Debra Taylor

A deadly home invasion leaves a quiet suburban community in shock.

He was an international guard.

“He had his fatigues, his boots, with him.”

It was very clear he had been shot multiple times. The evidence points to a single-minded killer with intimate knowledge of their target. Other than the broken door, nothing had been disturbed within my house.

Someone had forced it from the inside. It was not a breaking of a breakout. The killer had to have a very strong motive, personal, who financialed.

As the investigation unfolds, detectives

find the victim was covering up a few secrets of his own. After had been some child support issues recently with the first X-Wife.

“I don't know he ever weighed a putt this, except it”

he loved women. He had a girlfriend that was gazed at on the man. She said he became upset and must have done this on his own. When detectives have nearly closed the case, shocking details rise to the surface.

They talked about it jokingly, but would be nice if he wish he got shot in a hunting accident.

Cheap was this, evil, manipulative wolf and sheep's clothing.

You know, seeing has real world consequences, in this case, someone got killed. [MUSIC] Saturday, October 22nd, 1988. It's just after 10 a.m. in Little Rock, Arkansas,

when police receive a panicked call from a woman named Esther Watts. Esther says she was helping out her neighbors, Deborah, and Roy Taylor, when she made an alarming discovery. They had keys to each other's houses. Deborah was out of town and takes care of her brother.

She calls Miss Watts and asks her to go over and check and see if she'd left the iron pressing machine on. When she went over there to check the pressure, she saw Roy laying on the floor. [MUSIC]

Deborah sees these unconscious, then the way these dead-and-eye calls the fire department because she didn't know what else to do. And then they called the police. [MUSIC] >> Northal Rock, Police Patrolman, came to the house and went in and

solved that Mr. Taylor was obviously deceased. [MUSIC] It was very clear that from the initial examination that he had been shot multiple times. The fact that the neighbor didn't initially notice the blood,

“I think it's probably attributable to the shot.”

But at this point, he backs out of the home and of course calls it in as homicide. [MUSIC] He was a national guard and that weekend, he was getting ready to go to drill. He had his fatigues, his boots, with him. Those were near the body.

He was dressed in underwear and a T-shirt. Based on the examination of the body at the scene, it was determined that Roy Taylor had died earlier in the morning of October 22nd, or the very late evening of October 21st. [MUSIC]

They did find three projectiles on the floor, they appeared to be a 38 special. >> The lack of showcasing's informs police what type of gun was likely used. [MUSIC] >> I'd revolver once the projectile leaves the casing stays in the gun. Unlike a semi-automatic gun, which he jacks the casing, we didn't have a gun that crime scene.

So they searched the remaining portion of the house. >> At the garage door, one major clue stands out to detectives. [MUSIC] >> It appeared to have been forced open. There was some of the casing or molding was cracked and broken.

And the lock was in a lock position.

But several tell-tale signs are missing.

[MUSIC]

“>> There were no drawers pulled out, things turned over.”

Nothing missing in terms of personal items, TV or recording equipment. >> Other than the broken door, nothing had been disturbed within the house. So that's not typical burglary. [MUSIC] >> Closer inspection of the broken door reveals a more unsettling possibility.

[MUSIC] >> Someone had had a force it from the inside.

It was not a break-in, but a break-out.

[MUSIC] >> This is a pretty clear indication that that damage had occurred after Roy's death. By their killer trying to make it look like a forced entry into the home. [MUSIC]

“The big question for law enforcement is who did this?”

[MUSIC] The place as part of standard procedure that day talked to the neighbor who discovered the body about what they may have seen. Learn information about Roy and Deborah Taylor, their relationship with each other and with people in the neighborhood. [MUSIC]

>> Roy Taylor was born and raised in the tiny town of Belleville, Arkansas and grew up in a close-knit family.

[MUSIC] >> He was in the kitchen a lot with his mom, Hooken, and behind it and fished everything with his death. [MUSIC] >> By the time Roy went off to college, he grown into a charismatic young man. [MUSIC]

>> We were in Western civilization class and I was sitting there one day looking at him just admire.

