Summary of Offense:
William Taylor met Sandra Kushmer and her brother, Billy D. Maddox, at Harry’s Bar in Riverview. Taylor knew Kushmer from school. When Taylor noticed that Kushmer’s brother bought expensive drinks and left generous tips, he decided to rob them. He took them to their mother’s house where he attacked them and robbed them. Taylor hit Kushmer in the head then shot her in the face with a shotgun. He then severely beat Maddox. Maddox nearly died from the beating, he received several fractures to his skull and allegedly still suffers from lasting brain damage from the incident.
After the incident, while still in Tampa, Taylor washed his bloody clothes, pawned the shotgun, made charges to the Maddox’s credit card and attempted to cash one of Maddox’s checks. Taylor then fled to Memphis, Tennessee, where he assumed Maddox’s identity of a stockbroker and used his stolen credit cards and checks to make purchases. Taylor was arrested in Memphis.
Taylor has given various accounts of what happened. At one point, he claimed that his wife, Lorena Taylor, and a man named Jose Arano were present and participated in the crimes; however, neither of them has been charged with a crime.
Taylor was sentenced to death in Hillsborough County on September 29, 2004.
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