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Thread: Randy Allen Taylor Convicted and Sentenced to Life Imprisonment in Abduction of Virginia Teen Alexis Murphy

  1. #21
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    Judge refuses to suppress search warrants in Alexis Murphy case

    A judge on Monday denied a defense motion to suppress search warrants in the trial of a Lovingston man charged in connection with the disappearance of Nelson County teenager Alexis Murphy.

    Randy Allen Taylor, 48, is charged with first-degree murder, murder during commission of an abduction and abduction with intent to defile. Murphy, 17, was last seen Aug. 3 at a Lovingston gas station.

    Michael Hallahan, Taylor's attorney, argued in a motion filed last week that search warrants issued on Aug. 6, Aug. 10 and Aug. 11 were "obtained without any valid Constitutional basis, thereby depriving the defendant of his right of due process" and further rights.

    Search warrants in the case have remained sealed and investigators have been tight-lipped about where they've searched. Among other places, authorities have been spotted by Taylor's house on U.S. 29 in Lovingston during the course of the investigation.

    Hallahan's motion also referenced "numerous statements from the defendant" in reference to the case but did not elaborate on their nature. It claimed statements and evidence were "illegally obtained."

    Nelson County Commonwealth's Attorney Anthony Martin responded in a motion filed Monday in Nelson Circuit Court that the defense has a burden of proof that has not been met. His motion argues officers acted "in good faith reliance on the validity of the search warrants."

    Martin asked the judge to overrule the defense motion and asked that a hearing Monday on the request be closed to the public and media to ensure a fair trial.

    Judge J. Michael Gamble closed the hearing, citing case law that applies to certain judicial proceedings.

    In an email to The Nelson County Times after the hearing, Martin said Gamble denied the defense motion.

    Martin declined to provide further details, citing a gag order in place that prevents parties in the case from divulging information.

    Taylor's jury trial is scheduled for May 1.

    http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/la...7a43b2370.html
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  2. #22
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    Investigators Search Alexis Murphy Murder Suspect's Property

    Investigators are searching the property around Randy Allen Taylor's home Monday afternoon. Taylor is charged in connection with the abduction and murder of Alexis Murphy.

    Crews are searching the yard outside of Taylor's home off Route 29 in Lovingston. There are also about seven cars parked outside and investigators are on scene. A neighbor tells NBC29 that investigators were also on scene at Taylor’s home multiple times last week.

    Alexis Murphy's family says that investigators are doing a grid search and that it was not prompted by any new information in the case.

    Alexis Murphy left her home in Shipman Saturday, August 3 - reportedly heading toward Lynchburg. Surveillance video shows her at the Liberty gas station in Lovingston around 7:15 that night. That was the last time she was seen.

    Authorities arrested Taylor, 48, on Sunday, August 11, and charged him with felony abduction in relation to the case. He was charged with first-degree murder in relation to the case on January 6. A body has not been found. For more information on the case, click here.

    Taylor's murder trial is scheduled to begin May 1. A judge has put a gag order in place for the trial, which prohibits investigators involved in the investigation from talking to the media.

    http://www.nbc29.com/story/25239998/...ylors-property
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  3. #23
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    Randy Taylor trial begins on Thursday

    By Justin Faulconer
    The (Lynchburg) News & Advance The Daily Progress

    A question has lingered throughout Nelson County and the surrounding region that has left many people praying and wondering during the past nine months - what happened to Alexis Murphy?

    The long-awaited details of the case are expected to come to light as the trial of Randy Allen Taylor, the man accused of murder in connection to the missing teenager's disappearance, begins Thursday in Nelson County Circuit Court.

    Murphy, 17, was last seen at the Liberty gas station in Lovingston last year on Aug. 3, when family members thought she left her home in Shipman to get hair extensions for her senior portrait. She vanished that night, and eight days later Taylor, 48, who lives just north of the village of Lovingston off U.S. 29, was arrested and charged with a single count of abduction.

    The charge, which carried a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, moved forward against Taylor throughout the remainder of 2013. A grand jury indicted Taylor in September and an original trial date of Feb. 3, 2014 was planned.

    His lawyer, Michael Hallahan, said in court Taylor intended to plead not guilty.

    In January, Nelson County Commonwealth's Attorney Anthony Martin announced charges against Taylor were upgraded to first-degree murder, murder during the commission of abduction and abduction with intent to defile.

    Martin has not elaborated on what led to the heightened murder charges, except to say a special jury found probable cause to move them forward. A new trial date of May 1 was set, and proceedings are expected to last two full weeks.

    In a media interview a few days after Taylor's arrest, Hallahan said that Taylor maintains his innocence and authorities arrested the wrong man.

    Hallahan has said Taylor claimed another man was with him and Murphy that night.

    The man was in Taylor's home with Murphy for a marijuana exchange but the two left his trailer and Taylor did not see them again, Hallahan said in the interview.

    The defense attorney said law enforcement has not followed up in searching for that man.

