Man Guilty In Shoreline Murder -- Defense Plans Appeal Of `Difficult Decision'

Coral Letnes says jury members "reached the truth" yesterday when they found Matthew Wright guilty of first-degree murder for killing her 16-year-old daughter, Audra Letnes, with a chunk of concrete last May.

"And we're pleased that Audra got her wish: Matt Wright will rot in prison," Letnes said from her home. She did not attend yesterday's verdict in the courtroom of King County Superior Court Judge Bobbe Bridge.

"I knew he was guilty from Day One, and it (the verdict) is the public acknowledgement that he did it," Letnes said.

The verdict was a tough decision, according to jury foreman Ron Pilo.

Pilo said the 11-man, one-woman jury agonized for a day and a half after receiving the case late Tuesday morning. "It was a very difficult case. There was nothing easy about it," he said.

The most crucial information came from Brandon Reynolds, a friend of Wright's, who testified that Wright confessed he'd murdered the girl, Pilo said.

The jury also thought Wright had the opportunity to leave the scene of the crime without murdering Letnes, and his testimony indicated he knew about a "murder being committed" before it was public knowledge, Pilo said.

Wright, 20, showed little emotion when the verdict was announced, except to turn and look at family members sitting behind him. Several family members cried and consoled one another, but they would not talk to reporters afterward.

Peter Connick, Wright's attorney, promised an appeal.

Wright testified he did not kill the girl, who was obsessed with him, and told jurors he was watching television at his mother's Shoreline home when Letnes was murdered.

Deputy Prosecutor Bruce Miyake agreed that Reynolds' testimony was crucial to the prosecution's case because there were no eyewitnesses.

Reynolds initially had refused to testify against Wright, a good friend of his for many years. But after spending several days in jail, Reynolds promised to testify truthfully. "As much as he (Reynolds) didn't want to, he told the truth," Miyake said. Reynolds testified that Wright called him the morning the body was found and confessed to killing Letnes.

The victim's body was found in Innis Arden Park, a few blocks from her home, the morning of May 12. She had been strangled and stabbed, but an autopsy determined she died from head injuries apparently inflicted with a chunk of concrete.

The young girl was said to be obsessed with Wright, even though Wright once held a loaded gun to her head, had hogtied her and had made her steal for him, according to prosecutors. Letnes' diary indicated she often called and wrote Wright, but Wright denied any serious relationship, referring to her as "an associate." Even after Letnes obtained a no-contact order against Wright, she continued to call him, Wright testified.

Prosecutors maintain Wright killed the girl because she was using a pending rape investigation involving Wright to manipulate him into seeing her more.

Miyake said he would ask for as much prison time as possible "for this brutal, senseless murder." The standard range is 25 to 30 years, he said. No date has been set for sentencing.

Wright is awaiting sentencing on a rape conviction in a separate case. He also has juvenile convictions for burglary and robbery.