YT YouTube2Text

YouTube2Text → Transcripts → Flirting with Investigators after Murdering and Burying her Best Friend

Flirting with Investigators after Murdering and Burying her Best Friend — Transcript

by True Crime Central · 6,568 words · 985 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

Open in transcriber Summarize with AI Download SRT/VTT

Full transcript

0:03and a tragic update out of Escambia
0:05County Florida tonight the body of a
0:07private investigator missing for more
0:09than a month has been found saying that
0:11that body they found around noon today
0:13is believed to be that of Taylor wri
0:15deputies have charged right's friend
0:17Ashley MacArthur with second deegree
0:23[Music]
0:26murder hello hey Zach your your wife
0:30is uh she's being arrested this evening
0:34and charged with
0:35murder
0:39what Ashley MacArthur She's accused of
0:42murdering pentacol a private
0:44investigator Taylor Wright I don't know
0:46where she is where's her body at I don't
0:48know where she is she's dead though you
0:50know
0:52that we had a young woman Taylor right
0:56that was murdered there was no question
0:57about that she was shot in the back back
1:00of the head and
1:02buried do you know where Taylor Wright
1:04is do you know if Taylor Wright's dead
1:05did you kill Taylor
1:09Wright and what else did she say about
1:11finding her uh that she told me they'll
1:13they'll never find that [ __ ] she's gone
1:15they will be no physical evidence
1:18showing you that Ashley MacArthur had
1:21anything to do with the death of Taylor
1:27right as to the charge in count one we
1:30the jury find the defendant Ashley
1:37MacArthur
1:39the okay your wife is in a bar said
1:43she's this is what he's going to tell
1:45you how to get out of that situation and
1:48I grabbed the gun trying to find the
1:49first place to put a body no sir the
1:51only thing they could do was kill him
1:53you want to say anything we the jury and
1:55find the defendant
2:06it's a beautiful place we're a place
2:08where people
2:10vacation so we have the pensac Naval Air
2:13Station love our Blue Angels uh world
2:16famous for those it's a great town a
2:18great place to raise your family like
2:21all uh cities we do have murders but uh
2:23you know anytime a murder comes up of
2:26this nature it certainly draws attention
2:28uh first name is Taylor last name is
2:31Wright w r i g HT Taylor Wright was 33
2:35years old when her body was found more
2:37than a month after she had been first
2:39reported missing Taylor should have
2:41called me Taylor would have called me
2:43and she didn't she was a former police
2:46officer from South Carolina turned
2:48private investigator the mother of an
2:508-year-old son Taylor moved to Pensacola
2:53after a contentious divorce and fell in
2:55love with a woman we met um on a on an
2:59online dating app we were in a
3:01relationship for a short period of time
3:04but enough time to have sincere feelings
3:07and to say that I love this person and
3:09she told me she Lov me back Cassandra
3:12Waller is a public school administrator
3:14who soon invited Taylor to move in with
3:16her uh she was kind she was outgoing she
3:20would give you the shirt off of her back
3:22she was full of life she was full energy
3:25she had all kinds of Hope had great big
3:27giant ideas but there were issues in
3:30Taylor wri's life her new girlfriend
3:32suspected she was using drugs and had
3:35caught Taylor cheating on her with
3:37another woman and Taylor and her
3:39ex-husband Jeff Wright were still
3:41fighting over their son and their money
3:44I just know that Taylor didn't feel like
3:46it was equal in violation of the court
3:48orders Taylor had withdrawn $100,000
3:51from a joint account with her ex-husband
3:54and asked another of her new Florida
3:56friends Ashley MacArthur to help her
3:58hide the money by putting it in Ashley's
4:01bank account but now the divorce judge
4:03had ordered Taylor to show up with the
4:05money or face jail so the night before
4:08Taylor went missing we went out to eat
4:11and Taylor was just really stressed out
4:13she was talking about how Ashley was
4:16holding on to this money that Taylor
4:18needed to get it back and she she felt
4:20awkward about it she felt like something
4:21wasn't right the next day Taylor and
4:24Ashley were set to go to a bank in
4:25Pensacola to pick up the money Ashley
4:28had been holding for her
4:30and we gave each other a hug and a kiss
4:33and at that time I'm walking out of my
4:34driveway Ashley pulls up I say hey Ash
4:38and she's like hey Cassandra and um I
4:40said you guys have a good day um I got
4:42in my car and I drove away that was the
4:44last time I ever saw
4:47Taylor a few hours later Ashley called
4:51Cassandra to say that instead of going
4:53to the bank she and Taylor had driven
4:55out of town to go horseback riding on a
4:58farm in East Milton owned by Ashley's
5:01family I was like weren't you guys
5:02supposed to go to bank she goes yeah you
5:03know Taylor's really stressed out with
5:05the divorce stuff and she's just been
