A Text to Die For

To those who worked with her, Meagan Foley, a former bank teller from New London, seemed an unlikely accomplice in a murder.

But on May 12, her testimony at the Ryan Wright murder trial put her squarely in the middle of a conspiracy to kill Jamel Campbell, who was found shot to death at the Groton Ramada Inn on December 10, 2008.

Foley, 27, is accused of using a ruse to lure Campbell to the hotel that night, knowing that Wright planned to shoot him. Wright is on trial facing murder charges for the fatal shooting, while the case against Foley is still pending.

Foley, whose lawyer was in the courtroom with her Thursday, said she had been promised nothing in exchange for her testimony but she hoped the judge “will take into consideration that I cooperated.”

Foley has been incarcerated at York Correctional Institution since her arrest a little more than two years ago, and is charged with conspiracy to commit murder.   

Calm and collected on the stand, she testified that she had been friends with both Campbell and Wright for about 10 years. She and Wright had dated briefly, she said, but she was closer friends with Campbell, who she said she spoke to daily and saw frequently.  

She told the court she had introduced the two men nearly a decade ago, and generally spent time with them individually hanging out, smoking marijuana, and drinking.

The two men had been at odds because Campbell believed Wright had an affair with his girlfriend while he was incarcerated, she said. Foley testified that when she asked Wright about the “rumor,” he said there was no truth to it. However, Campbell had taken Wright’s car, a Mercedes, in retaliation, and Foley testified that the two men had both shown her guns that they had acquired in case of future run-ins.

Foley told the court that Wright said he wanted to kill Campbell, and that he had the gun “for Mr. Campbell.” She said Campbell told her he acquired a gun because “he felt threatened.”  

Foley said she sent a text message to Wright asking what was going on with him and Campbell. She testified that Wright told her that he planned to kill Campbell, and that he might do it at Campbell’s girlfriend’s apartment where the couple lived with their infant child, and that he would kill anyone else who was there.

He also said he had considered killing Campbell as he was leaving Foley’s house, which she shared with her mother and brother, she testified.

“I suggested a hotel,” Foley said. “I was scared it would happen at my mom’s house.”

On December 9, 2008, the two hatched a plan that came together during a rapid exchange of text messages. As Foley recounted what each had said, Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Paul Narducci showed a print out of the messages to the jury.

It started with Foley texting Wright at 4:45 p.m.: “I need 2 make those plans for you.”

After some back and forth, and with a little flirtation in the middle, the two decided the Groton Ramada Inn would be the place to do it. At 5:37 p.m., Foley texted Wright that she planned to tell Campbell she and her boyfriend Lakawan Mormon were arguing, “n I need comfort,” to get Campbell to see her at the hotel. At 5:45 p.m., she texted an invitation to Campbell.

At 5:49 p.m., Campbell texted back: “A room! Yup, smoke, drink, fight and b friends. Hell Yeah!”

At 5:56 p.m., Foley texted Wright: “lol … it could happen tnight 4 sure … damn im good.”

At Foley’s request, Wright agreed to pay for the room, but the two decided to have Campbell book it so it wouldn’t be traced back to them. Foley told Campbell she lost her ID so he would agree to check in.

At 11:09 p.m., Campbell sent a text to Foley saying he was at the hotel but planned to go home because he was hungry, so she texted Wright to say Campbell was getting anxious. At 11:12 p.m., Foley texted Campbell that she was in the Walmart parking lot across the street. She testified in court that she sent that text from Groton, where she was hanging out with her boyfriend.

At 11:20 p.m. Wright texted just one word: “Done.”

Foley told the court she took that to mean that Wright had killed Campbell. Even so, she said she made a point to text Campbell the next day because she thought that would “look good.” In the first text, she said she didn’t get to the hotel because she and her boyfriend had made up. She texted a second time, writing: “IDK [I don’t know] why aren’t you calling. If you’re in trouble, I will help you, you know that.”

Foley testified that she spent the night of the shooting hanging out with her boyfriend, Mormon, and her close friend Angela Delgrosso at Delgrosso’s apartment in Groton, drinking and watching TV. Her story was corroborated by Mormon and Delgrosso, who also testified Thursday. When Narducci asked them if Foley seemed nervous in any way or if they noticed any changes in her behavior, both said, “No.”

In response to a similar question from Wright’s court-appointed public defender, attorney Sebastian DeSantis, Mormon said, “She seemed normal to me.”

The trial, which earlier this week focused on law enforcement officers’ testimony and forensic evidence--including Campbell’s bloody clothes and five spent shell casings fired from a Smith & Wesson revolver that were retrieved from the scene--is expected to continue for at least another week.