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Slaying Suspect Left Glove At Crime Scene, Records Show

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: January 6, 2009

Updated: 01/06/2009 05:17 pm

Related Links

• Glove Contained DNA
• Previous Coverage: Arrest Made
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Ralph Wright

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

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

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

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

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

Now, the working theory is that Wright, 40, killed the two with his bare hands and then put on the gloves, before going through O'Conner's St. Petersburg home, so as not to leave fingerprints, the affidavit says.

He may have been looking for the keys to her Chevrolet Blazer, which investigators think Wright drove a few blocks away 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.

The glove was made of Nomex 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 he 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 likely 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.

The month before the O'Conners turned up 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 with her and that he explained his days-long 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 admitted 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 as 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 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 booked into the Pinellas County Jail on Monday, after having been arrested in Palatka last week. He is being held without bail.

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

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