“He was extremely easy on the eyes, very handsome.”

He met my gaze and I was so embarrassed that I said, you've got to pretty his blue eyes. He looks up, he said, you're not so bad, you're safe toots. We wound up going out and he married about a year later. [MUSIC] >> He had a marvelous work ethic, even when we were in college.

He worked at night and got off at like seven in the morning and made eight o'clock glasses. And he joined a national guard and got a job with Sears in the automotive store. >> Over the next few years, Roy and Brenda had two children together. >> He famed to kind of settle down and, you know, be the husband, the father, that kind of figure, the longer we're married.

He just, each could stay in one place, I guess. >> Roy's wandering eye led to trouble at home. >> I don't know what the other way to put this except that he loved women. I got concerned that maybe I wasn't the only one in, I'll try, it was several in. I would go live like that.

We were divorced in '73. >> Though the children lived with Brenda, Roy kept in contact. >> His house wasn't, but maybe a mile from us. And sometimes he would come take the kids on the weekend. We saw a lot of him, really.

>> Roy married again, but that relationship didn't last long either. By his late 20s, Roy had given up on love and was focused on his work. Until he met a beautiful young woman named Deborah Bryant. [ Music ] >> To grow up in Bevel, we were base friends for a long time.

She's very family oriented, yes, she loved her family. >> She was working in a nursing home and he had gone over there. One of his trips up to his parents to see his aunt, who was a resident there. And that's where he met her. She was a hard worker, she knew about anything for anybody.

I just loved her to dance. 28-year-old Roy was instantly smitten with 19-year-old Deborah and the feeling was mutual. The two dated for a little more than a year before tying the knot in 1977. >> Hey, it was kind of light back. But if you got to know you, he was missed personally.

>> The couple's first son was born three years after the wedding in 1980.

Their second arrived four years later. Devour was wonderful mother. Those kids meant everything to her.

“Now she loved the boys, but she wanted a little girl so bad.”

>> Roy agreed to let him adopt a little girl. >> Keep the boys busy keeping up with the sister. They went places together and done things and phished and hunted and done all that stuff. With the kids, Roy and Deborah seemed to be ideal parents and they were equally successful as business partners.

>> Roy and Deborah had a pool business. They would install swimming pools and ground above ground type by the swimming pools. >> Roy was the guy that did all the work. He had worked out in the field with the homes and servicing while Deborah stayed at the office and was essentially the office manager for the business.

>> As the pool business grew, it provided the tailors with a comfortable lifestyle in an affluent neighborhood. >> They had a very nice home. Roy was still and member of the Arkansas National Guard. They participated in neighborhood activities.

So it really appeared to be the American Dream family. >> But their seemingly charmed life has taken a tragic turn. Roy has been found shot to death and Arkansas police finds signs that this isn't just a burglary gone wrong.

“As far as the neighbor knows, she's the only person other than the tailors who has a key”

to the house and Deborah is still out of town with the children. >> When the spouse dies by homicide, that usually the other spouse is involved. But obviously his wife Deborah and the children were not there.

So first off, we need to talk to Ms. Taylor.

They still don't know how this all happened and who is involved. >> So obviously it leaves a question is what do we have here, is it a intruder, is it some kind of set up or what? >> Coming up, the coroner's report depends the mystery. >> The medical examiner theorized that Roy Taylor saw the attacker and saw what was coming.

But like the crime scene, not everything, is what it seems.

“>> I said, well, why don't you get out and he said, I can't get out.”

>> Little rock investigators are within the first 24 hours of the murder investigation of Roy Taylor and word is spreading quickly after neighbors found the body. >> Saturday morning, after Roy's body was discovered, the family member called Deborah in Texarkana and told her that Roy was dead and that she needed to come back.

