A jury decided not to convict Lonnie Wright of the most serious charges during his trial at the Roane County Courthouse last week.
Wright was accused of killing Steve Groover and Cindy Scruggs. Their bodies were found at Groover’s residence at 662 Buck Creek Road on May 16, 2022.
Wright was charged in the case with two counts of first-degree premeditated murder, two counts of felony murder, two counts of especially aggravated robbery and one count of auto burglary.
Wright avoided convictions on the murder counts and was instead found guilty of the lesser included offenses of criminally negligent homicide.
“I don’t think the evidence was there for them to convict him of first-degree premeditated murder, but I think with the evidence they did have they didn’t feel comfortable just letting him go and acquitting him,” Wright’s attorney, Matt Ooten, told the Roane County News about the verdict. “I think they split the baby and came up with criminally negligent homicide.”
The jury returned the verdict on Friday. Ooten called it a victory for Wright, 49, considering what he would have faced on a conviction for first-degree premeditated murder.
“He is very appreciative of everything we did for him,” Ooten said. “He went from first-degree murder that carries an automatic sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole down to an E felony, which for him would be three to five years. That was a big win for him.”
Prosecutors were disappointed in the verdict.
“It befuddles us to say the least,” District Attorney General Russell Johnson said. “It disappoints us. We’ll do the best we can at sentencing to keep him in prison as long as we can.”
Criminal Court Judge Jeff Wicks set sentencing for August.
“We’ll argue for as much time as we possibly can,” Johnson said.
Wright has been in custody at the Roane County Jail since July 25, 2022. He will get credit for the time he has already served when he is sentenced.
“He had a good trial,” Ooten said. “We got a good result.”
In addition to the four counts of criminally negligent homicide, the jury also found Wright guilty of attempted aggravated robbery, attempted assault and automobile burglary.
Wright became a person of interest after the bodies of Groover and Scruggs were found. He was adamant that he didn’t kill Groover and Scruggs when detectives interviewed him about the murders on July 25, 2022.
“I was not out there at Steve’s house,” Wright said. “I did not go out there and murder Steve or that girl. Period.”
Wright’s trial started on April 2. His interview with Roane County Sheriff’s Office Detectives Art Wolff and Randy Heidle was played for the jury on the second day of the trial.
“If I was guilty of this, do you think I would be sitting here talking to you all without a (expletive) lawyer,” Wright said. “I’m not crazy.”
Groover and Scruggs were reportedly stabbed to death.
“There was a lot of blood in many, many places,” Wolff testified about the crime scene.
According to a warrant filed in the case, Wright’s fingerprint was found in blood on a State Farm bill in Groover’s truck. He was confronted about that during his interview with detectives.
“Can you explain that?” Heidle asked.
“A fingerprint came back to me?” Wright responded.
“Yes,” Heidle said.
The back and forth over the fingerprint continued during the interview.
“It puts you there,” Heidle told Wright.
“It don’t put me there,” Wright responded. “It puts my fingerprint on a piece of paper.”
“You were there,” Heidle said.
“I was not there,” Wright responded.
“How do you explain the fingerprint?” Heidle asked.
“On a piece of paper, why didn’t you find my fingerprints on anything else,” Wright responded. “Come on, man.”
Wolff told Wright that he believes something irked Wright that prompted him to kill Groover and Scruggs.
“I don’t think you went out there with the intent to do it,” Wolff said. “That doesn’t seem like how you are. I think something happened. Somebody pushed the wrong button.”
Wolff was the main witness for the prosecution on the second day of the trial. He showed the State Farm bill with the bloody fingerprint to the jury.
“What is the date of that State Farm bill?” Assistant District Attorney General Jonathan Edwards asked.
“The policy period is Feb. 28 through Aug. 29 of 2022,” Wolff said.
The case against Wright was investigated by the Roane County Sheriff’s Office.
“So your theory in this case as I understand it is that Lonnie Wright drove to the Groover residence in an effort to rob them for money and ended up for whatever reason killing Cindy and Steve?” Ooten asked Wolff. “Is that correct?”
“Yes, sir,” Wolff responded.
Ooten asked Wolff if he had any evidence that money was taken from the residence.
“No, sir,” Wolff responded.
The shorts that Groover had on when he was murdered were shown to the jury. Ooten had Wolff pull out the pockets. There was no blood on the inside of the pockets.
“You’ve already stated that there was a lot of blood at this crime scene, correct?” Ooten asked.
“Yes, sir,” Wolff responded.
“Do you think there would be blood on the inside of those pockets if the perpetrator looked in those pockets?” Ooten asked.
“It would depend on at what point in the crime the perpetrator got blood on their hands,” Wolff responded.