5:07really emotional today these are the
5:09things that she's telling me tell her
5:10everything's fine like there's we we'll
5:13get through this later that night she
5:15got this text message from Taylor's
5:17phone saying I I'm I'm sorry like I'm
5:20not doing anything wrong I started
5:22getting angry and upset cuz here we were
5:26in a relationship
5:30I'm thinking Taylor is telling me that
5:32she needs time to herself and she's not
5:34including her partner and that hurt my
5:43feelings and as the days and nights went
5:46by Cassandra Waller was both worried
5:49something had happened and then angry
5:51Taylor might have left her for someone
5:53else I sent her texts I tried calling
5:57her nothing no responses nothing
6:01nothing but after more than a week what
6:04had begun as a missing person's case for
6:06police soon took on an ominous
6:10cast everyone is initially a suspect so
6:13certainly Taylor's ex-husband um was
6:16certainly on everyone's radar and
6:18Cassandra Taylor's girlfriend at the
6:22time but very early on we treated it as
6:26if it were a homicide being handled by
6:29two detectives Chad will height and
6:31Richard gigliotti who had just been
6:33promoted to detective the first thing we
6:36did with this case was contacted
6:38Cassandra Waller they there was a time
6:40they came to my house and at one point
6:43the detective gigliotti crawled under my
6:45house I'm sitting on the front porch
6:47with Detective willik balling my eyes
6:49out because this is embarrassing why am
6:52I being looked at intention right now is
6:54not to arrest you for anything oh I'm
6:56trying to find out why your girlfriend's
6:58disappeared here I am in this room that
7:01they would use to interrogate
7:03people and it's it's padded walls it's a
7:07place you don't want to be I can't help
7:08but be scared that I'm going to get in
7:10trouble for something that I did and I
7:12was trying to help she's in her Inner
7:14Circle she's her girlfriend so she needs
7:17to be pressured as well during interview
7:19to gauge her reaction see how honest
7:21she's being with us those questions do
7:23got to be asked if you knew who harm
7:25care would you tell us absolutely
7:31if she was dead right now and you knew
7:33would you tell
7:36us I don't
7:39know did you hold her no they asked me
7:43if I killed
7:46Taylor and I lost
7:49[Music]
7:55it when Ashley McArthur was brought in
7:57for questioning as the last person known
7:59to have seen Taylor right alive so let's
8:03start that day from the beginning she
8:07said she doubted any harm had come to
8:09Taylor Wright offering suggestions about
8:11her whereabouts she wanted to appear as
8:14she as though she was cooperative right
8:17and she wanted she didn't want to um
8:21deny anything that we asked she wanted
8:23to seem Cooperative telling the
8:25detectives Taylor might just be off on a
8:27drug bit the only thing I worry about is
8:30with the drug situation like I wouldn't
8:32even if I didn't know about the drug
8:34situation I wouldn't be worried about
8:36her I would say Taylor's doing what
8:38Taylor
8:40does but then that
8:44lifestyle
8:45becomes a different group of
8:49people sure which is what I worry about
8:53with her true we don't know that she
8:55ever had intentions on leaving maybe she
8:58wanted to go have fun and then some
8:59someone found her with a bag full of
9:01cash we and that's that's why we we have
9:04to follow it down every single Avenue
9:06and ask all
9:07these Cassandra's understanding was that
9:10this money was in a safety deposit box
9:12of Ashley MacArthur's at Wells Fargo so
9:15when Ashley was asked about a safety
9:17deposit box at Wells Fargo she said
9:19there was nothing have you ever had a
9:21safety deposit box there yeah there was
9:23no safety deposit box there was no
9:25account at wi Fargo with money that that
9:27was that didn't happen but text message
9:29on Taylor's phone made it clear Taylor
9:32thought her money was at the Wells
9:35Fargo talking about meeting at the WF
9:39likely being the Wells
9:41Fargo needing to get there needing to
9:43get the
9:45money clearly that was a problem we
9:49spent time driving the route that Ashley
9:51MacArthur gave us that they took uh
9:54looking for surveillance footage they
9:56found this surveillance tape at a gas
9:58station nowhere near the Bank where
10:00Ashley says they stopped to buy Taylor a
10:02beer around 10: in the morning have you
10:05ever seen her drinking at that time of
10:06day before I that was odd behavior and
10:11in fact I said something to her I was
10:12like beer at this time of the morning
10:14she was like well it's 5:00 somewhere
10:16I'm like it's a perfect response then
10:20Ashley told the detectives they headed
10:22out to the horse farm in East
10:25Milton so we just drove out there and
10:27she was just
10:31off team I guess and drinking beer and
10:34we were just hanging out she a strange
10:36girl Ashley claims she then drove Taylor
10:39back from East Milton to Ashley's home
10:42and the Taylor called an Uber and left