>> She first gets her kids situated and then she gets in her car and drive from Texarkana

to Little Rock and then talks to the police. >> When detectives questioned Deborah, she is distraught over her husband's death. She says she took the children to Texas because Roy was going to be busy with the national guard all weekend. >> She didn't want to be alone and she wanted to see her, see her brother.

>> Deborah said she was utterly shocked when she got phone call on Saturday morning. >> She didn't have any idea who would be responsible for Roy's death. She wouldn't aware of any reason someone would want to kill Roy. >> She says they had a picture perfect marriage and a great relationship. >> Detectives contacted Deborah's brother who confirmed she was with him.

>> Police might not know who shot Roy, but on Monday, October 24th, an autopsy helps determine how it happened. >> There was a wound to the front of his left forearm, exited on the backside of his forearm in his chest area, there's a wound in his right shoulder from behind.

and that Roy saw what was coming, he raised his arm off to blow it pass through the forearm,

striking him in the chest. >> The medical examiner also finds gunpowder residue on Roy's lower back and arm. Indicating the shots came from close range. >> The fact that it was clear that the sole purpose was to kill Roy Taylor. >> Men the killer had to have a very strong motive, personal or financial.

>> We knew that Deborah was not the trigger of person because she was in texture cana. >> So at this point in the investigation, the big question if it's not Deborah Taylor.

“>> What relationship or motivation could have prompted the killer to come and kill Roy?”

>> When investigators talked to Roy's friends, they discover there were aspects of his life

that Deborah wasn't privy to. >> Roy was the ladies man. He was screwing around everywhere, he installed more than pools. >> The patient that he told the police, Roy and a girlfriend was engaged to another man. He was seeing the girl whenever Deborah's out of town.

>> According to Roy's friends, his lover has an impulsive fiancé who may have sought revenge. >> The police did contact Roy's girlfriend and the person that she was engaged to,

“but they had good allies, so there wouldn't be anything there.”

>> Roy also has two X-Wives detectives wonder if either of them could have been involved.

>> Early on the second X-Wife was considered eliminated, but they learned that there had been

some child support issues recently that it caused disagreement between Roy and the first X-Wife. >> Detective Randy Johnson called me asked me if I would come down to the police station. He said we've heard that Yol had been involved in a very bitter court dispute over child support. I said there wouldn't be any bitter court battle, he walked inside some papers, that was it. >> We actually got along better after we were divorced that we did, Mary.

>> Brenda explains to police that Roy had another reason for spending time away from home. >> About two weeks before he was killed, he and I were just sitting there at the table and like a big tear, you know, a nice face that would like him at all. And I said, what's the matter? And he said, oh, nothing. And I said, home, he said, yeah, I said, well, why don't you get out?

And he said, I can't get out. And that was the last thing I ever heard him say.

“>> Brenda's depiction of Roy's married life is contradictory to Deborah's.”

So investigators revisit the Taylor home. >> The Northrop police had a occasion to obtain written consent. I Deborah Taylor to conduct other searches, both at the home, conduct a search and Taylor pool company looking for any types of records of any indication of emotive to have someone to have killed Roy.

>> The Taylor's financial records reveal that some suspicious changes were recently made to Roy's life insurance policies. >> In our head to earn $1,000 worth on his life, plus he had 50,000 dollars life insurance policy for a national guard. It was Roy that asked to have the insurance increased and they put it on another $300,000

worth of insurance on his life. Roy, he felt like the whole life insurance policies were a good investment and that he wanted to increase the amount of the whole life insurance to over $500,000 dollars. >> Despite Deborah's alibi, the discovery raises red flags for investigators.

automatically have the police suspect the person who's been fishery.

In this case, he'd be Deborah Taylor.

“>> After discovering Deborah Taylor stood to gain over $500,000 from her husband's death,”

little rock police are reevaluating her potential involvement in the murder. On October 26, four days after Roy's death, friends and family gathered to say their final goodbyes. >> Roy's family arranged a funeral in his hometown of Belleville, Arkansas.

>> He's forgetting information from the attendees that something was awful.

