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

Episode Date: November 25, 2024

In this episode, Payton and Garrett delve into the chilling case of Lorenzen Wright, a beloved NBA player whose mysterious disappearance shocked the community. When police receive word that Lorenzen is missing, an intense search begins for one of the town’s most cherished basketball stars. NEW MERCH LINK: https://mwmhshop.com Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/themwmh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/murderwithmyhusband/ Discount Codes: https://mailchi.mp/c6f48670aeac/oh-no-media-discount-codes Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@murderwithmyhusband Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/into-the-dark/id1662304327 Listen on spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/36SDVKB2MEWpFGVs9kRgQ7?si=f5224c9fd99542a7 ABCNews.go.com - https://abcnews.go.com/ABCNews/lorenzen-wrights-mother-speaks-justice-12-years/story?id=85315581 ESPNPressRoom.com - https://espnpressroom.com/us/press-releases/2021/07/twin-sons-of-murdered-former-nba-player-lorenzen-wright-open-up-in-new-e60/ SI.com - https://www.si.com/nba/2022/03/21/man-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-for-murder-of-lorenzen-wright AETV.com- https://www.aetv.com/real-crime/nba-star-murder-wright ESPN.com - https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/33971477/wife-murdered-nba-player-lorenzen-wright-denied-parole-30-year-prison-sentence-plotting-death CNN.com - https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/21/us/lorenzen-wright-murder-verdict/index.html Oxygen.com - https://www.oxygen.com/snapped/crime-news/why-sherra-wright-killed-nba-player-lorenzen-wright LocalMemphis.com - https://www.localmemphis.com/article/news/crime/true-crime/lorenzen-wrights-murder-closed-timeline-of-everything-leading-up-to-conviction/522-2548cf93-ad2a-4114-922b-6dbb9ca6b968 Yahoo.com - https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/dateline-unforgettable-happened-lorenzen-wright-132728922.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAJ2GTf2UmzVbmKYweh8yUFVGuwSP5b7X9eLv2xA2E5Qn5nRaZP3So8kpTwMOvYysb4hVWHVEy94nhBN-zNazfy8vxhxJDOncODRkRfCjbeHE0ifS_MI34Sejf-fPirUs017kRspE6Jg7jpspt3cHPFwTUe3xFOO8_3j2F6ET9WD5 Dateline - https://www.peacocktv.com/watch/playback/vod/GMO_00000000486899_01/ef011c8f-24c7-36d7-b891-1b5001b42dd1?orig_ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&paused=true WeGotThisCovered.com - https://wegotthiscovered.com/news/who-is-sherra-wright-robinson-and-what-did-she-do/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After decades of shaky hands caused by debilitating tremors, Sunnybrook was the only hospital in Canada who could provide Andy with something special. Three neurosurgeons, two scientists, one movement disorders coordinator, 58 answered questions, two focused ultrasound procedures, one specially developed helmet, thousands of high-intensity focused ultrasound waves, zero incisions, and that very same day, two steady hands. From innovation to action, Sunnybrook is special.

Learn more at sunnybrook.ca slash special. At New Balance, we believe if you run, you're a runner, however you choose to do it. Because when you're not worried about doing things the right way, you're free to discover your way. And that's what running is all about. Run your way at newbalance.com slash running. You're listening to an Ono Media Podcast. Hey everyone, welcome back to the podcast. This is Murder With My Husband. I'm Payton Morland. And I'm Garrett Morland. And he's the husband. And I'm the husband. Thank you for being here. While you guys are listening to this, Payton 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, we're not home. Celebrating my birthday. We're celebrating Peyton'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, 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. 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. We also, for those listening, Peyton and I don't take weeks off from the 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 your family is stressful. Or your 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 broken. It wasn't us. Apple F something up.

I'm fine calling them out because they know they have something up. They did get it fixed. It is fixed now. If it's not working on your end, try the Psycho Force Quinten 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 There was a long intro so I'll just hop myself into my ten seconds. Thank you very much and I got my teeth white and Peyton. I both got her teeth white and today I'm not I'm never gonna do it again. 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 whitened anymore because I'm not made for it. My teeth, they're just too sensitive. Not shout out not getting my teeth white anymore because I'm not made for it my teeth I 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 is taking a taser and just tasing my mouth. Anyways, just wanted to complain about that for a second That's my ten seconds. That's what was going on with me. Payton, did you have any pain? Nope. Payton's perfect. Payton's tough.

Honestly, to all the guys listening to this, girls are tougher than us. I don't care what you say, they are, okay? You don't give birth to babies, so I don't wanna 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 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. Our sources for this episode are abcnews.go.com, espnpressroom.com, si.com, aetv.com, espn, cnn.com, oxygen, localmemphis.com, yahoo.com, Dateline, and wegotthiscovered.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, did I say that? Lorenzen Wright? I don't know. Somebody look at the name that's spelled there. Lorenzen. Yeah. What Mr. autopsy? Babe, don't start around.

