Tony At 10: MURDER OF MICHAEL WRIGHT; BLOG # 2081; APR 21, 2017

THE MESSAGE:

The loss of life, at an early age, is obviously something that most people find difficult to accept. Whether or not the person who has passed is a celebrity or simply a cherished member of the family does not make much difference to those left behind. When the death is suicidal as a result of unbearable depression or if it is carried out at the hands of a murderer, there is a resolve by most civilized beings to ensure the punishment of the murderer or eradicate the causes of depression.

THE BLURB:

At the time of his disappearance, Michael Wright, the former University of Arizona basketball star, had spent 13 years overseas as a skilled and well-compensated professional player. In the NBA draft of 2001 he was a second round selection by the New York Knicks.

Mark Holdbrooks had been Michael's mentor for much of the latter's life. They first met when Michael was a teenager in college. Holdbrooks became a room mate, an advisor and sounding board as Michael evolved from a talented rookie to a veteran pro.

The two shared a house in Closter, New Jersey with Michael's 10 year old daughter, Daisha, and Holdbrooks' teenage daughter, Felicity.

Michael Wright was an exceptional talent; however, his life was mostly conducted outside of the public eye. Who could possibly explain the tragedy of what happened to Michael that November weekend.

One weekend in November The 35-year-old went missing. His disappearance lasted for five days before the NYPD discovered his dead body in the backseat of his car in Brooklyn. The NYC Medical Examiner officially ruled Michael's death a homicide, caused by blunt force trauma to his head.

Wright, on the morning of Nov 5, apparently had worked out at a gym near his six-bedroom home. According to the girls He had made plans to pick up them up from the library that afternoon. By the time Holdbrooks said he returned from taking the family's two dogs for a walk, Michael was gone, leaving his wallet behind.

Holdbrooks was asked why he waited until Sunday to report Michael missing, He referred to Michael's routine of leaving on a Thursday, returning early Sunday morning, taking a nap and then going to church with the family. Holdbrooks stated, "I didn't want to know how Michael was spending his time and he didn't want to tell me. The girls weren't surprised when he was gone because they understood that this was his usual pattern. But this time it was too much. By Sunday night, Daisha asked me, Where is Daddy? and I couldn't answer her."

The media speculated that Michael was killed by someone he had met on the gay dating app Grindr. Surprisingly, on November 1, close to the one year anniversary of Wright's murder, Holdbrooks was arrested in New York City for Michael's murder.

THE LIFE OF MICHAEL WRIGHT from a story by Matt Giles, of 'Sports on Earth'

Michael grew up on Chicago's West Side living with his mother Rose, a nurse, in a neighborhood that bordered Chicago's Medical District.

His neighbourhood was located in close vicinity to a community rife with gang violence. Rose would often tell her son to spend the night at the apartment of Wolf Nelson, his high school coach at Farragut Career Academy.

Farragut was tagged as one of the greatest teams in Chicago high school history. As a freshman, Michael started alongside Kevin Garnett, and he eagerly and often sought out advice from him. After a strong high school career, Michael resisted repeated overtures from local DePaul and instead chose Arizona, a school far from home.

Michael's more intimate personal details, including his sexuality, were not well known. Only his closest friends knew he was gay, but others, even if they didn't hear the rumours, never pried into his personal life. His reserved nature led some Wildcats to believe he was homesick.

He had spent the initial 21 years of his life preparing for professional basketball, in whatever form, and whether he played for the Knicks or overseas, it didn't matter. You don't make it out of one of Chicago's worst neighbourhoods without a certain type of focus. He went on to play for the longtime coach of the Arizona Wildcats, Lute Olson.

WrightArizona — **Wright was teammates with Gilbert Arenas and Richard Jefferson with the Arizona Wildcats.**

TURKEY BALL

Michael's overseas stint wasn't always rosy. Despite how well he played, there were always rumours about his sexuality. According to friends, this didn't bother Michael: Basketball, his job and his passion, was all that mattered. But still, the whispers, and the looks he received from fellow players could be hurtful at times.

In 2006, he was named an All-Star while playing for Besiktas and the import player of the year in Turkey's Basketball Super League.

Following that All-Star game, though, most of his teammates on the international team refused to shower with Michael. He was one of the league's top players, yet people still didn't feel comfortable being naked around him.

Much of Wright's career was spent in Turkey, where he played for five teams over a seven-year span. However, it was only when he became naturalized as a Turkish citizen in 2010, and adopted the name Ali Karadeniz (which translates to "Ali of the Black Sea"), that his demand skyrocketed.

Since Turkish teams had to have at least two citizens on the court at all times; adding Michael, with his dual citizenship, was like having a Turkish ringer. As a result he became one of the highest-paid Americans in any international league.

