Inset: Mark Wright (Effingham County Sheriff’s Office). Background: Elwyn Crocker Sr. with his wife and kids (Facebook).
A Georgia man has confessed to aiding his brother-in-law, who worked as a Walmart Santa Claus, in the murder of two of his children and concealing their remains, reports indicate.
Mark Wright from Effingham County pleaded guilty in late August to charges of second-degree murder, first and second-degree cruelty to children, two charges of hiding a death, and false imprisonment, according to local ABC affiliate WJCL.
Legal documents accessed by Law&Crime reveal that Wright was charged in 2018 together with his sister, Candice Crocker, and her spouse, Elwyn Crocker Sr., along with additional family members for killing their children, Mary Crocker, 14, and her brother Elwyn Crocker Jr., also 14, in 2018 and 2016, respectively. Kim Wright, the mother of Mark Wright and Candice Crocker, was also accused and confessed to murder in 2020, alongside her partner, Roy Prater, as stated in court documents.
Mark Wright allegedly admitted to helping Elwyn Crocker Sr. with killing the kids and burying their bodies in Crocker Sr.’s backyard.
Prosecutors claim text messages highlight the grim details of the double-murder case, with Crocker Sr. — who had pretrial hearings last month and could face the death penalty — communicating with family members while disposing of his children’s remains.
In one text, Crocker Sr. allegedly told his mother-in-law, Kim Wright, “Almost done burying Mary’s.”
Her apparently enthusiastic response: “Cool! How deep?”
Prosecutors plan to show text exchanges to the jury, showcasing instances where Crocker and his wife criticized Mary, as reported by local ABC affiliate WJCL.
“I think she’s been hit in the head too many times,” Crocker Sr. allegedly said.
After causing the young teenager’s death by starvation in October 2018, Crocker Sr. texted Kim Wright about being “almost done” burying Mary in the backyard, expressing fear when cars drove past, prosecutors say. Crocker Sr. allegedly mentioned to Wright, “There was a car driving by, driving by very slowly,” adding, “I think it was a cop.”
Prosecutors have said Elwyn Jr. and Mary disappeared years apart, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Elwyn Jr. disappeared in November 2016, while Mary was last seen in October 2018. Neither of the children was ever reported missing.
In December 2018, police searched a farm property in Effingham County after receiving a tip from a person who was concerned about Mary’s whereabouts. When they started asking Crocker Sr. questions, he allegedly gave them information that led them to his backyard, where the children’s bodies were found. The family had been reported to the Division of Family and Children Services before the discovery, according to reports. The unnamed biological mother of the children was said to be homeless in South Carolina.
Details about the medical state of the children when they were killed have been revealed in court, including how Mary’s “body mass index was 8.6, which is drastically underweight,” according to a forensic pathologist who took the stand in May.
“Her body length was under 2nd percentile,” said Dr. Edmond Donaghue, former medical examiner for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. “Her actual weight was below 1st percentile,” Donaghue said. “I’ve never seen such a low number.”
Donaghue testified that Mary appeared to have starved to death, while Elwyn Jr.’s cause of death could not be determined, as his remains were just bones. Both deaths were ruled homicides.
Wright will be sentenced in October and faces up to 80 years in prison.