    A single hair belonging to Murphy was found in the home, Hallahan said in the interview, but he has not spoken about details of the case since. The Murphy family has expressed disagreement and skepticism about the defense attorney's claim.

    As the case drew a blitz of heavy media attention, Nelson County Circuit Court Judge J. Michal Gamble issued a gag order to keep parties in the case from divulging details in the interest of ensuring a fair trial.

    Search warrant affidavits were sealed, and facts regarding evidence stated so far in court were closed to the public at Martin's request.

    Hallahan, citing "relentless" news coverage, asked for a change of venue or a jury pool outside of Nelson County as he argued a fair trial against Taylor could not be held at the Lovingston courthouse. Gamble ruled in February that the trial would stay in Nelson and the court would attempt to seat a jury.

    The most pressing question - the status of Murphy's body - has not been addressed since the murder charges were brought against Taylor. Martin, Hallahan and law enforcement have cited the gag order when not responding to questions.

    Murphy's family members also have declined to speak about details of the case, in the interest of keeping the trial in Nelson County, but have thanked the community for support.

    Trina Murphy, Alexis's great-aunt and a family spokeswoman, has said she believes Taylor is the man who took Alexis. She said on Jan. 6, the day the murder charge against Taylor was announced, that the family was devastated but is standing in faith and looks forward to "our day in court."

    A "Once in a lifetime" case

    In 17 years of practicing law in the Lynchburg area, defense attorney Andrew Childress said he has never known of a homicide case to be tried without a body.

    That element in Taylor's trial makes this probably a "once-in-a-lifetime" event in the careers of most defense lawyers or prosecutors, he said.

    He said there are no guarantees heading into any murder case, but he speculates the presumed lack of a body would be an advantage for the defense and a hurdle to overcome for the commonwealth.

    "It's a huge challenge," Childress said of a murder case without a body. "They're tough to win."

    Without a body, a time of death or cause of death cannot be proven, he said. There would have to be a strong showing that an extensive search had been made for Murphy to ensure she isn't still alive, he said.

    This could include showing she hasn't used a credit card since Aug. 3, testimony from family and friends to show the absence of correspondence since she was last seen or information that no one has spotted her since that time, he said.

    He pointed out he has no inside knowledge of the Taylor case and speculates potential factors in the prosecution's case could include the testimony of a jailhouse confession or witnesses who saw Taylor and Murphy together or any sort of DNA evidence, especially blood.

    "If you don't have a body, you're pretty much dealing with circumstantial evidence," he said. "If you are going to make a case circumstantially, it has to be strong."

    A murder conviction without a body has occurred before in Virginia. A Radford University student, Gina Renee Hall, was last seen alive in June 1980 at a Blacksburg bar.

    Steven Epperly, her accused killer, was convicted without a body, witness or confession. He was charged with taking 18-year-old Hall to his Claytor Lake cabin and beating her to death after she refused to have sex. He maintains his innocence, according to past articles of the Roanoke Times.

    Childress said the Epperly-Hall case is the only one he can recall in the region that did not involve a body as evidence. If the prosecution establishes circumstantial evidence to support a murder conviction in the Taylor case, Childress said another step for prosecutors to meet would be establishing jurisdiction and proving the homicide took place in Nelson County and not anywhere else.

    First-degree murder carries a maximum penalty of life in prison; the death penalty only results in capital cases. Childress said he could see why a capital murder charge was not brought against Taylor, explaining the Capital Defender's Office would have became involved and more legal measures would have to be taken.

    "And that's a tall order," he added of prosecutors pushing a capital murder case without a body. "Asking to execute someone when there is not a body is a lot to demand for a jury."

    "They want their girl"

    One supporter of the Murphy family who will be attending the trial, Gil Harrington, knows what it's like to mourn a missing daughter.

    Gil's daughter, Morgan Dana Harrington, disappeared in October 2009 after she left the John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville during a Metallica concert. The 20-year-old's body was recovered months later but a suspect or suspects to date have not been named in her abduction, rape and homicide.

    Gil Harrington has partnered with the Murphy family through a "Save the Next Girl" campaign to bring public awareness to such cases. She said she plans to attend the trial this week as part of that bond among missing persons' families, adding they are like a club united under "hideous" circumstances.

    "I want to be there in support of them," Harrington said of the Murphys.

    She said the trial is "like a funeral" and invitations aren't sent to those but they draw much support. Gil Harrington said she met recently with Trina Murphy and Angela Taylor, Alexis's aunt, at an event in Charlottesville and said the Murphy family is very strong.

    "I recognized the look of shock and disbelief on Laura Murphy's (Alexis's mother) face the first time I saw her," Gil Harrington said. "That's my face."

    She said the family wants answers the trial will hopefully bring them.

    "They want their day in court," Harrington said. "They want justice; they want their girl."

    http://www.dailyprogress.com/newsvir...7a43b2370.html

  4. #24
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    Jury deliberations today for man accused of killing Alexis Murphy

    The jury was presented with two versions of Randy Allen Taylor on Wednesday - a calculating "hunter" or an innocent man "chosen" by law enforcement to take the fall for the tragic disappearance of Alexis Murphy.

