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Ex-MacDill Sergeant Held In 2007 Deaths Of Girlfriend, Child

O'Conner family photo

Paula O'Conner and her 15-month-old son, Alijah, were found dead in their St. Petersburg home in 2007.

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 31, 2008

Updated: 12/31/2008 05:38 pm

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Ralph Wright

ST. PETERSBURG - A former sergeant at MacDill Air Force Base was arrested this morning on charges he killed his ex-girlfriend and their baby in St. Petersburg in 2007.

Investigators say Ralph Daniel Wright Jr. strangled Paula O'Conner and smothered their 15-month-old infant son, Alijah, because O'Conner had filed a paternity suit against him.

O'Conner filed the suit a month before her death, seeking child support payments and help paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills for Alijah, who had had a number of heart surgeries.

"He was fearful he was going to lose money in the process of having to support this child," said St. Petersburg Police Department Maj. Mike Puetz.

Wright, 40, was indicted this month and arrested this morning when he showed up at a business in Palatka, which is in Putnam County, St. Petersburg police said.

O'Conner and the baby were found dead in her home at 482 Dawson Ave. N.E. on July 6, 2007, after she didn't show up for work, police have said.

Wright then was a Reserve technical sergeant at MacDill Air Force Base. His contract with MacDill was not renewed after he emerged as a suspect.

Detectives long have said Wright had a financial motive for killing the pair. He thought his responsibilities would die with them, investigators have said.

Wright denies having ever been romantically involved with O'Conner or being the boy's father, Puetz said. Wright told investigators they had a platonic relationship that ended several years before her death, and that he hadn't been in her house since then, Puetz said.

To find out if Wright was Alijah's father, investigators had to obtain a DNA sample from him, but he wouldn't give one voluntarily. So they took a tissue he had discarded after using it to wipe some blood from a cut. For a second sample, they obtained a court order for a saliva swab, Puetz said.

The DNA samples from Wright enabled authorities to match Wright's DNA with Alijah's and establish Wright as the father, Puetz said. Evidence technicians found Wright's DNA in the home, indicating a more recent presence there, authorities say.

"The basis for the arrest is DNA," Puetz said. "We did identify items of DNA in the home that are linked to Mr. Wright, and consequently, as a result of those matches, he was charged."

Puetz would not give additional details about the DNA evidence.

During his relationship with O'Conner, Wright was married to a woman in the Orlando area but lied to O'Conner about it, investigators have said.

Wright's work history includes two failed stints with law enforcement agencies. He spent seven months as a deputy with the Orange County Sheriff's Office, from August 1991 to March 1992, and his departure was labeled "administrative-unfavorable," according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

A spokesman with the Orange County Sheriff's Office has said records indicate Wright's performance was "completely unsatisfactory."

One supervisor wrote that Wright "has not shown the slightest effort to change his poor behavior even though he has been counseled several times, both verbally and in writing," according to the spokesman.

Wright worked for the Eatonville Police Department from October 1994 to July 1996. His employment ended when he failed to complete mandatory training, FDLE said.

As a Reserve technical sergeant at MacDill, Wright was assigned guard duty and could drive law enforcement vehicles.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.

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