244. The All-Star Murder: The Tragic Case of Lorenzen Wright

Summary

Podcast Summary: Murder With My Husband Episode 244: The All-Star Murder: The Tragic Case of Lorenzen Wright Release Date: November 25, 2024 Host/Author: OH NO MEDIA

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Introduction

In Episode 244 of "Murder With My Husband," hosts Peyton and Garrett Moreland delve into the tragic and complex case of Lorenzen Wright, a promising NBA star whose life was cut short under mysterious and sinister circumstances. This detailed exploration uncovers the layers of success, personal turmoil, and ultimately, betrayal that led to his untimely demise.

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Background: Rise to Stardom

Lorenzen Wright was born on November 4, 1975, in Oxford, Mississippi, and later moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where his father, Herb Wright—a retired NBA player—joined the Memphis Police Department. Despite his father's debilitating injury from a line-of-duty shooting, Lorenzen pursued basketball passionately, quickly becoming a local high school sensation and attracting national attention.

Notable Quote:

"By the time Lorenzen was a teenager, he was already pushing 6ft, 11 inches tall and dominating his high school basketball court."
(07:23)

Lorenzen's hard work paid off when he was the seventh overall pick in the 1996 NBA draft, joining the Los Angeles Clippers and later the Atlanta Hawks, bringing him closer to his hometown of Memphis. His burgeoning career made him a millionaire overnight, allowing him to provide luxuriously for his family alongside his wife, Shara Robinson, whom he married in 1998.

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Personal Struggles and Financial Decline

Despite his professional success, Lorenzen's personal life began to unravel. In 2003, the couple faced the heartbreaking loss of their daughter, Sierra, to sudden infant death syndrome. This tragedy exacerbated existing strains in their marriage, leading Lorenzen to indulge more in the NBA lifestyle, including parties and relationships with other women. Rumors of domestic abuse and marital strife surfaced, though no official charges were filed.

By 2010, after 13 seasons and an estimated $55 million earnings, Lorenzen retired from the NBA. However, the financial stability he once enjoyed was slipping away. The couple divorced that same year, with Lorenzen relocating to Atlanta while Shara stayed in Memphis to maintain consistency for their six children. Financial mismanagement followed, with significant debts and foreclosures hitting their previously affluent lifestyle.

Notable Quote:

"Most of the money Lorenzen had made is gone. They were living way beyond their means for a while."
(24:15)

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Disappearance and Investigation

On July 18, 2010, Lorenzen Wright was due to attend his sister's baby shower but never arrived. His disappearance raised immediate alarms given his public profile. Initially, a 911 call from Lorenzen was mishandled, with authorities failing to locate him despite alarming sounds of gunshots captured in the call.

Notable Quote:

"The operator acknowledges hearing gunshots, but they couldn't locate the call, effectively letting it go."
(20:08)

Eight days after the 911 call, Lorenzen's body was discovered in a wooded area in southeast Memphis, having been shot five times. The presence of multiple shell casings suggested a personal motive rather than a random act of violence. Despite extensive efforts, authorities struggled to piece together the events leading to his death, with initial theories pointing towards possible involvement in drug-related activities—a claim vigorously denied by his family and friends.

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Breakthrough and Confessions

Years passed with little progress until 2012, when Jimmy Martin, Shara's cousin and a convicted murderer, offered new information in exchange for immunity. Martin implicated Shara and Billy Ray Turner, Lorenzen's former landscaper and church deacon, in orchestrating the murder due to financial desperation.

Notable Quote:

"Shara decided it was time to make a new plan—kill Lorenzen the next time he was in Memphis."
(35:43)

According to Martin, Shara lured Lorenzen to their old "lover's lane," where Turner ambushed him. Although initially skeptical, the discovery of the murder weapons in 2017 validated Martin's account, leading to the arrest of Shara and Turner.

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Legal Proceedings and Sentencing

Shara Robinson initially denied involvement but eventually pleaded guilty to facilitation of first-degree murder to receive a reduced sentence of 30 years, avoiding life imprisonment. Billy Ray Turner was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for his direct role in the murder.

Notable Quote:

"Billy gets life, she gets 30."
(43:44)

Lorenzen's mother, Deborah Wright, expressed mixed emotions, acknowledging Shara's role in their family life while grappling with the loss of her son. The case underscores the devastating impact of financial pressures and personal vendettas, leaving a fractured family and community in mourning.

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Conclusion

The murder of Lorenzen Wright serves as a poignant reminder of how personal struggles and financial turmoil can lead to unimaginable tragedy. "Murder With My Husband" meticulously unpacks the events that led to Lorenzen's death, highlighting the roles of betrayal, desperation, and the dark side of fame. The case remains a somber tale of lost potential and the irreversible consequences of fractured relationships.

Final Quote:

"Six kids through unknown murder of their own father. That's so ridiculous, man. That's horrible."
(44:07)

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Note: This summary excludes advertisements and non-content sections to focus solely on the narrative and investigative elements of the episode.

Transcript

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[Team Member 1]

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[Garrett Moreland]

Scheduled for the seal migration?

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[Peyton Moreland]

Hey, Murder with My Husband Listeners, Etsy knows what kind of holiday gifting reactions you're looking for this year. You want squills of delight, happy tears, and spontaneously written songs of joy, right? Well, to get a reaction like that, you need to make sure everyone on your list feels heard with handmade, handpicked and designed gifts from small shops on Etsy. I love Etsy. I think it is a great way to support small businesses while also getting one of a kind pieces. All of their stuff. Honestly, just feels so custom and thought out. I definitely, definitely, definitely support Etsy.