    Taylor, 48, is accused of abducting and killing the 17-year-old on Aug. 3. He has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, murder during commission of an abduction and abduction with intent to defile.

    The 12-member jury with two alternates left to deliberate at 5:50 p.m. Wednesday and minutes later informed Judge J. Michael Gamble they want to debate a verdict today.

    On the fifth day of his jury trial in Nelson County Circuit Court, Taylor sat wide-eyed with a hand placed on his chin as his lawyer and the prosecutor gave closing arguments. He did not testify in his own defense.

    Nelson County Commonwealth's Attorney Anthony Martin rested Wednesday after presenting testimony from roughly 40 witnesses. Michael Hallahan, Taylor's attorney, also rested after calling 11 witnesses, including a woman who said she spotted Murphy and Taylor together at a Charlottesville parking garage but could not recall an exact date.

    A cashier at the Liberty gas station in Lovingston, where Murphy last was seen, testified she saw Murphy and Taylor, a regular customer, conversing in the parking lot at about 7 p.m. on Aug. 3. Surveillance video recorded her car following his truck north on U.S. 29. Her cell phone, which family and friends testified was her like her lifeline, no longer was active about 20 minutes later. It had tracked to the vicinity of Taylor camper, according to evidence presented.

    Martin said only two people - Taylor and Murphy - know what happened in the camper that night and "he made sure she would not be here to tell her side of what happened."

    Murphy was a healthy teenage girl whose life came to a tragic end when she crossed paths with Taylor, Martin said. He said the teenager was like a white-tailed deer in an open field with a predator waiting in the wings.

    "He was like a deer hunter," Martin said. "The hunter is looking for his prey. He saw an opportunity and he decided to take a shot at the deer. And that's what he did."

    Taylor "lured" her to his camper where a violent struggle took place, Martin said. She was seized on the property, he "had his way with her" and no evidence exists to prove she left there alive, the prosecutor argued.

    No body has been recovered. Martin argued Taylor was successful in disposing of it, though he did not elaborate further.

    He spoke of DNA evidence federal investigators found in Taylor's camper - a human nail embedded in the carpet, a hair root on a pillow that an examiner testified was "forcibly removed," a diamond stud from a piercing, a T-shirt with a bloodstain on it and hair and eyelash extensions, all of which investigators said have been linked to Murphy.

    Her cell phone was found smashed less than 100 feet from the camper and Taylor was spotted at Applebee's in Charlottesville at 10:30 p.m. Aug. 4, minutes after surveillance footage captured footage of Murphy's car being parked in a movie theater lot nearby, though the driver could not be seen. Taylor took a cab back to Nelson County that night, Martin pointed out to the jury.

    The destroyed phone "speaks volumes," Martin said. Family and friends of Murphy's have consistently testified they have not heard from her since and she never expressed a desire to run away from home.

    "This child is not somewhere else just living her life," Martin said. "She was alive and well before she ran into this man."

    Martin, in response to a suggestion Hallahan raised, said Murphy's disappearance is not a case of human trafficking. The prosecutor said a man Taylor claimed to have been with in Charlottesville the night of Aug. 4 was not brought in to testify because he doesn't exist.

    Hallahan conceded Taylor lied to investigators about being with Murphy on Aug. 3 but he is not the right man. He said there is no evidence of a body and the case against Taylor is filled with "dead ends," adding investigators did not get the right man.

    "We don't know if she is alive or dead," he said. "We just don't know."

    Hallahan argued a "third party" was involved and claimed authorities didn't fully investigate. Law enforcement "had their eyes on [Taylor]" and he said "a big cloud of doubt" hangs over how the t-shirt with the bloodstain was found days after federal investigators thoroughly searched the small camper.

    "I don't know how it got there, nobody knows how it got there," Hallahan argued. "The smoking gun is found under his couch after the FBI searched it."

    Taylor initially told investigators he never saw Murphy but later said she was in the camper for a marijuana deal with a friend named Dameon Bradley, who has denied any involvement.

    Hallahan said it was "alarming" Bradley moved out of Virginia, describing the move as "fleeing the state" and said Bradley "clearly knows more than he is saying."

    Nelson County Sheriff's Investigator Billy Mays testified Wednesday Bradley was a person of interest early on but his alibi checked out and he was eliminated as a possible suspect.

    Hallahan raised a question to the jury of why investigators did not analyze the many Icehouse beer bottles on the property after Taylor said he drank beers with Bradley.

    "They didn't care," Hallahan said. "They had their man."

    He pointed out Murphy followed Taylor from the gas station on U.S. 29 and argued she would not have gone to his camper alone. He described some evidence as tactics to "smear" Taylor and said no signs of a sexual assault taking place in the camper were ever found.

    Hallahan said surveillance video from businesses near the movie theater parking lot and Applebee's should have picked up images of Taylor walking but none were found. FBI agent John Pittman said Wednesday he walked the route from the movie theater to the restaurant and it took about 15 minutes.

