Ashley McArthur Trial Prosecution Opening Statement

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: I think I've covered everything. I think of Ms. Jensen. I'm going to turn it over to you. Thank you, Your Honor. May it please the court defense. So this case involves a lot of different pieces of information and a lot of different witnesses. So what I'm about to do for you in my opening statement, hopefully, is give you a very general outline of what this case is about. And then as you hear each witness testify and as you see each exhibit and each piece of evidence, it's going to fill in the details of the outline for you. And when it all comes together, what you will see at the end is that Taylor Wright was murdered by this defendant, Ashley MacArthur. And really what you will see in the end is that Ashley MacArthur had the motive to kill Taylor Wright, money. She had the opportunity to kill Taylor Wright. She did, in fact, kill Taylor Wright, and then she tried to cover it up. But to get to that ending, we have to start at the beginning. In mid-2017, Taylor Wright, the deceased in this case, was entangled in some court proceedings and some financial issues with her ex-husband, Jeff Wright. And while that was all going on, Taylor Wright withdrew $100,000 from the bank when she wasn't supposed to. And then she was trying to hide that money from her ex-husband. Taylor was transferring money to other accounts. She was withdrawing cash. She was taking out cashier's checks. And she also asked her friend, this defendant, Ashley MacArthur, to help hide the money. Now, Ashley MacArthur, at the time, was running a business that her parents opened some time ago called Pensacola Automatic Amusement. And they supplied pool tables, jukeboxes, video games to local bars and businesses. One of those businesses that Ashley worked with was Sticks Billiards or Sticks Pool Hall. And you will hear that Ashley MacArthur was romantically involved with the owner of that bar. And the only reason that matters for your purposes is because she was trying to help his business financially. And she was also spending a lot of money on him personally. So at the time when Taylor Wright is trying to hide this money from her ex-husband, Ashley MacArthur had a number of bank accounts, personal and business. And on August 10th of 2017, Ashley MacArthur added Taylor Wright to one of those accounts. A few weeks after that, in early September of 2017, Taylor Wright had a court date that was coming up with her ex-husband. And Taylor told this defendant, Ashley MacArthur, repeatedly that she needed to get to the bank. She needed to get to the bank. She needed to get her money out. And she needed to put it in an escrow account with this mess with her ex-husband or she was going to be in trouble with the court. You will see those text messages. And the reason they're important is because you will see the pressure that Taylor Wright was putting on Ashley MacArthur to get this money. And the reason that matters is because the money was gone. Ashley MacArthur had spent it. The text messages that you will see start August 29th of 2017. Message from Taylor to this defendant. She texted, I need to get the keys to the safety deposit box. I've got to get this ring in there. I can't be running around with 50K in my bag. August 31st, text message from Taylor to this defendant. If at all possible, can we go to the bank today? I've got to get this done. My account closed and my jewelry in the safety deposit box. Court is next week. On September 4th, a message from Taylor to this defendant. I have to get to the bank tomorrow. On September 5th, a message from Taylor to this defendant. Any idea on a time to go to the bank? Again, on September 5th, a message from Taylor to this defendant. We only have two more hours to get to the bank. You almost ready. September 5th, this defendant sent a text to Taylor. Said, just call up the bank. They closed at 4. We have to go in the morning. What time are you free? September 6th, Taylor again sent a message to this defendant. I have to get that deposit, get in that deposit box today and get those papers submitted by 4. I'm out of time. Again, on September 6th, Taylor sent a message to this defendant. Ash, there is no way I will make it there into the bank in 10 minutes. Again, on September 6th, a message from Taylor to the defendant. They are going to hold me in contempt for not paying child support and not putting the 25K into the escrow account. On September 7th, Taylor sent a message to this defendant. I've got to get to the bank ASAP this morning and get into the box and deposit that money. A few minutes later, she sent another text to this defendant. I'm going to be held in contempt if I don't get that money in the escrow account. Again, on September 7th, Taylor sent a message to this defendant. They could potentially put me in jail if I don't pay the child support like today. September 7th, a text message from Taylor to the defendant. Please don't be late. They are going to put me in jail if I don't make that deposit today. Again, on September 7th, Taylor sent a message to this defendant. They are going to check your ID in order to get into that box, so I need you to come with me. September 7th, around 2 p.m., Taylor sent a message to the defendant. It said, waiting on you at my house. Bank closes at 4. This is way too important for me not to do today. I'm under a court order or my ass will get thrown in jail. Later that same day, as that text, on September 7th, Taylor was at a restaurant called Twin Peaks over on Bayou Boulevard with her girlfriend. And as I explained to you in jury selection, Taylor had previously been married to a man. They had a child together. But at the time of this incident, she was dating a lady named Cassandra Waller. So Taylor and Cassandra were at Twin Peaks on September 7th, and this defendant, Ashley MacArthur, met them up there. And you will hear that Taylor and Ashley made plans on the 7th for Ashley to pick Taylor up the next morning on Friday, September 8th, and they were