Showing posts with label Lorenzen Wright. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lorenzen Wright. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

BREAKING: Lorenzen Wright Autopsy Released

((HT: MyFoxMemphis))

The autopsy on Lorenzen Wright was released and it shows, to no one's surprise, he died from multiple gunshot wounds- possibly from more than one gun.

Wright’s body was decomposed to the point it was nearly a skeleton when it was found- weighing only 57 pounds.

The medical examiner says Wright was shot twice in the head, twice in the chest and once in the right forearm. More gunshot wounds could not be ruled out, but both medium and small-caliber bullets were apparently found during the discovery phase.

Last month, the Memphis City Council approved a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case.

FoxMemphis reporter Marcus Hunter was with the family as they celebrated Lorenzen Wright's 35th birthday a little over a week ago...

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Sherra Wright: Lorenzen Left Home With Drugs And Cash

((HT: WREG-TV Memphis))

Lorenzen Wright's ex-wife, Sherra's, statements to Collierville ((TN)) police are now public. They don't paint a pretty picture of the day Lorenzen Wright disappeared. According to Sherra, he left their house with drugs and cash on one trip and returned with cash to leave again on a second trip on the 18th of July.

WREG's George Brown has the details from inside their newsroom...
 

In the meantime, Wright has moved out of the home she lived in and has removed her children from school for the time being...
Markova Reed walked up to the house to see what's what...
 

Here's a copy of the search warrant for Sherra Wright's home...

Kristina Goetz from the Commercial Appeal has a quote in her story where Sherra Wright maintains she heard Lorenzen say he was going to "flip something for $110,000."

More when we know more...

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

DEVELOPING: Sherra Wright Not Talking To Police

Remember the talk about Lorenzen Wright's ex-wife being taken (or not taken) into custody over the weekend...?

It gets better...

Now, through her criminal attorney, Coleman Garrett, we now learn that she will not be talking to the Collierville (TN) Police- or any other police department for that matter.

Public statements during Lorenzen Wright's disappearance contradict local police timelines, and facing that, Sherra Wright is clamming up until further notice...

Scott Noll goes chasing for our friends at WREG-TV...
((HT: WREG-TV Memphis))
 

Monday, August 2, 2010

DEVELOPING: Threats Made By Sherra Wright Taped By Lorenzen's Personal Assistant...?

((HT: WPTY-ABC24 Memphis/MyEyewitnessNews.com))

Lorenzen Wright’s former personal assistant says she has audio recordings of Sherra Wright threatening to do something her ex-husband. She claims she played the recordings for Lorenzen, his parents and Memphis police before his murder.

“I have the evidence that she said these things… and she knows it,” Lorenzen’s former personal assistant Wendy Wilson admitted at the crime scene.

Wilson has long maintained that the investigation should center around Sherra, and she has long been vocal of this.

Joyce Peterson has the soundbites from Wilson detailing the tapes and her warnings.


And in the "this may have nothing to do with anything, but we'll throw it out there anyway" department, Lorenzen Wright has been linked to accused Memphis drug kingpin Craig Petties- reported by ABC24's Kevin Holmes.

Two years ago, Wright sold a Cadillac SUV and Mercedes Benz to a "Bobby Cole." Cole had been indicted on drug distribution charges in Atlanta and admitted to FBI agents that he was associated with a drug ring connected to Petties. The cars were ultimately seized by the government.

It does have a bit of a transitive property of association to it, doesn't it...???

Germantown PD Addresses Wright 9-1-1 Call

((HT: MyFoxMemphis))

The Germantown, Tennessee police department addressed the circumstances around the 9-1-1 call that was, eventually, linked to Lorenzen Wright as the last phone call he made before his death.

The Germantown PD conducted an internal investigation as to why the call wasn't followed up any further than the attempted re-dial and triangulatiuon that the department was able to perform.

Tealy Deveraux has the breakdown...


Here are the complete statements from Germantown PD, once again, thanks to our friends at Fox13 in Memphis:

Lieutenant Don Taylor
Richard Frederick
Chris Rowlson

April Thompson from WREG-TV has video of Sherra Wright returning home this weekend and talks to Gail Mathes about the divorce settlement...
((HT: WREG-TV))
 

Sunday, August 1, 2010

BREAKING: Sherra Wright In Police Custody...?

((HT: WPTY-TV Memphis))

According to ABC24 in Memphis, Sherra Wright, the ex-wife NBA'er Lorenzen Wright, is in police custody tonight, in connection with his murder.

((UPDATE: As of 2330 Sunday night, the station pulled that idea off their reports and only added that at least six cop cars were outside Sherra Wright's home Sunday looking for clues in the investigation...))

Sherra Wright was the last person to see him alive, telling local Memphis-area police she saw him leave her house in the Memphis suburb of Collierville back on the 18th.

