17:17

Jordan, here on 911. Where's your emergency? And

17:20

the sound of 11 gunshots. Hello?

17:24

Hello? That

17:29

frantic call was placed at 12.05 a.m.

17:31

on the morning of July 19th, just

17:35

hours after Lorenzen was dropped off

17:37

at Sherrah's. Hello?

17:40

The call came in to a 911 dispatcher

17:43

in Germantown, Tennessee, a

17:45

suburb of Memphis. But

17:47

it ended before the caller could give

17:50

his name and location. Hello? I

17:52

don't have nothing but gunshots. The

17:55

dispatcher had trouble identifying the exact

17:57

location of the call and

17:59

for reasons that are still unclear.

18:02

The Germantown police did not

18:04

investigate or notify any surrounding

18:06

police departments. Lorenzen

18:08

Wright had made a desperate call for

18:11

help and

18:13

no one knew about it. As

18:17

the days passed, Lorenzen's disappearance became

18:19

one of the biggest mysteries Memphis

18:21

had ever seen. Lorenzen's

18:24

ex-wife, Sherra, went on the news,

18:27

appearing shaken. He was fun.

18:31

And he's fun now and I can't, I'm not

18:33

gonna believe anything other than that he's fun

18:35

now. She

18:37

said the last time she saw Lorenzen was

18:40

on that Sunday night, July 18th, at her

18:42

home. He wasn't able to

18:44

spend a night because he wasn't here

18:46

quite that long, but he ran

18:48

out and he never came back. But

18:51

a few days later, when police questioned Sherra,

18:54

her story had surprising new

18:56

details. By her account,

18:59

he left with a box of drugs. She

19:02

implied that Lorenzen was involved in

19:04

some sort of drug transaction and

19:07

was planning to quote, flip something

19:09

for $110,000. She

19:12

also told the police that there were these

19:15

mysterious gunmen who were stalking him in the

19:17

days before the murder. Then

19:20

on July 28th, 10 days

19:22

after Lorenzen was last seen, Shelby

19:25

County authorities were finally told about the

19:27

911 call. Why

19:30

it took that long remains a question.

19:33

Where is your emergency? That

19:35

day, using more precise cell

19:37

phone data and aided

19:39

by cadaver dogs, the search was

19:42

on. Police

19:45

in Memphis, Tennessee have found the

19:47

body of former NBA player Lorenzen

19:50

Wright. The police find Lorenzen's body

19:52

near a backwoods road, some

19:54

20 miles outside of Memphis. I

20:00

saw Deborah, his mom, running down

20:03

the road trying to get to

20:06

his body. It was a total

20:08

shock. It was just

20:10

unbelievable that he was dead. I

20:14

literally fell off my

20:16

chair and on the ground

20:19

and cried. The coroner's

20:21

report said he'd been hit by five

20:23

bullets from two different guns. Two

20:26

shots to the head, two to the chest

20:28

and one to his right arm. He

20:31

was still wearing a watch and a chain.

20:34

Somebody just murdered him.

20:37

Not for money, not for robbery. Just

20:40

wanted him dead. To April

20:43

Thompson, the crime seemed personal.

20:45

Whoever had something to do with this,

20:47

it was something deep

20:49

down. It was very

20:51

emotional. It was very emotional. Blood

20:56

started spreading and suspicion quickly

20:58

fell on Sherra. All

21:01

of the arrows were pointing towards her.

21:03

When you have a murder, the person

21:05

close to him is the most obvious

21:07

person. Tony Armstrong

21:09

served with the Memphis PD for 27

21:12

years and was their deputy

21:14

director back then. In my experience

21:17

in working homicides, there's always been somebody

21:19

to come to that person's defense. You

21:22

got the wrong person. That's just

21:24

not in this person's character to do this. I

21:27

never got that with Sherra. People

21:29

running to her defense, meaning? Not to me. Sherra

21:32

had told Renzen's hometown turned out

21:35

in force to say one last

21:37

emotional goodbye at the FedEx Forum.

21:40

His grandmother, his

21:43

father Herb, his

21:45

mother Deborah, his

21:48

ex-wife Sherra, and

21:51

their six children were dealing

21:53

in their own ways with Renzen's death.