10:45she was fine she just said that she
10:46wanted to go have a beer and that she
10:48was going to get an Uber to take her to
10:50go have a beer what detectives would
10:53soon discover was another claim from
10:55Ashley MacArthur that would not check
10:57out contacted Uber Taylor's account
11:01hadn't been using months something was
11:03wrong something was definitely
11:05[Music]
11:09wrong now more than a month since Taylor
11:12Wright went missing Cassandra Waller was
11:14increasingly desperate to find out what
11:16happened to her pleading for help on
11:19Facebook nobody's reached back out to me
11:21I still haven't heard from her nobody's
11:22heard from her so I'm I'm calling
11:24hospitals in Louisiana in Mississippi in
11:27Alabama
11:28[Applause]
11:31and Ashley mccarthur was busy calling
11:33the detectives to suggest where Taylor
11:35Wright might be
11:38hiding hey detective asley how are you
11:41I'm well are you unaware that she had
11:43become the prime suspect she got back on
11:46the cocaine and you know do we need to
11:49like you know look in alley you know for
11:51her she's definitely curious on what
11:53we're doing and where we're
11:55at she's definitely fishing for
11:57information uh
12:00but we didn't want to tip her off um I
12:01was just going to see if there was any
12:03update or anything going on and so on a
12:07regular basis she would call me and I
12:10had to of course be friendly with her
12:11you hate to bother you sp check all
12:14right thanks Ashley I couldn't answer
12:16the phone surely and say yeah so you
12:19know we'll be arresting you here shortly
12:20uh you just wait the turning point of
12:23the case came from the records of cell
12:25phone towers which keep track of which
12:27cell phones are nearby cell phone's
12:29always communicating with a cell tower
12:32and the cell phone companies know
12:35exactly which Tower it's communicating
12:36with and the data showed that Ashley's
12:38timeline her Alibi did not check out and
12:42when we got that
12:43information that's when we really found
12:45out okay Ashley and Taylor never went
12:49out to this East Milton Farm Family Farm
12:52that Ashley was saying they went out to
12:54where they were supposedly riding horses
12:56we knew right away very big deal
13:01the Tower Records instead showed her on
13:03that day about 30 Mi away in the
13:06Northwest part of the county and what is
13:08she doing up there um detective alberon
13:11and I
13:12um had she had the great idea of let's
13:16check the property appraisers website
13:18and we typed in Ashley's maiden name
13:21which is Brit and it popped up the first
13:24uh property record search found 20201
13:27Brit Road in lo and behold old it was uh
13:30in the cell phone tower information that
13:33we were receiving it was right in the
13:34middle of all that data it was a good
13:36moment we're like okay we're getting
13:40somewhere and at at that point were you
13:42pretty sure she was the one oh certainly
13:45yes certainly we had cell towers of her
13:47lying we had the bank records her
13:48depositing the money and we have uh
13:51surveillance footage from Banks showing
13:53her depositing Taylor Wright's checks
13:56checks that are signed Taylor Wright but
13:59it's not Taylor wri's signatures they're
14:01not her handwriting but the detectives
14:03had to keep a tight lid on their
14:05suspicions because Ashley's husband Zach
14:07was also close to people in law
14:09enforcement a former County Sheriff's
14:11deputy in fact we didn't tell many
14:13people here that Ashley
14:16was a suspect in the case cuz we didn't
14:18know who what tie she had with people
14:20now it was time to bring Ashley back in
14:23for what would be a showdown round of
14:25questioning
14:30hi how you been doing you know we've
14:32turned up some things that we don't we
14:35don't really know what to think at this
14:36point we knew this was going to be our
14:38last interview because at that point we
14:41knew all the search the three
14:42simultaneous search warrants were going
14:44on at her house at the farm and at her
14:46family business so before we ask you any
14:49questions you must understand your
14:50rights you have the right to remain
14:52silent anything you say against you can
14:54be used against you in court detective
14:56gigliotti played the role of the good
14:58cop will height the bad cop I don't have
15:01a problem confronting people with
15:04um what I know is a lie someone has to
15:07play that role and I was fine with it
15:10that time starting with the cell tower
15:13data we had the ability to plot all your
15:15phone calls for that day but when we
15:20started plotting all the phone calls
15:23that you and Taylor were making that day
15:26um there were some discrepancies and
15:28what you told us okay okay um we know
15:34that you didn't go to Milton when you
15:36said you went to milon you did go to
15:38milon not when you say you went you went
15:42that evening next Taylor writes
15:46checks do you know whose signature that
15:51is says Taylor's name but it doesn't
