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Arson, Racketeering Charges Filed Against Murder Suspect
April 7, 2018
Ashley McArthur, charged with murdering a woman whose body was found in Cantonment and additional charges of grand theft, has now been charged with starting a fire inside a business and racketerring.
McArthur is facing a first degree murder charge for the death of 33-year old Taylor Wright, a private investigator and former police officer. Wright’s body was found last September off Britt Road, just west of County Road 97 near Muscogee Road in Cantonment. She allegedly stole $34,000 from Wright.
McArthur operated Pensacola Automatic Amusement (PAA) on Pace Boulevard. She was charged in November 2017 with felony grand theft and fraud for the alleged theft of $13,301.04 from the Azalea Cocktail Lounge, which represented funds reported missing between July 10, 2015, and September 14, 2017.
According to an Escambia County Sheriff’s Office arrest report, lounge customers pay for games or the jukebox using cash, credit card or a mobile phone app. The payments were to be split 50-50 between the Azalea Lounge and another company. It was alleged that McArthur was splitting only the cash proceeds with lounge while keeping the proceeds from the credit card and mobile app payments.
Now, McArthur has been charged with arson and racketeering after she set fire to PAA in June 2017, according to court documents. The state alleges she started the fire to avoid a scheduled meeting with representatives of Azalea Lounge. She remains free on a $400,000 bond that was posted on February 5.
Court documents state:
At 10:17 p.m. on June 7, 2017. McArthur closed the office at PAA and did not activate the alarm. This was not uncommon nor was it uncommon for PAA to have a single false alarm report during the night. At 3:35 a.m. the following morning, PAA had eight alarms activated simultaneously which included a burglary alarm on the safe room door. According to the alarm records for 2017, this type of activity was uncommon. The alarm company called McArthur’s mother, Rhonda Britt, and told her that law enforcement had been notified. Britt canceled law enforcement because she stated that it was probably a false alarm.
At 9:56 a.m., MrArthur called 911 to report a fire at PAA. She reported that she arrived at the business at approximately 9:4 a.m. and entered through the back of the building by way of the warehouse. She observed a haze and black smoke marks at the door to the office portion of the building. She exited the building to report the fire.
McArthur did not answer multiple calls from a representative of Azalea Lounge about their planned meeting for that morning. When she answered at a call at 10:45 a.m., said she had a personal issue and could not make the meeting.
The State Fire Marshal found multiple unrelated points of origin for the fire on the first and second floors of PAA. Debris samples tested positive for heavy petroleum distillate, which is an accelerant.of the same type as lamp oil, charcoal starter fluid or diesel fuel. The fires were found to be separate and not connected in cause or origin. All accidental causes of the fire were excluded.
On scene, McArthur reported to the State Fire Marshall’s Office that her mother called her when the alarm went off in the middle of the night and asked her to check on the business. She said she drove by the business and didn’t get out of the car because of the type of neighborhood it is in. She said everything looked fine and returned home.
The portion of the PAA building which was burned contained the type of financial records which pertained to the theft allegations.
Comments
7 Responses to “Arson, Racketeering Charges Filed Against Murder Suspect”
Taylor Wright, the victim in the murder case was previously a police officer in Jacksonville, NC before moving to Florida.
Just in case murder doesn’t stick…….
@identify, from what I read, Ms. Wright was a former officer. Ms. Wright was the victim.
guys, guys, take it easy on the poor woman. don’t you know, what with running around killing and setting fires, stealing money, and generally acting like a demon from hell set free to walk the earth, she has to be a bit distraught.
Was anyone able to actually verify that she was actually a cop somewhere? IF so WHERE? just because she had what looked like a police uniform on in one of her prior photos doesn’t mean she was a cop. I hate people like this giving good cops bad names, ESPECIALLY IF no one can verify it.
When is this killer going to trial?
She is not the sharpest cheese on the cracker.
She is arrested for arson but remains free on a previous bond??? What is that about?
What cloud does she or her family have for her to remain free on bond? They are able to post a $400 000 bond- but she killed someone for $30 000. She should be in jail – she is dangerous to society.