Ashley McArthur Trial Prosecution Closing Argument

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Okay, Ms. Jensen, anything? I'm going to give an instruction to the audience, but beyond that, anything from you? Anything, Mr. Berry-Barrosin? No, Your Honor. Other than you gave us some time, so my time's going to probably be a lot less than what I asked for, hopefully, because we've got to work enough. Well, it was one thing if we got done at noon. It was another thing if it was 2.30 and everybody needed to be ready today. So I'm glad that may make it more efficient, and also, like I said, important that y'all give your best closing arguments. So let me talk to the folks in the audience here. For the most part, 98% of the folks have been doing exactly what I've asked you to do, but I'm going to remind you one last time. There's a lot at stake in this case, serious case. The attorneys have put enormous effort into this. I gave them the afternoon and evening to work on their closing. Let's be respectful of that, whether it's the person, you may be for one side or the other side, but let's let the jury hear it without interruption. So here's what you can do. Again, Ms. Jensen's going to go first. She has a total of an hour and 15. If I was estimating, I think she'll take 45 minutes to an hour for her initial. And then I'll give a comfort break to the jury. And if you want to leave, that's a good time to do so. Then Mr. Bross sits up and he's saying he thinks he actually is going to need less than that. It's the same thing. If you have to get up, then you must, there's no reason, there seems to be like a lot of, hey, how's it going? Even though there's 98% pretty good behavior on this, there's a lot of, hey, what's new? How's it going? Or an exchange of something. There's no need for this. This is not a concert. You get up, quietly leave, and that's the way it is. Unless you're the media, there better not be texting or recording. Where is Ms. Britt? Hey, Ms. Britt, is your phone off? Okay, we got that. Everybody else, check your phone. I'm going to double check. My phone's over here. I'm going to make sure. Last time I had a closing argument in a murder case, my phone went off, and I had to make a donation to the favorite charity of that attorney. So I'm making sure my phone is also off. And it is. No reactions. That's important. You may not like what's being said. Don't react. If you react, then you're going to be told that you need to leave and leave quietly. So no reactions. I really haven't had any issues with Ms. MacArthur, so I'm not even addressing. But again, Ms. MacArthur, if you've been fine, but again, just a reminder for you. I'm really more concerned about our audience. Otherwise, you're welcome to be here. So no texting, no audio recording, no using of the phones or if you have a pad, no whispering with each other. If you leave, leave quietly, and no reactions to the arguments. I think I've covered everything. So with that, if we're ready, let's bring the jury in. [00:03:45] Speaker 2: Judge, the only other thing, can you not dim the lights completely? [00:03:48] Speaker 1: I can do whatever you want. Okay. [00:03:50] Speaker 2: I was having a hard time seeing yesterday, but I don't know. [00:03:53] Speaker 1: I can do the two and leave that one that gives you some light. [00:03:56] Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, I know it's important for them to see, but I need to see today. I understand. Thank you. [00:04:00] Speaker 1: Judge, one other thing. [00:04:03] Speaker 2: I'm concerned that the court reporter is on the line. I don't know if the people comfortable with her moving a little closer to you, especially when ours goes on. [00:04:12] Speaker 1: I'm not concerned about the court reporter attacking me. I think she likes to be somewhat connected to her computer. But Jody, is there a way you can reposition that's better? Would you want to move your computer, and you don't want them to see your computer necessarily, but you could flip to the other side? I don't know. Do you want to do something? [00:04:36] Speaker 2: I'll just scoot back. [00:04:38] Speaker 1: You're just going to scoot back closer to me? Yeah. Come on in. I'm on a bike. Water's fine. Okay. I think that, thank you. All right. We're ready. All right. Everybody may have a seat. And for the record, the defendant is present with counsel, assistant state attorney is present. Well, good morning, everybody. Good morning, sir. It's Friday. Well, first, I want to start by praising y'all one last time, or it may not be my last time, but 15 people. Every day this week, you have been on time or early. I