ACQUITTED - FL - Paula, 37, & Alijah O'Conner, 15 mos, murdered, St Petersburg, 6 July 2007

[Anita Richman]

How terrible! These pigs think they can get away with murder, literally. I wonder how "Jodi" feels about the deaths.

 

[Beyond Belief]

ST. PETERSBURG - Long considered the prime suspect, an Orlando man was arrested this morning in Putnam County on charges he killed his girlfriend and their child in St. Petersburg last year.
Ralph Daniel Wright Jr., 40, of 1701 Wetherbee Road, was indicted this month and charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Paula O'Conner, 37, and their 15-month-old son, Alijah O'Conner.
Wright was arrested at 8:20 a.m. today when he showed up at a business in Palatka, St. Petersburg police said.
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/de...eld-2007-deaths-girlfriend-infant/news-metro/

 

[MomofBoys]

I don't know if this is the right place to update this, but they arrested Sgt. Ralph Wright

He's being moved back to Pinellas County today

Wow, we posted at the exact same time!

 

[chicagofa13]

ST. PETERSBURG - Long considered the prime suspect, an Orlando man was arrested this morning in Putnam County on charges he killed his girlfriend and their child in St. Petersburg last year.
Ralph Daniel Wright Jr., 40, of 1701 Wetherbee Road, was indicted this month and charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Paula O'Conner, 37, and their 15-month-old son, Alijah O'Conner.
Wright was arrested at 8:20 a.m. today when he showed up at a business in Palatka, St. Petersburg police said.
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/de...eld-2007-deaths-girlfriend-infant/news-metro/

I don't get it, they said he wasn't a suspect in the beginning.

Thankful for justice in another case.

 

[Bobbisangel]

I don't get it, they said he wasn't a suspect in the beginning.

Thankful for justice in another case.

Sometimes LE just say that so the person they actually suspect will let his guard down.

 

[chicagofa13]

Sometimes LE just say that so the person they actually suspect will let his guard down.

I know, was being sassy. HNY Bobbi, thanks for all your good work here at WS!!

 

[OkieGranny]

http://tbo.com/news/crime/former-air-force-sergeant-gets-death-in-st-pete-double-murder-20140816/

A former Air Force sergeant has been sentenced to death in the killing of his ex-girlfriend and their 15-month old child.

Ralph Wright Jr., 46, was found guilty Friday by Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Thane Covert of a crime the judge called “especially heinous, atrocious or cruel.”

Wright showed up to Paula O’Conner’s St. Petersburg home in the early morning in July 2007 as the woman was getting dressed for work. She had filed a lawsuit against Wright Jr. for failing to support their son, Alijah, who was suffering from health problems. Wright Jr. strangled O’Conner and left her at the foot of the child’s crib. He also smothered their son.

 

[SeesSeas]

4/4/17 Florida Supreme Court Oral Arguments: Ralph Wright Jr. v. State, SC14-2410 - The Florida Channel - The Florida Channel

Mr. Wright was convicted of the first-degree murders of Paula O’Conner and her young son, Alijah O’Conner, which took place in 2007. Ms. O’Conner was

thefloridachannel.org

4/4/17 Florida Supreme Court Oral Arguments: Ralph Wright Jr. v. State, SC14-2410​

Mr. Wright was convicted of the first-degree murders of Paula O’Conner and her young son, Alijah O’Conner, which took place in 2007. Ms. O’Conner was strangled and the baby smothered. The jury voted 7-5 to recommend a death sentence for each murder and the trial court condemned Mr. Wright to death. This is his direct appeal.

https://acis.flcourts.gov/portal/search/party

Supreme Court of Florida
SC2014-2410
RALPH DANIEL WRIGHT, JR. VS STATE OF FLORIDA Mandatory Review
12/12/2014
Appellant WRIGHT, JR., RALPH DANIEL
Closed

https://acis.flcourts.gov/portal/court/68f021c4-6a44-4735-9a76-5360b2e8af13/case/a6fe625c-b70f-4859-bc30-1b0eedd979b9

***DISP-ACQUITTED ~ FSC-OPINION: The evidence presented in this purely circumstantial case does not establish "a reasonable and moral certainty that the accused and no one else committed the offense charged." Lindsey, 14 So. 3d at 215 (quoting Frank, 163 So. at 223). Although the facts established at trial support a strong suspicion of guilt, they are not inconsistent with innocence. We therefore conclude that the evidence is insufficient to sustain Wright's convictions. Accordingly, we reverse the convictions, vacate the sentences of death, and remand with directions to enter judgments of acquittal. It is so ordered.

 

[SeesSeas]

Florida Supreme Court Orders Release of Death Row Inmate

A former Air Force sergeant on death row for the murders of an ex-girlfriend and their son will be set free after the Florida Supreme Court ruled that there was no physical evidence to convict him.

www.nbcmiami.com

Published May 11, 2017​

A former Air Force sergeant on death row for the murders of an ex-girlfriend and their son will be set free after the Florida Supreme Court ruled that there was no physical evidence to convict him.
[...]

Ralph Wright Jr. becomes twenty-seventh death row prisoner in Florida to be exonerated

Florida death row inmate Ralph Wright Jr. was released from state prison Tuesday, two months after the state Supreme Court exonerated him in the 2007

floridapolitics.com

Ralph Wright Jr. becomes twenty-seventh death row prisoner in Florida to be exonerated
July 19, 2017
Florida death row inmate Ralph Wright Jr. was released from state prison Tuesday, two months after the state Supreme Court exonerated him in the 2007 killings of his ex-girlfriend and their baby boy.
[...]

Pinellas County Clerk of Courts Records Inquiry

0826620CFANO : STATE OF FLORIDA vs. WRIGHT, RALPH DANIEL, JR

07/17/2017	JUDGMENT VACATED (R) Volume: 19708 Page: 1955 Instrument #: 2017223177	AND SENTENCE VACATED; ENTERING JUDGMENTS OF ACQUITTAL; DIRECTIONS TO CLERK
07/17/2017	MANDATE REVERSING & REMANDING	ACCORDINGLY, WE REVERSE THE CONVICTIONS, VACATE THE SENTENCES OF DEATH, AND REMAND WITH DIRECTIONS TO ENTER JUDGMENTS OF ACQUITTAL / SC14-2410

​

 

[SeesSeas]

https://www.wfla.com/news/juror-speaks-out-on-ralph-wright-case-florida-supreme-court-reverses-murder-conviction/

Juror speaks out on Ralph Wright case, Florida Supreme Court reverses murder conviction​

May 12, 2017
[...]
“I’m still a hundred percent sure that he did it, but now I can’t say I’m a hundred percent sure of our system anymore.”