15:54really look like her signature would you
15:55maybe wrote her name on there by chance
15:58probably not
15:59and then finally what happened at that
16:02farm on Brit Road what were we all doing
16:04out there at this Farm we know yall were
16:06there we picked up some
16:09um stuff that Taylor had there that we
16:13what was that she had store um sometime
16:15lock box that she had why would you not
16:17tell us that originally because she
16:20asked me not to tell anyone
16:22ever that's not going F I got you okay
16:28uh she seemed to get really closed off I
16:30would say um kind of Turning
16:33Away I think she crosses her arms and
16:36her legs if I remember
16:38correctly I think I actually reach over
16:41and try to break that defense
16:43down for a second I'm cross your legs
16:46and look me for a
16:48second so you can tell she was
16:50definitely uncomfortable at that point
16:53what was going through your mind at that
16:56time what were you thinking about
17:00[Applause]
17:01[Music]
17:05[Applause]
17:09this is kind of a regular
17:11day regular day me that if it's so
17:16regular why would you tell us about this
17:18even if she didn't want you to tell us
17:19not we're working a missing person case
17:21where your friend for over year is
17:23missing I honestly didn't think it was
17:26very important to this at all the
17:29detective was having none of it where is
17:32Taylor at I you need to tell us where
17:34she's at I don't know where she
17:37is I don't have
17:45clue so you're the only one that was
17:47with her on this day at this farm that
17:49you did not disclose to us I didn't do
17:52anything to her if she's at that farm
17:54we're going to find her because we're
17:55executing a search warrant out there
17:57right now that's funny but she she's not
17:59going to be there then where's she at I
18:01don't know where she is where's her body
18:02at I don't know where she is she's dead
18:04though we know
18:06[Music]
18:09that she had two options
18:12either tell us what took place out there
18:15or ask to speak to an attorney and
18:17terminate the
18:18interview tell us what happened I think
18:22at this point I need an attorney the
18:24detectives had no choice but to let
18:26Ashley MacArthur leave the police
18:27station the search at the Brit Road Farm
18:30had still not turned up anything about
18:32an hour or two after she walked out of
18:34this department uh we I was on the phone
18:37with one of the supervisors out on the
18:40uh Brit Road property and uh someone
18:43yelled in the background that they had a
18:45a skull I had no question in I think
18:48either of our minds that this was most
18:50certainly going to be Taylor wri's
18:53remains and a tragic update out of
18:55Escambia County Florida tonight the body
18:57of a private investigator missing for
19:00more than a month has been found the
19:02body found in a shallow grave at the
19:04Brit Road Family Farm covered with
19:06concrete and potting
19:10soil hello hey Zach your your wife is uh
19:16she's being arrested this evening and
19:18charged with
19:20murder
19:23what but Ashley MacArthur had not broken
19:26under the questioning had not confessed
19:28to anything would there be enough
19:31evidence for a jury to
19:37convict for the record we're here on the
19:40State of Florida versus Ashley MacArthur
19:42defending is present with Council
19:43assistant State Attorney is
19:46present and once again the LA and crime
19:49network has picked a phenomenal trial
19:51Florida versus Ashley McArthur but
19:53there's cameras here there's camera over
19:55there there's microphone this has
19:57nothing to do with you
19:59if anyone has to sit up straight it's me
20:02if anyone has to put on lipstick it's me
20:06this is a criminal case the defendant is
20:08charged with first-degree premeditated
20:11murder I think I've covered everything I
20:13think of Miss Jenson I'm going to turn
20:15it over to you thank your honor may
20:17please the court on what you will see at
20:19the end Richard Jensen is the chief of
20:22the homicide unit in the Escambia County
20:24District Attorney's office I think one
20:26of the most difficult things to overcome
20:29was Ashley herself she was this very
20:32small very pretty kind of Meek quiet
20:35spoken female who'd never been in
20:37trouble um so from the outside looking
20:39in no one would think that she would do
20:42something like this and really what you
20:44will see in the end is that Ashley
20:47MacArthur had the motive to kill Taylor
20:50wri money she had the opportunity to
20:54kill Taylor Wright she did in fact kill
20:58t Taylor Wright and then she tried to
21:00cover it
21:02up but to get to that ending we have to
21:05start at the
21:07beginning Taylor Wright withdrew
21:11$100,000 from the bank when she wasn't
21:14supposed to and then she was trying to
21:15hide that money from her ex-husband and
21:18she also asked her friend this defendant
21:21Ashley MacArthur to help hide the money
21:24you will see the pressure that Taylor