haven't had to wait for anybody. I haven't had to look for anybody. I haven't had to make a phone call. Thank you. All right. All week long, I've been trying to keep y'all relaxed. We're at the end now. We're going to be getting down to business. I have to ask you my series of questions. Has anybody done any research on the case? Has anybody turned on any sort of live streaming TV show to see what they were saying about the case? I looked at the news journal this morning. I didn't see anything, but has anybody read anything in that sense? Anybody have anybody send something to you or talk about the case? Anybody have anything they need to share with me that would affect their ability to be fair and impartial? Please tell me. No. All right. Both the state and defense have now rested their case. The attorneys are going to present their final arguments. Please remember what the attorneys say is not evidence. However, it is intended to aid you in understanding the case. Both parties will have equal time, but the state is entitled to divide that time between an opening and then a rebuttal. Final thing before Ms. Jensen gets up is I told you what we'll do is I will give you offers and opportunities for a comfort break, but we're going to keep those short and keep so we have the same flow of consciousness and you hear everything in sort of a continuous sequence without much of a break. Ms. Jensen, you may proceed. [00:06:59] Speaker 2: Thank you, Your Honor. I told you in opening statement on Monday that you were going to hear a lot of different information from a lot of different people. And the reason that you heard so much is because it's important for you to understand how all these different lives and all these different people and all these different relationships, dysfunctional and all, how they all kind of overlapped and intertwined and intersected. For instance, without hearing from Jeff Wright, you would have no evidence of where this $100,000 came from and why. Not only that, but if you didn't hear from Jeff Wright, then you would probably think that he was suspect number one. Law enforcement did. But you heard from him, and you know that at the time Taylor went missing, he didn't even live in Florida. Same with Zach MacArthur, Brandon Beattie, Kyle Britt, Audrey Warner, and Cassandra. These were all people that law enforcement looked into as possibly having some sort of involvement. You've heard from them all, and obviously they do not. It is the state's job to give you everything. The good, the bad, the ugly. And you heard some very unflattering information about Taylor Wright. And you may not like some of what you heard about Taylor Wright. But in this trial, she is the victim. She's been accused of taking money. She's been accused of cheating. She's been accused of trying cocaine three times. But ladies and gentlemen, Taylor Wright is not on trial today. So let's not forget that she was the 33-year-old mother of a child. And she was a human being. And our laws in the great state of Florida do not classify human beings. So her life means no less than anyone else's. The state brought some of those ugly things about Taylor Wright out, in my own case, through Cassandra Waller. And that may have seemed a little bit odd to you. But here's why. Taylor and Cassandra had a private, personal conversation at Ashley MacArthur's home, with Ashley MacArthur present. And you remember Audrey was there, too, and Ashley sent her out. And Taylor and Cassandra had this conversation about how Taylor had been talking to some female in Biloxi, and she had tried cocaine. And then this defendant, after she murdered Taylor Wright and was being interrogated and questioned by police, used that private, personal information against Taylor to lead law enforcement on these wild goose chases of where Taylor may be. Well, maybe she's in Biloxi, maybe she's in a treatment center, maybe she's in Destin. Not only that, but that's how Ashley MacArthur came up with the idea of putting cocaine in her beer, because she heard that conversation between Cassandra and Taylor. And it's consistent with what those girls from STICS told you, the conversation they overheard the day before Taylor went missing. Ashley heard that information between Taylor and Cassandra and used it. That's why the state brought that information out, not to disparage Taylor or demean her or criticize her life. Ashley MacArthur used every tool she had against Taylor to deflect and distract and take the attention away from her own guilt. Taylor was supposed to be her friend. Taylor had a key to Ashley MacArthur's home. Taylor trusted this defendant with all