    Wayne Buraker, an inmate at the Charlottesville jail where Taylor has been in custody, testified Wednesday that Taylor spoke to him about Murphy days after his arrest. Buraker claimed Taylor, who he first spotted on a national television show covering the Murphy case, told him, of Murphy: "I wanted to [expletive] her my way."

    Hallahan referred to Buraker as "a whack job" looking for television time and said the convicted felon is not believable, especially when investigators failed after many attempts to extract such information from Taylor.

    "He's a liar," Hallahan said. "He's here because he wants to get out of jail and go on a field trip."

    On the other side of the case, Martin asked Lisa Woodfolk, the defense's first witness, if she wanted "her five minutes of fame" for testifying she saw Taylor and Murphy at a Charlottesville garage. She replied she was not seeking attention and insisted she saw Taylor and Murphy arrive on a Friday or Saturday at about 8:30 p.m. in separate vehicles.

    "His truck was so loud, revving his engine off," Woodfolk said.

    FBI agent John Cullins testified he did not observe any footage of Taylor and Murphy in the parking lot surveillance video after extensive searching. "They're lying," Woodfolk said of the FBI when told that.

    When asked by Gamble the exact date she claims to have seen the two, she replied she did not know. Trina Murphy, a family member of missing teen, said later Wednesday she did not believe the claims.

    Two other women, Christine Robertson and Christine Tesack, testified they were passing through Nelson County on Aug. 3 at about 8:30 p.m. and were at the Food Lion in Lovingston when they spotted a young lady they said resembled Murphy. Trina Murphy said later she believes they were trying to be helpful but does not believe Alexis was there.

    Taylor has a 14-year-old son who attended school with Murphy, according to his recorded conversations with investigators. Louise Turner, the boy's mother and an ex-girlfriend of Taylor's, briefly testified her son was with her the weekend of Aug. 3 and 4; Turner, who is black, did not stay in the courtroom to observe the remainder of Wednesday's proceedings.

    In a highly publicized case that has captivated Nelson County's attention, the attorneys gave their parting words to the jury before deliberation began.

    Hallahan said all law enforcement has is "a hunch."

    "They want you to convict this man with no body," he said. "For the rest of your life, it will be in the back of your mind. Did he do it? Did I make the right decision?...you might suspect he did it. The law says you can't convict him if that's all you got."

    Martin called Taylor a liar who "thought he could fast talk his way out of being responsible" and later showed the jury a slideshow entitled "Randy Taylor's lies."

    "Why is he lying?" Martin said. "He doesn't want to tell you what he did to that girl...there's a saying 'evil triumphs when good people do nothing.' Don't let evil triumph in this courtroom."

    The deliberations resume today at 9:30 a.m. in Nelson Circuit Court.

    http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/la...a4bcf6878.html
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  5. #25
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    Randy Taylor found guilty; jury recommends life sentences

    LOVINGSTON — Randy Allen Taylor sat quietly in the Nelson County courtroom as the verdict was read — guilty of first-degree murder in the commission of an abduction and abduction with intent to defile in connection with the disappearance of 17-year-old Alexis Murphy.

    The Shipman teen disappeared on Aug. 3. Her body has not been found.

    In the sentencing portion of the hearing, Murphy’s mother, Laura Murphy, cried as she described what the last nine months have been like without her daughter and a frustrated Taylor whispered to his attorney he no longer wanted to be in the courtroom.

    Before Circuit Court Judge J. Michael Gamble could respond to the request, Taylor darted from his seat and walked quickly toward the exit door without a glance at Murphy’s family.

    Nelson County Sheriff David Brooks stood in his path and grabbed Taylor's arm to escort him from the courtroom. Taylor did not reappear for the remainder of Thursday's proceedings, which lasted roughly half an hour.

    His sudden, unexpected exit and the Murphy family's appreciative reaction for the guilty verdict capped an emotional six days in the murder case that has captivated Central Virginia.

    Murphy, a 17-year-old preparing for her senior year at Nelson County High School, vanished Aug. 3. Her last known whereabouts were the Liberty gas station in Lovingston where a clerk saw her talking with Taylor.

    The only traces of the missing teen — a strand of hair, a diamond stud, a human nail, a bloodstained T-shirt of Taylor's, and hair and eyelash extensions — were found in Taylor’s small camper about a mile north of the gas station on U.S. 29.

    Her smashed cell phone, which family members said she never parted with, was found within 100 feet of the camper. The phone's last known activity was traced to the immediate vicinity of the camper shortly after 7 p.m. Aug. 3.

    Taylor, 48, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, first-degree murder in commission of an abduction and abduction with intent to defile. After six hours of deliberations Thursday, the 12-member jury reached verdicts of guilty for first-degree murder in commission of an abduction and guilty of abduction with intent to defile.

    Nelson County Commonwealth's Attorney Anthony Martin explained the jury chose the charge of first-degree murder in the commission of abduction out of two potential charges. Taylor could not be convicted twice on a first-degree murder charge, he explained, adding those "merged" into a single charge.