22:01

With the community still in

22:03

shock, the city's mayor, A.C.

22:05

Wharton, made this promise. We

22:08

are working night and day

22:11

and that justice will

22:14

be done. That's our pledge.

22:37

Despite the enormous pressure to solve

22:39

the murder of Lorenzin Wright, the

22:41

investigation was hampered from the very

22:43

beginning. What

22:45

was different about this particular case is

22:48

that you're nine days behind. Nine days

22:50

behind? Because his body wasn't found for

22:53

a long time after he had initially been

22:55

reported missing. Important

22:58

forensic evidence was lost due

23:00

to decomposition and

23:02

the killers had a nine day head start.

23:07

When we first picked this case up, we

23:10

inherited a cold case. Meanwhile,

23:14

in their search for possible

23:17

suspects, detectives were uncovering details

23:19

of Lorenzin's private life. And

23:22

it was troubling. So that right

23:24

handed baby hook shot and Wright puts it home.

23:27

Even though he had reportedly earned more than 55

23:30

million dollars during his NBA career, Lorenzin

23:32

had burned through most of the money

23:35

and was almost broke at the time

23:37

of his death. They

23:39

had two homes, expensive homes that were

23:42

in foreclosure. Shera said they

23:44

were bouncing checks left and right. Two

23:46

years before the murder, Lorenzin was

23:49

in need of cash and sold

23:51

two of his luxury cars to

23:53

a man named Bobby Cole. Cole

23:56

was a drag racer who worked the circuit.

24:00

turns out he also had

24:02

ties to a notorious drug

24:04

syndicate. Authorities were

24:06

already watching Cole when Lorenzen sold

24:08

him the cars and

24:10

investigators suspected the vehicles were used

24:13

to launder drug money. Now

24:16

the $64,000 question

24:18

with that is, was Lorenzen a willing part

24:20

of this? I've been told that the connection

24:22

was real tenuous that Lorenzen didn't really know

24:25

Bobby Cole, that he was introduced by a

24:27

third party and it was kind of a

24:29

passing relationship. They questioned, you know, was he

24:32

doing it for laundering money? But

24:34

Lorenzen bought cars like you and

24:36

I buy shirts and

24:38

he just, you know, he'd get tired of it, he'd sell

24:40

it. Just simply put. The

24:43

DEA ultimately found no drug

24:45

connection between Lorenzen and Cole,

24:48

but it cast a shadow over Lorenzen's

24:50

squeaky clean image and reinforced

24:53

Shera's accusations that he was involved

24:55

in a high stakes drug transaction

24:57

the night he was murdered. What

25:01

troubled me the most was Lorenzen

25:04

was killed twice. He

25:07

was killed physically. Then

25:09

his character was assassinated. People

25:12

now don't think of him as that

25:15

charming, happy young man who played for

25:17

Memphis. Now they think of him as

25:19

a drug dealer. Despite

25:21

the drug allegations against Lorenzen,

25:24

many people were still suspicious of

25:27

Shera. Three months

25:29

after the murder, she agreed to talk

25:31

to April Thompson. What

25:33

was that like? I was

25:35

surprised that she agreed to

25:37

the interview. There

25:40

was a lot of speculation going around that

25:42

she knew something, that she had something

25:44

to do with it. And I

25:47

just told her, I said, this is your

25:49

opportunity to tell your side

25:51

of the story. Did

25:54

you have anything to do with

25:56

Lorenzen's murder? No, I

25:58

didn't. No. If

26:02

I knew who did this to Lorenzo, you

26:04

would know who did this to Lorenzo. I

26:08

have heard people say that she liked the

26:10

wealth. I asked her what she

26:12

was doing for money. So how are you getting

26:15

by now? I was married to an NBA

26:17

basketball player for 13 years, April. My

26:22

watch is a car, or my

26:24

ring is a house. I mean,

26:27

he was good to me. 14

26:30

months after Lorenzen's death, Shera

26:33

received a million-dollar life insurance

26:35

payout. This

26:37

million-dollar insurance policy was set up for

26:40

the benefit of their children.

