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Judge Schedules Death Penalty Hearing In Military Wife Death

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FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — A Superior Court judge has scheduledanother hearing next month on whether the state may seek the deathpenalty against Master Sergeant William Wright.

Wright is accused of strangling his wife, Jennifer, with hersports bra in June. Her body was found near Fort Bragg on July 19.

At a hearing Thursday in Fayetteville, a prosecutor say Wright smashed a coffee cup against his wife's jaw and beat her with a baseball bat before strangling her.

The hearing was held to determine whether the state may seek the death penalty in the case.

But Superior Court Judge Gregory Weeks didn't make a decision Thursday. Instead, he gave lawyers additional time to file paperwork supporting their positions and ordered another hearing for April 9.

Cumberland County investigators said Wright confessed to killing his wife and burying her.Wright led detectives to Jennifer's body, which was buried about three miles into the woods off Plank Road on Fort Bragg.

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