that money. And this woman sat there, hour after hour, in those interviews you saw her, calm, cool, collected. Not one ounce of sadness or concern or worry for her friend that was missing. She was so forthcoming about all the bad things that Taylor did. But you know what she wasn't forthcoming about? Those deposits of Taylor's money that she made and that property on Britt Road. And why? Because as she sat there giggling and laughing and joking with law enforcement on September 18th, she knew that Taylor was out there on Britt Road. Because that's where she murdered her and that's where she tried to cover up her body. She avoided all of those questions like the plague. At one point, she was asked about her cousin Kyle because they had seen his phone number and her phone records. She says, oh, he's here from Gainesville. They said, well, is he staying out on the campus here at UWF? And she says, oh, no, he's staying with a friend, but I don't know where. Come on. The web of lies that she tried to spin in these interviews with law enforcement all caught up with her in the end. Because on October 19th, the last time she was interviewed, police had her phone records, police had her bank records. And did you see how her body language changed from the first interview to the last interview? She knew she was caught. And she still tried to kind of weave that web of lies, but she ended up getting caught up and tangled in it. Because at the very end, she could not come up with a lie quick enough for Taylor's cell phone using a cell tower in Robertsdale, Alabama. While this defendant was in Robertsdale at a wedding. Now, I know there were a lot of documents and exhibits entered into evidence over the past week. I'm going to try to pull it together for you in a timeline. So in July of 2017, you know that Taylor withdrew $100,000 from a bank account that she wasn't supposed to when she was going through some issues with her ex-husband. Two months later, ladies and gentlemen, two months later, Taylor is gone, vanished, disappeared, dead. And who was she with trying to get her money back? Ashley McArthur. This defendant was supposed to be holding Taylor's money, not spending it. This defendant said in her own statement that Taylor asked her to hold the money. Now, Ashley wanted law enforcement to believe that it was at her house. She said initially it had been there a couple days, then it went to a couple weeks. But you know that's a lie. Because Taylor had a key to Ashley's house. And if all Taylor had to do was go to Ashley's house to get her money, she could have done that. That's not true. This defendant led Taylor to believe that she had a safety deposit box. It didn't exist. And Taylor was giving her this money and this cashier's check, thinking that's where Ashley was putting that money. And in the meantime, she was blowing it. Most of it on Brandon Beatty. Taylor needed that money back. And that money was gone. And the day Taylor was with his defendant to get her money back, then Taylor was gone. On August 10th, Taylor was added to the defendant's bank account. A $34,000 cashier check was deposited by this defendant on August 16th. On August 17th, that $34,000 was transferred by this defendant to a number of bank accounts. And you have all those bank accounts and evidence. From August 29th through September 7th, Taylor is constantly asking this defendant to take her to the bank. She's got to get to the bank. Then you heard on September 7th, they met up at Twin Peaks, and that was where the conversation was had that Ashley was going to pick Taylor up the next day, and they were going to the bank. September 8th, Ashley McArthur picked up Taylor from Cassandra's house. The last text to Cassandra is on September 8th, 1128 AM. You have the video surveillance from Tom Thumb. The defendant and Taylor were at the Tom Thumb. You never see Taylor, but by the defendant's own admission, they're together. She buys two drinks, one beer for Taylor, one drink for herself. Then the defendant's cell phone is using a tower that covers the Britt Road farm, not Milton, Britt Road. That is when Taylor Wright is murdered. You heard testimony, and there's a text and evidence where the defendant made a phone call to her friend, and when she did, she was winded. And it was obviously strange enough that her friend asked her about it. So why were you so winded? This defendant's cell phone is back using towers that are close to the Britt Road farm on September 8th. The next morning, September 9th, this defendant's cell phone again using towers out at the Britt Road farm. The afternoon, she is at Home Depot buying concrete and