Okay. Okay. But uh, 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. Got some good news? Not a cold case.

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 seven, 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. 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 6 feet 11 inches tall. Holy crap. 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. It's like a movie, okay. An older girl actually, He finds a girlfriend and it's his coach's daughter. It's like a movie, okay. An older girl actually who seemed to have more life experience if you will, she was more mature. She was actually 21. Okay.

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. Wow. He was scooped up by the Los Angeles Clippers. This is a big deal. I'm surprised I haven't heard of this. Yes, so overnight in 1996, Lorenzen literally becomes a millionaire. So, Shera 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 Shera was definitely reaping the benefits as well. The family bought a beautiful 13,000 square foot home in the suburbs. 13,000 square feet? Lorenzen purchased a couple of Ferraris, some other sports cars. He actually opened a restaurant. He treated his friends to nice vacations.

Like Jay Cole says, what's first class if my friends ain't with me, you know? What? What? You're on one today. And all of this was happening while Cheryl was showered with a lot of expensive jewelry. But there was still some leftover for Lorenzen

to donate to local charities and a gross family, eventually expanding to a total of seven kids together. Three girls and four boys. Props, because to anyone out there that has honestly more than three kids, props. Anyone out there who has one child, props. Okay, yeah, sure. I'm just saying I can't, I can't, a lot of kids, man. But it wasn't all diamonds and rosé 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.

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. 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.

It certainly made an already rocky marriage a lot worse. Arguments between the couple 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 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. 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 dollars from the sport. Holy crap. But 2010 would be the year of change for Lorenzen. 55 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 Shera divorced. Lorenzen moved to Atlanta, Georgia, while Shera stayed in Memphis so the kids could keep going to the same school. But Shera 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 Sharra and the kids, and this time he even planned to stay at the home with Sharra 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 18th, 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 10

p.m. 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, Debra. Lorenzen was supposed to attend his sister's baby shower in Memphis on July 21st, but he never showed up. Now, this is a six 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 Debra knows that. So the following day, July 22nd, she actually files a report with the Collierville Police Department just outside of Memphis. Some things require a lot of work to grow, like plants, hair, babies, or your savings. But when you run a business, you already have enough on your plate. Remember this. will grow without you even noticing. Ooh, which reminds me, I need a haircut. Conditions apply. Ends December 15th. Rate is annual, calculated daily, and will vary based on account balance. Visit scotiabank.com slash rightsize savings for full details. Amazon Black Friday week is here

with up to 35% off toys to stuff their stocking, noise canceling tech to silent their night, and fashion like slippers to missile their toes. Shop Amazon's Black Friday deals now. Now, with Lorenzen being the famous athlete he was, police get on this case pretty quickly. Yeah, sure. 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. Oh, no. Shara said she didn't know what they the door at night calling for Lorenzen. Oh no. Shera 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 3 a.m. And according to Shera, 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. Holy crap. This is a big deal. Also, I was going to speculate on what I think is going on, but we can keep going. 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. Oh shoot. It had pinged off of cell towers in Germantown.

This is a suburb of Memphis. So at this point, Lorenzen has actually been- Where, what happened? Well, Lorenzen has been missing for eight days at this point. What happened when you called 911? Like what happened at the call, you know? I will play it for you.

Oh, oh, okay, it's recording. Yeah, 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. So police contacted the Germantown 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. 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 do you want to hear the 9-1-1 call before you jump to conclusions maybe I'm gonna take I

take everything back and let's hear I forgot there's 9-1-1 call we'll play it for you right now okay Hello? Hello? I don't have nothing but gunshots. But in 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. Nope, nevermind, everything I say. And after that there's-

Take back. And after that there's no more voices, just the operator saying hello, hello. And then they just don't do anything about it because they couldn't locate it? Yeah. Okay. So they heard gunshots on this call and then just didn't do anything about it.

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 call. 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 28th, 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 Lorenzen Wright. What? That's insane. He has been shot to death, and his body is already decomposing in a field from the summer Memphis weather. Ugh. 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 Lorenzen Wright in that field that night. 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. Which is hilarious knowing that how many six foot 11 people do you have walking around in the world in general? 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? It's hard, I don't wanna 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 goes, cause I have no idea. So remember how Shara told police that the last time she saw her ex-husband was when he left the home around 3 a.m. with two strange men in a box. 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. Oh, if you ask Shara. That's a very large sum. 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 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 has gone had been spent. Which this is common. This happens a lot and it's sad. Yeah, I don't know. It really does happen. 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, Shera 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. Turns out, the Wrights had been living way beyond their means for a while. So now you can kind of see when Shera 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? True. 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've meant taking a closer look at Shara, Lorenzen's ex-wife and her ex-daughter-in-law. All right. Yeah, let's hear it. Because from the beginning, Deborah is confident that Shara knows more than she's saying. It's always the ones closest to you, man. 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. Well, I don't think there's any big conspiracy in that.

