[tense music] andrea canning: they met for coffee in memphis just after new year's 2015. he was a journalist in search of a story. she was the ex-wife of lorenzen wright and seemed eager to chat. kelvin cowans: it was just my regular coffee shop exclusive, you know, just on the beat doing my thing. and that usually lasts about 30 minutes. we actually sat there and talked for another six hours. andrea canning: kelvin cowans wanted to get inside the mind of sherra wright. it had been almost five years since lorenzen's murder, and she was still under suspicion. she couldn't believe how people were so upset with her. and i asked her, do you have anything to do with it? she said no. absolutely not. i'm waiting on the day that they find the person or the people that killed him. andrea canning: at the end of that marathon interview, kelvin had his story and something else. we knew that there was chemistry there from the beginning.

that's how it started. we almost fell in love immediately. andrea canning: sherra had been keeping a low profile ever since her legal battle over lorenzen's estate. but soon, she and kelvin were out and about as their romance took off. then a few months after they met, kelvin wanted to move to houston where he had some work. so sherra and her kids decided to go with him. detective: she told me that she was moving to houston. she'd had enough of memphis. and she was going to go down there and join the staff of this very famous pastor down there. god created you to rise higher. andrea canning: joel osteen, the world famous minister whose services are on tv and youtube. she just had, you know, all these big plans, you know. it wasn't just that she was going to go pastor a church. she was going to be a pastor of a megachurch, you know. she thinks in terms of big. everything's big and grandiose. andrea canning: they settled in the suburb of sugar land.

and life was sweet, at least in the beginning. kelvin got a nice house on a lake in a nice neighborhood with good schools for the kids and a church nearby. sherra never did preach with joel osteen, but she did pray a lot. sherra would sometimes go and get in our master closet with a pillow and cover and pray for hours. you can hear her. she's calling out her family and friends. and sometimes, i had to get up 2 o'clock, 2:30 in the morning, and i'd go in the closet and have to get her up and say, hey, come on. get back in the bed. andrea canning: even so, kelvin was convinced he'd met the woman of his dreams. her family felt like his. they shared everything, even their deepest secrets. nothing was off limits, including lorenzen's murder. kelvin cowans: we talk about the night he disappeared. what could have happened? the answer was always, i have no idea. i felt like sherra still had feelings for lorenzen. she was like, you know, had he not passed, i'd be still with him. and i was thinking to myself, there's

no way she killed him. there's no way she had anything to do with it. you know, who writes a book about someone they helped kill? andrea canning: in fact, sherra appeared on a segment for "sports illustrated" and fox sports 1 in 2015. they asked her point blank if she had anything to do with lorenzen's murder. and at first, i'm a wife. then i'm a mother. and then thirdly i'm an author. the law enforcement should do what's best to find out who's the killer. andrea canning: back in memphis, lorenzen's best friend, phil dotson, saw the show. phil dotson: and i could just think, oh, come on, sherra. what-- what type of answer is that? you know, did you do it? did you find that odd, what she said? i did. i did. i found several things odd. but you still didn't think it was her. i couldn't. i couldn't. i couldn't. early on in the marriage, like, there was love. to go from that to you murdered him?

i couldn't buy it. i didn't buy it. andrea canning: neither sherra's tv interview nor her salacious book provided police with any evidence connecting her to the crime. it's almost as if she's poking fun or she's taunting law enforcement with this book for somebody that's supposedly be grieving to write a book like that, which is really bizarre. but no real clues in it. i don't think anything in there was of value as it relates to being a clue. andrea canning: sherra even considered writing a sequel but instead focused more on her family and continued her free spending ways, said kelvin. kelvin cowans: she had very expensive taste. i told her this. sherra, your appetite for nice things is not healthy. and she was like, that's the way god made me. and so i'm like, we're not going to make it with the way you think. your financial literacy is just off. andrea canning: according to kelvin, sherra was also spending a lot of time on the phone, apparently having secret conversations

with someone he didn't know. i felt like that sherra may have been cheating on me. i speculated a hidden lover. andrea canning: sherra denied she was seeing someone. but gradually, their once hot romance cooled. they grew apart. and after two years together, kelvin says he decided it was over. the day after her birthday, that was when we called it quits. she was very upset. she didn't want me to go. andrea canning: kelvin returned to tennessee to restart his life. sherra headed to california, where she and the kids moved in with her brother. back in memphis, detectives were quietly making progress. a man with information had come forward, and he had quite a story to tell. man (on recording): you asked me about my case, like could you kill somebody again? i have active psoriatic arthritis. but with skyrizi to treat my skin and joints, count me in.