potting soil. Again, her cell phone is using towers that cover Britt Road after Home Depot. Then, Taylor's cell phone and the defendant's cell phone are using a tower in Robertsdale, Alabama. After that, Taylor's phone and the defendant's cell phones are using a tower that covers this defendant's house. I know those cell tower records the other day were messy and probably gave you all headaches. But basically, what they show is the movement of Ashley's phone and the movement of Taylor's phone. September 11th, Taylor is missing three days. This defendant is depositing a check. Not for very much. It's $352. She's depositing a check into her bank account. This was the day that Cassandra was aggravated. She said she'd had enough. She wanted Taylor's stuff moved from her driveway in that box truck. It was taken to Pensacola Automatic Amusement, where the warehouse is. That same day, this defendant sent a picture of a Kimber Cis Ultra to Brandon Beatty. September 14th is when Taylor is reported missing. This defendant and Cassandra went through Taylor's car. They found those guns, the knives, the things that were in Taylor's car. Ashley sent Cassandra pictures of Taylor's guns for documentation purposes. And then, within an hour, she's sending them to Brandon Beatty. September 15th through October 2nd, Ashley McArthur is interviewed. She's interviewed again on October 19th. While they're talking to her, a search warrant is being executed on the Britt Road property. And you know that Taylor's remains were found. So, look at the evidence you have to go with the timeline. You have Taylor's bank records and evidence. I know this is really hard to see. But you have the $100,000 deposit on July 12th. Then she does. Remember, there's testimony. She's moving it all over. She's trying to hide it from her ex-husband. Then she transfers $83,000 of it to her savings account on July 18th. She withdraws $83,000 on July 18th. And who was with her? Ashley McArthur. Ashley said she was with her at the bank. She said Taylor made some commotion, was rude, whatever. Again, trying to deflect the attention to Taylor. But Ashley McArthur was with Taylor on this date. And she said that Taylor withdrew $15,000. Two days later, Taylor goes back, deposits $68,000. So what's $83,000 minus $68,000? $15,000. Taylor Wright gave that $15,000 to Ashley McArthur. And who did Ashley McArthur give it to? Brandon Beattie to buy that boat. Taylor also withdrew by cashier's checks, two cashier's checks, $34,000. You know the one was deposited by this defendant. Not Taylor's signature. And she admitted she deposited it. The other $34,000, again, on the 25th, Taylor took out $15,000 in cash. And the other $19,000 was a check, and you know that was found at Cassandra's house. Where'd that $15,000 go, ladies and gentlemen? To Ashley McArthur. To hold in the safety deposit box that didn't exist. So what does Ashley do with that $15,000? Same date, she pays for the second half of Brandon Beattie's boat. So it's not just the $34,000 cashier's check. It's the $34,000 plus $30,000 in cash for Brandon Beattie's boat. And then conveniently, while Ashley is talking to Cassandra, leading her on a wild goose chase about where Taylor is, she conveniently says, oh, when Taylor left, she had these bags, and she had about $30,000 in cash. Convenient. On August 10th, Taylor Wright was added to Ashley's Purely Southern account. Ashley's signature, or excuse me, Taylor's signature. On the 10th. And ask yourself this question. On the 10th, when Taylor was added to this bank account, if she wanted her cashier's check deposited at that time, why wouldn't she deposit it? Because she didn't. She gave that cashier's check to Ashley to hold. She could have added it on the 10th. There's the cashier's check. There's the deposit slip. And again, Ashley admitted depositing that. Then on the 17th, the next day after that $34,000 is deposited, you have all these records and evidence. This is the Purely Southern account. Here's the deposit. It is immediately transferred until there's only $600 in that account. So where does it go? This is her daughter's account. It's her and her daughter's account. And again, you have all these records and evidence. $20 there, $400 there. Next account. This is her Pensacola Automatic Amusement account. $2,000. And this is all from the Purely Southern. $2,000, $9,960. $11,960 to her Pensacola Automatic Amusement account. And it's really hard to see, but on the 17th, here's the $3,274 bill that she tried to pay at Gulf Power for Brandon Beattie, for Sticks, returns for insufficient funds. There's also, somewhere down here I can't see, there's a $600, right here, $630.51 charge to Island Cove Marina, which is where Brandon Beattie kept his boat. Also in those transfers was a $580.73 payment to her credit card that has a $7,000 balance. $1,390 transferred to a Pensacola Automatic Amusement credit card with a $13,000 balance. This is the account that she shares with her husband, Zach MacArthur. $17,400 transferred from the Purely Southern account to her and Zach MacArthur's bank account. Same day, she goes to a branch, withdraws $8,300 in cash. Here is the withdrawal slip. Here's the video surveillance. August 17th, 9.48 a.m. Here's the picture. Remember Brandon Beattie testified. She sent him a picture of this cash. You got it in the phone records about 10 a.m. Two hours later, she just picked up the bike. Hope you like it. I'm glad you like the bike. I hope it's what you wanted. And you've seen the pictures of that bike in the phone records. And Brandon Beattie confirmed that that was the bike that she purchased for him. Again, from August 29th to September 7th, Taylor is constantly asking this defendant about going to the bank. Talking about a safety deposit box that didn't exist. This girl is scared she's going to go to jail and is putting pressure on Ashley MacArthur to get this money. This text is on September 7th. And again, you know, the next day, or excuse me, later that same day is when they went to Twin Peaks. So they met up at Twin Peaks on the 7th. And you heard Cassandra Waller tell you that the atmosphere between Ashley and Taylor was tense. You heard Mr. John Brossett ask Cassandra. She said, well, Taylor wasn't yelling at Ashley to get her money back or, you know, whatever that line of questioning was. But she said that Taylor said, why are you making it so difficult for me to get my money? September 8th. At around 10 a.m. At around 10 a.m., you know that Ashley MacArthur went to Cassandra's house to pick up Taylor. 11.28 a.m. is the last text to Cassandra. 11.53, you have the video surveillance of the defendants at the Tom Thumb buying two drinks. September 8th at 12.10, you have those obnoxious cell phone records that are showing that Ashley MacArthur's phone is using a tower out near Britt Road. 244 is a tower showing that she is possibly leaving that area. And again, between that time, the time she's out there, 12.10 and 1.44 when she leaves, that is the time that Taylor is murdered. Ashley's back out at the Britt Road Farm. 2.45. 3.33, the cell tower records appear to show that she's leaving the area. 3.57, Cass texts the defendant and asks about Taylor because she still has not heard from her. Ashley calls Cass from Pensacola but says they're in Milton. And 7.38, Cass texts the defendant again about Taylor because she still had not heard from her. And again, the evidence. You know that. That morning, Cassandra said Taylor left. She was in a t-shirt, shorts, flip-flops, and she always wore this necklace. You have the last text that Cassandra recognized as coming from Taylor. The other two that she got, or the other one that she got later on, she said it absolutely did not sound like Taylor. And if you look back, I don't have it in the PowerPoint, but if you look at these texts, on September 8th, Cassandra would send texts to Taylor, and Taylor would respond. After this text at 11.28 a.m., there is nothing for eight hours. You have Ashley at the Tom Thumb, again, buying two drinks. Now, this is when Taylor, or excuse me, when Ashley was confronted with the cell phone records, and she finally acknowledges that she was out there with Taylor. After all these hours and hours of conversations, she's confronted with her cell phone records, and now she says, yes, Taylor and I were out there. You have in the cell phone records, the tower records, or the maps that were put into evidence. She's using its cell tower near the Britt Road Farm at 12.10 p.m. You've seen the pictures of the farm. This is huge. This is a huge piece of property, 23 acres. Obviously, you've seen the mobile home on the property, the barn. The defense wanted to put in a bunch of pictures and ask witnesses questions about, well, if you're sitting on the front porch, wouldn't you be able to see that area? Well, of course you can. Of course you can. But can you see a body that is back there on the other side of the fence line? Of course not. This is a crime scene technician standing by the barn, taking a picture, and you cannot see. This is a closer up. She's on the other side of the fence line, taking a picture. Looks like a bunch of dirt and rock. Obviously, you know that that was Taylor that was found out there. Interesting part, you also have an evidence