Ashley McArthur (Pensacola Murderer)

Ashley Britt McArthur was born around 1977 and lived in the Pensacola area of Florida. She had previously worked as a crime scene investigator and later became involved in Pensacola Automatic Amusement, a family-operated business that supplied jukeboxes, pool tables and other entertainment machines to local establishments. Her background in crime-scene work later attracted particular attention during the investigation into Wright's disappearance.

McArthur became friends with Taylor Wright, a former police officer who was working as a private investigator. Wright was going through divorce and custody proceedings during 2017 and had access to money from a previous financial settlement. As the legal dispute continued, Wright entrusted $34,000 to McArthur for safekeeping, with the money placed into an account connected to both women. McArthur subsequently began spending the funds rather than preserving them for Wright.

On September 8, 2017, Wright spent part of the day with McArthur. Wright needed the $34,000 returned, but prosecutors later established that McArthur had already spent much of it on personal expenses. McArthur drove Wright to rural property belonging to her family on Britt Road in Cantonment, north of Pensacola.

Prosecutors established that McArthur shot Wright in the back of the head at the property. She then concealed Wright's body in a shallow grave and attempted to hide the burial site using potting soil and concrete. Wright's distinctive bullet-shaped necklace remained with her body and later assisted investigators when the remains were discovered.

The following day, surveillance footage captured McArthur purchasing concrete and potting soil from Home Depot. Cell-phone evidence also placed her in the vicinity of the Britt Road property around the period of Wright's disappearance. Wright's family and girlfriend initially had no knowledge of what had happened, and she remained missing for more than a month.

McArthur used her friendship with Wright to place herself in a position where she could isolate her at a rural property associated with McArthur's family. The prosecution argued that the immediate motive was financial: Wright wanted her $34,000 returned, while McArthur had already used much of the money.

Wright was killed with a single gunshot to the back of her head. McArthur then concealed her body on the property rather than attempting to transport it elsewhere. The grave was covered using materials including concrete and potting soil, items McArthur was recorded purchasing shortly after Wright disappeared. Prosecutors also presented evidence that McArthur used Wright's phone after the killing to create the appearance that she remained alive.

Wright was reported missing to the Pensacola Police Department on September 14, 2017. Investigators initially considered several possibilities, including people connected to Wright's personal relationships and her work as a private investigator. Attention increasingly shifted toward McArthur because she was the last known person to have spent significant time with Wright.

McArthur told investigators that Wright had left her residence on the afternoon of September 8. Detectives could not substantiate that account. Cell-phone records instead showed that McArthur had travelled to the Cantonment area, contradicting her description of the day. Investigators also discovered the financial connection between the two women and the $34,000 deposited into their joint account.

Search warrants were executed on October 19 at locations connected with McArthur, including the Britt Road property. Search teams discovered human remains beneath concrete and potting soil, along with Wright's jewellery. Dental records subsequently confirmed the remains belonged to Wright, and examination revealed a gunshot wound to the back of her skull.

McArthur was arrested that day and initially charged with second-degree murder. A grand jury subsequently indicted her for first-degree premeditated murder on November 7, 2017.

Before her murder trial, McArthur faced separate criminal proceedings involving her family's amusement business. Prosecutors accused her of stealing money through the business and attempting to conceal financial wrongdoing. In January 2019, she was convicted of racketeering and fraud but acquitted of arson. She received a seven-year prison sentence for those convictions.

McArthur's murder trial began in Escambia County in August 2019. Prosecutors did not have DNA evidence directly establishing that she killed Wright, so the case relied heavily upon circumstantial evidence. Jurors heard testimony concerning the missing $34,000, McArthur's movements, cell-phone records, purchases made after Wright disappeared and the location where her remains were discovered. The state also presented witnesses who testified about statements McArthur had allegedly made concerning plans to harm Wright.

McArthur maintained her innocence, and her defense argued that prosecutors had failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that she committed the murder. After a four-day trial, the jury rejected that argument and found McArthur guilty of first-degree premeditated murder on August 30, 2019.

McArthur was sentenced to life imprisonment. The sentence carried a mandatory minimum of 25 years because a firearm was used in the commission of the murder.

The financial evidence provided prosecutors with an important motive for Wright's murder. Wright had entrusted McArthur with $34,000 while dealing with financial issues connected with her divorce, but McArthur began spending the money. Evidence presented during the case indicated that some of the funds were used to pay personal expenses and purchase gifts. When Wright needed the money returned, prosecutors argued that McArthur faced exposure of what she had done and chose to kill her rather than repay it.

McArthur's previous experience as a crime scene investigator became a notable element of the case, particularly because of the steps taken to conceal Wright's body and obscure what had happened. Despite those efforts, investigators reconstructed the case through financial records, surveillance footage, witness testimony and digital evidence. Court TV preserved extensive coverage of the 2019 proceedings, while the case was subsequently featured by Oxygen's Buried in the Backyard and Dateline: Secrets Uncovered.

• Court TV
• Oxygen
• NBC / Dateline
• Pensacola News Journal
• Pensacola Police Department
• Florida Department of Corrections