Sara writes: Mary Miles Minter~ William Desmond Taylor, 50 years of age, was killed in his home on February 2, 1922 at presumably 9:00 p.m. The MacLeans, Taylor's neighbors, claimed to have heard a single gun shot, which they assumed may have been a car backfiring. When Mrs. MacLean looked out she saw a "funny looking" man heading away from the house. This man "was wearing a heavy coat of the Mackinaw type, a cap, and a muffler about the neck." It was decided that Taylor had been shot in the back just below the left shoulder. Officers believed that revenge was the motive because nothing was taken from the house and Taylor himself was found with a diamond ring and platinum watch.

Mr. Eyton, a friend of Taylor's, arrived at the apartment and carried out some belongings which were supposedly letters to Taylor from many of his admirers who were often married women. In addition to this evidence which was tampered with, the house was filled with people observing Mr. Taylor, many who were not part of the investigation. Amongst the items found in Taylor's apartment were letters confessing love for Mr. Taylor from Mary Miles Minter. These letters conveyed her love for him in various ways; one letter said "I want to go away with you-up in the hills-anywhere-just so we can be alone." When Mary was questioned about her relationship or what she knew about Taylor, she told investigators that Miss Normand and Mr. Taylor were engaged. This engagement was denied by Miss Normand.

In addition to the letters from Mary a women's pink silk nightgown and lace handkerchief with the initials M.M.M were found in Taylor's apartment. Taylor had that day expressed concern about Mary to his friend Mr. Hoyt. He told him that the "sweetest little girl was in love with him, but he could be her father." He also informed Hoyt that Mary had been to his apartment the night before at 3 in the morning. Mary, a jealous, young girl infatuated with an older man who simply looked upon her as a young, sweet, and talented girl, was now a murderer. Mary dressed herself like a man to insure that no one would see her young stature leaving the house after she killed Taylor. She shot Taylor on the left side of the back. Presumably, she carefully chose the place in which to shoot him to ensure a quick death. She shot him in the back to make sure that he did not see her inflicting pain upon him.

Mary then tried to evade persecution by leading the cops to other suspects. Including Miss Normand and Mary's very own mother. An anonymous letter was sent to the police claiming that the gun which killed Taylor could be found in the basement of Mabel Normand's apartment. An anonymous spiritualist, who was a women, called and said that the killer of Taylor was the mother of a beautiful daughter. The mother killed to protect her daughter and so she was therefore legit in her actions. The spiritualist would give the mother two weeks to confess; if the mother did not confess, then the spiritualist would go public with her information.

Soon after this Mary had a public falling out with her mother and even accused her mother of killing Taylor. In addition to all of the suspicious acts done by women or a particular woman and the public conflict between mother and daughter, there were three long blond hairs were found on Taylor's jacket. These hairs matched Mary's and were therefore considered hers. Mary Miles Minter was a young girl in love with an older man who was successful and desired by many women. The letters to Taylor prove that Mary would do anything to have him. Mary's hair on Taylor's jacket places Mary at the scene that night. The accusations by Mary placed on both her mother and Miss Normand prove that the desperate young girl would stop at nothing. Therefore, Mary was a young obsessed girl who was mentally ill.

Carrie's version: On February 1, 1922 film director William Desmond Taylor was discovered murdered in his home. Several suspects were identified, none of whom included the young, sweet, successful actress Mary Miles Minter. Did Mary Miles Minter mislead the public and her adoring fans after that fatal night? Was it a mere miscalculation on the part of the detectives that the possibility of her being a suspect was overlooked? Was she indeed guilty of murdering her obsession, William Desmond Taylor?

As evidenced surfaced, all signs pointed to yes. The procedures practiced for investigating this case resembled those of a circus. An assembly of clowns attempting to solve a crime while simultaneously creating a farce of the legal system Mary Miles Minter: an icon of sweet innocence or an emblem of deception? Do not be fooled by her age and her angelic face. Behind Minter's facade existed a testimony of lies and an unruly love obsession for Taylor. When those ingredients were combined with Taylor's rejection of her love, a recipe for revenge was brewed. Revenge would mark a prime motive for the murder of Taylor, a murder committed by Mary Miles Minter.

In order to really understand Minter's motive for murder, an examination of the facts regarding her relationship with Taylor are necessary. While pursuing her acting career, Minter was forced to leave behind her father. The absence of a father figure in her life created a natural craving for male attention. When Minter was first introduced to Taylor, she remarked that he was the first to treat her like an adult. Taylor filled that void in Minter's life and simultaneously sparked her love obsession for him. Whether or not there existed a true love affair between the two was debatable; however, in Minter's mind existed a world that revolved solely around the two of them. The evidence of this existed in the many love letters she wrote to Taylor expressing her affection for him. However, Taylor relayed his concern to Mr. Hoyt stating that the sweetest girl loved him but he was old enough to be her father ("I Know Who Killed Desmond Taylor," Ed. C. King). For that very reason Taylor kept his distance and later pursued a love affair with Mable Normand. Thus began a love triangle and a motive for murder.

Taylor reported to Hoyt that one night Minter showed up to his apartment at 3:00 am and refused his request for her to leave. She told him that if he insisted on her departure she would scream and cause a scene with the neighbors ("I Know Who Killed Desmond Taylor," Ed. C. King). Not wanting to harm his reputation, he calmed her down and later drove her home. This example demonstrated the fact that Minter's actions were at times very unreasonable. Taylor had to ensure that his reputation as a director would not be tarnished as well as Minter's. Pursuing a relationship with her would do just that. On the night of the murder, Mable Normand was the last to have seen Taylor besides the murderer.