21:26Wright was putting on Ashley MacArthur
21:28to get this
21:29money and the reason that matters is
21:32because the money was gone Ashley
21:34MacArthur had spent
21:36it Friday September 8th 2017 is the last
21:42day that Taylor wri is known to be
21:44[Applause]
21:44[Music]
21:49alive she was with this defendant Ashley
21:52mccarther and they were supposed to be
21:53going to the
21:55bank Taylor Wright was never seen alive
22:03again Ashley MacArthur was represented
22:06by a father and son team of lawyers
22:08Barry and John baret ladies and
22:10gentlemen of the jury as as you sit
22:12through this case you will see the
22:14evidence isn't there there's Reasonable
22:16Doubt in this case and that's what I was
22:17trying to convey to them in the opening
22:19statement there will be no physical
22:21evidence introduced in this trial
22:25showing you that Ashley MacArthur had
22:28anything anything to do with the death
22:30of Taylor Wright there will be no
22:32eyewitness testimony introduced into
22:35evidence showing you that Ashley
22:38MacArthur had anything to do with the
22:41death of Taylor Ry there will be no
22:43murder weapon introduced into evidence
22:46that has any
22:48connection to Ashley MacArthur the first
22:51witness called by the prosecution was
22:53Taylor Wright's ex-husband Jeff Wright
22:56who had briefly been considered a
22:58possible suspect were you and Taylor
23:01legally divorced yes essentially had to
23:04clear him and I think if the jury didn't
23:07hear from him it would be um probably a
23:10weakness for the state's case Mr Wright
23:12did you reach out to Ashley MacArthur on
23:17Facebook I did and did you ask her um if
23:21she maybe knew where Taylor was I did
23:23and what what responses did she give you
23:25she said that she had last seen Taylor
23:27with two back packs um significant
23:30amount of money that Taylor was nervous
23:32about the upcoming trial the defense
23:35used rights testimony as an opportunity
23:37to raise a question of whether he had a
23:39motive to harm Taylor Wright she had
23:41antagonized a lot of people and
23:44especially over the divorce and the
23:45money uh issues with her husband fair to
23:48say that Taylor right was making it very
23:52very difficult for you to get this money
23:53back that is correct but MacArthur's
23:57lawyers knew that police had a
23:58established Jeff Wright's whereabouts
24:00hundreds of miles away in North Carolina
24:03and they knew better than to outright
24:04accuse Jeff Wright of the murder yeah we
24:07can't lose credibility with the jury we
24:09can't make it so incredible that they
24:11don't believe
24:13us on the second day of the trial the
24:16prosecution called Taylor right's
24:17girlfriend Cassandra Waller she was
24:20nervous about making eye contact with
24:22Ashley now do you see Ashley MacArthur
24:24in the courtroom today I do can you
24:26please point to her and identify what
24:27she's wearing she right here she's
24:29wearing a black outfit and then I looked
24:32at Ashley Ashley never looked at me
24:35Ashley was always looking down at her
24:36scribble pad let the record reflect this
24:38witness has identified the defendant
24:41during the course of your relationship
24:42with Taylor R did you ever have an
24:43opportunity to see her handwriting yes
24:46did she write you letters yes did she
24:48give you cards yes were you familiar
24:50with her handwriting and her signature
24:52Yes again I'm showing you stat exibit
24:55number
24:5626 does that look like Taylor right
24:58handwriting that is not Taylor's
24:59handwriting or her signature or her
25:01signature but on cross-examination
25:03Cassandra Waller testified she never saw
25:06any evidence of threats by Ashley
25:08MacArthur against Taylor Wright in all
25:11the times that
25:12you saw Ashley MacArthur and Taylor
25:17Wright together um you never heard saw
25:23anything indicate to you that Ashley
25:25MacArthur was threatening harm Taylor
25:29right causing her you know going to
25:31cause her any physical harm anything
25:33like that no and no indication that the
25:36Taylor right was scared of or anything
25:38like that no the defense then raised
25:41questions about Cassandra's own at times
25:43challenged relationship with Taylor
25:45Wright citing the text she had sent to
25:47Taylor on the first day she was missing
25:49as those text messages show you called
25:52her a liar I didn't you called her a
25:55drug user I didn't what I was trying to
25:59point out is that Taylor had a somewhat
26:01volatile life going back to Late
26:06July uh
26:092017 you indicated to us that you
26:13received information that Taylor was
26:15having some sort of relationship with
26:18another woman over in Mississippi
26:20correct yes she had the secret
26:23girlfriend in Mississippi she was known
26:25to use drugs just because you don't hear
26:27from on September 8th or 99th doesn't
26:30mean she was murdered at that point that
26:32was the point I was trying to make with
26:33Cassandra it's it's got to be clear as
26:36day that I have nothing to do with this