26:42

And, of course, she and the mother wound

26:44

up being the fiduciary. So that's an intriguing

26:46

element to this. Did she have a

26:48

financial motive in all of this? Because here's a

26:50

quick million. But

26:52

before long, Shera was nearly

26:54

broke again, having blown

26:57

through the million dollars in just

26:59

10 months, spending most

27:01

of it on expensive homes, luxury

27:04

cars, and extravagant trips.

27:07

When you're used to spending $40,000, $50,000 a month and

27:11

just change, just

27:14

spendable income, and you get accustomed

27:16

to that, you know, $10,000 a month

27:18

seems like poverty row. By

27:22

early 2014, almost four

27:24

years after the murder, Shera

27:26

had moved on and remarried. And

27:30

still, there were no arrests for the

27:32

murder of Lorenzen Wright, the

27:34

case Ruke Holt. I

27:38

don't remember ever going

27:40

more than a month without

27:43

somebody asking me about Lorenzen Wright's murder. Have you all

27:45

made any headway on it? Where are you on it?

27:50

Oddly, nearly five years after

27:52

Lorenzen's death, it

27:54

was Shera who drew attention back to

27:56

herself by publishing a book

27:58

called, Mr. tell me

28:00

anything. It was about

28:03

a philandering NBA player. When

28:05

you read this book you go like

28:08

wow. Shera claimed it

28:10

was based on her life with Lorenzen. The

28:13

book is about a woman who

28:15

has been wronged, who's very embittered, who's

28:17

been abused emotionally, has been cheated on.

28:21

And Shera also claimed to be writing

28:23

a sequel with a philandering husband in

28:25

her first book is

28:27

murdered. Shera was very

28:29

interested in getting money. After

28:35

her book was published, Shera agreed

28:37

to an interview with Calvin Cowans,

28:39

a freelance reporter. It

28:42

would prove to be a fateful meeting. In

28:45

walks this five foot ten goddess.

28:48

I just couldn't forget you know how

28:50

I felt when I saw her. I thought she was beautiful. Her

28:55

perfume was unfair you know

28:57

and so that's

28:59

how it all started. I had

29:01

never interviewed a woman and then dated

29:03

her. Never crossed the line. Never have

29:06

gotten romantically involved with an interview subject.

29:08

Never, not one. Shera was the first.

29:11

Within six months she agreed to leave

29:13

her marriage, leave Memphis

29:16

and move with him to Houston. Houston

29:19

was my idea. And she was up for it.

29:21

Absolutely. She was going through a divorce and so

29:23

she felt like it would be a new start

29:25

for her and the kids as well. And

29:28

I was like okay let's do it. What was

29:30

life with Shera like? It was

29:32

great. Shera was,

29:34

she's hilarious. She's funny, she's

29:37

spiritual, she's a great mom. I

29:39

mean we had a great time. Even

29:43

though Calvin had heard the rumors

29:45

about Shera's involvement with Lorenzin's murder,

29:47

he remained devoted to her. I didn't

29:50

even believe she had anything to do with it. I

29:52

would never have moved away with her if I thought she was

29:55

guilty. You know you have to understand she

29:57

had written a book about her life

29:59

with Lorenzin. Okay? Now where

30:01

I come from, you don't write books about people

30:03

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2016, six

31:53

years after the murder of hometown hero,

31:55

Lauren's in right, Memphis had

31:57

all but given up hope that the crime would.

32:00

be thought. How

32:03

did this impact the city as a whole? Clouds

32:06

hung over the city for some time.

