The investigation of Lorenzen Wright’s murder seven years ago has taken another turn: fresh on the heels of the arrest of Billy Turner in Memphis, police in California have now arrested Sherra Wright-Thompson, Lorenzen Wright’s ex-wife, in connection with his death, according to the Commercial Appeal.
The specifics of the connection between Wright-Thompson and Turner haven’t been reported, but Turner was apparently a deacon at a church in Shelby County, Tennessee, where Wright-Thompson was a member, and the motive may have included a $1 million life insurance policy. The New York Daily News reported that Wright-Thompson was “nearly $3 million in debt” when she divorced Wright in 2010, months before his death. Wright-Thompson reportedly described how she’d been a “person of interest” in the early investigation—apparently some members of Wright’s family never really scratched her name off the list:
“Thank you Jesus! Thank you Jesus! They got her! They got her!” Lorenzen Wright’s mother, Deborah Marion, told a reporter shortly before midnight. “They need to bury her.”
Marion said police confirmed the arrest to her. She said she got a call from Memphis police about 10 p.m. and went down with her family to police headquarters. Marion says a police official told her Sherra will be charged with first-degree murder, the same charge Turner faces.
“It’s just those two right now,” Marion said. “But they’re still working on it.”
Wright-Thompson was booked Friday in Riverside, California, and reportedly has a court date set for Monday.