Minter claimed that she had not seen Taylor that day nor had she visited his apartment. She stated that she had not seen him for a long time except for in passing while in separate cars. However, on Taylor's daily dry cleaned coat were three long blond hairs and when compared to Minter's, they fit ("I Know Who Killed Desmond Taylor," Ed. C. King). Therefore, she had lied to the police and was with him on the day of his murder. Needless to say the positions of those hairs on his coat suggests that he may have been trying to console her after an argument. When she was called in again to be questioned, she could provide no further statements on the matter. Therefore, the assumption that Minter basically brushed off their questioning may be made. Perhaps her inability to cooperate was the result of her uneasiness with the nature of the questions because of what she was hiding, the truth.

Also present at the scene of the crime was a pink nightgown and a lace handkerchief with the initials "M.M.M" and many love letters written in code that were signed Mary ("I Know Who Killed Desmond Taylor," Ed. C. King). They were all taken in as evidence by the detectives. However, they were later returned to Minter and her mother. Key evidence should never be returned to its owners during the investigation, acts of carelessness such as this were what assisted Mary in not being a suspect. The media was also not very conducive to pinning Minter. The updates continuously referred to the murderer as "a woman, not a motion picture actress" (LOS ANGELES EXAMINER, March 25, 1926). This successive description of the murderer in the paper brainwashed the public into dismissing the possibility that Minter was a suspect. A spiritualist tried to pin Minter's mother, Mrs. Shelby as the murderer. However, it is fair to suggest that Shelby assisted in covering for her daughter. Being a suspect relieved some of the pressure off of other suspects including the possibility of Minter becoming one. Therefore, Minter's career would be salvaged along with Shelby's finances. The disagreements between Mary and her mother, concerning money, may have surfaced as a result of the stress they were under from their involvement in the murders. Their feud over money was only a detail of more pressing problems such as hiding murder.

Nick does not finger Mary as the killer: Mary Miles Minter comes into this case as an obvious suspect, being madly in love with the victim, the late William Desmond Taylor. But was she too obvious of a suspect? It seems as though her being the killer is perhaps too easy of an answer to this still unsolved case. The police have had many different suspects over the years, and Minter was definitely a top one. But was she really the killer? Some facts need to be examined before we determine this.

We need to look at the facts that would lead us to believe that Mary was the killer first. One thing that would lead us to believe this is that she had motive to kill the man. She was in love with him, and he was not returning the affection. He wanted to marry Mabel Normand. This would naturally make Miss Minter a very jealous woman. Miss Minter was completely infatuated with Mr. Taylor, and after he shunned her for awhile, she may have became so jealous that she cracked and shot the man. If she couldn't have him, why should anybody else be able to? This makes perfect sense on paper, but could the police prove it?

The next thing we look at is the three hairs that were found on Mr. Taylor's jacket. According to police, the hairs matched those of Mary Miles Minter. This puts our suspect in the presence of Mr. Taylor the day of the killing. We know this for two reasons. The first one is that Mr. Taylor never wore a suit for more that one day without it being cleaned and pressed. If hairs were found on the suit that he was wearing the day of the killing, that would mean that Minter was there at some point during the day of the killing. She even admitted to being there earlier in the day. [?]

It may seem obvious now that Mary was the killer, but we must look at other possible factors before we come to a conclusion. Though she had motive, she may not have wanted to take her jealousy to such extremes as to kill the man. After all, if she killed the man, she would never get him to love her. He would be dead - cold, motionless, and without feeling. Last I checked, a cold, motionless, man without feeling could not return one's love. She loved him so much, she would not leave his bungalow at night unless he dragged her out. He even told her to wait 6 months and see what happens. He did this in an effort to see if she would find other interests and leave him alone. This could have very well given her a false hope that he would eventually be hers. Why would she want to kill him, if he may someday be hers? It doesn't make much sense.

Another factor that we must look at is whether Minter had it in her to shoot someone. And if she did, would Taylor have been the target? It can be argued that if Mary were going to shoot anyone, it would have been her mother. They did not have the best relationship, and they argued about money an awful lot. Mary lacked a fatherly figure in her life, and her mother was very controlling. Her mother would also not allow Mary to see Taylor. If you are going to withhold money and love from somebody, you are doing major damage to them. This would make Mary's mother a target, and she was never gunned down.

Mabel Normand would have been yet another target for Mary, and she was never gunned down as well. This tells me that Mary could not have had it in her to shoot Taylor. My theory is this: Mary was not the killer, despite the fact that she looked like the one who'd do it. Mary did not have it in her to kill somebody, and if she did, the target would not have been Taylor. She even had a gun in her house that her sister said was going to be used to kill her mother. She had access to the gun, and if she wanted to kill her mother so badly, she would have done so. Something was stopping her, and that would be her morality.

I can explain the hair as well. It was there because she was obviously close to him at some point that day. We do not know when, but hair would stay on there for a long time. With all of the evidence that the police moved, the hair remained, and this tells me that hair stays on clothing for a long time. She could have seen him that morning, and the hair would still be there. What I believe happened is that Minter was at Taylor's place, and Taylor told her she had to leave. He then had a date with Normand. Minter's mother knew that she was over there, despite the fact that she was forbidden to be there. Mrs. Shelby figured that killing Taylor was one way to end the relationship. Taylor and Shelby [had] even talked about it and agreed that it was not kosher for her to be there. Perhaps Shelby did not think that Taylor was living up to his end of the deal.