32:08

The grief over losing Lorenzin. But then

32:10

just this thing of, you

32:12

know, why can't they catch these guys? What's

32:15

going on? A

32:19

lot of people expected some kind

32:21

of resolution and it just seemed like there

32:23

wasn't one. Well, I know at the time,

32:25

Tony Armstrong was their chief of police and

32:27

this is very personal to him. And

32:31

he pledged that he would

32:33

find the killer. Armstrong says

32:35

his department never gave up

32:37

on the investigation. I

32:39

can tell you that we threw everything but the

32:41

kitchen sink at this investigation. And

32:45

it was personal. He

32:47

had been meeting regularly with Wright's

32:49

grieving mother, Deborah Marion. It

32:52

was heartbreaking, just gut wrenching to

32:55

sit across the desk and talk to her and to see

32:57

the pain that she was in. I

33:00

wanted to be able to make that phone call to her and tell her

33:03

that we found the person responsible for this. I wanted

33:05

to deliver that news to her and we just

33:09

wasn't able to at that time. Meanwhile,

33:14

the relationship between Wright's ex-wife Sherra

33:16

and Kelvin Cowan's had soured. I

33:18

can't say it didn't work out

33:20

because she was an awful

33:23

person, but there were signs

33:25

of greed that

33:28

I wasn't used to. The

33:30

tipping point came when Lorenzen's father, Herb Wright,

33:32

received a $200,000 check from the NBA for

33:36

his son's estate. She's

33:39

telling me about it and she's asking me what should I do

33:41

about this money? Should I go after? Should I go to court?

33:43

And I said, no. I

33:45

said, leave the money alone. Let them put it in the

33:47

kids' trust. They can get it later. We're doing good. And

33:49

she was like, no, I don't want Herb

33:51

to have it. I'm like, nothing is going to be

33:54

enough for you. The

33:57

couple left Houston and went their separate.

34:00

way. Rob Stewart, Jr. Calvin came

34:02

back home to Memphis and Shera

34:04

moved her kids to Riverside, California, where

34:06

her brother is the pastor of a

34:08

church. Within

34:11

months, she was married for a

34:13

third time to a music producer,

34:15

Tim Robertson. Back

34:21

in Memphis, the rumor mill

34:23

implicating Shera was still grinding

34:25

away. She

34:28

was at the spotlight of this whole thing

34:30

as kind of seemingly suspect number one. But

34:34

rumors don't equal proof, and

34:37

police director Tony Armstrong's tenure had come

34:39

to an end. I

34:41

had already announced my retirement. I

34:44

remember having a conversation with an investigator by

34:46

the name of Devin Goodsey. And

34:48

he asked me for permission to look into

34:50

the case and said that he felt

34:52

that he could solve it. I knew that

34:55

he was on to something, and

34:57

I just prayed that he would have some success with

34:59

it. Armstrong's

35:04

prayers were answered. Seven

35:07

years after the murder of Lorenzen Wright on

35:09

November 9, 2017, acting on a tip, Memphis

35:14

police went to this lake in

35:16

Walnut, Mississippi. Here

35:19

in the murky red clay water, they

35:21

found a gun believed to be used

35:23

in the killing. They

35:26

found the murder weapon. And

35:29

for them to be able to recover their gun

35:31

is a pretty remarkable thing. Although

35:34

Kelvin Cowans had broken up with Shera, he

35:37

thought she would be happy when the gun

35:39

was found. But he

35:41

didn't get the reaction he expected when

35:43

he called her to celebrate. I said,

35:45

hey, the police have done this great

35:47

thing. They killed

35:49

Lorenzen. We got on the phone and

35:52

she wasn't happy about it at all. And

35:55

that bothered me. That

35:58

was when I first started. I started

36:00

to believe that, you know what, maybe

36:02

I haven't been looking at grief all this

36:05

time. Maybe I've been looking at guilt. After

36:08

finding the gun, the case took

36:10

an unexpected turn. On

36:13

December 5th, police arrested this man,

36:16

Billy Ray Turner, in

36:18

a convenience store in Collierville, Tennessee.

36:21

It was almost like a surreal moment, really. I

36:23

mean, because, you know, we kept hearing these things

36:25

about Shera, and then they arrested this

36:27

guy, Billy Turner, who nobody had ever heard of. He

36:29

is Billy Ray Turner, and how does he

36:31

fit into the case? If

36:33

he is who this investigation says

36:36

that he is, he's

36:38

a murderer. He's a cold-hearted murderer.

36:42

Billy Ray Turner was then a 47-year-old landscaper. He

36:46

took care of Shera Wright's lawn and was also

36:48

a deacon at her church. A

36:51

lot of people, when they talk about Billy Ray

36:53

Turner, his friends and congregants out there, they say,

36:55

hey, they got the wrong guy. But

36:58

they may not have known that

37:00

Turner is also an ex-convict who

37:02

served time for assault and kidnapping

37:04

over two decades ago. As

37:07

far as Mr. Billy Ray, I have never

37:09

met him, don't know him, but I

37:12

do know that Shera is

37:14

quite capable of

37:16

manipulating a man. Shera's the

37:18

type of person where she can make you go jump

37:20

off a bridge. Get

37:23

back up, go back up there, and jump again. Okay?