[Garrett Moreland]

I have bought multiple things, customized things for in on Etsy. Honestly, I don't know. Every year I'm doing something on Etsy, especially around the holidays. Go check it out. I've done jewelry for her and I've also done candles. So my favorite things to get for her and to customize on there. We love Etsy.

[Peyton Moreland]

Etsy makes it so simple to find original items that will make whoever I'm shopping for feel extra special. Shop Etsy this holiday season for personalized jewelry, custom artwork, cozy style items, vintage pieces, and home decor to celebrate all of your favorite people and their specific kind of special. For original gifts that say I get you, Etsy has it. You're listening to an Ono Media podcast. Hey everyone, welcome back to the podcast. This is Murder with my husband. I'm Peyton Moreland.

[Garrett Moreland]

And I'm Garrett Moreland.

[Peyton Moreland]

And he's the husband.

[Garrett Moreland]

And I'm the husband. Thank you for being here. While you guys are listening to this, Peyton and I are in a cabana probably on the pool or on the pool, you know what I'm saying? Walking on water. We're probably hanging out by the pool eating food. We are.

[Peyton Moreland]

We're not home celebrating my birthday.

[Garrett Moreland]

We're celebrating Payton's birthday. And with that, we're also celebrating. I mean, I know it's Thanksgiving for a lot of people in the us A lot of people hang out with their families, but we decided we're not hanging out with our families at all and we're just hanging out With Peyton celebrating her birthday on a little trip. And thank you for supporting us.

[Peyton Moreland]

And while we're recording this, we are currently trying to get episodes banked so we can go on this little trip. And Daisy has had it.

[Garrett Moreland]

We also, for those listening, Peyton, I don't take weeks off in a podcast, especially over holidays. We like to release episodes during the holiday season for those that might not have family to hang out with or.

[Peyton Moreland]

Or your family is stressful or your.

[Garrett Moreland]

Family is stressful or friends to hang out with. So we hope that you can enjoy listening to us. But we love you guys. Thank you for being here. Oh, I need to address something. I'm sorry. Apple subscriptions was. Was broken. It wasn't us. Apple f something up. I'm fine calling them out because they know they f something up. Um, they did get it fixed. It is fixed now. If it's not working on your end, try this. Like force quitting the app and going back in. And your subscription should still be there. Yeah, everything should be working now. With that also reminder, Spotify listeners, you can listen to our bonus content directly on Spotify. There'll be a little banner. You hit that. It links to our bonus content that we release on Apple and Patreon. And yeah, two bonus episodes a month ad free. We love you guys. Thank you for supporting us. That was a long intro, so I'll just hop myself into my 10 seconds. Thank you very much. And I got my teeth white. And Peyton and I both got our teeth whitened today. I'm not. I'm never going to do it again. I. I know. I think some of the people that are at the office listen to us. Love you guys so much. Shout out to Suncrest Dental. If you're in Utah and you need to go to a dentist, that's the place to go to. Not shout out. Not getting my teeth white anymore because I am not made for it. My teeth, they're just too sensitive. For like four hours, I was getting the zings and it wasn't their fault, but it was some of the worst pain I've ever experienced. Like, it felt like someone was taking a taser and just tasing my mouth. Anyways, just wanted to complain about that for a second. That's my 10 seconds. That's what was going on with me. Peyton, did you have any pain?

[Peyton Moreland]

Nope.

[Garrett Moreland]

Pain's perfect. Peyton's tough. Honestly, to all the guys listening to this, girls are tougher than us. I don't care what you say they are. Ok. You don't give birth to babies. So I don't want to hear it. Don't even try arguing with me, girls. I would just be the first one to admit girls are tougher than guys. When we're sick, we're babies. Guys can't get pregnant for a reason because we just wouldn't be able to do it. Yeah, that's my 10 seconds. That's my hot take. I guess at the same time, if you disagree with me, then, I don't know, go ahead and shoot me an Instagram dm. We'll throw one of those pregnancy simulators on you. We'll see how long you last. And on that note, let's hop into today's episode.

[Peyton Moreland]

Our sources for this episode are ABC news, go. Com espnpressroom.com si.com, aetv.com espn, cnn.com oxygen local, memphis.com yahoo.com dateline and we got this covered. Dot com. Okay. There's something about celebrities, whether they're actors, pop stars, or athletes, and it almost makes them seem invincible. Like, it's easy to forget that when they're not on our screens accepting an award or winning a championship game, they're just out there, usually living pretty ordinary lives with their families. They go to dinner with friends. They fight with their loved ones. We sort of forget that they're real people, which is why it's so shocking when we hear about any of them, whether we're fans or not, passing away in the news. And if it's because of murder, well, that feels especially bizarre. But you figure a celebrity death is going to absorb all the resources it can get. The local police, the FBI. The pressure will be on authorities to solve that crime. But when it came to the NBA's Lorenzen Wright. Lorenzen Wright.

[Garrett Moreland]

I don't know. Somebody look at the name, how it's spelled here.

[Peyton Moreland]

Lorenzen.

[Garrett Moreland]

Yeah, I.

[Peyton Moreland]

What?

[Garrett Moreland]

Mr. Autopsy Babe, don't store it around, okay?

[Peyton Moreland]

Okay. But when it came to the NBA's Lorenzen Wright, even Memphis's finest couldn't give the public the answers they wanted. And his case probably would still be running cold today if it weren't for one very lucky break and an unwavering commitment from his family and fans, who kept Lorenzen's case in the spotlight for years until it was finally solved.