in Ms. MacArthur's cell phone records, Exhibit 139. On September 8th, there is her activity, her steps and distance. And from 9.21 a.m. to 11.11 a.m., approximately two hours, she has 664 steps. Then, between 11.46 and 11.53, when we know she's at the Tom Thumb, 83 steps. When she leaves the Tom Thumb, we now know she was at Britt Road with Taylor. And she's out there for approximately an hour and a half. And at that time, 2,141 steps. What is she doing out there? She is murdering Taylor Wright, and she is moving her body. You also have, in this time frame, Audrey, her friend, her closest friend at the time, texting her, or messaging her. 1 o'clock, are you okay? This is when Ashley is out at the Britt Road Farm. She doesn't respond. So, Audrey, a few minutes later, says, Ashley. Ashley responds, says, yes, ma'am. Audrey says, what is going on? Ashley says, nothing. Audrey says, why were you winded when you called me? I picked up a saddle. I picked up a saddle. Did she pick up a saddle, or was she moving a body? Moving a body. At 1,44 p.m. on the 8th, her cell phone records show her leaving the Britt Road Farm area. And let me tell you this, too. You heard the testimony of Audrey. Between 1,44, we have the phone records that show Ashley leaving that area. 2,45, she's headed back. In between that time, remember, Audrey went to work at 2 o'clock that day. And Audrey said that after she'd been at work for a little bit, this defendant came by. She was in Zach's truck, and she was by herself. She was fidgety. She didn't stay very long. And remember, according to Ashley MacArthur, Taylor was with her all day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. until she got this Uber. Audrey says she shows up, and she remembers this day because she had a count for her whereabouts. She got the Verizon receipt. She knew she was at work, so she remembers this day. This defendant came by in Zach's truck, stayed for a few minutes, was fidgety, said that she had been out at the farm doing some work, and that she was headed back. By herself. Just going back out there around 2,45. Around 3,33, leaving the area. 3,52. Cass sent that text to Ashley. Are you guys okay? Taylor hasn't replied to me in hours. Can you ask her to call me? This defendant then called Ashley and said, We're in Milton. Taylor's on a horse. Everything's fine. I'll have her call you when she gets off the horse. Not anywhere near Milton, ladies and gentlemen. And then at 7,38, still not having heard from Taylor, she texted Ashley McArthur again. She said, Ash, I'm sorry. This isn't okay. And then Ashley called her and then gave her that story about how... After they left Milton, they went to Ashley's house, and then Taylor said she was going to have a drink, and then she went inside and she came out and Taylor was gone. The next morning, she is out back at the Britt Road Farm. And actually, this says 722. Those are her cell phone records. The GPS records show her out there at 7,11 a.m. How many times in her conversations with law enforcement did she say, I am not a morning person. I am not a morning person. I am a late night person. She's out there at 7,11 a.m. on September 9th. And you have the text messages between her and her cousin Kyle. She texted him at 8,34 and said, are you awake? And he said, yes, ma'am. Been up since 7,30. She said, okay, I'm here. He said, no, you're not. Because he couldn't believe that she was out there that early. But the interesting part is she had been out there over an hour before she texted him. So what is she doing? She's making sure the body is concealed before she goes to Home Depot later in the afternoon. She leaves around 9, 12 a.m. At 107, she's buying the concrete at Home Depot. Again, from 107 at the Home Depot, she doesn't go back to her house to build this flower bed. She's not paving some sidewalk. She goes back to the Britt Road Farm. 159, she's still at the farm. 239, she's at the pool room. 544, her cell phone is pinging in Robertsdale, Alabama. 553, Taylor's cell phone is pinging in Alabama. 