BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — A Closter man accused of using a cinder block to kill his housemate — a New York Knicks draft pick — was found guilty of the crime on Friday, officials said.
Mark A. Holdbrooks, 69, was convicted of murder on Friday in the death of Michael Wright on Nov. 5, 2015.
The eight-week trial began on March 3.
According to the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, on Nov. 10, 2015, New York City police found Wright's body in an SUV parked on a Brooklyn street.
Wright was a University of Arizona basketball player who had been drafted to play for the New York Knicks.
The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, the Closter Police Department, and the New York City Police Department began investigating.
They determined that Holdbrooks, a housemate and family friend of the 35-year-old victim, had drugged Wright with GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyric acid) at the Closter home they shared.
Then, Holdbrooks struck Wright in the head with a cinder block.
A co-defendant, King Victor, drove Wright’s vehicle to Brooklyn and left it there. Victor has already pleaded guilty to related charges, prosecutors said on Saturday.
A jury convicted Holdbrooks of first-degree murder, second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, second-degree theft by deception, third-degree theft by deception, third-degree disturbing human remains, third- degree possession of GHB, third-degree hindering his own apprehension by destruction of evidence, and fourth-degree hindering his own apprehension by providing false information to law enforcement.
Killer Reported Him Missing
According to a 2016 report in Patch, Holdbrooks called Closter police on Nov. 8 to say he hadn't seen Wright, 35, in three days.
Wright’s body was found in a large garbage bag in the back of a white Lexus.
Holdbrooks and Victor were arrested nearly a year later, on Nov. 1, 2016.
Knicks had drafted Wright in 2001, but he ended up playing for professional teams in Europe.
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