[Garrett Moreland]

Got some good news. It's not a cold case.

[Peyton Moreland]

So we are in Oxford, Mississippi. The year is 1975. On a brisk November 4th day, Lorenzen Wright enters this world. But a few years later, Lorenzen's family picks up and moves to Memphis, Tennessee. Lorenzen's father, Herb, was a retired NBA player who then joined the Memphis Police Department. But when Lorenzen was only 7, a tragic accident would actually change the course of his family's life. His father, Herb, was shot, presumably in the line of duty, and the injury left him paralyzed. So the former NBA athlete was wheelchair bound for the rest of his life.

[Garrett Moreland]

Wow.

[Peyton Moreland]

But that didn't stop Herb from teaching Lorenzen everything he knew about basketball. And Lorenzen wanted nothing more than to follow in his father's footsteps and make him proud. So by the time Lorenzen was a teenager, he was actually already pushing 6ft, 11 inches tall.

[Garrett Moreland]

Holy crap.

[Peyton Moreland]

And he quickly became a local celebrity, dominating his high school basketball court. He also played in a highly competitive national league called the Amateur Athletic Union. All of which caught the attention of scouts from around the country. And it was during this time, actually, that the 16 year old Lorenzen also fell in love. So not only is he basketball star, he finds a girlfriend, and it's his coach's daughter.

[Garrett Moreland]

It's like. It's like a movie, okay?

[Peyton Moreland]

An older girl, actually, who seemed to have more life experience, if you will. She was more mature. She was actually 21.

[Garrett Moreland]

Okay.

[Peyton Moreland]

And 21 year old Shara Robinson. So the two began a relationship, and they stayed together even as Lorenzen joined the team at the University of Memphis in 1994. In fact, that year, Shara actually gets pregnant with their first child, a little boy they name Lorenzen Jr. But despite having a child now, Lorenzen always kept his head in the game. Literally. In 1996, he was the seventh overall pick in the NBA draft.

[Garrett Moreland]

Wow.

[Peyton Moreland]

He was scooped up by the Los Angeles Clippers.

[Garrett Moreland]

This is a big deal. I'm surprised I haven't heard of this.

[Peyton Moreland]

So overnight, in 1996, Lorenzen literally becomes a millionaire. So Shara and Lorenzen Jr. His son, relocate with Lorenzen to Los Angeles, and the two finally tied the knot in 1998. And then they welcomed their next child the following year, in 1999. Now, that season, Lorenzen was traded to the Atlanta Hawks, which he was probably happy about. It certainly put him closer to his hometown of Memphis. And again, he was signing a multimillion dollar contract. But Shara was definitely reaping the benefits as well. The family bought a beautiful 13,000 square foot home in the suburbs.

[Garrett Moreland]

13,000 square feet.

[Peyton Moreland]

Lorenzen purchased a couple of Ferraris, some other sports cars. He actually opened a restaurant. He treated his friends to nice vacations.

[Garrett Moreland]

Like J. Cole says, what's first class if my friends ain't with Me. You know what? What?

[Peyton Moreland]

You're on one today. And all of this was happening while Shara was showered with a lot of expensive jewelry. But there was still some leftover for Lorenzen to donate to local charities and a grow his family, eventually expanding to a total of seven kids together, three girls and four boys.

[Garrett Moreland]

Props. Because to anyone out there that has honestly more than three kids, props.

[Peyton Moreland]

Anyone out there who has one child, props.

[Garrett Moreland]

Okay, yeah, sure. I'm just saying I can't. I can't hand a lot of kids, man.

[Peyton Moreland]

But it wasn't all diamonds. And at the right household, the couple had its fair share of hard times as well. In 2003, Lorenzen was playing for his hometown team, the Memphis Grizzlies. But while on the road, Shara called him with devastating news. Their daughter Sierra had passed away from sudden infant death syndrome just days before her first birthday.

[Garrett Moreland]

Heartbreaking.

[Peyton Moreland]

And I can't imagine receiving a call like that. So to say both Shara and Lorenzen were ruined from the loss is an understatement. Yeah, it certainly made an already rocky marriage a lot worse. Arguments between the couple ess escalated. Lorenzen lost himself more in the glitz and glamour of his career. He would spend nights out partying with other women. And there were rumors that both he and Shara were straying from their marriage around this time. Shara claimed that at this point, there was some domestic abuse, although there was never officially any charges filed against Lorenzen. That doesn't mean we don't believe her. And if this were true, there weren't any public allegations made against Lorenzen at the time, from what I can tell. But after a while, it kind of seemed like the problems sort of fixed themselves, because in 2007, the couple actually renewed their vows in a small little ceremony.

[Garrett Moreland]

Okay.

[Peyton Moreland]

Over the next two years, though, Lorenzen's career with the NBA started to wind down. He went on to play for the Sacramento Kings, then to the Cleveland Cavaliers. And in 2009, after 13 seasons of professional basketball, the now 33 year old Lorenzen Wright was ready to retire. I mean, by this point, Lorenzen had made an estimated $55 million from the sport.

[Garrett Moreland]

Holy crap.

