Private Investigator Taylor Wright Was Killed By Ashley Mcarthur
One such heartbreaking and heinous crime in the United States in 2017 was the murder of Taylor Wright by a friend, Ashley McArthur. An investigative series episode will examine Taylor Wright’s disappearance in 2017. Keith Morrison will speak with Wright’s co-workers and loved ones about who she was and everything that happened after she disappeared.
McArthur was seen last with Taylor Wright, who became a person of interest almost immediately. When Wright’s body was discovered, McArthur was arrested. Keep reading to learn where Ashley McArthur is now and what exactly happened to Taylor Wright.
Ashley Britt McArthur: who is she?
In addition to serving as a crime scene technician, Ashley was best friends with the murder victim. Taylor, 33, a former police officer and private investigator, was going through a divorce when she pulled $100,000 from a joint account with her then-husband, Jeff Wright. McArthur was then given more than $30,000.
Taylor Wright: what happened to her?
At the time, Casandra, Taylor’s live-in girlfriend, informed authorities she hadn’t seen her partner since September 8, 2017. They had been texting until 11:20 am, but then Taylor stopped responding.Casandra received a text message from Taylor’s phone around 8 pm stating that she needed some time to get back on track. Officials noted that McArthur had texted her cousin to see if he would be on the farm that day. (He was away at a funeral).
The victim and McArthur had gone to her family’s property to ride horses. After an hour, they returned to McArthur’s house, where Taylor took an Uber to the bar. Taylor is doing what Taylor does, but I need to find out. It’s always been her way to come across as tough, and she’s always carried weapons, knives, guns, or whatever.
A cashier check worth $34,000 in Taylor’s name had been deposited in the culprit’s bank account. McArthur’s bank records also painted the picture perfectly. She was shot in the back of the head and then concealed under potted soil and concrete. McArthur probably even bought Brandon Beaty a boat with the money she had earned.
When Taylor confronted McArthur about the money, it was the last time the victim heard from him. On September 9, 2017, surveillance footage showed him purchasing potting soil and concrete from a Home Depot.
The prosecutor explained the significance of McArthur’s behavior
during two different police meetings — “If you looked at the first interview, she was flirty, maybe a little playful with law enforcement, but in the second interview, her demeanor was different. I think she knew she had been caught.”
According to witnesses, McArthur said he had also spoken of killing Taylor in other instances at the hearing. McArthur’s friend Audrey Warne, a local bartender, testified, “She said she would put it [cocaine] in Taylor’s beer.” As she said, the world would be better if Taylor wasn’t around, and she wasn’t a good person, once saying she couldn’t hurt anyone because she was too small.
John Brose, McArthur’s lawyer, said his client had no financial issues. He also brought up Taylor’s alleged drug use and examined the victim’s mental state.
The woman was convicted of 1st-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
As of August 30, 2019, McArthur was sentenced to life for first-degree premeditated murder. She is serving her sentence at the Lowell Correctional Institution, also known as the Lowell Annex.In Ocala, Florida, northwest of Orlando, the Annex is a women’s prison with a capacity of 1,500 inmates.
In the week-long trial, prosecutors argued that McArthur killed Wright for financial gain and presented motive and opportunity to the jury.
In March 2018, while she was out on bail before her trial for Wright’s murder, McArthur was charged with arson, racketeering, and fraud for separate incidents before Wright’s murder, Court TV reported. McArthur was accused of stealing thousands of dollars from local businesses between 2015 and 2017 while running Pensacola Automatic Amusement, her family’s company.
On the day McArthur was supposed to meet with businesses about their lost revenue at Pensacola Automatic Amusement, a fire broke out, leading to his arson charges. According to public records, McArthur was sentenced to seven years in prison in January 2019 for racketeering and organized fraud, but not for arson.
The First District Court of Appeal in Florida upheld McArthur’s conviction despite appealing the verdict.
The First District Court of Appeal in Florida upheld McArthur’s judgment and sentence on April 16, 2021, despite her appeal.When a photo of McArthur holding and pointing a shotgun was accidentally shown to the jury, she claimed that the jury was unfairly prejudiced. She also argued that cell phone records and her statements to investigators should not have been allowed as evidence.
In their judgment, the appeals court said that the trial court did not make an error in allowing those pieces of evidence to be heard and that the shotgun photo was. As of now, it is unclear whether McArthur’s legal team will try another trial.