    The maximum punishment Taylor faces is life in prison on each charge and a combined minimum of 40 years in prison. After deliberating for 20 minutes, the jury returned to recommend Taylor serve two life sentences. He was not present when the recommendations were read in court.

    During sentencing, Martin called Laura Murphy to testify. She broke down in tears as Taylor sat quietly with his hand on his chin.

    “I just miss my daughter so much,” Laura Murphy cried as two young women ran from the courtroom in tears.

    As Laura Murphy left the witness stand to take her seat, Taylor became agitated and wanted to leave.

    Michael Hallahan, Taylor's lawyer, informed Gamble that Taylor no longer wished to be present. When Taylor abruptly was escorted out, Gamble said: "Let the record reflect that Mr. Taylor has voluntarily left the courtroom and has waived his presence."

    Gamble asked minutes later if Taylor was returning and Hallahan responded: "He advised me he did not want to be here at all."

    When asked after the trial concluded why Taylor walked out, Hallahan replied: "I haven't talked to him yet." Hallahan said he had no reaction to the verdict.

    The Murphy family, after shedding tears, exchanged hugs. Several hugged Martin and Billy Mays, the lead Nelson County investigator tracking Murphy's disappearance, and other law enforcement members who worked the case.

    "A dangerous man has been put behind bars," Martin said.

    The evidence, he said, shows Taylor "lured" the teenager to his camper, where some sort of violent encounter took place.

    "We find evidence of a struggle; she was never seen since," Martin said in his closing arguments.

    The prosecutor said he did not seek a death penalty because of the lack of a body. Trina Murphy, Alexis's great-aunt who speaks on the family's behalf, said not seeking the death penalty was a decision the family supported. She considers life in prison as a death sentence.

    "I really feel a needle in the arm is too good for him," she said.

    Trina Murphy added a capital case would have meant more legal resources for Taylor and the family was on board with the charges Martin pursued.

    Murphy's family and supporters wore pink ribbons: Alexis’ favorite color. A cashier at the gas station saw her talking to Taylor before she followed him in her father's white Nissan Maxima heading north on U.S. 29 for unknown reasons.

    Taylor, living in the small camper, initially told law enforcement prior to his Aug. 11 arrest he had not seen Murphy that night. After he was confronted with DNA evidence, he said she was there with a male friend named Dameon Bradley, but no harm came to her.

    Investigators ruled out Bradley as a suspect and Martin said the allegations were "absolutely ridiculous" and concocted by a proven liar. Martin said Taylor acted on sexual urges, killed Murphy and successfully disposed of her body.

    Hallahan argued no evidence exists of a death and not enough time has passed to declare her legally dead. He said in court a small amount of her blood on the shirt “cannot reach full assurance of a moral certainty that she is dead.”

    "It's unknown what happened on that property," Hallahan said in closing arguments. "We know there were signs of a struggle; we don't know what caused it."

    Family members and friends testified they have not received even a single text from Murphy since Aug. 3, describing the lack of contact as extremely out of character. There was no indication she ran away or was unhappy with her life, which ended when she crossed paths with Taylor, Martin said.

    He said of Taylor: "He took a young life in her prime in a calculated, brutal way" that did not allow the family the comfort of a burial and funeral.

    On Aug. 5, two days after she disappeared, investigators placed Taylor under constant surveillance. Witnesses placed him at Applebee's in Charlottesville at 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 4, minutes after a surveillance video captured the image of her car being parked in a nearby movie theater parking, though the driver could not be seen. A short time later, Taylor took a cab back to Nelson County.

    No supporters of Taylor appeared to be present during the trial; the mother of his 14-year-old son testified Wednesday the boy was with her the weekend Murphy vanished and was not again seen in the courtroom.

    With a Daffy Duck tattoo on his neck and a "very distinctive jawline," Mays said in a recorded conversation played in court Taylor was not hard to pick out of a crowd. Eight days after she disappeared, Mays can be heard on the recording saying law enforcement had the impression she “is no longer with us.”

    Martin has said in court a body or human remains is not legally required for a murder conviction. He cited the case of Gina Renee Hall, an 18-year-old Radford University student who vanished in June 1980.

    Her convicted killer, Stephen M. Epperly, was sentenced to life in prison, though he maintained his innocence. Bloodstains matching her type were found in a cabin at Claytor Lake where law enforcement believes he took her and killed her after she refused his sexual advances. There was no confession or any witnesses.

    That case, like Murphy’s, was based on circumstantial evidence.

    As the Murphys are convinced the right man was found and brought to justice, Martin said law enforcement still searches for answers about what happened to Alexis Murphy’s body.

    Taylor's sentencing is set for July 23 at 1:30 p.m. in Nelson County Circuit Court.

    http://www.newsadvance.com/news/loca...7a43b2370.html

  6. #26
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    Randy Taylor pleads guilty in vehicle thefts

    With at least 40 years in prison looming for the abduction and murder of 17-year-old Alexis Murphy, Randy Taylor on Tuesday received an additional year behind bars for stealing a pair of vehicles.

