Taylor Murder Case Closed

Oxford Eagle, April 14, 1998

Taylor Murder Case Solved
Abuse Charges Filed

Loretta Winston
STAFF WRITER

One killer has confessed, one is dead and the victim's father has been charged with sexual abuse in Oxford's sixth major murder case since 1995.

Dale and Crystal Taylor, the brother-and-sister ice skating team with Olympic hopes, were reported missing on February 5th, their bodies recovered from a new grave at St. Peter's Cemetery in Oxford on February 19th.

After a voluntary surrender to authorities on March 31 in Sonoma County, California, Christian Chambers of Oxford confessed to killing his friend, Dale Taylor. According to Elizabeth Jones, spokeswoman for the Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Department, Chambers has cooperated fully with the investigators and the District Attorney's office, providing details of the crime.

Chambers, a University of Mississippi computer science major, said Dale burst into Chambers' home in the early hours of February 2nd while Chambers was using his computer. Dale reportedly confessed he had just brutally stabbed his sister in a rage as they waited for a Memphis airport shuttle bus at nearby Eastgate Shopping Center. Chambers reportedly said that Dale insisted on getting his help to bury the body.

Chambers has confessed to shooting, killing and burying Dale at the cemetery site after feeling threatened.

Chambers is the son of Oxford furniture magnate Robert "Big Bobby" Chambers and Louise Chambers, and the Taylors were the children of James Edward Taylor and Sandra Taylor, all of Oxford.

The initial first degree murder charges against Chambers in the death of Crystal Taylor have been dropped after physical evidence and testimony from others supported his story, said district attorney Phil Dyesson. Chambers' charges in Dale's death have been reduced from first- to second-degree murder.

"While we do not have and will not have any sympathy for a murderer, our office does recognize that extenuating circumstances do exist, justifying these changes in charge," Dyesson said.

Chambers' trial is expected to begin in June with jury selection in late May. Community donations to his defense fund at Oxford's Sunspot National Bank have already topped $15,000.

"We may never know all the details surrounding Crystal's death, but it is clear that her brother murdered her," Dyesson said, citing testimony about Dale's jealousy of his sister and fears that she would abandon their skating team. "He was clearly a very troubled young man."

Chambers describes fleeing the law

In his confession, Chambers detailed a cross-country flight from justice that involved hitchhiking with truckers from Oxford to U.S. 49 in Jackson, where he used a credit card to withdraw cash. He thumbed a ride on Interstate 20 to Shreveport, Dallas, El Paso and then Tucson. There he paid for a ride to Sonora, Mexico, where he lost himself as a tourist in Puerto Penasco at the Penasco Beach Club Condos located in Playa Bonita Beach on March 23.

He remained in Mexico until March 28, when he got a private plane ride to San Diego with someone he met at the resort. He testified that he seriously considered committing suicide during his time at the resort. During that time, he also wrote a letter to a friend, Terrance Kershaw, but hesitated to mail it until March 25.

Interviews with the resort employees and with the couple who flew to California with him indicate the depth of Chambers' isolation and troubles.

"I've worked here 15 years, and he's the first customer I've seen go through a box of our complimentary Kleenex every day," Juanita Ramirez, a chambermaid at Penasco Beach Club Condos, said in a telephone interview this weekend. "Every day! And that is one big box, my friend. The wastebasket was full of twisted tissues. He must have been full of tears. Also, he ordered room service for every meal, then ate almost nothing. I tell you, who can afford that? And who travels and never eats out? He was muy loco -- um, how do you say, one very crazy white man."

Kershaw received the letter the afternoon of March 30 at the Sonoma Mt. Zen Center. Chambers hitchhiked from San Diego to the Santa Rosa area, where the zen center is located, and arrived that same evening around 10 p.m.

Kershaw has corresponded and e-mailed with Chambers since 1994 and says he views himself as Chambers' philosophical mentor. Chambers has praised Kershaw's non-judgmental friendship as the deciding factor in Chambers' voluntary surrender.

"No outside forces can tell you what makes you a man," Kershaw said in a telephone interview this weekend. "Only you can decide what is good and what is bad in your life. I told Christian to detach and contemplate Buddha and not to bury his heart, because both Dale and Crystal have already moved on to the next plane of existence and the lessons they need to learn there."

