#conchocountytx

THE MURDER OF TOMMY WRIGHT

Concho County, TX 10/4/1984 Homicide

Thomas "Tommy" Wright (19) was found fatally shot in Concho County, Texas on October 4th, 1984. He was likely the victim of serial killer Rick McGinn, although McGinn was found not guilty of his murder by a jury in this case.

Mr. Wright was born June 16th, 1965 in Utica, New York and spent the majority of his unfortunately-short life in Comanche, Texas. Mr. Wright moved from Comanche to Brady, Texas around his 19th birthday and began working as a warehouseman at the Paitners Feed, Seed, Wood and Mohair.

On Tuesday, October 2nd, 1984, Tommy headed out to meet a family friend named Rick McGinn. They had planned, along with a friend of McGinn's, to help one of McGinn's brothers with a move. Tommy usually drove a motorcycle, but he had borrowed a van for the evening. One of his friends has stated that her last memory of him was him sitting in the van trying to convince her and one of his sisters to come with him to help with the move. He was last seen alive by a store attendant around 11 pm that evening at a convenience store in Eden, Texas in the company of Rick McGinn, Rick's brother, and the third man was unknown. The borrowed van was abandoned at that same convenience store and was discovered the following weekend by friends of Tommy's family.

Two days later, on Thursday, October 4th, a farmer found Tommy's body in a ditch near the intersection of FM 765 and FM 2402, east of Eola in Concho County. He had 5 gunshot wounds in his body made by a large-caliber handgun. Law enforcement estimated that based on the state of the body, he was likely killed Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning.

An acquaintance of Mr. Mcginn's shared the following memory with us from a time prior to Tommy's murder: "There was a time when ___ and I rode to the store with Rick in his car (the one he had at the time Tommy was killed) and when we got to the store, Rick opened the glovebox to get something out and he had a handgun in there. I was sitting in the front seat, and he closed it quickly."

Rick McGinn was long gone by the time Tommy's body was discovered. He had reportedly gone to visit his sister in Mississippi. Authorities arrested him in Grenada County, Mississippi, and he was charged with murder. His case did go to trial, but the jury acquitted him. Mr. McGinn went on to commit additional crimes including at least three other murders. (For more on him, please see this post: tinyurl.com/mprft68p)

Although he was legally acquitted in this case, based on his subsequent known crimes, we believe it is likely that he did commit this murder. McGinn eventually received the death penalty for another murder, and there are those who have expressed regret that he was not found guilty in this case. If he had been, his other victims might still be around.

Despite Mr. McGinn no longer being a potential threat, it is not clear to Tommy's loved ones whether he acted alone in this case. Where were the two other men seen with them by the time Tommy was shot? Who was that third, unknown man?

Tommy Wright's family members describe him as a tender, caring, loving, kind "good ol' boy" who enjoyed teasing the people he loved - but he didn't have a mean bone in his body. "He would laugh a big ole' belly laugh if he got you to fall for it or if it pissed you off." A friend of his later described him "as a wonderful guy, always happy and always had the biggest smile."

Sources:

This post was made with the help and information provided by Mr. Wright’s friends and relatives.

Also:

Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth, Texas, 07 Oct 1984, Sun • Page 36

Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth, Texas, 11 Oct 1984, Thu • Page 26