MARK HOLDBROOKS

During Michael's freshman or sophomore years at Arizona he met Holdbrooks, who had first introduced himself to Michael's mother, Rose. According to Michael's friends, Holdbrooks presented himself as a corporate lawyer from an impressive family who owned multiple brownstones in Harlem; to others, Holdbrooks said he was a financial adviser. He offered to mentor Michael, professionally and personally. Michael didn't have much of a male role model in his life, and he chose never to discuss what happened between Rose and his biological father, even with those close to him. Holdbrooks began his relationship with Michael, while under the shadow of some sordid details about his past. He was accused of pilfering about $250,000 in tuition fees and capital improvement funds from his local church. Holdbrooks was also convicted of two counts of grand larceny in 1995 and sentenced to two-to-six years in prison. He was released on parole in the fall of 1998,

Around 2014, Holdbrooks told Michael that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. This wasn't Holdbrooks' first brush with the disease -- he had been diagnosed in the mid-2000s but the malignancy went into remission. Now, though, he informed Michael the cancer was back. Out of love and loyalty, Michael knew he needed to be close to home so he could take care of Holdbrooks. The treatments were bound to be expensive. and Michael felt his assets were required which included going back overseas.

He was torn by a love for his daughter Daisha. It became more difficult for Wright to leave each season. she was the driving force of Michael's desire to wind down his playing career and spend more time with her. He made it known to a close friend, Mark Barrett that he planned to include an actual new home for he and his daughter. Barrett said, "He would cry whenever he had to go to the airport,"

He hadn't told Holdbrooks yet; however, according to friends, Michael didn't want to have the same living arrangements after he retired. Once Holdbrooks beat cancer, Michael thought, it would be time to be in his own house and regain full autonomy of his finances.

Forays in France and Iran in early 2015 flopped, but Michael believed he could keep playing at age 35. All he wanted was to help out as a reserve player and collect some "end of career" money, as well as alleviate the costs of Holdbrooks' cancer treatments. He considered a healthcare-oriented job, possibly nursing. He took online classes and planned to enroll in graduate courses at a nearby college. He thought about whether he wanted to leverage his background and become a trainer or physical therapist. Michael even debated opening a basketball camp for local kids, using the proceeds to fund the costs of pursuing his healthcare path. Though he was excited about all of these possibilities, he was also nervous about his post-retirement life.

BARRETT

One issue arose that may have accounted for Michael's anxiety. "He thought someone was trying to deliberately harm him by drugging him whenever he went out," said friend Mark Barrett. In July 2015, Michael was in a vehicular accident, arrested and charged with a DWI. He fought the charges, telling friends after his bail was posted that he had only had half a drink and couldn't explain what had happened to him. Another time, Michael came home and collapsed inexplicably in the living room, according to Barrett. He couldn't understand what was happening and continued to believe that someone was slipping a drug into his drinks. Michael didn't even want to go out anymore.

Wright relaxing (Photo courtesy of Mark Barrett)

Holdbrooks didn't talk about Michael's fears about being drugged and seemed to have his own theories. He attributed the DWI accident to Michael mistakenly taking the wrong medication. He stated that Michael was in the midst of a midlife crisis, and without the structure that basketball provided, he began to self-destruct. He was going out too much, drinking too much, meeting strangers he met online and disappearing on benders for days.

"I never observed Michael going out regularly." Barrett countered, "Leaving on Thursday and coming back Sunday is totally out of left field." It's clear Michael's closest friends never bought Holdbrooks' theories of events.

POLICE INVESTIGATION

Police searched the Closter N.J. property focusing on the basement and the garage. They sprayed areas with luminal and discovered blood spatters. They soon believed that Michael was murdered in the house, and then later dumped in Brooklyn.

Police claim that Holdbrooks, allegedly acting with an accomplice named David Victor, drugged Michael with a drug similar to Rohypnol, the "date rape drug, on the afternoon of Nov. 5 in the Closter home. Michael's head was then bludgeoned with an ax, which fractured his skull.

According to Gurbir Grewal, the Bergen County prosecutor, Holdbrooks and Victor loaded Michael into Lucy Pearl, the car Michael used the most. Victor then allegedly drove the body over the George Washington Bridge and an additional 20-plus miles into Brooklyn.

Holdbrooks and alleged accomplice David Victor were arrested in November 2016.

DAVID VICTOR

Holdbrooks has been charged with murder, possession of GHB and desecration of human remains (among other counts), and has had several court hearings since his arrest. After failing to post a $3 million bail, Holdbrooks sits in the Brooklyn Detention Complex, waiting to be extradited to Bergen County, N.J. Daisha and Felicity are living with their godmother in NYC, according to a person close to the family.