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Pete Bondurant

Veteran Member
One of the ultimate of cold cases, the murder of William Desmond Taylor has always fascinated me.

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/celebrity/william_d_taylor2/1.html


On February 1, 1922, William Desmond Taylor was enjoying a rich, full life. In that silent film era, he was one of Hollywood's most successful and respected directors. He had directed such acting greats as Mary Pickford, Dustin Farnum, Wallace Reid and Mary Miles Minter. His notable films included Davy Crockett, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. He had recently directed The Green Temptation starring Bett Compson and Anne of the Green Gables. Both motion pictures had been well received (perhaps green was a lucky color for him) so he could look forward to directing many more movies.

The director resided in a California neighborhood called West Lake Park, at the time a fashionable area. His home was in Alvarado Court, a collection of bungalows grouped in a U-shape around an elaborately landscaped garden. Each house was built in a Spanish style with white stucco and red tiled roofs. The occupants of Alvarado Court tended to be people in the movie business. Another director, Charles Maigne, lived next door to Taylor. Acclaimed screen actors Agnes Ayres, Douglas MacLean and Edna Purviance also lived in Alvarado Court.


Shortly after, at about 8 p.m., Taylor was shot in the back inside his home. A single bullet killed him.
In the bungalow directly to the east of Taylor's, Faith MacLean, wife of actor Douglas MacLean who had appeared in films directed by Taylor, was seated at her table and enjoying the last course of her evening meal. Her husband had finished his dinner and was upstairs playing cribbage. Suddenly she was startled by a sudden, explosive noise.

Faith looked outside in the direction of the sound. A stranger, who appeared to be a man in his late 20s, came onto the lighted doorway and their eyes met in the early evening's darkness.

The man calmly turned around and went back into Taylor's house. A few minutes later he emerged and strolled out of the courtyard through the area between the MacLean and Taylor homes. Reassured by the stranger's unhurried manner, MacLean assumed she had heard a car backfire and thought no more of it — until the next morning.

At about 7:30 a.m. on February 2, Henry Peavey arrived at Taylor's home to fix the director's breakfast. He was carrying a bottle of milk of magnesia that his employer had requested. The valet bent down to pick up the morning newspaper from the doorstep. He had a key, and when he opened the door, let loose a blood-curdling scream.


The fully clothed body of William Desmond Taylor lay on his living room floor. A chair was astride one of his legs. It was later discovered that his pockets held a wallet with $78 in it, a silver cigarette case, an ivory toothpick, and a Waltham pocket watch. A two-carat diamond ring was on his finger. Above his hand he wore an item that had just come into vogue: a wristwatch.


 
He got pretty lucky. But luck in this town can run out fast. Taylor was found dead in his Westlake Park bungalow on the morning of February 2, 1922. From the start, the investigation was a circus. Before the police arrived, a crowd of people descended on the place. A man who said he was a doctor examined the body, declaring that Taylor had died of a stomach hemorrhage. Had this “doctor” decided to turn the body over, he would have discovered the fatal bullet wound in Taylor’s back. Authorities never found the man. There are rumors that an entire troop of people from Paramount came through, removing objects that might have been key in the investigation, including ladies lingerie, all of Taylor’s illegal booze and any letters.

That doctor was hungover I guess?

Some things were still evident. Taylor still had a two carat diamond ring, all the cash in his wallet and his pocket watch (among other things). However, there was evidence that Taylor had taken a substantial amount of money from his bank a few days before and that was never found.

Did he have a pocket watch and a wristwatch? Why was he so concerned with the time?

A bevy of actresses were also accused, among them Taylor’s protégé, Mary Miles Minter, and her mother. Mary was sixteen, but she’d already been working for years at the behest of her showbiz mom, Charlotte Shelby. At 8, she was playing sixteen. She was in love with Taylor, and may have killed him out of jealousy. Her mother was a suspect because she may have been angry at him for having an affair (that was never confirmed) with her daughter. The ensuing scandal destroyed Minter’s career, but she never gave it a second thought because she hated being an actress anyway.

How does an 8 year old play a 16 year old? This dude was involved in some sick shit!

He was probably killed by the mom of Mary Minter, as that is the prevailing theory, but who knows anymore. It was so much easier to get away with homicide back then.
 
That is part of the fascination about the whole case.....it exposes just how depraved people can be....even back in the "roaring 20's"

I bet some of the things that went on back then would be considered tame even by todays standards.....of course on the other hand it might make todays society blush too!
 
And then there was all the stuff that went on between the discovery of the body and the police being called. Talk about compromising the crime scene!




It is a fascinating case, but not one likely to be solved now.
 
And then there was all the stuff that went on between the discovery of the body and the police being called. Talk about compromising the crime scene!




It is a fascinating case, but not one likely to be solved now.

Its just like the Black Dahlia case, also in L.A.

It happened so long ago that all the key players are long deceased, so unfortunately all that anyone has left are theories, but that is what makes the really old unsolved crimes so much fun.....
 
If I recall correctly, there was suspicion that Henry Peavey was homosexual, - or that another valet who left shortly before the murder was. I know there was something that could not be said out loud at the time......
 

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