MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Billy Ray Turner, the only person tried for the murder of Lorenzen Wright, contacted WREG from his prison cell.
When he was revealed as a suspect, many of you asked if he had a romantic relationship with Wright’s ex, Sherra Wright Robinson, who plotted the murder. Here’s what he told WREG investigators April Thompson and Zaneta Lowe.
Sentenced to life in prison for the murder, Turner has a lot of time to think.
But Sherra, who is convicted of conspiring the murder plot Turner carried out, has already had one parole hearing and will get another chance at freedom in a few years.
So, we asked what he would say to Sherra right now.
“Well, basically, I just would say I just wish she would have said more on my behalf to get me out of this whole situation,” Turner said.
He says he first met Sherra at a Collierville church, where he was a long-time member, and she started training in ministry. Turner, a yard man by trade, soon became the go-to yard guy for Sherra and her then-husband Lorenzen.
“Well, I’m a kind person,” Turner said. “[I] Wouldn’t mind helping anybody — and that’s what I did. I was involved in my church. I ran a landscaping company. If I had any opportunity to lend a hand in anything, that’s what I did. I think that’s just a part of why I’m in this situation because I was so helpful.”
Turner says he didn’t interact much with Lorenzen but knew who the hometown hero was. “I’ve met him on different occasions. I didn’t know him well, but he [saw] me around. He knew that I did work for him.”
And Turner maintains his relationship with Sherra was just professional. “I did yard work, yes … We did not have a romantic relationship.”
But in court, Turner was depicted as a lovelorn admirer convinced he and Sherra would one day be together. Paul Hagerman, the prosecuting attorney, addressed the court, saying, “Billy Turner was Sherra Wright’s friend. Billy Turner was Sherra Wright’s yard man. Billy Turner was Sherra Wright’s romantic, secret interest.”
And the attorneys representing Sherra during the murder case say she and Billy “were” romantically involved.
When asked what kind of relationship the two had, Juni Ganguli, Sherra’s former attorney, said, “It’s been a few years, but Billy and Sherra were acquaintances, and they had a very short-term relationship. At some point, I don’t exactly remember when that very brief relationship was. But for the most part, they were acquaintances who had had a brief affair.”
Laurie Hall, another of Sherra’s former attorneys, said Sherra confirmed their relationship. “It was just maybe once or twice they had been romantically involved together.”
Police also captured video of Sherra meeting with Turner after the gun used to kill Lorenzen was found. Turner says there’s a reason they met up — he wanted to tell her he didn’t want trouble.
“I said it was the best for her to not contact me because I didn’t want to be involved in any of it,” Turner said. But he was about to get very involved. A month after that gun was found, he was arrested.
When asked what was going through his mind when police came to him, Turner said, “I was shocked. I was just basically traumatized by this. For them to arrest me for the murder of this man, Lorenzen Wright. I was totally shocked. I was totally heartbroken. I didn’t know what to think. I just couldn’t believe it. I was in disbelief.”
Turner says he hasn’t spoken to Sherra since that day. He hoped she would testify on his behalf and explain he had nothing to do with the killing. But Sherra was never called to the stand.
Turner said he was never in the woods with Sherra that night. “I was nowhere near. I don’t know where all this come about that implicated me in this situation.”
He is still hopeful that, on appeal, things will turn out his way. “I’m just waiting on my day, being patient, waiting on my day in trial once again to be delivered from all of this.”
Wednesday, WREG will hear what Turner has to say about the star witness, Jimmie Martin, who put him at the murder scene and was the nail in the coffin for his conviction.