    Taylor, 49, had an arraignment in Nelson County Circuit Court on a grand-larceny charge unrelated to the murder case. It centered on theft of two vehicles from a Greene County business, which were discovered while investigators searched for evidence in Murphy’s disappearance last summer.

    At Tuesday’s hearing, Taylor pleaded guilty to stealing a Honda 400-R dirt bike and a 2004 Polaris Sportsman ATV, each valued at $200 or more, from Virginia Power Motor Vehicles in Ruckersville shortly before Murphy disappeared on Aug. 3. In accordance with a joint recommendation from attorneys, Judge J. Michael Gamble sentenced Taylor to one year in prison and suspended four years.

    Murphy last was seen talking with Taylor at the Liberty gas station in Lovingston on Aug. 3.

    Taylor was arrested eight days later and initially charged on one count of abduction but in early January was indicted on a murder charge. After a six-day trial in May, a jury found Taylor guilty of murder in commission of an abduction and abduction with intent to defile. The jury recommended two life sentences. His sentencing is set for July 23.

    The case shook the Nelson County community and drew national headlines. Murphy’s body has not been found, making the case a rarity among Central Virginia murders.

    Tuesday’s hearing was in stark contrast to the highly publicized trial. Less than a handful of people, including reporters, attended and no representatives of Murphy’s family were present.

    Martin said evidence shows on Aug. 2, the night before Murphy’s disappearance, a Greene County officer was dispatched to investigate a missing ATV at Virginia Power Motor Sports. A dirt bike also disappeared.

    As the search for Murphy began and Taylor became a suspect, Martin said Taylor mentioned the ATV to investigators. He told the lead Nelson investigator, Billy Mays, and an FBI special agent that he would talk more about the Murphy case if they allowed him to leave an ATV with his son and the teenage boy’s mother.

    “He told officers it was his son’s four-wheeler,” Martin said in court.

    A search warrant was taken out on the ATV because investigators initially thought it might have some significance to the Murphy investigation, Martin said. Weeks later, while listening to Taylor’s recorded phone calls made from the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail, he said Taylor told the boy’s mother to “cover up” the dirt bike so he could avoid another charge.

    Mays got another search warrant and, in late October, tracked down the missing dirt bike, Martin said.

    Michael Hallahan, Taylor’s attorney, described the larceny charge as “not your typical case,” and said he initially was not aware the matter could be tried in Nelson County, even though the thefts took place in Greene County. Taylor did not comment prior to sentencing on the larceny charge.

    A felony charge of intent to sell or distribute stolen property was dropped as part of the attorneys’ joint recommendation.

    http://www.newsadvance.com/news/loca...7a43b2370.html
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    Taylor lawyer wants DNA in case reviewed; prosecutors say Matthew not linked to Murphy

    The lawyer for the man convicted of murdering a Nelson County teenager urged authorities to review DNA from the case for a possible link to the man accused of abducting Hannah Graham, but prosecutors Thursday denied a connection.

    In letter dated Oct. 1 to Nelson County Commonwealth’s Attorney Anthony Martin, Michael J. Hallahan writes that his request to test for a link is not a “fishing expedition” but based on “new developments relating” to Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr.

    Matthew, 32, of Albemarle County, has been at the center of a legal and media storm since authorities charged him with abduction with intent to defile in the disappearance of Graham, 18, a second-year University of Virginia student last seen Sept. 13.

    He was to face two bond hearings Thursday; one for a pair of reckless driving charges in Albemarle County, and a second for a charge of abduction with the intent to defile in the Graham case, served through the city of Charlottesville. Matthew elected not to seek bond for the abduction charge, and that case was continued to Dec. 4, while his hearing for the reckless driving charges was continued to Dec. 1.

    On Monday, three days after authorities brought Matthew back from Texas, where he was apprehended last week, state police dropped a bombshell, saying his arrest had provided a forensic link to the death and Oct. 17, 2009, disappearance of Morgan Harrington.

    That triggered a wave of questions over other unsolved cases involving women gone missing or found dead in recent years.

    And then came Hallahan, the attorney who defended Randy Allen Taylor, convicted earlier this year of abducting and killing Alexis Murphy, 17, of Nelson County. She never has been found.

    Taylor has maintained his innocence, and Hallahan said in his letter that DNA gathered in that case should be tested for a link to Matthew.

    “I base this request upon the recent reports in the news which allege that Jesse L. Matthew, Jr. is responsible or linked to the disappearance of multiple young women and stands suspected of other sex crimes throughout the Commonwealth,” Hallahan’s letter read.

    But prosecutors said there is no link, though they will seek additional DNA testing to “dispel further speculation.”

    Authorities “maintain there is no credible evidence linking Jesse Leroy Matthew, Jr for the abduction and murder of Alexis Murphy in which Randy Taylor was convicted,” Martin said in a news release.

