Where Is Ashley McArthur Now After the 2017 Murder of Taylor Wright?

The Gist:

• In 2019, Ashley McArthur was convicted in the 2017 murder of private investigator Taylor Wright.
• Other suspects in the case initially included Taylor Wright's girlfriend Casandra Waller and ex-husband Jeff Wright.
• Ashley McArthur is currently serving a life sentence behind bars.

After private investigator Taylor Wright's disappearance in 2017, Ashley McArthur — the last person to be seen with Wright — became a person of interest in the case almost immediately. When Wright's body was found, McArthur was arrested for her murder.

Keep reading to find out where Ashley McArthur is now, plus more about Taylor Wright's girlfriend Casandra, her ex-husband Jeff Wright, and what exactly happened to Taylor Wright.

In September of 2017, the 33-year-old private investigator went missing in Pensacola, Fla. At the time, Wright was going through a difficult divorce, and she had just moved in with her girlfriend, school administrator Casandra Waller.

On Sept. 8, Wright got together with a friend, Ashley McArthur, and she was never seen in public again.

After Waller attempted to contact her girlfriend, she reached out to McArthur. She shared that Wright had been emotional while they were together, and that she needed time alone. 

Waller then received a mysterious text message from Wright, which reiterated the same sentiment.

Though Waller knew that Wright had been going through a tough time and that she could use her skills as a private investigator to go off the grid, she believed that something was wrong.

After all, Wright left without contacting her young son. She also hadn't told her ex-husband, Jeff Wright, that she was going to take off for a few days.

Waller eventually reported Taylor Wright missing. The authorities focused on speaking with the last person who had seen Wright alive: Ashley McArthur.

They eventually learned that Taylor Wright had given McArthur over $30,000 from the joint account she had shared with Jeff Wright. According to the former crime scene technician, she was in charge of holding on to the money until the divorce was finalized. 

When McArthur's home was searched, Wright's passport and money were found. They also discovered that McArthur had a gun in her home with a bullet missing, and that she had deposited $34,000 into her own bank account. 

Her phone had pinged several times in a farm area that was owned by her family on the day that Wright went missing.

Wright's remains were eventually found on that farm property. She had been shot in the back of the head, and her body had been buried under concrete and soil.

Ashley McArthur was arrested in October of 2017.

Upon her arrest, McArthur was charged with first-degree premeditated murder. She went on trial in 2019, and she was ultimately found guilty. She is currently serving a life sentence in prison.

Many suspect that Wright had confronted McArthur about the money on the day of her murder. McArthur had already spent some of it, and she had put it into an account that Wright could not access. 

McArthur had other legal issues aside from the murder charge; she had previously been arrested for racketeering and for fraud. She was also found guilty, and she was sentenced to another seven years in prison.

Waller testified during McArthur's trial, leading to the latter's eventual conviction. Following the news that Wright had been killed, Waller started a modest GoFundMe to raise funds for a small memorial service.

In the years since Wright's death, Waller has remained in Florida and works within the Escambia County Public School system. She acts as a liaison within the Title One office to assist families and students who are experiencing homelessness. In 2020, she received a CODA Award, which recognizes distinguished and enduring professional service within the disciplines of health education and physical education.

Wright's ex-husband Jeff was briefly considered a person of interest in the case, particularly as the former couple were in the middle of a heated custody battle.

Jeff Wright was the first witness called by the prosecution to take the stand during McArthur's trial as well. Among other things, he said he had reached out to McArthur on Facebook at one point to ask if she knew where Taylor was.

The defense used Jeff's testimony to raise questions about whether he had killed his wife, but they didn't want to directly accuse him and lose credibility with the jury, considering that it had already been established by police that Jeff was hundreds of miles away in North Carolina (where he lived) at the time of the murder.

It's unknown where Jeff is today, although some reports say he was last living in Alabama and had remarried.