going to go to the bank. Friday, September 8th, 2017, is the last day that Taylor Wright is known to be alive. She was with this defendant, Ashley MacArthur, and they were supposed to be going to the bank. Taylor Wright was never seen alive again. So on September 8th, as planned, this defendant showed up at Cassandra Waller's house to pick up Taylor Wright. And the reason she went to Cassandra's house is because Taylor was in the process of moving in. As a matter of fact, a lot of her belongings were boxed up in a box truck that belonged to Ashley MacArthur, and it was parked in Cassandra's driveway. But in any event, Ashley showed up at Cassandra's that morning as planned. At around 10 o'clock that morning, Taylor and Ashley left together, and then Cassandra went about her business that day. She sent Taylor a couple of text messages that morning, and she would get responses from Taylor. But the text messages from Taylor stopped around 11.30 that morning on September 8th. Cassandra sent Taylor a couple more texts after lunch, and there was absolutely no response from Taylor. Finally, around 4 o'clock, Cassandra sent a text to this defendant. She said, are you okay? Taylor has not responded to me in hours. This defendant replied, yes, ma'am. Cassandra texted back and said, can you please have Taylor call me? Within that minute of that text, this defendant called Cassandra, and she said her and Taylor were at a farm out in Milton, and that Taylor was riding a horse at that moment. You will see during the course of this trial that at the time Ashley made that call and said that her and Taylor were out at a farm in Milton, she was actually in Pensacola. Police obtained her cell tower records, and those cell tower records show the tower location of when a cell phone makes a call. She was not anywhere near Milton when she made that phone call to Cassandra. But during this conversation, Cassandra said, please have Taylor call me when she's done riding this horse. Around 7.30 p.m. that same day, all on September 8th, this is three and a half hours after Ashley said they were in Milton and Taylor was on a horse. Cassandra still had not heard from Taylor. She texted Ashley MacArthur, this defendant, again. She said, this isn't okay. Ashley called Cassandra shortly after that, and Ashley said that after her and Taylor left this farm in Milton, they went back to Ashley's house, and around 5 or 5.15, Taylor said she was going to call an Uber and she was going to have a drink. And then Ashley never saw her again. Within about 20 minutes of this phone call between Ashley and Cassandra, Cassandra received a text from Taylor's phone. And it said something to the effect of, I'll call you later. I need to get my life organized. What will be clear to you by the end of this trial is that this defendant sent that text from Taylor's phone to Cassandra because Taylor was dead at that point, and this defendant still had her cell phone. Later that same night, again on September 8th, just before midnight, this defendant sent Cassandra a text and said, I just got a text from Taylor, and then she screenshotted it and sent it to Cassandra, and it was Taylor supposedly saying, I'm okay, I just need time to think. That court was stressing her out. And again, what will be clear to you is that Taylor did not send that text. It was this defendant because this defendant had Taylor's phone. On Saturday, September 9th, there was still nothing from Taylor. On Sunday, September 10th, Cassandra called the Pensacola Police Department. But at that point, it had only been 48 hours since Taylor had gone missing. On Monday, September 11th, Cassandra had still not heard from Taylor, and what you will hear is that her and Taylor had kind of been having some issues. There was a meeting that Taylor and Cassandra had at Ashley McArthur's house where Taylor had admitted she'd been talking to somebody else, and she had tried cocaine a few times. So when Cassandra didn't hear from Taylor for a few days, she was upset. She was angry. All these things came back. And she wanted Taylor's stuff gone from her house. So Cassandra called this defendant, Ashley McArthur, and said, hey, can you come get your box truck with all of Taylor's stuff in it? And can we put it at your business? The Pensacola Automatic Amusement had a very large warehouse. So Taylor's belongings were taken to that warehouse on September 11th. On Thursday, September 12th, there was still nothing from Taylor. On Wednesday, the 13th, there was still nothing from Taylor. On Thursday, September 14th, Cassandra went to the police department and formally filed a missing persons report. That same day, Cassandra and Ashley went through Taylor's car, which was parked at Cassandra's house, and they found some guns that Taylor had in there. This defendant took some pictures of them, sent them to Cassandra, I guess, for documentation purposes, and Ashley agreed to keep Taylor's guns in her safe. Friday, September 15th, Detective Richard Gigliotti with the Pensacola Police Department was assigned to the case. And obviously, one of the first people that he wants to speak with is Ashley MacArthur. She was the last person known to be with Taylor Wright. So he called Ashley MacArthur on the phone, and she basically said, yes, we're friends. We were together on September 8th. I picked her up. We ran around. We went to this farm in Milton. And then we went back to my house, and Taylor left. A few days later, Detective Gigliotti went to Cassandra's home and was going through some of Taylor's belongings that were still there, and he found a $19,000 cashier's check made out to Taylor Wright and thought, hmm, why would someone voluntarily go missing and leave behind $19,000? It's a lot of money. That same day, Detective Gigliotti went to Ashley MacArthur's house. She was home that day with her husband, Zach MacArthur. And Detective Gigliotti had a recording device, and so you will hear the conversation he had with Ashley MacArthur on that day. But she essentially gave the same timeline. She said that Taylor was