[Peyton Moreland]

But 2010 would be the year of change for Lorenzo 5 mil. Now, with his basketball career behind him, he figured it's time to start fresh. He believed it was also time to put his marriage behind him. So that year, he and Shara divorced. Lorenzen moved to Atlanta, Georgia, while Shara stayed in Memphis so the kids could keep going to the same school. But Shara seemed to be finding her own way. She was even in the process of becoming an ordained minister at her church. Still, Lorenzen frequently made trips back to Tennessee to see his family. And By July of 2010, it seemed like the couple had honestly learned how to co parent in a civil fashion. On the 18th, he flew to Memphis to spend the weekend with Shara and the kids. And this time he even planned to stay at the home with Shara and the kids. So that evening, Lorenzen met up with some of his old frat brothers from the University of Memphis for dinner. Again, this is July 18, 2010, and afterwards, Lorenzen even went with his friend Phil to watch Phil's son play basketball. But when he was there, Phil noticed Lorenzen get a series of texts from Shara. So he's with his friend Phil, they're watching Phil's son play basketball. And then Phil notices that Lorenzen is just getting a bunch of texts from his ex wife. Lorenzen asked Phil if he could drop him off at Shara's home after the game. And Phil did exactly that. At around 10pm that evening, Phil told Lorenzen to call him later. He hoped he'd get one more chance to see him before he left town for Vegas a few days later. So Lorenzen promised he would. He hopped out and he said goodbye. But when two days passed and Phil hadn't heard from Lorenzen, he tried calling him. But there was no answer. Which is why Phil started to worry. And at this point, so did Lorenzen's mother, Deborah. Okay, Lorenzen was supposed to attend his sister's baby shower in Memphis on July 21, but he never showed up. Now this is a 6 foot 11, 255 pound local celebrity. Like he's in his hometown and he was an NBA star. Someone like that doesn't just sneak off and blend into a crowd. And Deborah knows that. So the following day, July 22, she actually files a report with the Collierville Police Department just outside of Memphis.

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[Peyton Moreland]

Now, with Lorenzen being the famous athlete he was, police get on this case pretty quickly.

[Garrett Moreland]

Yeah, for sure.

[Peyton Moreland]

And naturally they speak to the person Lorenzen was supposed to be staying with while he was in town. Yep, his ex wife, Shara. And what she tells the police is actually pretty scary and alarming to them. She says that in the weeks leading up to Lorenzen's disappearance, these men that she didn't know had started showing up at her house and they would have guns tucked in their waistbands and they'd come banging on the door at night calling for Lorenzen.

[Garrett Moreland]

Oh no.

[Peyton Moreland]

Shara said she didn't know what they wanted until the night of July 18th. Remember, this is the night Lorenzen disappeared. She says that evening after Lorenzen was dropped off by his friend Phil, the men came back at around 3am okay. And according to Shara, Lorenzen grabbed a box of something from the house and then got in the car with the two men and drove off. And this was the last time she had seen or heard from her ex husband.

[Garrett Moreland]

This is a big deal. Also, I was gonna speculate on what I think is going on, but we can keep going.

[Peyton Moreland]

So police at this point are wondering who are these mystery men that Lorenzen drove off with and what is the box that he was seen carrying with him when he left? So to find out more, they dig through Lorenzen's phone records and they find that the last call he dialed from his phone was 911.

[Garrett Moreland]

Oh, shoot.

[Peyton Moreland]

It had pinged off of cell towers in Germantown. This is a suburb of Memphis. So at this point, Lorenzen has actually been where?

[Garrett Moreland]

What happened?

[Peyton Moreland]

Well, Lorenzen has been missing for eight days at this point.

[Garrett Moreland]

What happened when he called 91 1? Like what happened at the call?

[Peyton Moreland]

You know, I will play it for you.

[Garrett Moreland]

Oh, oh, there's a. Okay, it's recording.

[Peyton Moreland]

Yeah, yeah. Okay, so he's been missing for eight days, but the call was made just after midnight on July 19th. So this was right after Lorenzen was last seen. Okay, so police contacted the German town officers to say, hey, do you remember getting a 911 call maybe from someone named Lorenzen Wright? And they basically say, no, but we did get a call that we couldn't geolocate, so we sort of just let it go.

[Garrett Moreland]

Which I'm just trying to look at both sides here. Horrible. Sucks. But also the amount of incorrect, accidental, not real. I guess 911 calls that happen daily are a lot.

[Peyton Moreland]

Do you want to hear the 911 call before you jump to conclusions?

[Garrett Moreland]

Maybe I'm going to take. I take everything back and let's hear. I forgot, there's 911 call.

[Peyton Moreland]

We'll play for you right now.

[Garrett Moreland]

Okay.

[Ad Voice 2]

91 1, where's your emergency?

[Garrett Moreland]

Hello?

[Peyton Moreland]

Hello?

[Garrett Moreland]

Donna have nothing but gunshots, but in.

[Peyton Moreland]

The audio you can hear what sounds like someone running through the woods and then you hear them scream God damn. Before several rounds of gunshots go off.

[Garrett Moreland]

Oh, nope, never mind. Everything I say.

[Peyton Moreland]

And after that there's take back. And after that there's no more voices, just the operator saying hello, hello.

[Garrett Moreland]

And then they just don't do anything about it because they couldn't locate it.

[Peyton Moreland]

Yeah. Okay, so they heard gunshots on this call and then just didn't do anything about it. I. I have no idea how or even why a call like this could go investigated. At one point, you even hear the operator acknowledge that they're hearing gunshots. So this definitely feels like something they should have at least tried to look into. But they didn't. Not until the officers who are actively investigating Lorenzen's case get their hands on that 911. And now everyone's like, okay, well, we need to follow up. But like I said, it has been eight days since that call was made. But on July 28, they trace it to a wooded area in southeast Memphis. And that day, equipped with a team of cadaver dogs, police find 34 year old holy Lorenzen Wright.