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with inadequately controlled copd andrea canning: it's called the inland empire, riverside county, a sprawling stretch of southern california suburbia east of la. it was here in the little town of murrietta, where sherra wright and her kids settled in the spring of 2017. woman: you got the feeling that she was starting a new life outside of the shadow of lorenzen wright's murder in memphis all the way across the country. andrea canning: almost 1,600 miles and seven years

removed from ren's murder in memphis, to some, sherra also seemed to have moved on in terms of what was happening back home-- --even on the anniversary of his death. reporter: seven years ago to the day, these family members reported lorenzen wright missing. andrea canning: once again, lorenzen's family and friends gathered to pay their respects. another year, another vigil to keep hope alive that his murder might somehow be solved. we're going to keep this thing going year after year because i know that's what he would want us to do. we love you, lorenzen! it's getting colder by the day. and were no closer to finding out who did it. there's not a day that goes by that i don't think about him and what happened to him. i always kept the detectives' phone numbers just in case. they always said, let us know if you come up with anything. andrea canning: by now, many in memphis were losing patience with those detectives. seven long years.

still no arrest. no justice. lorenzen's mom had been hounding police the whole time, calling, showing up at the station. her sole mission in life was solving her son's murder. did you feel like there's never going to be an arrest in this case? no. because i got to stay alive. because before i die, they were going to find somebody. they going to get her. specifically, sherra. her. right. and i told him it over and over and over again. andrea canning: toney armstrong took some of her calls. she was just relentless. she just would not let it go. don't mess with mama. well, don't mess-- don't mess with mama's babies. andrea canning: he tried to assure lorenzen's mother that the case was still active, that sherra really was on their radar. it's one thing to have a gut feeling that i know this person is responsible for this, but you have to be able to convince a jury. you just didn't have enough evidence. you just don't have enough evidence to do it. andrea canning: but the police did have something,

a potential witness. a man with a shady past and an explosive allegation, which police had kept secret for five years. an informant who actually knew sherra and had a strong motivation to talk. detective: what happened was jimmie martin, who was sherra's cousin, killed a love interest that he had. he was convicted. and it's that time, 2012, when he's going to prison that he tells, wanting to flip to do a deal. andrea canning: jimmie said he knew what happened to ren. and he offered to tell his story to detectives. so in 2012, two years after ren was killed, a meeting was held at this tennessee prison where jimmie claimed to reveal who was behind the murder. and that was his very own cousin and ren's ex-wife, sherra. jimmie martin: she told me that she'd been having threats from lorenzen.

he had hired somebody to kill her. she wanted him dead before he killed her. andrea canning: jimmie said a meeting took place at sherra's house some two months before ren's murder, and two other men were there. jimmie martin: billy was over there and another gentleman, but i don't know his name. detective: billy? jimmie martin: yeah, he was a gardener. andrea canning: sherra's gardener, billy turner. remember how lorenzen suspected sherra might be sleeping with her lawn man? was this the same guy? maybe. if so, this wasn't the only connection between sherra and billy. detective: so who did sherra ask to kill lorenzen? jimmie martin: she asked billy. andrea canning: billy had a rap sheet but in recent years seemed to have gone straight. when he wasn't busy running his landscaping business, he was fulfilling his duties at the very same church where sherra preached. detective: he was the deacon of this church, and she was a pastor. how deeply they knew each other-- and there's

a lot of speculation. i mean, it appears that they were intimate. andrea canning: billy and sherra according, to jimmie, met with him again inside her house and this time got down to specifics. jimmie martin: she had me cut out to be the shooter. at that time, i was like, nah, i don't-- i can't do nothing like that. detective: at what point in here were you offered anything to do it? jimmie martin: she said she could help me with my court case. if this happened, i get to shoot him when i got the nba money coming. and i will take care of y'all. she said whoever does the shooting gets $50,000. andrea canning: money can be a great motivator. jimmie said that it wasn't long before sherra and billy came to his house in batesville, mississippi, a sleepy little town south of memphis. and this time, she revealed how and where she wanted them to do the job. jimmie martin: she said, well, i want you and billy go out there and care of it. detective: where did she want you to take care of him at? jimmie martin: i just go to his house.

detective: in atlanta? jimmie martin: so we went. andrea canning: with directions from sherra, he said they headed to atlanta and straight for ren's condo complex, where they crawled through an open window. but ren wasn't there. jimmie martin: somebody on the couch with a bald head. andrea canning: police later figured out the bald-headed man asleep on the couch was ren's roommate, mike had lorenzen hadn't been there, i'd have been gone too right now, you know? andrea canning: according to jimmie, he and billy spotted security guards, crept out of the condo, and hightailed it back home. jimmie said after their failed attempt, they met with sherra again. now she had a whole new plan for ren's murder. this time on her home turf. jimmie martin: she was like, i'm going to get him come to me. it'd be easier that way. andrea canning: and sure enough, at sherra's request, ren did come back to memphis for the last time. detective: and then what happened? jimmie martin: he ran.