Father doesn't dispute sexual abuse charges

In other developments, Crystal's mother, Sandra Taylor, has agreed to testify against her husband for his alleged childhood sexual abuse of Crystal Taylor. She was interrogated on April 13 and received a grant of immunity from prosecution in exchange for her testimony by the District Attorney's office.

Jim Taylor has entered a plea of nolo contendre, a plea that shows he will not fight the sexual abuse charges but also does not directly admit his guilt. The Taylors' surviving son, Shane Taylor, also has released a statement saying he is considering civil action against his father on Crystal's behalf. (Shane Taylor, now cleared in the murder case, was an early suspect in the murders due to his drug abuse history and his admitted jealousy over the money and attention lavished on his siblings.)

Crystal's diary, discovered during the murder investigation, hinted at her father's alleged molestation of her and sparked the sexual abuse inquiries. Her allegations are now backed up by interviews with multiple sources and expert analysis of her medical records. Fragmented testimony from childhood friends, a Memphis choreographer, medical personnel and family members complete a grim picture of Crystal Taylor's social isolation and prolonged childhood sexual abuse.

Highlights of the murder investigation

Dale and Crystal Taylor were last seen when their brother, Shane Taylor, dropped them off at Eastgate Shopping Center to catch a bus in the early morning hours of February 2.

Varied reports link Christian Chambers' Honda Civic to the scene and provide other evidence:

A fellow passenger on Magnolia Transit later recalled a suspicious dark vehicle in the area around that time

William Kapaneko, owner of Victor's Pizza and an Oxford resident, also reported seeing a running youth in the area around 4 a.m. the morning that the brother and sister disappeared.

Alan Philbert of Old Taylor Road also reported seeing a dark Honda with its hatchback open, revealing a blanket-covered load, on February 2. The load is now believed to be the Taylor's luggage.

An anonymous call to the Sheriff's Department on February 19 led officials to the discovery of Dale and Taylor's buried bodies.

On March 2, a state forensic K-9 unit grid search of Eastgate Shopping Center in Oxford uncovered the probable scene behind Dixie Creek BBQ where Crystal was fatally stabbed.

Two days later, a University of Mississippi professor found Crystal and Dale's luggage abandoned at Hurricane Creek, about a half-mile north of the intersection of Hurricane Creek Road and Mississippi 7. With two exceptions, all items the two were known to be carrying were recovered, including Crystal Taylor's diary. Items remaining missing included a gold talisman pendant and blue jacket belonging to Dale Taylor.

Dale's jacket and the bloodstained knife now known to be Crystal's murder weapon were found March 12 at Toby Tubby Creek by Josh Clarence "Tip" Tatum Jr., 30, of Oxford.

A March 16 e-mail spurred the case against Chambers. An on-line buddy, Tania Hotchkiss of Great Neck, N.Y., reported that he broke off an Internet chat around 4 a.m. on February 2. Chambers fled after an on-line sting operation at midnight, March 20. He barely avoided officers bearing a search warrant for his home.

The search warrant uncovered damning evidence: Dale's amulet was recovered on the scene. A search of Chambers' 1988 Honda Civic showed blood stains, human hairs and carpet samples that linked Chambers' vehicle to the disposal of Crystal's body. The search also yielded Chambers' Ruger .12-gauge shotgun, which later tested positively as Dale's murder weapon. An all-points bulletin was issued for Chambers.

Forensic reports received on March 17 confirm that Dale Taylor was shot at his burial site, likely falling to the ground and buried without being moved. The same reports also showed that Crystal Taylor had been killed elsewhere and moved to her burial site. Forensic results received on March 19 support the theory that Crystal Taylor was killed at the Eastgate location.

On March 31, Chambers voluntarily surrendered to police in Sonoma County, Calif.

Lie detector tests on the statement "I had nothing to do with the deaths of Dale and Crystal Taylor" April 2 revealed high stress for Jim Taylor, low stress for his wife, average stress for Shane and high stress for Dave Woolworth, the head of Ego Shovel, an Oxford-based musical cult. (Higher stress levels indicate the subject's perception of guilt in the case.)

Chambers was extradited to Oxford on April 4. In a lengthy interrogation, he described his travels as a fugitive, his guilt in Dale's murder and his role as an accomplice after the fact in Crystal's murder.