Supermarket Santa Claus 'killed children and buried them in his garden'
A man who dressed up as a supermarket Santa Claus has been charged with killing his two children and burying their bodies in a back garden - and now faces the death penalty
A man has confessed to assisting his brother-in-law in killing two children and burying their bodies behind the family's mobile home.
Mark Wright pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, first and second-degree child cruelty, two counts of concealing a death, and false imprisonment.
In a plea deal with prosecutors, Wright's original charge of malice murder was reduced to second-degree murder, and one of two first-degree child cruelty charges was downgraded to second-degree. As part of the agreement, the death penalty was taken off the table. He faces up to 80 years in prison at his sentencing in October.
Wright, from Georgia, was among five individuals indicted in connection with the deaths of 14-year-old Elwyn Crocker Jr. (2016) and his sister Mary Crocker (2018). Their bodies were discovered in December 2018, buried behind their father's home in Guyton.
READ MORE: Parents 'handcuffed children to beds and forced them to eat hot chilli peppers'READ MORE: Cleaner's body found in wheelie bin as ex-colleague and alleged lover denies murderThe children's father, Elwyn Crocker Sr. - a former Walmart Santa - has been charged with malice murder, child cruelty, and concealing a death. He could face the death penalty if convicted.
Kim Wright, Mark Wright's mother and the children's step-grandmother, faces similar charges. Both she and Crocker Sr. have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial.
Two other co-defendants - Candice Crocker (the children's step-mother) and Roy Prater (Kim Wright's boyfriend) - pleaded guilty to murder in 2020 and received life sentences without parole.
The case drew national attention after authorities, responding to a welfare check in 2018, discovered the children's remains buried in the backyard. Neither child had ever been reported missing.
Prosecutors allege Mary Crocker, 14, was regularly zip-tied, starved, kept naked in a dog crate, and beaten when she tried to eat. She was last seen alive in October 2018. Her brother Elwyn, also 14, was last seen in 2016 and was reportedly severely beaten by his father.
Alleged text messages exchanged between the suspects before and after Mary's death shed light on their mindset. During a May hearing, prosecutors shared messages where Crocker Sr. told Candice Crocker, "I think she's been hit in the head too many times."
On October 27, 2018, at 5:33pm, Crocker Sr. texted Kim Wright, "Almost done burying Mary's body," to which she replied, "Cool! How deep?"
He later told her he saw a slow-moving car he thought might be a police officer. After the burial, Crocker Sr. and Kim Wright allegedly discussed going to the cinema.