26:38and the fact that they still played that
26:40it that I could have possibly been
26:42somebody for the jury that could have
26:44ruined my reputation my professional
26:47career they'll throw anything and
26:51everything out there that's not okay
26:55testimony was show that Ashley came from
26:57a solid middle class family but could
26:59often be found in strip clubs and
27:01sketchy bars where her girlfriends and a
27:04bartender testified she talked the night
27:06before Taylor disappeared about killing
27:08her with an overdose of cocaine she had
27:11just purchased did Ashley tell you
27:14either before during or after you went
27:17to babes what she was going to do with
27:19the
27:20cocaine she said that she was going to
27:22put it in Taylor's
27:24beer what did you hear Ashley say um
27:28that this world would be better if
27:30Taylor wasn't here and that she wasn't a
27:32good
27:33person was one time she said that she's
27:36too small to hurt anybody she'd just
27:38shoot him and then this the night Taylor
27:41went missing did you ask Ashley what she
27:45did with the cocaine then she put in her
27:47beer and Taylor spit it out because she
27:49said it tasted
27:54sour the prosecution's case depended
27:57heavily on Ashley's motive that she
27:59could not give back Taylor WS money
28:01because she had already spent it on a
28:03man with whom she was having an extra
28:05marital Affair a bar owner named Brandon
28:08Bey at some point did you and Miss
28:11MacArthur start a sexual relationship
28:13yes ma'am so I was able to
28:16trace $30,000 in cash
28:20that Ashley had used to buy her
28:23boyfriend a boat was she paying the golf
28:26power bill at sticks she did a couple
28:28times um was she buying supplies at
28:31Sam's Club for your business yes ma'am
28:32she did okay in approximately August of
28:352017 did she buy you a
28:38motorcycle I'm not sure the day yes she
28:40did purchase a motorcycle okay a
28:41purchase made a few weeks before Taylor
28:44Wright wet bissing how much and how
28:47often was Ashley MacArthur spending
28:49money on
28:51you I'm sorry I'm I I don't know how to
28:55answer that to be honest with you okay
28:57pretty regular
28:59and um what did she say about her friend
29:00being missing uh the police had took her
29:03phone or she told me that the her the
29:08girl had ran off with her husband's
29:09money or something and just like just
29:11gone okay and what else did you say
29:13about finding her uh that she told me
29:16they'll they'll never find that [ __ ]
29:17she's gone
29:21[Music]
29:35but the defense would have its own cards
29:37to play including a video of Ashley
29:40MacArthur that would give her lawyers a
29:42surprise opening to undercut the
29:44prosecution
29:47[Music]
29:51case hurricane Dorian now a category 2
29:54storm strengthening this morning
29:56threatening to hit Florida as a major
29:58category 4 hurricane in the middle of
30:01the Ashley MacArthur murder trial
30:03Pensacola came under a hurricane watch
30:06and in the courthouse judge Jan
30:07Shackleford urged the lawyers to speed
30:10things up so what I read in the most
30:13recent update was alarming showing
30:16Dorian on the move you see it right
30:17there making its way through the
30:19Atlantic as you can see this storm is
30:21just getting bigger and bigger but
30:22prosecutor Bridget Jensen was intent on
30:25playing the full 6 hours of the two
30:28police interrogations of Ashley
30:31MacArthur I think that was important
30:34because the jury gets to see Ashley
30:37MacArthur I wouldn't think so like I
30:40don't I don't believe Taylor's been
30:43harmed I just I think Taylor's doing
30:47what Taylor does if you looked at the
30:49first interview uh Ashley was
30:53almost kind of flirty maybe a little
30:55playful with law enforcement she ever
30:58come on to you or Taylor asked me one
31:01time if I would have a threesome with
31:04her and some guy and I'm like no thank
31:07you um in the second interview her
31:09demeanor was was so different I think
31:11she knew at that point um you know she
31:13was probably caught so you're the only
31:15one that was with her on this day at
31:17this form that you did not disclose to
31:19us I didn't do anything to
31:23her if she's at that farm we're going to
31:25find her because we're executing a
31:27search War out there right now that's
31:28fine but she's not going to be there so
31:31it was good I think for the jury to see
31:34um that she had lied and she got caught
31:37up in her lies and couldn't come up with
31:39excuses fast enough then where's she at
31:41I don't know where she where's her body
31:43at I don't know where she is she's dead
31:45though we know
31:48that you know uh this is a perfect
31:50example of when you talk to law
31:52enforcement too much whether you're
31:54guilty innocence it's going to come back
31:56and hurt you and the father and son team
31:58of defense lawyers could do little to
31:59challenge much of the other
32:00prosecution's evidence too the gruesome