    “All of the physical evidence at trial showing a violent struggle was located inside Randy Taylor’s camper,” Martin said. “The evidence consisted of a diamond stud, a fingernail fragment, a long black hair that showed signs of being forcibly removed, all of which Alexis Murphy’s DNA and were found on the floor of Randy Taylor’s camper and the hair was found on Randy Taylor’s pillow.”

    Martin said other evidence presented at Taylor’s trial included Murphy’s shattered cellphone, found in the brush outside of Taylor’s camper, and his bloody blue T-shirt Taylor found under the sofa in his camper.

    “That shirt contained Alexis Murphy’s blood and had hair extensions and false eyelashes that had Alexis Murphy’s DNA and Randy Taylor’s DNA balled up inside the shirt,” Martin wrote.

    Martin also noted that Taylor was seen at the Albemarle County Applebee’s Restaurant on U.S. 29 at about 10 p.m., about 15 minutes after Murphy’s car was seen on surveillance video being parked at the now closed Carmike Theater parking lot in Albemarle Square shopping center.

    Martin said Taylor took a cab back to Nelson County and that the cab driver testified at Taylor’s trial.

    He noted that Taylor denied seeing Murphy until investigators found evidence inside his camper that showed she was there. Taylor then admitted Murphy was in the camper but left with a third person in separate vehicles.

    “As a family we are overly confident that the person responsible for the abduction and murder of our beloved Alexis is Randy Allen Taylor. If Randy wants attention for something he could call a press conference and reveal the location of my beautiful niece,” Trina Murphy said in a statement issued on behalf of Murphy’s family.

    “Until such time I’m respectfully asking everyone to respect my family’s position. If you have something negative to say or you are supporter of R.A.T. or feel this news somehow exonerates him, please think before you speak.”

    Authorities working other cases, from Northern Virginia to Lynchburg, have said they are considering possible connections to Matthew.

    Matthew has been accused of sexual assault at two universities. While playing football at Liberty University in 2002, a woman said Matthew raped her. Though the case never resulted in criminal charges, Matthew left the school and Lynchburg soon after.

    The following fall, after transferring to Christopher Newport University to play on the football’s defensive squad, he again faced allegations of sexual assault.

    Timothy Baggett was a running back on the university’s football team at the same time that Matthew was a defensive lineman, and noted that Matthew was a “goofy” presence on the practice field.

    In Baggett’s only personal interaction with Matthew, in which the Matthew helped Baggett shake loose a snack from a vending machine, Baggett said Matthew stayed to “pal around with him, in the way a little brother would.” Baggett noted that Matthew was kind but immature, likening him to a freshman in high school.

    After the allegations against Matthew in the Graham case came out, Baggett said he didn’t recognize Matthew initially because of his dreadlocks, a stark change from the short hair Matthew maintained in college. While Matthew didn’t always pick up on social cues, Baggett said, it was hard to imagine him planning an abduction.

    “I could see him getting in a situation where he couldn’t connect with what was actually going on, but I couldn’t see him doing something premeditated,” Baggett said.

    After Matthew, along with another student, was accused of sexual assault during his time on CNU’s football team, the university President Paul S. Trible had a discussion with the team, threatening to shut the team down if such behavior continued, according to Brent Darrin, who played special team during the 2003 season.

    Matthew left the school a month later.

    The January 2010 discovery of Harrington’s remains in an Albemarle hayfield provided a DNA link to a 2005 sex assault case in Fairfax. The attacker in that case fled when passersby approached.

    No identifiable suspect has been found for the DNA profile in the Harrington and Fairfax cases.

    Matthew has not been charged in the Harrington case.

    He is scheduled to appear in court Dec. 1 on the reckless driving charges and faces a Dec. 4 preliminary hearing on the abduction charge.

    Investigators searched Matthew’s car and Hessian Hills home in Albemarle County less than a week after Graham went missing. Police say Matthew was the last person seen with Graham.

    Authorities said he sped away from them Sept. 20 as they conducted surveillance from outside his grandmother’s Albemarle County home. That triggered the reckless driving charge, authorities said.

    Matthew’s attorney, James “Jim” Camblos III, could not be reached Thursday for comment.

    http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/cr...a4bcf6878.html
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  8. #28
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    Appeals underway in Randy Taylor case



    Appeals processes have commenced for two men convicted in local murder cases.

    Attorneys for Randy Allen Taylor and Scott Christman Miles have filed notices of appeal in the Virginia Court of Appeals in Richmond. Both men were convicted of first-degree murder.

    Taylor, 49, was sentenced to serve two life sentences in connection with the disappearance of 17-year-old Alexis Murphy. The teenager vanished from the Liberty gas Station in Lovingston the evening of Aug. 3, 2013.

    Even after his conviction May 8, Taylor maintained his innocence. In an interview with The News & Advance, Taylor said his verdict should be overturned because of poor representation and the judge’s refusal to move the trial to a different area.

    “There’s too much love toward the family, which is fine, but there’s just too much bias to be held there,” Taylor said in an interview from May.

    Taylor’s attorney, Mike Hallahan, filed a notice of appeal July 28, according to online court records.

    On Tuesday, a notice was submitted in Miles’ case.

