00:00Lawrence and Wright
00:01Lawrence and Wright was a beloved NBA center who played 13 seasons in the league, but his
00:05story ended in one of basketball's most shocking murder cases.
00:09On July 18, 2010, Wright left his ex-wife Shara's home in Collierville, Tennessee, never to
00:13be seen alive again.
00:15The investigation revealed a chilling 911 call placed from Wright's cell phone in the early
00:19hours of July 19, where dispatchers heard him say, Goddamn, followed by 11 gunshots.
00:24Wright's decomposed body was discovered 10 days later in a wooded area near Memphis, shot
00:29multiple times.
00:30The case remained cold for seven agonizing years until investigators uncovered a sinister
00:35plot orchestrated by those closest to him.
00:38His ex-wife, Shara Wright Robinson, had recruited landscaper Billy Ray Turner to kill Wright for
00:42a $1 million life insurance policy.
00:45Shara pleaded guilty to facilitation of first-degree murder and received 30 years in prison, while
00:50Turner was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole.
00:54Howard Porter
00:56Howard Porter's story is one of redemption turned to tragedy.
00:58The former Villanova star and NBA veteran had overcome cocaine addiction and rebuilt
01:03his life as a respected probation officer in Minnesota.
01:06But on May 18, 2007, Porter's past demons returned with devastating consequences.
01:11Porter had relapsed into crack cocaine use when he approached adult worker Tanya Yvette
01:15Johnson near her apartment, seeking to exchange adult activity for cash and drugs.
01:20What Porter didn't know was that he was walking into a carefully orchestrated trap.
01:23Four masked men burst into Johnson's apartment, demanding money and drugs from Porter.
01:28When the 58-year-old Porter resisted, they beat him mercilessly, striking him over the
01:32head with a chair.
01:33The attackers then placed Porter in the trunk of his own car and dumped him in a Minneapolis
01:37alley.
01:38Porter survived the initial attack but died eight days later from blunt force trauma.
01:42Three suspects were eventually convicted.
01:44Rashad Arthur Raleigh received life without parole for first-degree murder.
01:48Fred Quinzo, Snake Eyes King, got 45 years for second-degree murder and kidnapping.
01:53And Johnson received 10 years for aiding and abetting aggravated robbery.
01:57Bison Dell
01:58In 1999, at age 30, former Chicago Bulls champion Bison Dell shocked the sports world by retiring
02:04and forgoing a five-year, $36.45 million contract with the Detroit Pistons.
02:09He embraced a nomadic lifestyle, eventually purchasing a 55-foot catamaran named Hukuna
02:15Matata and settling in Tahiti.
02:17On July 6th, 2002, Delli set sail from Tahiti toward Hawaii with his girlfriend Serena Carlin,
02:22French skipper Bertrand Saldo, and his troubled older brother Miles DeBoer.
02:26The last satellite phone call from the voyage was made on July 8th.
02:29Twelve days later, DeBoer returned to Tahiti alone aboard the damaged catamaran.
02:33DeBoer eventually confessed to his girlfriend that a fight had broken out on the boat,
02:37leading to the deaths of all three passengers.
02:39However, forensic examination found no evidence supporting DeBoer's story,
02:43and the premeditated purchase of weights in New Zealand suggested
02:46careful planning rather than an accidental altercation.
02:49Before authorities could thoroughly investigate,
02:51DeBoer intentionally overdosed on insulin and died in September 2002,
02:55taking the truth with him to his grave.
02:57Gary Suter
02:59Gary Suter's NBA career was brief and unremarkable.
03:02Just 30 games with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1970-71, averaging 1.4 points per game.
03:08Often ridiculed as one of the worst players in NBA history, Suter became the subject of humorous
03:13anecdotes, but his life ended in tragedy that was anything but funny.
03:17On October 23rd, 1982, Suter was shot three times with a .357 Magnum revolver
03:23during an argument over a $275 gambling debt.
03:26Gary Randall Hoxsey had picked up Suter in his truck and driven toward Rio Rancho,
03:30New Mexico, when the dispute escalated.
03:32After shooting Suter, Hoxsey dragged his body off the road and fled with the victim's jewelry.
03:37Hoxsey was quickly caught when he attempted to sell the stolen jewelry within days of the murder.
03:41He was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole for 30 years.
03:46Despite maintaining his innocence and appealing his conviction multiple times,
03:50Hoxsey eventually served his time and was paroled decades later.
03:53Andre Emmett
03:55Andre Emmett was a scoring machine at Texas Tech University, setting the school's all-time scoring
04:00record with 2,256 points. Though his NBA career was limited to just 14 games, he found success
04:07overseas and in the Big Three League, where he was an MVP candidate. But on September 23rd, 2019,
04:13Emmett's life was cut short in a senseless act of violence. Emmett had been at a nightclub earlier
04:18that evening and returned home around 2.30am, parking in his garage and eating Whataburger
04:23in his Range Rover when two men approached him. They demanded his jewelry, including two chains and
04:27an $8,000 Rolex watch. Though Emmett complied with their demands, he then attempted to flee,
04:33prompting the gunman to open fire. Surveillance footage captured the entire tragic sequence of events.
