Lorenzen Wright's Ex-Wife Claims Wright Left House With Drugs, Money Night Of Homicide

Lorenzen Wright was murdered last July in Germantown, Tennessee. Unfortunately, the website TMZ is reporting that it may have been possible to save the former NBA player's life had the town's police department been more proactive in its search.

The Germantown 911 dispatch center received a call where gunshots were heard early in the morning of July 19 and Wright was reported as missing on July 22, 2010, four days after the seventh overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft was last seen alive leaving the home of his ex-wife. His body was finally recovered on July 28, nine days after he was last seen.

Wright's body was found in gruesome condition, leading police to find that he had been shot at least a dozen time, but the family claims in a lawsuit that the scene was much worse than even that report indicates.

"[T]he exposure to the elements including substantial rain, extreme heat, indigenous animals and insects had reduced the remains from roughly 225 lbs to 57 lbs."

The family claims that Wright's body could have been found sooner -- and possibly alive -- simply through finding out the location of the original 911 caller. According to TMZ's report of the lawsuit, however, Wright's family claims officials had blocked the police from using online programs because certain officers had been abusing their web access. With this information in its hands, the family is suing for over $2 million in damage.

If these allegations are true, it makes the story even more tragic regarding the last days of the 34-year-old with 779 games worth of NBA experience.

Former NBA player Lorenzen Wright’s ex-wife told police he left her house on the night of his death with a box of drugs and an unspecified sum of money, according to court records obtained by the Memphis Commercial-Appeal.

Sherra Wright told detectives her ex had a conversation on “a ‘tracfone’ or similar cellular telephone” with an unidentified person before he left with the drugs and money. She also told police he owned an iPhone and made calls from both cells while at her house.

“During the conversation with the unidentified individual, Sherra Wright told Det. Young she heard Lorenzen Wright say he was going to flip something for $110,000,” according to an affidavit obtained by The Commercial Appeal on Tuesday.

Sherra Wright also told police her ex-husband kept two guns in the family van but they have yet to be found. The police did seize two items from her house, pieces of burned metal and a letter addressed to Lorenzen and Sherra Wright. She was unaware of the contents of the letter.

Memphis PD Lt. Alan Ruhl said late Tuesday that the homicide investigation is continuing to develop.

According to a Fox affiliate out of Memphis, Sherra Wright, the ex-wife of the late Lorenzen Wright, has declined to cooperate with authorities in Memphis looking to solve her ex-husband's murder. From MyFox13:

A source told FOX13 Lorenzen Wright's ex-wife was at the Memphis Police Department for two hours Friday with her defense attorney, Coleman Garrett.

Our source said she did not give a statement and she is not cooperating with MPD's investigation.

And her attorney issued the following statement:

"Since we have no personal information regarding the why he disappeared, what happened to him or whose responsible for his disappearance and eventually his murder, we don't have anything to add therefore there is nothing to be gained by us talking to the police about what we think *may* have happened."

And the attorney's explanation makes sense, I guess. But it's hard to ignore the suspicions aroused here, especially after the search of Sherra Wright's home seemed to cast her in a more complicated light. Now she's refusing to cooperate? You'd think she'd do whatever she could to help solve a murder. If she's not doing that, maybe there's a reason.

According to reports out of Memphis, the Memphis police force searched Lorenzen Wright's home this weekend in connection with his murder last week. From an ABC affiliate in Memphis:

Homicide detectives spent their Sunday afternoon in Sherra Wright’s Collierville home collecting evidence. They spent an hour in the backyard which doesn’t come as a surprise to neighbors Tim Coleman and Ruth Ann Carnes who saw heavy smoke coming from the fire pit the day Lorenzen went missing. They say that’s because Sherra Wright started a fire in the backyard, and they thought it was unusual for Wright to light a fire on one of the hottest nights of the year.

According to the neighbor that the reporters spoke with, that's not all:

Coleman says that’s not the only bizarre behavior he’s noticed over the weeks. While on the phone in her front yard he heard Sherra Wright on the phone. “I just heard her talking to somebody about needing her money. I don’t know anymore than that. I really try not to listen to it but when she’s screaming it’s hard not to hear stuff.”

Initially, Sherra Wright claimed that she had been visited by armed men looking for Wright, giving the appearance that whatever trouble Wright was in, she was a victim, too. Now, though, it's becoming less and less clear who deserves blame here, and it seems the authorities in Memphis are beginning to look to Lorenzen Wright's ex-wife with a more suspicious eye.

The details of Sunday's search, particularly the bit about the fire pit, certainly offer a more complicated picture of Sherra Wright's role in Wright's murder. Stay tuned more details as news emerges.

Memphis police have ruled former NBA player Lorenzen Wright's death a homicide by gunshot, according to the Memphis Commercial-Appeal.

The latest clue to emerge comes from Wright's ex-wife, Sherra Robinson. According to Robinson, three unknown men "with guns tucked in their waistbands" had come to her house in recent weeks and demanded to know if Wright was there visiting his six children. Robinson reportedly informed her divorce attorney, Gail Mathes, about the incident out of her for the safety of her family, but it's unknown if they reported the incident to the police. It's also unknown whether these three men played a part in Wright's death, and who, if any, suspects the police are currently investigating.