    Miles, 50, was ordered to serve 35 years in prison for beating his estranged mother-in-law to death in December 2012.

    Lynda Slocum, 86, was found dead in her home on Ravenwood Drive in Lynchburg, after concerned neighbors contacted the police.

    DeputyCommonwealth’s Attorney Chuck Felmlee has said in court that Miles used his superior strength to brutalize the elderly woman.

    “The human body was used as the weapon in this case. The defendant had the physical ability to commit this particular crime,” Felmlee has said.

    Though the defense did not call any witnesses or present evidence during trial in March, Miles insisted he did not kill Slocum.

    “I have nothing to do with this. I feel like I’ve been the sacrificial lamb, the scapegoat in all of this,” Miles said during his sentencing in September.

    Two Lynchburg attorneys, Scott De Bruin and Bill Quillian, were appointed to handle Miles’ appeal.

    With their notices filed, the defense attorneys must issue a more detailed petition of appeal, offering up why the court should overturn these verdicts.

    Prosecutors also will have an opportunity to submit a brief in opposition, explaining why the cases were handled correctly and in accordance with Virginia law.

    The cases could remain in the appeals process for more than a year before the court makes a ruling.

    The likelihood of the court overturning Taylor’s and Miles’ verdicts is statistically improbable. In the past 10 years, the court of appeals has reversed convictions in only two murder cases, according to the court’s archive of opinions published online.

    In both of those cases, the defendants were facing lesser charges than first-degree murder.

    http://www.newsadvance.com/news/loca...a4bcf6878.html
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  9. #29
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    Search to continue for Alexis Murphy's remains

    The search will resume next month for the remains of missing Nelson County teenager Alexis Murphy, Nelson County Sheriff David Brooks said.

    Murphy, 17, disappeared on Aug. 3, 2013.

    Surveillance footage captured the last known images of her at a Liberty gas station on U.S. 29 in Lovingston. Her family believes she stopped there on her way to Lynchburg to get hair extensions for her senior portrait.

    The Nelson County Sheriff’s Office was searching an area in Orange County as recently as August but delay the search until the fall due to thick vegetation, Brooks said.

    The search is not connected to any other current cases, he said.

    Authorities found Murphy’s car three days after her disappearance at the Carmike Cinemas movie theater in Albemarle County.

    FBI agents, county deputies, and state police searched a 60-mile length of U.S. 29, from Lynchburg to Charlottesville looking for signs of Murphy.

    Randy Allen Taylor, 48, was arrested eight days after Murphy’s disappearance and charged with abduction. The charges later were upgraded to murder.

    In May, Taylor was convicted of murder in the commission of an abduction and abduction with intent to defile in Murphy’s disappearance. He was sentenced to serve two life terms and currently is held in the Powhatan Correctional Center.

    “It’s an ongoing search we will continue until we find her,” Brooks said.

    Public safety officials from Nelson and Orange counties will participate in the search.

    The newest search coincidentally comes shortly after human remains were found off Old Lynchburg Road in Albemarle County.

    Charlottesville Police have stated the remains likely are of missing University of Virginia student Hannah Graham. A positive identification by the Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is expected soon.

    http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/st...8d6a4bfb7.html
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    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  10. #30
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    FBI Tests Alexis Murphy's Car for Jesse Matthew's DNA

    There are tests underway to determine if Jesse Matthew's DNA is in Alexis Murphy's car.

    According to Randy Taylor's defense attorney Michael Hallahan, the FBI lab is performing DNA testing to determine if Matthew's DNA was in Murphy's car. Murphy's car was found in the parking lot of the Carmike 6 movie theater in Albemarle County three days after she disappeared.

    Earlier this month Hallahan asked the commonwealth's attorney to compare DNA evidence gathered from the investigation of Matthew with unidentified evidence in the Murphy case."There were multiple DNA samples found in Alexis Murphy's car,” Hallahan said. “Most of them came back unknown."

    According to Nelson County Commonwealth's Attorney Anthony Martin, the FBI lad in Quantico has not given a specific time frame for when the DNA tests will be completed.
    Matthew, the prime suspect in the Hannah Graham case, is facing charges in three localities. Fairfax, Charlottesville, and Albemarle County all have charged Matthew since September, and Fairfax has indicted him on charges in connection with a 2005 sexual assault.

    Matthew was indicted on attempted capital murder, abduction with the intent to defile, and sexual penetration with an object against the victim's will charges in Fairfax. He has been charged in Charlottesville with abduction with intent to defile in connection with disappearance of University of Virginia student Hannah Graham. H also faces two reckless driving charges in Albemarle.
    Matthew has not been formally connected to the Murphy case, but Randy Taylor's attorney requested reopening the case earlier this month after Matthew was forensically linked to Morgan Harrington's case from 2009.

    Randy Taylor is serving two life sentences for Murphy's abduction and murder. Murphy's body was never found, but a new search for her will start in November in Orange County.

    http://www.nbc29.com/story/26863785/...e-matthews-dna
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

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