[Garrett Moreland]

What? That's insane.

[Peyton Moreland]

He has been shot to death. And his body is already decomposing in a field from the summer Memphis weather. So there were a few other telling clues at the crime scene, though. For example, police found shell casings to two different weapons. A 9 millimeter revolver and a small caliber handgun. Which typically one person doesn't use two kind of guns to kill someone. So to investigators, this probably means there were at least two people who pursued and murdered Lorenz and Wright in that field that night. Yeah, they also realize Lorenzen still had all of his jewelry on. He had a good amount of cash on him, but his wallet and his cell phone are missing. So that's strange. It looks more like they wanted to hide his identity rather than rob him.

[Garrett Moreland]

Which is hilarious knowing that how many 6 foot 11 people do you have walking around in the world in general?

[Peyton Moreland]

Right. Especially because Lorenzen had been shot five times. Twice in the chest, once in the forearm, and twice in the face. So to police, this is saying this murder was personal. It wasn't just some random robbery gone wrong. But for now, the next step was breaking the news to his family, friends, and thousands of fans. So less than a week later, more than 3,000 people gathered at the FedEx forum in Memphis for Lorenzen's televised funeral. And many of those people had, just a few years earlier, watched Lorenzen dominate this same exact court. They probably never imagined sitting in the same spot to say their goodbyes to him. And while it was certainly devastating to say goodbye to their hometown hero, you have to wonder how many of these people even really knew Lorenzen and who he was. Off the court, it was a question even Lorenzen's own family might have been asking, because the police were now being forced to entertain one possible theory. Is it possible that Lorenzen's death was somehow tied to a dark secret he was hiding in his life? Like there was. Was there a part of Lorenzen that no one knew?

[Garrett Moreland]

It's hard. I don't want to assume yet, but initial thoughts was some sort of like gambling or something along those lines, but I don't know. Let's see where this, where this goes, because I have no idea.

[Peyton Moreland]

So remember how Shara told police that the last time she saw her ex husband was when he left the home around 3am with two strange men in a box?

[Garrett Moreland]

Yeah.

[Peyton Moreland]

According to Shara, she had also overheard Lorenzen on the phone that night. She said he was talking about flipping a large sum of cash. Actually around $110,000.

[Garrett Moreland]

Oh, if you ask Shara, that's a very large sum.

[Peyton Moreland]

And she believed that the box he was carrying might have been full of drugs. So police have to take this into consideration. Was Lorenzen involved in some drug deal gone wrong that evening? Did he even know the people who murdered him? You have to wonder, why would someone who made $55 million over the course of his career.

[Garrett Moreland]

Yeah.

[Peyton Moreland]

Need to even sell drugs or run drugs. So I guess police start digging into this and they find that most of the money Lorenzen had made is gone.

[Garrett Moreland]

Had been spent, which, this is common. This happens a lot and it's sad. Yeah, I don't know, it's. It really does happen.

[Peyton Moreland]

So even though Lorenzen's only been retired for about a year, not only was Lorenzen drowning in alimony and child support payments since the divorce, Shara had spent a lot of their money without Lorenzen's knowledge when they were still married. By 2010, two of the very nice, expensive homes they bought as a family had been foreclosed on. Most of their fancy sport cars had been repossessed.

[Garrett Moreland]

Wow.

[Peyton Moreland]

Turns out the rights had been living way beyond their means for a while. So now you can kind of see when Shara says his death might have been drug related and why she wasn't that shocked that there were men just showing up on her doorstep in the middle of the night. Police begin to entertain that possibility. Motivationally, it made sense. However, there's a few other accounts they have to take into consideration. Because all of this is coming from his ex wife and then backed up by money, Right?

[Garrett Moreland]

True.

[Peyton Moreland]

So we have Lorenzen's mother, Deborah. She's positive that Lorenzen would never get involved with selling drugs, no matter how hard of times might have gotten for his family. His friends all say the same thing. And when toxicology reports come back from Lorenzen's autopsy, he has no drugs in his system, which I know is different than selling them, but oftentimes they kind of do go hand in hand. Honestly, the more they realize that Shara's the only one indicating this or like hinting at this, they can't find a single shred of evidence outside of her statement that says Lorenzen was involved in any drug activity. Unfortunately, it takes some time for police to rule this theory out. Time that honestly could have been better spent looking at other angles. And if they had listened to Lorenzen's mother, Deborah, that might have meant taking a closer look at Shara Lorenzen's ex wife and her ex daughter in law.

[Garrett Moreland]

All right, yeah, let's hear it.

[Peyton Moreland]

Because from the beginning, Deborah is confident that Shara knows more than she's saying.

[Garrett Moreland]

It'S always the ones closest to you, man.

[Peyton Moreland]

But when police go back to try and speak with Shara in the months after Lorenzen's death, she's not very helpful. She's quite the opposite, actually. She's radio silent. They figure maybe she's still grieving. She has six kids to take care of on her own now. Maybe she just wants to move forward with life. Just because you don't want to keep talking to the police doesn't necessarily make you a suspect. But it does seem fishy that she wouldn't want to find out who murdered the man who gave her that beautiful family. However, police just don't think she fits the profile. Not only is she a mother of six, she's deeply religious. She's in the process of becoming an ordained minister, which, honestly doesn't really mean that much. And reportedly, I mean, true, she was now dating a cop. While I don't think there's any big conspiracy in that, that's kind of nuts.

[Garrett Moreland]

Though I'm not going to lie.