Wright, who had been missing since July 19th, was found in southeastern Memphis on July 28th, with reportedly up to twelve gunshot wounds. Police found his body after following a lead involving a 911 hangup the night of his disappearance, that included the sound of ten or so gunshots in the background.

Lorenzen Wright was 34-years old at the time of his death.

Police have begun investigating the death of former NBA player Lorenzen Wright as a homicide, according to the Detroit Free-Press.

Wright, whose body was discovered in southeast Memphis late on July 28th, had been missing July 19th. While early speculation had centered on the possibility that his gunshot wounds were self-inflicted, possibly motivated by Wright's well-documented financial problems, the sheer number of wounds all but rules that possibility out. Indeed, Wright reportedly had as many as twelve gunshot wounds.

Police have recently come under scrutiny for not finding Wright's body earlier. The police eventually found his body by following the lead from a 911 hangup they received the night of his disappearance. That brief call featured a male voice speaking an expletive, followed by the sound of at least ten gunshots, according to the Memphis Commercial-Appeal. It's not known who the phone the call was made from was registered to, but it was found on Wright's person when police discovered his body on Wednesday. The 911 dispatcher reportedly called the phone back after receiving the hangup, but it's not known whether the police followed up on it, before it came to their attention late Tuesday night.

Wright's mother accompanied the police to the Collierville scene where her son's body was found. She told reporters:

I wanted to see the last steps of my son, the last steps my son ever took. He was my first born child. I really wanted to see his last steps. [...] I was wondering how they would get a 6’11’’ guy inside of the fence.

Lorenzen Wright was 34-years-old at the time of his death.

Some possible grisly details are beginning to emerge in the investigation of the death of former NBA player Lorenzen Wright. Matt Stone, the sports director at the Fox affiliate in Memphis, Tweeted that preliminary reports have come into the station indicating that Wright had been shot at least a dozen times.

Memphis police have still yet to make an official comment regarding the investigation. According to The Commercial Appeal, a law enforcement source has confirmed that Wright's body was found in a wooded area in the southeast section of Memphis. Wright's uncle, Curtis Wright, also told the Associated Press that authorities had contacted Wright's father, Herb Wright.

Wright, 34, has been missing since July 19.

Lorenzen Wright's tragic ending has been confirmed. While the Memphis Police Department has yet to officially comment, a "law enforcement source" has confirmed to Memphis' Commercial Appeal that the body discovered on Wednesday is indeed that of Wright, who had been missing since July 19.

His body was found in a wooded area at Hacks Cross and Winchester in southeast Memphis.

Police sources also said that they are indeed "investigating a 911 hangup call from Wright's cellphone" that was made Monday morning.

There's been a tragic ending to the disappearance of former NBA player Lorenzen Wright: police have reportedly found his dead body in Memphis, according to MyEyeWitnessNews.com.

Wright had been missing since July 17th after leaving his ex-wife's home. His family filed a missing person's report on July 23rd and said that they feared he'd been the victim of foul play -- suspicions the police initially downplayed. Earlier on Wednesday, police had announced that they had found a body in southeastern Memphis as they investigated Wright's location based on his last known phone call, a 911 hangup made early in the morning of July 18th. At first, police refused to identify the body as Wright's, although according to MyEyeWitnessNews.com that is indeed the case. The body reportedly suffered a gunshot wound. Early speculation was that the wound may have been self-inflicted.

Wright, who was beset by numerous financial woes, was reportedly carrying a fair amount of cash at the time of his disappearance. That and the reported 911 hangup certainly make a robbery-murder also seem very plausible.

It's been more thank a week since former Atlanta Hawks and Memphis Grizzlies center Lorenzen Wright was reported missing by his panicked wife. And according to the Fox affiliate in Memphis, police are no closer to finding him:

"There have been some calls from the public, they've followed everyone of them, and none have really led to anything that can substantiate or add anything significant to a trail of finding him," said Public Information Officer for Collierville, Mark Heuberger.

... "There is a very high level of concern and intensity in terms of trying to locate him, to find someone that's seen him. Anything of that nature," Heuberger said.

It's obviously a tragic, bizarre situation that has both police and those closest to Wright scratching their heads. Here, Wright's ex-wife makes an emotional plea for help.

With any luck, something will turn, and the family and police will find their man. It should be mentioned that Wright had fallen on hard times financially in recent years (he had his home foreclosed in May), and police recently told the Baltimore Sun that they don't suspect foul play.

In any case, prayers are with the family. Hopefully this will have a happy ending.

Lorenzen Wright, who last played in the NBA in 2008-09, is still missing and family members suspect foul play.

Wright's sister, Adriane Harris, told The Memphis Commercial Appeal that Wright has been out of touch before, but "not to this extent."

The family filed a missing persons report with police, who said they don't suspect foul play.

Wright has not been seen since July 19, according to Harris.