32:03photos of Taylor Wright's body wrapped
32:05in a hammock in a shallow grave a bullet
32:08hole in the back of her head the
32:10testimony about the cell phone towers
32:12that put Ashley MacArthur at the crime
32:14scene you have in the cell phone records
32:16the maps that were put into evidence
32:18cell tower near the Brit Road farm at
32:2012:10 p.m. the Ford signature on
32:22Taylor's cashier check deposited in
32:25Ashley MacArthur's bank account Taylor
32:28is missing and she is still depositing
32:31Taylor's
32:32money and the suspicious text messages
32:35from Taylor's phone after she was likely
32:39dead but then a video that the
32:41prosecution hoped would help clinch the
32:43case gave the defense a surprise opening
32:47surveillance video from a Home Depot of
32:49Ashley MacArthur buying concrete and
32:52potting soil the day after Taylor went
32:54missing a store clerk Devonte Sim helped
32:58her make the purchase I was walking
33:00through the store and asked her did she
33:01need help what was she looking for uh
33:04type of
33:05concrete what type of concrete uh she's
33:08she just said she was sorry like a fast
33:12hting concrete I'm sorry can youat a
33:14fast in concrete but then looking at the
33:17crime scene photos Sims testified the
33:20textured Rocky concrete on Taylor
33:22Wright's body appeared to be different
33:25than what Ashley MacArthur bought the
33:27concrete that this Lake purchased is it
33:30texture uh no ma' it's like a fine dust
33:35is that is it like Rocky what's it s
33:38don't the defense was jubilant I'd
33:41leaned back and made a comment to my dad
33:43C was just boom like I was happy you
33:46know and I'm sure you can get the
33:47photographs he said the concrete that
33:49Miss MacArthur bought was very fine like
33:51dust the concrete on top of Taylor
33:53Wright's body was very PEB you could see
33:57rocks in it was not fine like dust and
34:00then the defense set out to prove in its
34:03case that Ashley MacArthur would not
34:05have been able to lift a 50lb bag of
34:07concrete or even Taylor Wright's body
34:10because of a back injury she suffered 8
34:12years earlier her mother Ronda Brit did
34:16you see her ever lift any heavy objects
34:19no she tried not to because um it hurt
34:22her back have you ever seen her lift
34:25anything like a 50 lb concrete bag or
34:27anything that heavy no and is that to
34:30this day yes I think it definitely was
34:34hard to picture how this little girl
34:37could move a dead body but at the same
34:39time Taylor was not a big girl either I
34:42think where there's a will there's a way
34:44in the end the defense case rested
34:46mostly on the fact there was only
34:48circumstantial evidence no fingerprints
34:51no DNA tying Ashley MacArthur to the
34:54crime scene when you were here you were
34:56the lead investigator for the escap amb
34:58County Sheriff's Department on this
34:59investigation is that correct yes and as
35:01far as physical evidence or forensic
35:04evidence you never found any physical or
35:06forensic or trace evidence that linked
35:08Ashley MacArthur to the homicide I did
35:10not know
35:12sir it is the state's job to give you
35:17everything the good the bad the
35:21ugly and you heard some very
35:24unflattering information about Taylor
35:27Wright
35:28and you may not like some of what you
35:30heard about Taylor Wright but in this
35:34trial she is the victim so let's not
35:37forget that she was the 33-year-old
35:40mother of a child and she was a human
35:44being and our laws in the great state of
35:47Florida do not classify human beings so
35:50her life means no less than anyone
35:53else's and this woman sat there hour
35:57after hour in those interviews you saw
36:01calm cool
36:04collected not one ounce of sadness or
36:09concern or worry for her friend that was
36:16missing she was so forthcoming about all
36:19the bad things that Taylor did but you
36:21know what she wasn't forthcoming about
36:24those deposits of Taylor's money that
36:26she made and that property on Brit
36:30Road and why because as she sat there
36:34giggling and laughing and joking with
36:36law enforcement on September 18th she
36:39knew that Taylor was out there on Brit
36:41road because that's where she murdered
36:43her and that's where she tried to cover
36:45up her body ladies and gentlemen Ashley
36:48MacArthur had the
36:50motive Ashley MacArthur had the
36:54opportunity Ashley MacArthur murdered
36:58Taylor
36:59Wright and then she tried to cover it up
37:02with
37:03lies concrete and potting
37:08soil
37:10okay all right ladies and gentlemen I'm
37:12going to turn it over Mr Barry
37:15baret we're here about a murder case the
37:17most serious crime you can be charged
37:19with she is not charged with stealing
37:22any money she's not charged with lying
37:24she's not charged with being unfaithful
37:26that she's not on TR trial for anything
37:28other than first-degree murder they've
37:31got to prove that the crime occurred and
37:33they don't have any physical evidence
37:35may have none there's no DNA linking