[Peyton Moreland]

It. I do think it helped police rule her out as a suspect. But after Shara, there's no new leads, like, at all. So weeks turned into months turned into years. While Lorenzen's case accumulated dust, Shara moved on with her life. She became a minister at the Mount Olive Baptist Church. She ran a nonprofit called Born to Prosper Ministries that helped local kids. And eventually, Shara got back on her feet with the help of Lorenzen's life insurance policy. Well, sort of. The kids received a $1 million payout from his policy. However, within 10 months of Lorenzen's death, Shara, who was in charge of the payout for her six children, had spent $970,000.

[Garrett Moreland]

Oh, my gosh.

[Peyton Moreland]

Which is why in 2013, Lorenzen's father sued Shara.

[Garrett Moreland]

Okay?

[Peyton Moreland]

Because he found out that the money that was supposed to go to the.

[Garrett Moreland]

Kids didn't go to the kids had.

[Peyton Moreland]

Honestly been spent on, quote, luxury expenses. I'll show you the receipt. It 32 grand on a Cadillac Escalade, 26 grand on a Lexus, $69,000 on furniture, $339,000 on a down payment for a home, $11,000 on a trip to New York. You get the picture.

[Garrett Moreland]

Crap.

[Peyton Moreland]

She's living big.

[Garrett Moreland]

Yeah.

[Peyton Moreland]

By the way, this life insurance policy wasn't the only income she's made off of Lorenzen since his death. She'd also started collecting insurance and pension money from all of the NBA teams that he'd played on throughout his Career. Ultimately, Shara lost that suit in court and the judge ordered a professional to monitor the rest of the insurance money. There's not that much left. It's honestly a slap on the wrist. But it gets weirder. The following year, Shara decides to pick up a new hobby. She decides to start writing fiction, like books. She wants to become an author.

[Garrett Moreland]

I know where this is going.

[Peyton Moreland]

And in 2015, she publishes a novel called Mr. Tell Me Anything. This book is about a woman who marries an abusive basketball player.

[Garrett Moreland]

Okay.

[Peyton Moreland]

There's nothing about murder in it from what I can tell. But at this point, the 44 year old Shara likely thought the past was behind her, that she had turned a new leaf. She wouldn't have to look back. She had moved to Riverside, California with her family. She'd gotten her story out through this fictional novel about her marriage. Basically. Basically, maybe it was a therapy in a way. Little did Sharon know that new information had been brought to the police back in 2012, and they were waiting for all of the pieces to fall into place. So back in 2012, Shara's cousin, a man named Jimmy Martin, had gotten arrested for killing his girlfriend. Now when he finds out he's going to probably go to prison for the rest of his life, he goes to the police and he says, I have information you might want to hear. Can I cut a deal? They're like, okay, what? And he says, shara Wright is my cousin and I have information on the murder of Lorenzen Wright. And he's like, is that worth immunity? You guys know I love Quint's clothing. And with the holidays coming up, dang, is it a good gift to give yourself or someone else? Something everyone needs in their closet, in my opinion, is Quince's iconic mom Mongolian cashmere sweaters that start at $50. And the reason they're able to do.

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[Peyton Moreland]

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[Garrett Moreland]

Wait, do they give him immunity?

[Peyton Moreland]

They show up to the Tennessee prison where Jimmy's being held and they have this secret meeting with him to hear what he has to say. And he says two months before Lorenzen's murder, he was called to sheriff's house.

[Garrett Moreland]

Question? Sorry to interrupt you. Question. When they're trying to make deals and they're like, oh, yeah, we'll give you this or give you this. And nothing's written down or recorded. I mean, they could just take the information and run. Correct.

[Peyton Moreland]

I don't. I don't know. I've actually thought about this when I've watched Law and Order SVU and I've never looked it up because, yeah, they just like agree to have a deal right there on the table and they just share.

[Garrett Moreland]

Be like, go get.

[Peyton Moreland]

Like, is there no paperwork?

[Garrett Moreland]

Go get a freaking contract. I'm not sharing anything until anyone knows.

[Peyton Moreland]

Please leave it in the comments on Instagram or YouTube because I've actually had that thought and have just never looked it up.

[Garrett Moreland]

Yeah, I've never looked it up either. So I'm curious.

[Peyton Moreland]

So he says he shows up to Shara's house that night, but when he arrived, he wasn't the only person there. There was another guy, Shara and Lorenzen's old Landscaper, a man named Billy Ray Turner. So we have Billy Ray Turner and Jimmy Martin showing up at Shara's house.

[Garrett Moreland]

Okay?

[Peyton Moreland]

Now, Billy also had a bit of a criminal history, but in the years leading up to Lorenzen's murder, he had kind of turned himself around. He started a landscaping business. He went to Shara's church, where he becomes the deacon of that church. And also began an affair with Shara while she was still married to Lorenzen. Okay, so he's the deacon, but he's not exactly rich with morals. But here's the thing. When Jimmy gets to Shara's that night, she tells him she can help him out with some cash, but she needs a favor. She says. She looks at Billy. She looks at Jimmy, her cousin, and says, I need you to kill Lorenzen. And Jimmy says, after agreeing to the plan, he and Billy went to Atlanta one weekend in 2010. Because, remember, that's where Lorenzen was living after their divorce. They went to his condo one night with plans to shoot him. They crawled in through an open window, but he wasn't home. Instead, they find a bald headed man sleeping on the couch. It's not their guy. Turns out it's Lorenzen's roommate. So what do they do? They leave. Their plan has failed. They go back to Shara and they break the news to her.