upset on the 8th about this impending court date. She was worried about going to jail. She was hiding money from Jeff. This defendant described this farm in Milton that her and Taylor supposedly went to on September 8th, and it's way out in East Milton, past the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office. And when discussing this Milton farm, she was specifically asked by Detective Gigliotti if there were any other farms or properties that she went to. And this defendant said, my aunt has some property at the north end of the county, but we don't really go there. And Detective Gigliotti said, well, do you have an address? She said, I don't, but I'll get it for you. That same day, Detective Gigliotti asked Ashley if she would come down to the police station and give a formal interview, which she did. And you will see and hear that interview. She, again, gave the same timeline, a little more detail, said she picked up Ashley that morning, or excuse me, picked up Taylor that morning. They ran around. They went to Beulah to look at some house or something that Taylor was looking at in her private investigating business. They stopped at a gas station in Beulah. They went to another place off a scenic highway, and then they went out to this farm in Milton. She said after the farm in Milton, they went back to her house. Again, Taylor said she was going to get an Uber. And then Ashley went inside, and when she came out, Taylor was gone. During this interview on September 18th, Detective Gigliotti again asked about this property at the north end. When he asked what road it was off, this defendant said, I can get it for you. Well, ladies and gentlemen, the road is her middle name. It's Britt Road. She's Ashley Britt MacArthur. It's named after her family. Detective Gigliotti did not know anything about that at the time he was speaking with Ashley, but she never got back to him about this property or provided any information. Detective Gigliotti said, well, when you get this information about this other farm, please let me know. I'd like to see what I can do about getting out there. She also told Detective Gigliotti on this date that Taylor Wright had never been to that property on the north end. On September 24th, this defendant called Detective Gigliotti and asked if there were any updates. She told him that she thought Taylor was most comfortable and destined, and that's probably where she was. On September 28th, this defendant called Detective Gigliotti again and asked about any updates. October 2nd, the defendant called Detective Gigliotti again, asked about any updates. This time, she said maybe they should check treatment centers. On October 19th, 2017, Ashley MacArthur was interviewed again at the Pensacola Police Department. But by this point, the investigators had gotten Ashley's cell phone tower records, and they'd also gotten Taylor's cell phone tower records. And they found out where this property was at the north end of the county, the one that she had kept acting like she didn't know the name of. The address is actually 2201 Britt Road. And they had gotten bank records for Taylor and for Ashley. And what they found was that there was a $34,000 cashier's check made out to Taylor Wright that was deposited in August of 2017. And they asked Ashley about this cashier's check, and she acknowledged that she did deposit that check. The signature did not look anything like Taylor Wright's. This defendant said she did not sign it, but she did deposit it. She was then again asked about her whereabouts on the 8th. She stayed with the same timeline, the farm in Milton, this gas station in Beulah. And then you will see that she was confronted with her cell phone tower records. And they show that she was not at this farm in Milton at the time that she says her and Taylor were out there on September 8th. But instead, her cell phone was using towers near the property off of Britt Road. The property that she kept dodging questions about. The same property that she said Taylor had never been to. But now on October 19th of 2017, this defendant said that she and Taylor did go out to that property on September 8th of 2017, the last day Taylor was seen and known to be alive. And she said they went out there to pick up some lock box that Taylor had put out there. And the police were like, why in the world have you never mentioned this before? By that point, Taylor had been missing almost six weeks. This defendant had talked to the police over the phone and in interviews for hours and never said anything about them being out at this property at the North End. Her response, this defendant said, well, Taylor asked me not to tell anyone, ever. Well, ladies and gentlemen, that same day on October 19th of 2017, while this defendant was being interviewed, police were executing a search warrant out at that property on Britt Road. And located along a fence line in a wooded area were the remains of Taylor Wright. She was skeletonized. She was wrapped in a hammock. She had a bullet hole in the back right side of her skull. And she had potting soil and concrete poured on top of her. A few days after Taylor's body was found on Britt Road, an investigator went to the Home Depot out there on Nine Mile and located a video of this defendant, Ashley MacArthur, in Home Depot buying potting soil and concrete on September 9th, the day after Taylor went missing and was last seen with Ashley MacArthur. You will see through the evidence and by the end of the trial that Ashley MacArthur had the motive, Ashley MacArthur had the opportunity, and Ashley MacArthur tried to cover it up. And again, I am giving you a very general outline of what this case is about. And as you hear from the witnesses and you see the exhibits and the evidence, it will fill in the detail for you. And at the end of the trial, you will be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that Ashley MacArthur murdered Taylor Wright and she did it over money. Taylor's money that Taylor needed back, but that Ashley MacArthur had already spent. Thank you.