37:27

After Turner's arrest, Shera and Cowans

37:29

spoke by phone again. She

37:32

was telling me that the media was hounding her for

37:34

an exclusive about the finding of the gun

37:36

and the arrest of Billy Ray Turner, and

37:38

I was like, why don't you do it?

37:41

You know, it's unnatural for you not to do it, you

37:44

know? And she's like, well, they're just gonna twist my words.

37:46

I said, the public wants to hear from you, Shera, you

37:48

know? And she just wasn't with it.

37:52

Ultimately, it wasn't up to Shera

37:54

Wright. Memphis Police just

37:56

announced Lorenzen Wright's ex-wife

37:59

Is now charged with murder. Ten

38:03

days after turn his arrest,

38:05

she was taken into custody

38:07

in Riverside California back in

38:10

Memphis. Despite all the rumors,

38:12

the news evoked mixed feelings.

38:17

For. The Tough: I just sat there.

38:21

thinking. Just. How

38:24

could you. How

38:27

could you see? Was arrested and

38:29

hours were just. Blown

38:31

Up has. Some part of me to

38:33

be honest with you, that doesn't wanna

38:35

believe that and just. Can't.

38:39

Can't take that. An Memphis police

38:42

did not say why they arrested

38:44

Shera. But seven long years after

38:46

the murder of a rinse and

38:49

right, they finally got their. that

38:53

you have mart of mass saw. The

38:59

journey has laid you right back to the person

39:02

that we're supposed to be as close to him

39:04

and about it and it was his wife so

39:06

is easy for some as they will.the obvious suspect

39:08

was right there. Flaneurs, you. The whole time

39:10

when look at an apostle life you

39:12

to basically say they did never gave

39:14

up investigated, it took a poisonous investigation.

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only. On to thought overheating. box.com.

40:30

On the former wife of NBA star, Lorenzen

40:32

Wright appeared at an extradition hearing today. Shera

40:35

Wright faces a charge of first-degree murder for his

40:37

death. After the arrest of

40:39

Shera Wright in December 2017, the

40:42

Memphis Court of Public Opinion seemed

40:44

to come to its own conclusion.

40:48

Do you think Shera

40:50

Wright killed Lorenzen

40:52

Wright? I hate to say it,

40:54

but it seems like she did. I

40:56

do. I think Lorenzen was

40:58

killed. How many? I believe

41:02

she did. Ain't

41:04

that hard to say? On January

41:06

25, 2018,

41:08

the real court of Shelby County weighed in.

41:12

Shera Wright was extradited from

41:14

California to Tennessee. And

41:16

there she was, in an orange

41:18

jumpsuit, arraigned for the murder

41:21

of her ex-husband. It's really hard, but I'm

41:23

glad. I've been waiting for seven years for

41:25

this. Shera

41:27

Wright and Billy Ray Turner were

41:29

charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy,

41:32

and attempted murder.

41:34

Assistant District Attorney Paul Hagerman is

41:37

one of Shelby County's best prosecutors,

41:40

but he's trying to manage expectations.

41:42

Two descendants, years and years, a

41:44

whole case for years and years,

41:47

it's challenging. Billy

41:49

Ray Turner has hired John Keith

41:51

Perry Jr., an experienced

41:53

defense attorney with a good record.

41:55

He has family, a Christian family.