[Garrett Moreland]

What the freak?

[Peyton Moreland]

She's like, okay, let's make a new plan. She says, kill Lorenzen the next time he's in Memphis. So that July, Jimmy says he drove around Memphis with Shara and Billy, looking for the perfect place to commit the murder. And that's when it dawned on Shara. She and Lorenzen used to have a little lover's lane they would sneak off to when they were very young. It was a wooded area that would be perfect for his murder. Like that is fathom what I'm saying.

[Garrett Moreland]

Diabolical. That is so evil.

[Peyton Moreland]

Shara realized maybe she could lure Lorenzen out there.

[Garrett Moreland]

What? Evening a freaking witch with a B. And wait.

[Peyton Moreland]

Get all the bad words that I.

[Garrett Moreland]

Could possibly think of, but I'm not going to use them on this podcast.

[Peyton Moreland]

According to Jimmy, she says, I will lure Lorenzen, my ex husband, out to our old Lovers Lane meeting area. God, Promising.

[Garrett Moreland]

Yeah.

[Peyton Moreland]

Having some sexy text messages.

[Garrett Moreland]

Yeah, I know, it's wild.

[Peyton Moreland]

And Jimmy and Billy could just be lying in wait.

[Garrett Moreland]

Insane, man.

[Peyton Moreland]

So this does make sense to police because they noticed that in the days leading up to Lorenzen coming to Memphis, Shara had been texting him a lot, and it was a lot of flirty texts that seemingly made Lorenzen hopeful for a future between the two of them. And I think it's important to note that Lorenzen's friend came forward after his murder and said that right before his murder, Lorenzen had told him he was thinking about getting back together with Shara. But the texts didn't stop when Lorenzen arrived on the night of the murder. While Lorenzen was at his friend's son's basketball game, Lorenzen had received a bunch of X rated text messages from Shara. So when police look back on them, they think, while Jimmy could be making all of this up to get out of a bad sentence, it's all lining up. It kind of all lines up. It makes sense. But his account doesn't end there. Jimmy says on the night Shara decided it was time to go through with the plan, he wasn't actually in town. Jimmy wasn't in town. He was in Batesville, Mississippi, which is why Shara and Billy ended up committing the murder alone. So that night, according to Jimmy, Billy was already waiting in the woods. Shara, who had lured Lorenzen back into her arms, Told him she needed him to come along with her to pick up some money from a guy. She had chosen their old lover's lane spot to do it. And when they get there, Shara and Lorenzen get out of the car, and that's when Billy starts to approach, and then he points his gun at Lorenzen. But apparently the NBA star starts running. So Billy chases after him, and Cher's not too far behind. Both of them took off after Lorenzen, where he was frantically getting his cell phone out to make that 911 call.

[Garrett Moreland]

Horrible.

[Peyton Moreland]

And then the shots are fired. Now, Jimmy says when he came back to town, Shara told him everything that had happened, that they had pulled off the murder, where exactly they had done it, and where she asked Jimmy to help them dispose of the murder weapons. So Jimmy essentially tells the police, not only do I have this account to help you close this NBA stars murder, I can also tell you where they disposed of the weapons.

[Garrett Moreland]

Okay.

[Peyton Moreland]

He says the guns were tossed in a lake in northern Mississippi. Police are like, okay, if we can find these weapons, then we can validate Jimmy's story, and we have enough to prosecute.

[Garrett Moreland]

No way they find these weapons.

[Peyton Moreland]

So they take a little trip 45 minutes southeast to the town of Walnut, Mississippi, and they do a pretty substantial sweep of the lake for the gun.

[Garrett Moreland]

Guns, and nothing.

[Peyton Moreland]

You don't find anything. So they're thinking, okay, is Jimmy just leading Us on for some sort of immunity. Did he play us pretty good? Keep in mind, this is all in 2012, two years after Lorenzen's murder. But because they can't validate Jimmy's story, police just sit on this information for years. They don't tell anybody. They just keep it in the case notes.

[Garrett Moreland]

Dang. While he's still sitting in jail and he's like, I gave us all this information and I still don't have immunity.

[Peyton Moreland]

He's like, there's not enough for us to arrest, share, or Billy. And as time passes, new leads come in. Tips that continue to lead to dead ends. And eventually, new investigators are put on the case to give it a fresh set of eyes. Still, nothing comes of it. And then this goes round and round for five more years. No one in Memphis can get the mystery of Lorenzen Wright's death out of their heads. I mean, you have to think he's a hometown hero and he was just murdered in a field and no one knows what happened. Which is why in 2017, some of those detectives look back at Jimmy's claims and think, okay, Jimmy, the cousin not only says he knew what happened, he also knew about the sexy text messages Shara had been sending Lorenzen. Which was their plan, right? He's Shara's cousin, so he has a direct line to her. They're like, this feels like this could be real. There maybe is something to this story. So they decide, let's sweep the lake one more time. Like, let's go check the lake. All these years later, they find the guns. They send a dive team down to the lake, and this time they find a gun. When it's sent back to the crime lab, police confirm it matches the ballistics sound at the crime scene. Which means Jimmy Martin was telling the truth.

[Garrett Moreland]

Take Jimmy. Wait, he killed someone? Is that why he's there?

[Peyton Moreland]

Yes.

[Garrett Moreland]

Okay. I was going to say take him out of prison, but he.

[Peyton Moreland]

No, no, he murdered his girlfriend.

[Garrett Moreland]

Oh, don't take him out of prison.