37:37Miss MacArthur to Taylor wri's death
37:41there's no trace or scientific evidence
37:43linking her you've seen enough on
37:45television you see what happens when
37:47somebody's traumatized uh if they've
37:50done something if they killed somebody
37:51or if they've seen somebody kill
37:53somebody you just don't turn that on and
37:55off there's nothing to indicate anything
37:57in her
37:59demeanor through these videos that
38:01they've got that they put in or her
38:03clothing or her dishevelment that
38:04indicates that she was killing somebody
38:07or dragging somebody's body around
38:09there's nothing there and that's strong
38:11evidence physical evidence that you can
38:13see not something that state is
38:15suggesting here's the kicker the
38:17concrete you have photographs she put
38:19one of them up on the screen a big one
38:21and you saw the concrete that concrete
38:24was rough concrete it is not the
38:26concrete that she purchased when you
38:28consider the evidence and the burden
38:30that the state
38:33has I ask you to do your duty in this
38:35case because there is a reasonable doubt
38:37and I ask you to return a verdict of not
38:40guilty of Miss
38:44[Music]
38:49MacArthur all right we're back on the
38:51record State of Florida versus Ashley
38:53MacArthur my understanding is we have a
38:56verdict
38:58they were out I think 4 hours and you
39:00never know you never
39:04know that seems like an eternity while
39:06you're waiting it's 12 people um you
39:09know it only takes one person to to find
39:11a hole that you know that they don't
39:13think she's
39:15guilty let me talk to everybody in the
39:19audience somebody out there is going to
39:21be
39:23unhappy I don't know what the verdict is
39:26I know there are some family members and
39:28friends for Miss MacArthur and presume
39:31that there are family members and
39:32friends for Taylor
39:35Wright I was in the courtroom I am like
39:39two pews right behind
39:42Ashley so the jury came in and there was
39:45a lot of unknown what's going to happen
39:47what's going to be said and this judge
39:50she talked about making sure that
39:51everybody was going to control their
39:52emotions when the verdict was
39:54read and and I was afraid I I had no
39:58clue what was going to happen at
40:01[Music]
40:04all Mr F were yall able to reach a
40:07verdict just okay all I want you to do
40:10is to hand it to court security okay I'm
40:13going to hand it to the clerk to publish
40:16yes in the Circuit Court in EN Forest
40:19Gambia County Florida State of Florida
40:21versus Ashley Britt MacArthur case
40:24number 1717 cf5 5844 a verdict as to the
40:30charge in count one we we the jury find
40:32the defendant Ashley
40:36[Music]
40:38MacArthur guilty of first-degree
40:41premeditated murder with a firearm as
40:43charged in the indictment so see we all
40:46David A F forers dated August 30th
40:512019 so I was trying to fight back all
40:55all the tears and all the emotions and
40:58everything that I had been
40:59[Music]
41:02through so we knew that if she's
41:05convicted the judge was going to
41:06sentence her right away which the Jud
41:08judge
41:09did I need all of you to stand and M
41:13MacArthur I'm going to ask you one
41:14question raise your right hand do you
41:16swear or affirm the testimony you're
41:18about to give will be the truth if so
41:20say I
41:21do okay Miss MacArthur I want to make
41:24sure that I ask you personally do you
41:25want to say anything to the
41:27Court okay all right then Ashley
41:31MacArthur have having been found guilty
41:34Beyond A Reasonable Doubt by a jury of
41:36your peers a first-degree premeditated
41:38murder with a
41:40firearm I am going to adjudicate you
41:42guilty I'm going to sentence you to life
41:45with a mandatory minimum 25 years State
41:52Prison in the end Justice was done and
41:55she'll send the rest of her life she
41:57will spend the rest of her life in
42:04prison she's gone she's really gone and
42:08this is done it had been 2
42:12years and it was finally a book closed
42:16it was we're done she did it
42:21[Music]

About this transcript

This page contains the full transcript of Flirting with Investigators after Murdering and Burying her Best Friend by True Crime Central, generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 6,568 words across 985 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.

What you can do with it

Use the transcript to take notes, quote the speaker, build a study guide, generate a summary with ChatGPT or Claude via the YouTube Summary tool, or export it as a timed subtitle file with YouTube to SRT. You can also re-open it in the transcriber to translate the transcript into 100+ languages.

Free YouTube transcript tool

YouTube2Text is a free YouTube transcript generator — no signup, no daily limit. Paste any YouTube link and get the full transcript instantly, with timestamps, click-to-jump, translation to 100+ languages, AI prompts for ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, and exports to TXT, SRT, VTT, or Markdown.