Homicide suspect extradited to Columbia
The suspect is being held in Boone County Jail.
Published Oct. 20, 2009
The suspect in the 33-year-old homicide case of a Columbia resident has been brought back to Missouri.
Johnny Wright, 65, signed an extradition waver after being arrested by police in Lawrenceville, Ga., Boone County Sheriff's Department Capt. Keith Hoskins said.
To avoid the staffing issues at the Sheriff's Department for three to four days, a private, court-authorized company was hired to carry out the extradition, Hoskins said.
Prisoner Transportation Services, a company based in Nashville, Tenn., brought Wright back to Columbia, Hoskins said.
The Columbia Police Department had no role in the extradition, which was handled by the Boone County Sheriff's Department, CPD Spokeswoman Jessie Haden said.
CPD was not informed of the extradition until after Wright had been brought back to Columbia.
The Boone County Prosecutor's Office is now handling the case, Haden said. CPD, which sent officers to Lawrenceville to talk to Wright, does not plan on speaking with Wright again.
"We don't have any plans to try and interview Mr. Wright again because when we traveled to Georgia, he declined to make a statement and we have to respect that," Haden said.
Wright was arrested for the 1976 murder of 23-year-old Rebecca Doisy. The victim was last seen with Wright at the Heidelberg and was reported missing two days later.
Police never found Doisy's body, so investigators have focused on witness accounts, Haden said.
The investigation lasted nine years before CPD obtained a warrant for Wright's arrest for second-degree murder, at which point Wright was no longer in Columbia.
Wright paid the Lawrenceville Police Department for a background check as part of a job application process. He was taken into custody when the background check found his outstanding 1985 warrant for his arrest for second-degree murder.
Wright is being held in the Boone County Jail and was arraigned Friday.
