Danielle Quijada, and Lucas Robbins

The Republic | azcentral.com

The man arrested after a double-murder in east Mesa on Tuesday morning tried to kill his wife by speeding and wrecking their Range Rover, according to court records.

But Christopher Glen Wright, a former police officer himself, told officers that his wife survived the crash and sought help from a stranger soon after Wright exited Loop 202 onto the entrance-exit roundabout at McKellips Road.

So Wright said he grabbed his rifle, shot and killed the potential Good Samaritan who had stopped his pickup truck near Wright's wrecked car, court documents said. Then Wright killed his wife, according to court documents.

Wright, 38, was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder in the death of his 41-year-old wife, Nabash Laverne Wright, and Tomas Olivas Ornelas, the man in the pickup. Christopher Wright worked for the Phoenix Police Department from July 16, 2007, to August 2009, when he resigned for "personal reasons," said Sgt. Trent Crump, a Phoenix Police Department spokesman.

Police said Ornelas, 49, was on his way to work Tuesday morning at a nearby construction site when he encountered the Wrights and stopped his truck in the eastbound lane of McKellips Road shortly after 3:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Ornelas was a couple of hundred feet from his job site when he was murdered, police said.

Nabash Wright originally called police at about 3:06 a.m. Tuesday from their Mesa home to report a fight when the line disconnected.

She called back shortly later to tell police “everything was fine,” according to court documents.

An officer arrived at the Wright residence at about 3:20 a.m. and found the house to be empty and quiet.

Nabash Wright called a third time at about 3:33 a.m. and told police that she was on Loop 202 with Christopher Wright and that he had a rifle in the car and was threatening to kill her.

“The woman could be heard yelling at someone to stop as numerous gun shots began and she then went quiet as the shots continued,” according to court documents.

The first officer arrived at the scene at the Loop 202 northbound roundabout, and Christopher Wright initially lay on the ground in surrender without any command.

Nabash Wright was found dead on the ground next to the passenger door of the vehicle and Ornelas was found next to the driver’s door with multiple gunshot wounds.

Ornelas was transported to Scottsdale-Osborn Hospital, where he later died from his injuries.

Loved ones of shooting victim gather

Family and friends gathered at Ornelas' home in west Phoenix on Wednesday evening to share condolences and pray a rosary. In the living room was a shrine with two framed photos of Ornelas surrounded by lit candles. Grieving loved ones from several generations prayed inside while a group of friends chatted in the yard out front. Among them was Ornelas' brother-in-law, 57-year-old Lalo Ochoa.

Ochoa said Ornelas, a father and husband, was from Chihuahua, Mexico, and that Ornelas had been living in the United States for more than 15 years.

Christopher Wright admitted to police that he shot and killed his wife because she was a “cheating (expletive)” and that he did not shoot at the officer because “he did not have a beef with him,” the police report said.

Officers found the assault rifle in the front passenger seat of the Range Rover with two 30-round magazines scattered along the floorboard and 20 shell casings near the driver’s side of the car.

Christopher Wright was initially taken to a holding cell at the Superstition Springs police substation before he was transported to the main Mesa Police Department station.

Officers later discovered that Christopher Wright had moved his handcuffs to the front of his body during the transport and continued to physically resist officers’ commands until police were forced to shoot him with a Taser and pepper spray him to regain control.

Christopher Wright later told police that he had been verbally and physically abusive with his wife “on a regular basis” in the past. Christopher Wright also said that the most recent incident came as he was in the throes of a cocaine binge and had not been sleeping, according to a police report.

He explained to police that the events from that morning began to unravel when he woke up at about 3 a.m. to leave, but his wife wouldn’t let him.

Christopher Wright said that he and his wife eventually agreed to “take a drive.”

He disclosed to police that he thought his wife and the other man, who he did not know, “deserved to die” and that “he would do it all again,” court documents said.

He told police that he was about to flee the scene when the officer arrived.

Christopher Wright was ordered held on a $2 million bond after his initial court appearance. He will make his next court appearance on June 7, according to court records.

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