[Peyton Moreland]

So to be clear, this confession doesn't give Jimmy immunity from the time he's serving for killing his girlfriend, but it gives him immunity for the crimes against Lorenzen. So they're like, we're not going to let you get out on murdering your girlfriend, but we're not going to charge you for your involvement in this case.

[Garrett Moreland]

Okay?

[Peyton Moreland]

Shara and Billy would be completely out of luck, though. On December 15, 2017, police arrested the 46 year old Shara at her new home in Riverside, California. She was extradited back To Tennessee, where she was charged with first degree murder and premeditated murder, conspiracy to commit first degree murder and attempted first degree murder. Billy Turner was also arrested and charged with first degree murder, attempted first degree murder, and conspiracy to commit first degree murder.

[Garrett Moreland]

Wow.

[Peyton Moreland]

Now I've. I've thought about this while doing this case and it's. She mur. She. She takes out this plan to murder her ex husband. More than her know about it. Right. She's involved two other guys apparently, and then she just goes on living her life buying a Cadillac, buying a house, moving, dating a cop, like with this huge. Wait, did she think, okay, it's over, I didn't get caught initially. I will never get caught.

[Garrett Moreland]

Well, I'm just more confused on why, because what she's doing, she could have done if they just got divorced.

[Peyton Moreland]

Yeah, well, like, maybe she needed the life insurance payout because he. He wasn't paying child support. They were out of money.

[Garrett Moreland]

I guess that's true. And also, I don't know much about the logistics behind it, but all the pensions and the money he was getting from the NBA teams.

[Peyton Moreland]

Yeah.

[Garrett Moreland]

Did those just kick in because he died?

[Peyton Moreland]

Yes, they, like, went to her.

[Garrett Moreland]

Interesting. Okay, I see. So it was. We assume it's money.

[Peyton Moreland]

Money is a motive.

[Garrett Moreland]

Okay.

[Peyton Moreland]

But I'm just sitting here wondering if, like, when the cops showed up, did she think in her head, I knew this day would always come? Like, I.

[Garrett Moreland]

No, no, no. I think at that point she's like, I'm free.

[Peyton Moreland]

Like, it's insane to have this in the back of your head of like any day the cops could show up and arrest me.

[Garrett Moreland]

She probably thought, they're never going to find the guns especially. Yeah, that's my guess.

[Peyton Moreland]

So initially she pleaded not guilty to all the charges, but in July of 2019, she changed that plea to guilty for the facilitation of first degree murder. So she's like, the way I'm going to get, the less amount of time is if I just say, yeah, I came up with the idea, but I didn't actually murder him. Right. So as a result, she was given 30 years in prison instead of the life sentence she was facing. And as for Billy Ray Turner, he was found guilty on all three charges and sentenced to life in prison.

[Garrett Moreland]

Wow.

[Peyton Moreland]

So Billy gets life, she gets 30.

[Garrett Moreland]

Think she's going to be 76 when she gets out.

[Peyton Moreland]

Right. So at Shara's change of plea hearing, Lorenzen's mother, Deborah, actually thanked Shara for giving her her grandchildren. She says to me, they are a Little piece of Lorenzen.

[Garrett Moreland]

I didn't even think about the kids. Part 6 Kids and all the.

[Peyton Moreland]

And your. Your mom murdered your dad.

[Garrett Moreland]

Oh, my gosh. Horrible, horrible, horrible.

[Peyton Moreland]

And then, like, went on to take his pension from the years that he had given to the NBA.

[Garrett Moreland]

And the mom's just been lying to the kids the whole time saying, someone murdered dad. And I can't believe it.

[Peyton Moreland]

You put six kids through unknown murder of their own father.

[Garrett Moreland]

That's so. That's ridiculous, man. That's horrible.

[Peyton Moreland]

But Deborah, their grandmother, is like, listen, it's a piece of Lorenzen that we all get to have in this world. Because Lorenzen wasn't just a celebrity or an NBA athlete. He was a son. He was a sibling, he was a friend, a loving father, someone who was worshiped on the court, but honestly, even more so off the court. Remember, he was giving to his friends the night he was murdered. He was supporting his friend's son at a local basketball game. Honestly, it was a life that was only just beginning for him. He had just barely retired and it was taken way too soon. And that is the murder of Lorenzen Wright.

[Garrett Moreland]

It's crazy. It's crazy how the majority of the time when we do these, it is the person closest to you. Husband, wife, something along those lines. It's wild.

[Peyton Moreland]

I just. It's so heartless. And I understand that by the time a marriage reaches divorce, you might hate each other.

[Garrett Moreland]

Okay, but like. But hurting someone or just killing someone for money, close to that point is next.

[Peyton Moreland]

You know what happened, Garrett? She had been spending this money their entire marriage.

[Garrett Moreland]

For sure.

[Peyton Moreland]

She had been living lavishly.

[Garrett Moreland]

Yep.

[Peyton Moreland]

And then when they lost all the money and the divorce came and he.

[Garrett Moreland]

Couldn'T pay, all she cared about was money.

[Peyton Moreland]

She was like, how do I go from living this life to living this life?

[Garrett Moreland]

Horrible.

[Peyton Moreland]

She should have just found another sugar daddy.

[Garrett Moreland]

Horrible person, man.

[Peyton Moreland]

Yeah, that's actually completely awful. Six kids murdered, a man who had just retired. Completely awful. And it just never ceases to amaze me the cases we cover. That is our episode for this week, and we will see you next time with another one. I love it.

[Garrett Moreland]

I hate it.

[Peyton Moreland]

Goodbye.

[Team Member 1]

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