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everyone in my old squad has xfinity. less lag, better gaming! i'm gonna need to charge you for three people. andrea canning: they drove all over town that july day in 2010, surveying the city and the suburbs, looking for the perfect place to kill lorenzen wright. this, according to jimmie martin, who claimed he was in a car with sherra wright and her fellow minister, billy turner. jimmie martin: we went, checked out spots around memphis. they was picking the spot. i was just telling them whether it was a good spot or not, getting a consulting fee. yeah. that's not a good spot. do it somewhere else.

andrea canning: soon after that scouting trip, sherra sent ren the first in a flurry of text messages, x-rated messages about hooking up in memphis. and these are the mild messages, which only grew more erotic and explicit. police had found the texts on sherra's cell phone when ren went missing. back then, they weren't sure if those messages might be connected to his case. but now, seven years after the murder, the texts seem to tell a story. sherra lured him back to memphis with sexually explicit text messages. andrea canning: sure enough, ren took the bait and later texted sherra from the atlanta airport. three little but life-changing words. and with that, ren was on his way to memphis. but according to close friend mike gipson, he may have been seeking more than just a one-night stand. recently, ren had confided he was ready to settle down after running in the fast lane after his divorce.

he's like, you know what? all this stuff i'm doing with these girls, i'm just tired of it. i might as well just get back with my wife, sherra, and be through with it. me and her live a happy life. that's what he wanted. andrea canning: but sherra didn't want to remarry lorenzen. she wanted him murdered, according to her cousin jimmie martin. jimmie said that two days after he, sherra, and billy conducted that murder site survey, she came to his house in batesville, mississippi. while there, jimmie said sherra asked his mom for an odd favor. jimmie martin: she asked my mom for a metal detector. detective: does your mama have a metal detector? jimmie martin: mm, no. andrea canning: so with the metal detector in tow, the two returned to memphis, picked up billy, and drove to her house, where, said jimmie, sherra made a stunning announcement. jimmie martin: we did it. it happened. it done like we talked about. she like, lorenzen dead. andrea canning: and who actually

fired the fatal shots? jimmie said it was billy turner, sherra's one-time gardener and possible lover, now alleged gunman, who, at the meeting, appeared to have a bad case of shooter's remorse. jimmie martin: he was like, man, i'm still shaking. my stomach hurt, and i can't sleep. i can't do anything. andrea canning: but what happened during the last moments of lorenzen's life before he was executed in that dark field? that night, according to jimmie, sherra told ren she needed to meet a man to pick up some money. ren agreed to join her. they drove to a wooded area at the edge of town. sherra got out and walked over to billy, who was secretly waiting nearby. jimmie martin: she said lorenzen walked up, and billy started shooting. detective: and then what happened? jimmie martin: he ran. they said they chased him down the woods. andrea canning: chased him down by following the glow of ren's cell phone, said jimmie, and continued firing.

[phone dialing] that's when ren called 911 and screamed the last words of his life. lorenzen wright (on phone): [inaudible].. [gunshots] andrea canning: and all those shots were fired by billy from two different guns, said jimmie. jimmie martin: he shot at him, shot at him, shot at him. [gunshots] detective: did sherra ever tell you that she also chased lorenzen with billy? jimmie martin: uh-uh. she said she ran up the road when the first shot fired. andrea canning: and jimmie? he insisted he was miles away at home in mississippi that night. jimmie martin never puts himself at the crime scene, which seems kind of odd. so is he lying, you know, to kind of distance himself, to make himself look better? andrea canning: but jimmie did admit to helping sherra and billy clean up the crime scene two days later, before anyone realized lorenzen wright had gone missing.

using his mom's metal detector, jimmy said the three of them looked for leftover evidence, including one of the two murder weapons, which went missing during the shooting. but they never found it, said jimmie. so he and billy took the handgun they still had to this little lake in mississippi. jimmie martin: we were out there at the lake, little pond. he cleaned 'em off. and he threw 'em in the water. detective: how many? jimmie martin: it was just one gun. detective: what kind? jimmie martin: a 9-millimeter. andrea canning: and that, insisted jimmie martin, was the god's truth of how memphis icon lorenzen wright was murdered and the crime covered up, all orchestrated by sherra. it was quite a story. but was there any evidence to back it up? well, maybe the answer was sitting on the bottom of that lake. ♪♪

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i am jessica layton. back to breaking news in georgia. several people, at least seven, are dead after gangway that was part of a marina collapsed on sapelo island. that's about 70 miles south of savannah. georges department of natural resources say at least 20 people went into the water when the structure gave way. the tragedy is still under investigation. king charles is in australia. his trip has revived debate of whether australia should cut ties with the royal family and become a republic. king charles, first reigning monarch to visit that country in 13 years. for now, back to dateline. andrea canning: walnut, mississippi, some 75 miles southeast of memphis, population 800. outside of town is a little lake,

a big pond, really, the very same pond that jimmie martin claimed held the key evidence in lorenzen wright's murder. detective: and how big is that pond? jimmie martin: about the size of a high school football field. andrea canning: so in may of 2012, detectives headed there on a fishing expedition for a gun. jimmie martin insisted that billy turner had dumped it there two days after shooting ren. now, two years later, was it still there? detective: it's a murky lake. they couldn't find it. and so the whole thing kind of goes into limbo again. andrea canning: as damning and detailed as jimmie martin's story seemed, detectives didn't have enough evidence to make an arrest. but still, the investigation plodded on for years. was it still being investigated actively or just kind of when new leads would come in? there were periods of time on this case that if we felt that one investigator had taken the case as far as he could take it, we'd give it to another investigator