04:37Three suspects were eventually arrested. Larry Daquan Jenkins, identified as the shooter,
04:42was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life without parole. Keith Johnson accepted a plea deal
04:47for aggravated robbery and received 20 years, while Michael Luckey's charges were ultimately dismissed.
04:52Reggie Harding Reggie Harding was a pioneer, becoming the first player drafted into the NBA
04:58without playing college basketball. Standing seven feet tall and weighing 250 pounds, he was a dominant
05:04force who led his Detroit high school to three consecutive city championships. But Harding's life
05:08was marked by violence and addiction from an early age. On September 1st, 1972, Harding was hanging out on
05:14the corner of Kercheval and Parkview in Detroit when an argument erupted with Carl Scott, a recently
05:19released convict. After Scott slapped Harding twice, the towering ex-player retaliated by lifting
05:24Scott off the ground in humiliation. Scott fled, but returned 20 minutes later with a pistol. According
05:29to witnesses, Harding told Scott, if you shoot me, shoot me in the head. I don't want to feel no
05:33pain.
05:33Scott obliged, firing once to bring him down, then shooting him again in the head. Harding died the next
05:38day at Detroit General Hospital. Though Scott was identified and a murder warrant was issued,
05:43the case's resolution remains unclear in historical records. Jack Molinas
05:48Jack Molinas was a promising NBA player whose career was destroyed when he was banned for life
05:53in 1954 for betting on games, including against his own team. He later masterminded one of the largest
05:59point shaving scandals in college basketball history, orchestrating fixes in 43 games involving 49
06:05players from 27 colleges. On August 3rd, 1975, Molinas was assassinated in the backyard of his
06:11Hollywood Hills home. While standing on his patio praising the view to his companion Shirley Marcus,
06:16Molinas was shot five times in rapid succession with a rifle. The shots came sniper style from behind
06:21a neighboring wall, killing Molinas instantly and wounding Marcus. Los Angeles police immediately
06:26suspected a professional hit, describing it as gangland style. Though a suspect named Eugene
06:31Connor was identified as the shooter, the case remains officially unsolved with theories pointing to
06:36mob retaliation for Molinas' gambling debts and criminal associations. George Trapp
06:42George Trapp played six seasons in the NBA with the Atlanta Hawks and Detroit Pistons, averaging 8.8
06:47points and 4.5 rebounds per game. After retiring in 1977, he lived quietly in Detroit until tragedy
06:54struck on January 9th, 2002. Trapp was involved in a heated argument with his roommate Jerome Miller when
06:59the altercation turned violent. During the fight, Trapp allegedly struck Miller with an ashtray,
07:04prompting Miller to stab Trapp once in the abdomen. Though the initial surgery was successful,
07:08Trapp developed a severe infection that led to pneumonia and he died 12 days later. Detroit
07:13police issued a murder warrant for Jerome Miller, but extensive searches reveal no evidence that he
07:17was ever arrested, tried or convicted. The case appears to remain unresolved, representing another
07:22tragic example of domestic violence escalating to fatal consequences. Sid Tannenbaum
07:28Sid Tannenbaum was a basketball star at New York University who helped lead the team to the 1945
07:34NCAA tournament final. After a brief NBA career with the New York Knicks and Baltimore Bullets,
07:39he ran a successful metal stamping business in Far Rockaway, Queens. Tannenbaum was known as a generous
07:44Good Samaritan who frequently helped people in need, giving odd jobs or money to locals. On September 4th,
07:501986, this kindness proved fatal when a neighborhood woman named Molly Dotson asked him for $25 to pay for her
07:56daughter's hospital television service. When the 60-year-old Tannenbaum refused, Dotson became
08:01enraged and stabbed him once in the back with a steak knife. Dotson was arrested the next day and
08:06charged with second-degree murder. Though trial details are limited in public records, the case
08:10was resolved and Tannenbaum was remembered through memorial basketball courts named in his honor.
08:15Bubbles Hawkins Robert Bubbles Hawkins earned his nickname for his graceful floating style of play
08:21on Detroit's playground courts. Despite a promising start that saw him lead the New Jersey Nets in
08:26scoring during the 1976-77 season with 19.3 points per game, his NBA career was marked by contract
08:33disputes and conflicts with coaches. After basketball, Hawkins struggled with personal issues and found
08:38himself in increasingly dangerous situations. On November 28, 1993, the 39-year-old was found shot to
08:44death in what police described as a suspected crack house in Detroit. According to investigators,
08:48a drug deal had gone bad and an unidentified gunman opened fire, striking Hawkins in the abdomen.
08:54No arrests were ever made in connection with Hawkins' death and the case remains unsolved more
08:58than 30 years later. His murder highlighted the tragic trajectory that claimed too many former
09:03athletes who struggled with addiction and found themselves trapped in cycles of violence.
