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GI Glove At Slaying Scene Points To MacDill Sergeant

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON

spthompson@tampatrib.com

Published: January 7, 2009

CLEARWATER - Outside, the motion-triggered floodlights in her fenced-in yard had been unscrewed. The Chevrolet Blazer was missing. All the doors were locked.

Inside, Paula O'Conner was dead, lying face up in the bedroom of her 15-month-old son Alijah. She had bruises on her neck, the apparent victim of a strangling. Alijah, too, was dead; someone had strangled or smothered him, investigators say.

There was little in the way of clues, except for one thing: A size 8, left-handed glove that had been left on the arm of a couch next to the front door.

According to an 11-page affidavit unsealed in Pinellas County Circuit Court on Tuesday, investigators have linked the glove to suspect Ralph Daniel Wright Jr., a former sergeant at MacDill Air Force Base. Wright faces two counts of first-degree murder in the O'Conners' deaths.

Two laboratories tested DNA samples gleaned from inside the glove. Analysts found a sample that matched the DNA on Paula O'Conner's neck, the affidavits say. Alijah's DNA also was found inside the glove.

Investigators' working theory is that Wright, 40, killed the two with his bare hands, then put on the gloves so he wouldn't leave fingerprints before going through O'Conner's St. Petersburg home, the affidavit says.

He might have been looking for the keys to her Chevrolet Blazer, which investigators think Wright drove a few blocks before abandoning it and driving off in his own vehicle, the affidavit states.

He might have taken off one of the gloves to give himself more manual dexterity to lock the front door before he left and accidentally left the glove behind, the affidavit says.

This was no ordinary glove.

The glove was made of Nomex, a high-tech fiber created by DuPont, and was manufactured by a Rochester, N.Y., company to fulfill a military order. Some of the gloves with the same contract order number were delivered to MacDill in February 2007, while Wright was assigned there, the affidavit says.

All size 8 gloves from the MacDill shipment were delivered to Wright's unit and kept in a locked storeroom to which Wright had access, the affidavit says. As a reserve technical sergeant, Wright worked security as a military police officer and wore this type of glove.

On the morning of July 6, 2007, sometime between 5 and 6:15 a.m., detectives think Wright unscrewed the motion-triggered floodlights outside O'Conner's home at the door she usually opened to let out her dogs as she was getting ready for work, the affidavits say.

O'Conner was found wearing a blouse and bra but was naked from the waist down, the affidavit says. She was not sexually assaulted so investigators believe she was surprised while letting the dogs out, the affidavit says.

The dogs would not have reacted to Wright because they were familiar with him, the affidavit says.

Authorities say Wright had financial incentive to have O'Conner and Alijah dead.

The month before the O'Conners were found dead, she had filed a paternity suit against Wright in an effort to get child support and money for Alijah's medical bills. The child had had several heart surgeries.

Wright has denied being Alijah's father, even though they have been linked through DNA, and he denies ever having had a romantic relationship with O'Conner. Witnesses, however, say they had a relationship and that he explained his dayslong absences by saying he had to go on secret missions, the affidavit says.

When investigators tracked Wright down for the first time, on the same day the O'Conners were found, he told them she had "been a thorn in my side," the affidavit says. Wright was married and had children, and he indicated O'Conner's allegations were causing problems in his marriage. The allegations also could derail his military career because adultery is a violation of military code.

At the time of the slayings, Wright was also having a relationship with a second woman whom he had met on the Internet dating site, Match .com, the affidavit says.

The woman told investigators he was to meet her and her family in Orlando on July 5, 2007. The woman didn't know why Wright didn't show up until she turned on the television the next day and saw he had emerged as a slaying suspect.

Wright's contract with the military wasn't renewed after he emerged as a suspect. He was arrested in Palatka last week and booked into the Pinellas County Jail on Monday. He was being held without bail.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336.

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