Piers Morgan tonight will continue his quest to find what it is that drives women to kill when he meets Amber Wright.
Wright was just 15 when she conspired with a group of friends – including her 16-year-old step brother Kyle Hooper – to murder her ex-boyfriend Seath Jackson.
The teenage boy was beaten, shot and kneecapped before his corpse was burnt and his remains were thrown in a Florida quarry in 2011.
Wright was jailed for life and now resides at the Homestead Correctional Institution in Florida, where she meets with Morgan in the second episode of ITV’s Killer Women on Thursday.
Faced with a woman whose investigating detective described as “the most dangerous 15-year-old ever”, Morgan asks whether Jackson’s death was merely an adolescent spat that spiralled into a horrific, impulsive murder, or if Wright is truly a cold-hearted killer.
Wright has stood trial for the offence twice, with a first conviction thrown out after an error allowed as evidence incriminating statements she gave before her Miranda rights were administered.
She was convicted of first degree murder for her role in Jackson’s death in January 2016 after jurors found he had been lured into a mobile home where he was beaten and shot multiple times before his body was burned in a backyard fire pit.
The court heard Jackson’s legs were broken in a bathtub and he was stuffed into a sleeping bag. Still alive, he was shot again. His remains were put in paint buckets and dumped at a remote lime rock pit.
As he handed down her sentence, Circuit Judge Anthony Tatti told Wright: “I have not seen or heard anything more despicable than what lead to Seath Jackson’s death.”
In comments reported by the Ocala Star Banner, he added: “I cannot imagine a circumstance any worse, and I pray to God that the reason behind all this is some chemical imbalance or a brain that hasn’t matured. It’s really hard to deal with the notion that such an evil could exist without an explanation.”
Wright is one of four people who have been prosecuted for Jackson’s death. Michael Bargo, 23, was sentenced to death and three others received life sentences for the murder.
In early March 2011, Jackson wrote: “love you Amber” on his Facebook page, but the relationship had soured a month later and he began calling her a “slut” on the social network.
Shortly afterwards, Wright began dating Bargo, who became consumed with hatred for Jackson. Prosecutors say he masterminded the plan to murder Jackson and pulled the trigger of the gun that killed him.
As well as hearing Wright’s side of the story, Morgan travels to Summerfield, Florida, to meet Jackson’s parents and to talk about the loss of their son.
Killer Women with Piers Morgan airs on ITV on Thursday 29 June at 9.15pm.