Detectives spent much of the day searching the grounds for evidence. Investigators could be seen removing several items, and at one point, were in the backyard looking very carefully at Wright's grill and fire pit.

Neighbors reported a large fire in her backyard after Wright's disappearance, and say they thought it was unusual for Wright to light a fire on one of the hottest nights of the year.

((The HQ would like to remind folks that people do cook out even in the Summer, though...))

Kevin Holmes of ABC24 caught up with some neighbors to get their take on the whole murder investigation...

Neighbor Tim Coleman said: “I just heard her talking to somebody about needing her money. I don’t know anymore than that. I really try not to listen to it but when she’s screaming it’s hard not to hear stuff.”

Here's Holmes' report from ABC24 Eyewitness News in full...

DEVELOPING: Wright's Mom Slams 9-1-1 Response

((HT: Memphis Commercial Appeal/Goetz))

Deborah Marion, the mother of slain-NBA'er Lorenzen Wright, is all sorts of fired up about the lack of a response from the Germantown ((TN)) Police Department over the 9-1-1 call that is being scrutinized form one end of the world to the other currently.

To recap quickly, nine days before Wright was discovered in a field shot to death, a 9-1-1 dispatcher for the Germantown Police Department received a call from what was eventually determined to be Wright's cell phone.

You hear an expletive, roughly 10-12 gunshots, and a hang-up. The dispatcher tried to return the call to the phone, but there was no answer. Germantown Police are underoging an internal review as to how in the blue hell the connection was never made that Wright's phone was the origin, and why the call and situation were not forwarded up the chain of command.

Understandably so...

From Goetz:

"They did drop the ball," said Deborah Marion. "How do you call 911 and hear shots and nobody reacts?

"You know, when my grandkids one time was playing on the phone and they called 911, three police showed up at my house. I'm like, 'What are y'all looking for?' They said, 'Well, we've got a 911 hang-up over here.'

"How do three police show up for a 911 hang-up, but nobody does anything when you have a 911 and shots? Somebody's got to answer for this. I want somebody prosecuted because this is not right."


Tom Powell caught up with Gail Mathes, the lawyer of Lorenzen Wright's ex-wife Sherra, for an update on her client's questioning the visit from three armed men to Sherra's house...
((HT: WREG-TV)))
 

Friday, July 30, 2010

DEVELOPING: Wright's Ex-Wife Received "Threatening Visit"

((HT: MyFoxMemphis))

Sherra Wright's attorney, Gail Mathes, says her client was visited three armed men looking for Lorenzen Wright about six weeks before he was found shot to death.

Sherra Wright was afraid for herself and her children so she, apparently, kept quiet about the visit until earlier this week. At that point, she then alerted police in the Memphis suburb of Collierville.

Mathes says the men, dressed in sport coats and able to show that the were armed, threatened Sherra Wright and her family if she told anyone about the visit.

The Commercial Appeal first reported the story.

WREG-TV's Tom Powell goes over the Germantown Police timeline and the gaps dealing with the 9-1-1 phone call...
((HT: WREG-TV))
 

Thursday, July 29, 2010

DEVELOPING: Police Search For Clues In Wright Homicide, 911 Call Under Investigation

((HT: MyFoxMemphis))

Memphis Police used dental records to identify Lorenzen Wright Thursday after his death was ruled a homicide by gunshot wound. 70 police officers combed the wooded area looking for clues in the right disappearance and subsequent death.

((Here is the official document))

Reporters were allowed back to the site early in the afternoon.

The Commercial Appeal and their bevy of reporters got in touch with a Wright family attorney who is less than pleased with the investigation to date:

A lawyer representing the Wright family in previous civil matters said the lack of communication between neighboring jurisdictions was inexcusable.

“It is appalling the Germantown Police Department did not follow up on that 911 call,” said attorney Gail Mathes. “That is a tragic situation with many, many more hours of all the anxiety the family went through.”

The attorney also pointed to the lost time investigating the homicide. Within law enforcement circles, there’s a shared belief that the most crucial time to solve a slaying is within the first 48 hours.


The Memphis Grizzlies released a statement today after the death of Lorenzen Wright:

"We are deeply saddened by the tragic death of Lorenzen Wright. We lost a member of the Grizzlies family. Lorenzen delighted fans on the court with his passion and off the court with his generosity in a Memphis community that watched him grow throughout his playing career at Booker T. Washington High School, the University of Memphis and the NBA."

"In his five seasons with the Grizzlies, Lorenzen played an integral role in guiding this franchise to three consecutive playoff appearances and was a member of the inaugural Memphis Grizzlies team in 2001."

"On behalf of the entire Memphis Grizzlies organization, we would like to express our sincerest condolences to Lorenzen's family during this difficult time."