710, the victim's son called Taylor's phone. At 811, the defendant's phone was using a tower near her house. And at 817, Taylor's phone was using a tower near the defendant's house. It's her third trip to the farm. Remember this place that she never goes to, according to law enforcement. Or that she told law enforcement. See the GPS records show she was actually out there at 7-Eleven, idling for two hours. You've got the video surveillance of her at the Tom Thumb. Buying the concrete without mixing. Without mixing. She's not out there stirring a pot. All she's got to do is throw it down. It's going to set. Rains here all the time. The lawn soil. The potting mix. It's got these little white little things in there. And then she's back out at the Britt Road farm. Again, you've got her steps and activity for the 9th. Between 10.16 a.m. and 12.31 p.m., so about two hours and 15 minutes on the 9th. 805 steps. From Home Depot at 107 to the time she's out there at Britt Road, she has 2,385 steps. What's she doing? She's covering up Taylor's body. She leaves at 159. This is obviously a very close-up picture. Something you're not going to see from far away. There's the concrete substance. And the Miracle-Gro with the little white things in it. Again, look how this is so close-up. These people that are out there that the defense wants to talk to you about that are mowing yards and weed-eating and cutting grass. They're not going to see that. She did a pretty good job. We know after that she stops by the pool room. She sends Brandon a text. Why is Chelsea's truck at the pool room? She had just dropped something off to Audrey. You have the cell phone records that show this defendant's phone using a tower at 5.54 p.m. Taylor's cell phone gets a call at 5.53, nine minutes later, using the exact same tower. Taylor's son Drake called at 7.10 p.m. The phone is headed back into Pensacola. Who else is headed back into Pensacola? Remember, her husband said she left the wedding early because she got a phone call, something about a jukebox. She's coming back into Pensacola, so is Taylor's phone. This is Drake calling his mom. It says 8.10, but remember, they were Eastern, so it's 7.10. The husband said, Mr. Wright said, Taylor did not answer. Then he gets a text, can I call you back, from Taylor. Remember, he said they never texted. This child is young, little, usually they spoke on the phone. The only texts they would typically send back and forth were photographs. She says, or her phone says, can I call you back? He says, yes. Then he tries to call her again, doesn't get an answer. Her phone texts back, I will call you back. He says, me too. Drake tries to call his mom again at 9.17, no answer. Tries again at 9.20, and he says, will you call me back? Never heard from his mother. August 11th, excuse me, you have Ashley's residence at 3961 Raintree Drive. Her phone is using a cell tower that covers her home. Taylor gets phone calls from her son again. Those are her son's phone calls. And is also using that same tower, excuse me, that covers her home. September 11th, this is when Ashley deposited a check. It's 9.11, September 11th, 10.11, or excuse me, 10.12 a.m. You've got the bank records and evidence, $352.50. Taylor is missing, and she is still depositing Taylor's money. What else happens on September 11th? That's when Taylor's stuff is moved from Cassandra's home to the warehouse. Ashley sends Brandon Beattie a text. I bought a gun for you today. Sends him a picture. Kimber says, Ultra. It's 9.11, same day Taylor's stuff moved to the warehouse. You've heard that there was a firearm trace put on it, and that came back to Taylor Wright. September 14th, the day she's reported missing. These are the texts that Ashley sent to Cassandra of Taylor's guns. An hour later, this defendant is texting Brandon Beattie, I did pick up two more guns for you today. And then sends him pictures. This is on the 14th, the day that Taylor is reported missing. She is giving Taylor's guns to her boyfriend, Brandon Beattie. Then, you know, she's interviewed the 15th, the 18th. The 18th again at PPD. The 24th is a phone call. September 28th is a phone call. October 2nd is a phone call. And then she's interviewed again on October 19th. First one was not recorded. Remember, this is just the very initial stages of the investigation. Detective Gigliotti said to Ashley, she said, yes, we're friends. I was with her on the 8th. Picked her up. We rode around. We went to some place in Beulah where Taylor was looking at a car or something to that effect. Then we went to a location off a scenic highway, which you know is not true. Then we went to the farm in Milton, which you know is not true. We went back to my house. Taylor said she was getting an Uber and she was going to have a drink, which you know is not true. The 18th, Detective Gigliotti went to Ms. MacArthur's home. She confirmed that they were at this farm in Milton. When asked about other properties, she said her aunt had a property at the north end of the county. When asked for the address, she said she'd get it, which obviously she never did. She said she thought Taylor was just acting like a nut. You saw the September 18th interview. She said she admitted that Taylor had asked to get