It's kind of nuts though. I'm not going to lie. 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 of it. Oh my gosh. Which is why in 2013, Lorenzen's father sued Shara. Okay. Because he found out that the money that was supposed to go to the kids. Didn't go to the kids.

Had honestly been spent on quote luxury expenses. I'll show you the receipt. It was a 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. Oh crap. She's living big. Yeah.

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. I know where this is going. And in 2015, she publishes a novel called Mr. Tell Me Anything. This book is about a woman who marries an abusive basketball player. Okay. 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. Maybe it was a therapy in a way. Little did Shara 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, Sarah Wright is my cousin and I have information on the murder of Lorenzen Wright. And he's like, is that worth immunity? Oh, interrupting their playlist to talk about defying gravity, are we?

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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. 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? I don't, I don't know.

I've actually thought about this when I watched Law and Order SVU and I've never looked it up because they just like agree to have a deal right there on the table and then they just share the information. I'd be like, go get a freaking- I'm like, is there no paperwork? Go get a freaking contract.

I'm not sharing anything until I sign this. If anyone knows, please leave it in the comments on Instagram or YouTube because I've actually had that thought and have just never looked it up. Yeah, I've never looked it up either, so I'm curious. So he says he shows up to Sharah's house that night, but when he arrived, he wasn't the only person there. There was another guy, Sharah and Lorenzen's old landscaper,

a man named Billy Ray Turner. So we have Billy Ray Turner and Jimmy Martin showing up at Sharah's house. Okay. 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. and also began an affair with Shera 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 Shera'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

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 Sharah. 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, fathom what I'm saying. Diabolical. That is so evil.

Sharah realized maybe she could lure Lorenzen out there one evening. What a freaking witch with a B and Wait, it gets worse. I'm not gonna use them on this podcast. According to Jimmy, she says I will lure Lorenzen, my ex-husband, out to our old Lovers Lane meeting area promising to our old Lovers Lane meeting area promising, having some sexy text messages.

Yeah, no, it's wild. And Jimmy and Billy could just be lying in wait. Insane, man. 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 kinda all lines up, it makes sense. But his account doesn't end there. Jimmy says on the night, Sharra 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 Sharra and Billy ended up committing the murder alone. So that night, according to Jimmy, Billy was already waiting in the woods. Sharra, who had lured 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 shares not too far behind. Both of them took off after Lorenzen where he was frantically getting his cell phone out to me that 911 call.

And then the shots are fired. Now Jimmy says when he came back to town, share 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 star's murder, I can also tell you where they disposed of the weapons. 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. No way they find these weapons. 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 guns. And nothing. 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. 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. He's like, there's not enough for us to arrest Sharra 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 around 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 this 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 In the crime scene, which means Jimmy Martin was telling the truth take Jimmy. Wait, he killed someone Is that what you're there? Yes. Okay. I was gonna say take him out of prison, but no no, he murdered his girlfriend

Oh, don't take him out of prison 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 gonna let you get out on murdering your girlfriend, but we're not gonna charge you for your involvement in this case.

Okay. Sharra and Billy would be completely out of luck though. On December 15th, 2017, police arrested the 46 year old Sarah 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. Wow. Now I've thought about this while doing this case and it's 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? Well, I'm just more confused on why, because what she's doing, she could have done if they just got divorced. Yeah, well, maybe she needed the life insurance payout because he wasn't paying Child support they were out of money. 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

Yeah, did those just kick in cuz he died. Yes, they like went to her Interesting. Okay So it was what we assume it's money related. Money is the motive. 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 committed murder? No, no, no, I think at that point, she's like, I'm free.

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. She probably thought, ah, they're never gonna find the guns. Especially, yeah, that's my guess. So ah, they're never going to find the guns. Yeah. Okay. Especially. Yeah. That's my guess. 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. So Billy gets life, she gets 30. I think she's going to be 76 when she gets up. Right. So at Shara's change of plea hearing, Lorenzen's mother, Deborah, actually thanked Shara

for giving her grandchildren. She says to me, they are a little piece of Lorenzen. I didn't even think about the kids part. Six kids. And all the- And your mom murdered your dad. Oh my gosh. Horrible, horrible, horrible.

And then went on to take his pension from the years that he had given to the NBA. And the mom's just been lying to the kids the whole time saying, someone murdered dad and I can't believe it. You put six kids through an unknown murder of their own father. That's so, that's ridiculous, man. That's horrible.

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 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 member, 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 Lorenzenrein. 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 wild I just it's so heartless and I Understand that by the time a marriage reaches divorce You might hate each other. Okay, but like hurting someone or just killing someone for money? Getting to even close to that point is next level. You know what happened, Garrett?

She had been spending this money, their entire marriage. For sure. She had been living lavishly. Yep. And then when they lost all the money and the divorce came and he couldn't pay. All she cared about was money. She was like, how do I go from living this

life to living this life? Horrible person. She should have just found another sugar daddy. Horrible person man. 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. I hate it. Goodbye.

Bye. Bye.