Meanwhile, the Memphis Police are actively investigating the shooting...
Lauren Lee was back at the murder scene...


2300 UPDATE: From the Commercial Appeal, Germantown ((TN)) are now undergoing an internal investigation as to why no connection was made between the 9-1-1 phone call from Wright's cell phone and linking it to the disappearance of the former NBA'er for nine days and why Police Chief Richard Hall wasn't notified of the call in the first place.

“We’ve got an administrative review on the call because it didn’t come to light until Tuesday,” Hall said.

Hall wouldn’t comment on what actions, if any, the dispatcher took to make sure police responded to the 911 call and searched for a potential gunshot victim.


MyFoxMemphis' Les Smith digs at the 9-1-1 call...


And WREG-TV's Scott Noll angers a local police chief in the process...
 

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

DEVELOPING: Lorenzen Wright's Body Found, Possible Homicide

((HT: MyFoxMemphis))

The missing persons case of NBA veteran Lorenzen Wright has, apparently, come to an unfortunate ending in southeast Memphis. Wright's body was found with multiple gunshot wounds.

Wright's body was found in a wooded area off of the intersection of Hacks Cross and Winchester, and was located behind the Fieldstone Apartments in the Southwind area across the street from the TPC course where the St. Jude Children's Classic is played every year on the PGA Tour.

MPD sources told local media that there were at least a dozen gunshot wounds on Wright's person.

Elliott Perry was a live guest for MyFoxMemphis...
Lauren Lee leads their early coverage...


1830 UPDATE: The Memphis Commercial Appeal reports that Germantown ((TN)) police are investigating a 9-1-1 call hang-up that reportedly came from Wright's cell phone on the 19th. After the operator heard gunshots, the phone was hung up.

Kristina Goetz and Beth Warren report for the CA:

Wright was thought to be carrying some amount of cash when he was last seen leaving his ex-wife’s Collierville home, fueling concerns he may be the victim of foul play, according to a Collierville police report released today.

2050 UPDATE: Here's coverage from our friends at WREG-TV
Team coverage starts with Tom Poweel indoors...
 

2315 UPDATE: Here's early coverage from our friends at WMC-TV
First, when news broke of confirming the body was Wright's...


Goetz and Warren's coverage from the Commercial Appeal yielded the following from the 9-1-1 call that is being investigated...

The (9-1-1) dispatcher heard a garbled male voice utter an expletive, then at least 10 gunshots.
“Hello? Hello? Can you hear me?” the dispatcher said.
Then the phone went dead.
The dispatcher called back.
No one answered.


Coverage continued on WMC-TV in their second hour...


MyFoxMemphis' Greg Gaston caught up with a lot of those close to Wright on the evening the body was discovered... including Former SW Tennessee CC Men's Head Basketball Coach Verties Sails, former Tigers Jeremy Hunt, Andre Allen and Elliot Perry and friend Charles Nelson, a former Treadwell High School Basketball player.

Here's MyFoxMemphis' nightside coverage with Lauren Lee again at a calmer scene...


A news conference with MPD is scheduled in the morning where they hope to have more details of what, possibly, led to the death of Lorenzen Wright.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Lorenzen Wright Missing In Memphis

((HT: Memphis Commercial Appeal/Poe))

Former University of Memphis and Grizzlies player Lorenzen Wright has been reported missing to Collierville ((TN)) police.

Wright has not been seen by his family since Sunday, according to Collierville spokesman Mark Heuberger. He was reported missing by his family back on Thursday.

Police investigators haven't found any indications of foul play in the past 24 hours surrounding the Wright disappearance, but he did have his home foreclosed on in May. Whether that has any bearing on the events of the last week is currently unclear.

His sister, Savia Archie, tells George Brown of WREG-TV that Wright was supposed to fly out of Memphis on Sunday, but he hasn't been heard from the middle of last week.

Here's Wright's draft night from 1996... seventh overall to the LA Clippers...
Mercifully, he escaped...
((HT: NBA on TNT/1987Hawkeyes))


2330 UPDATE: Fox13's Marcus Hunter caught up with Lorenzen's mother to get her version of the timetable since his last contact with the family...
((HT: MyFoxMemphis.com))


SATURDAY UPDATE:
MyFoxMemphis caught up with Wright's mother.
The interview, in its entirety, is below...


Meagan Harris, in the Commercial Appeal, details Wright's financial problems around the foreclosed house...

News of Wright’s disappearance follows the May foreclosure of his custom-built 17-room home by BankTennessee, which repossessed the 12,475-square-foot house in Eads for $1.3 million when Wright and his ex-wife, Sherra, defaulted on their $2.7 million loan, records show. The house was bought May 21 by Golden State Warriors player Monta Ellis for $1.7 million.