41:58

They are steeped in faith. And

42:00

they know that at the end of the day, they

42:02

have the strongest belief as well

42:04

as I that Mr. Turner will

42:06

be exonerated at the end. Shearer

42:08

now has two court-appointed attorneys, Junie

42:11

Ganguly and Lori Hall. Wright

42:14

and Turner pled not guilty to

42:17

all charges. But

42:19

the indictments revealed two startling

42:21

claims. One, a

42:24

previous murder attempt by Wright and

42:26

Turner. Supposedly a few

42:28

weeks before they actually killed

42:30

him, they tried to kill him down in Atlanta. They

42:33

actually say that Billy Ray Turner was

42:35

in Lorenzen's house. And

42:39

the second claim, a third person

42:41

was involved, someone who claims

42:43

to have been in on it. Do

42:47

you think that someone knows, has

42:51

known, who the killer or

42:53

killers were, but has just held on

42:55

to the information? Yes,

42:57

I do. How

43:00

did they find this gun in the lake? I

43:02

mean, I've heard stories about that. Who knows what

43:04

and how it all fits together. Calvin

43:07

Cowans tried to put all the

43:09

pieces together by writing a book

43:11

about his complicated relationship with Shearer

43:13

Wright. No one wants to come

43:16

to a realization that a mother with

43:18

no criminal background mothered

43:20

seven of his children. Would

43:24

be involved in his murder. No

43:27

one wants to believe that. At

43:30

a bond hearing in May 2018, a stunning revelation. The

43:36

prosecution identified

43:39

the alleged co-conspirator. The court was in the case

43:42

of a man who was a victim of

43:45

a murder. He was a victim of a murder. A

43:48

stunning revelation. The

43:50

prosecution identified the alleged

43:52

co-conspirator. His name

43:54

is Jimmy Martin, a

43:57

convicted murderer currently serving time

43:59

in prison. He's

44:01

also Sherra Wright's cousin. Martin

44:06

claims that it was he who plotted

44:08

with Billy Ray Turner and Sherra to

44:10

kill Lorenzen Wright, first

44:12

in an aborted attempt in Atlanta, and

44:15

then in Memphis. Martin

44:23

alleges that he was not present for the actual

44:25

murder, but he did help

44:28

Turner and

44:36

Wright clean up the crime scene. He

44:39

also claims that he went with Turner

44:41

to the Mississippi Lake to throw away

44:43

that gun. Martin

44:46

stated he accompanied Billy Turner to the

44:48

lake where Billy Turner was supposed to

44:50

pose a handgun that was used to

44:52

murder Lorenzen Wright. Prosecutors

44:56

allege that Wright and Turner had

44:58

a sexual relationship and

45:00

that they killed Lorenzen Wright for his

45:02

million dollar insurance policy. As

45:05

Sherra left the courtroom, she

45:07

and Turner exchanged a passing glance.

45:12

Prosecutors have decided not to seek the death

45:14

penalty in the case, which is

45:16

fine with Lorenzen's family. His

45:18

mother told me directly, I have had to

45:21

live with the loss of a son and

45:23

death would be too easy. So

45:26

they don't want the death penalty. But

45:29

I think they want to know the details of

45:31

what happened and all of that should come out in

45:33

court. Not seeking death could

45:36

signal that the prosecution believes this

45:38

case is not open and shut.

45:41

I expect nothing but a fight. And

45:44

fight they did. But

45:47

this week, stunning news. Sherra

45:50

Wright pleaded guilty to facilitation of

45:53

first degree murder. The

46:00

case of Lorenzo on your case

46:02

does that what you want to

46:04

say? She

46:07

received a 30-year prison sentence. Finally,

46:11

nine years after the tragic

46:13

death of Lorenzo Wright, this

46:15

plea offers some solace to

46:17

his mother and

46:19

maybe a measure of closure for the

46:21

city of Memphis, still

46:23

in mourning for its favorite son.

46:28

He was a one young man that

46:30

was working to make a difference

46:33

in his children's lives and other

46:35

children's lives. He was a generous

46:37

heart and he

46:39

symbolized hope

46:41

in our community. Now,

46:46

it would be a shame if throughout

46:48

all this that we forgot that.

46:52

Lorenzen Wright from the University

46:54

of Memphis. If Lorenzen

46:56

had never made the NBA, he'd

46:59

be alive and well right

47:01

now. And I want everybody to know

47:03

in this city that he was a good guy. Not

47:06

what he was portrayed to be, but

47:09

a good human being. In

47:14

2022, Billy Ray Turner

47:16

was convicted for the murder of

47:19

Lorenzen Wright and sentenced to life

47:21

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