her money before the 8th, but she was too busy. And then she acknowledged that she bought Taylor a beer at the Tomfum in Beulah, said that it was just her and Taylor at this farm in Milton. And then again when she was asked about this property at the north end of the county, she said she would get it and that Taylor had never been there. You've got the recorded phone call from September 24th asking for any updates, kind of pushing this Destin area. The 28th, another recorded phone call asking for updates, basically acting like she has no idea what's going on with Taylor. October 2nd asking for updates, maybe we should check a treatment facility. And then of course you know on the 19th, that's when she was confronted with all the bank records and phone records. Oh, she says that when she finally admits that Taylor and her were out at that property, she said Taylor had some kind of a lock box out there. Well, where's this lock box? It wasn't out there on the Britt Road property. Don't think she took it in an Uber with her. There is no lock box because it didn't exist. And then of course when they say, why would you not tell us this? She said, well, Taylor asked me not to tell anyone ever. Of course she was confronted with Taylor's phone being in Robertsdale. And again, she got all tongue-tied. You saw it, oh, she wasn't with me or I was unaware if I had her phone. It could have been under that stuff she had in the vehicle. Well, the problem with that, ladies and gentlemen, is Taylor was in the truck with Ashley on the 8th. When her and her husband went to this wedding on September 9th, they were in the white Jeep. So Taylor's cell phone is not going to go from this truck to the Jeep without her having it. Those are the facts and the evidence in this case. I just want to briefly touch on the law. We talked about it in jury selection. The judge is going to give you the instructions. The only three things that the state has to prove in this case are, number one, Taylor Wright is dead. That's been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Number two, the death was caused by the criminal act of Ashley McArthur. That has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. And that there was a premeditated killing of Taylor Wright. As we talked about in jury selection on a Monday, the law in Florida does not fix the exact period of time that must pass. September 7th, 2017, the world would be a better place without Taylor. How much cocaine would it take to kill someone? September 7th, later that same night, who's she texting? T, the drug dealer at Babes. And she deleted him. You going to be out tonight? This is from her to T. Okay, I'm about to head to Babes in a bit. From T. I'll text you when I get there. From Ashley to T. And then by 11.06 p.m. Thanks, love. What did she buy the next morning? A beer. What did she tell Audrey she was going to do? She was going to put that cocaine in a beer for Taylor to drink. When Audrey asked Ashley, what did you end up doing with the cocaine? She said, I put it in the beer and Taylor spit it out because it tasted sour. And then about 24 hours later, she's in the Home Depot buying the concrete and the potting soil. Taylor Wright shot in the back of the head. Taylor Wright shot in the back of the head. Why is that significant? Because Ashley McArthur was constantly talking about how tough Taylor was and she always had firearms. She's a prior law enforcement officer. She knows how to protect herself. I don't know if you caught it, but in the interview on September 18th, she said, Taylor is not an easy target. Taylor shot in the back of the head. You've got the projectile on her skull that was removed. You've got the photos of a Smith & Wesson that this defendant gave to Brandon Beattie shortly before she was arrested. Now, I know the defense kept saying, well, she never told you to get rid of this. She never told you to do anything with it. She didn't because she's not that dumb. But what did she say to Brandon Beattie? She gives him this gun and she says, I don't care what you do with it. She knows he buys, trades, sells guns. Got the serial number on it. And you heard from investigator Wayne Wright that he put a trace on this. That revolver comes back to her father, John Britt. [00:50:26] Speaker ?: And I'm going to get rid of this. And I'm going to get rid of this. [00:50:32] Speaker 2: Ladies and gentlemen, Ashley MacArthur had the motive. Ashley MacArthur had the opportunity. Ashley MacArthur murdered Taylor Wright. And then she tried to cover it up with lies, concrete, and potting soil. [00:50:55] Speaker ?: All right. [00:50:55] Speaker 1: Thank you.