People indicated that Deborah did not appear to be grieving widow to any degree. >> Roy's loved ones are primarily concerned that Deborah came to the funeral with a man named Henry Price.

“>> Henry Price had an own Roy in Deborah for 12, 13 years, he'd perform work for the pool company.”

>> But according to attendees, Deborah was acting as though Henry was more than just a friend. So detectives angle their investigation toward Deborah and her new bow.

Their return to North Lorock, the North Roy police placed them under surveillance, and

they followed Deborah and Henry. >> We loaded up in our cars and had assignments, there are thinkers like five, it's going to trail this person. >> The mango was for the surveillance team to catch the two together if, in fact, that was the truth, and to get photographs.

>> Surveillance and followed her to a local Lakinta Inn hotel, and while in the hold, Henry Price was checked into the hotel. He members observed the two as they spend a romantic night together. >> We were able to get photographs of them acting like a couple of lovers, if you will. It just raised a lot of suspicions, and that was really putting her and Henry on the radar

screen. >> Detectives find out Henry is estranged from his wife's sharing, so they interview her to learn more about him. >> We bought a pool, swimming pool from them, and that my husband's chart working on the motors of the pools for extra money on the side, I liked Roy, he was very nice, kind, person,

not so much Deborah. She seemed to be kind of sneaky and conniving. >> Because Deborah ran the business side, and Roy was very rarely in the office, the friendship development between Henry and Deborah. >> Sherry tells investigators she found out that she had been having an affair on October

1st, three weeks before Roy's murder. >> Deborah called when we were by husband hour together, and I heard her on the phone. She called and said the coast was clear, and he was supposed to go outward to her house.

“That's what I first accused him of being unvibled, and I asked him to make a choice to”

tone me in the children her part. I mean, she chose her on it. >> Sherry says she has no idea how far Henry might go to please Deborah. >> Puzzle pieces are starting to come together, at that point they didn't have any information as to where Henry Price was on October 21st and 22nd, but Henry Price present and behavior

with her at and after the funeral in addition to the Taylor's increase in the life insurance

>> Coming up, a suspect is cornered.

“>> My daddy called me, he can't catch a visual as they open the mail.”

>> And investigators get a surprising confession.

He's stolen the 38 pistol so they can never be traced back to him.

>> Little Rock police are 10 days into the 1988 murder investigation of Roy Taylor. They subpoena Henry Price and Deborah Taylor's phone records to build their case. >> Though in a fair isn't proof of a murder plot, Henry Price seems to be the most likely gun mail. >> In examining the Taylor's phone records for the landline, there were numerous calls and

appreciating months to and from the Taylor phone and Henry Price's phone.

One call in particular catches their attention, one that Deborah never mentioned that

came in after the time frame of Roy's murder. >> And that call was made Saturday morning from the Taylor home phone to Deborah's brother's home phone and text her camera. And it was very short, everything after Roy's death, someone other than Roy Taylor had a place they called.

So to detectives, this was a clear indication that whoever killed Roy Taylor called Deborah Taylor and let her know the job was done. >> But this point detectives decide his time to hear from Henry Price. They call him up inviting down to the police station and starts off Henry is explaining his business relationship with the Taylor's, his friendship with Taylor's, how long he had

known them, no mention of any romantic involvement with Deborah Taylor. The detectives advised him that they had been surveilling him, showed him the photographic evidence of that.

“At this point, I think Henry pretty much knew that this was going bad for him and that's”

when he started opening up. Henry told then that Deborah had told him that Roy was abusive. He said that she had a bruise that Henry had seen. She also had Henry believing that Roy had found out about him and Roy was out to kill him. Henry said that they then began hatching different plans to kill Roy Taylor.

And ultimately, they decided that Henry would go into the home, lie and wait, and kill Roy

while Deborah was at her brother's house and text her camera. Henry said that he had stolen 38 pistol from his brother-in-law. He went over there, actually parked the car on the back side and walked through the trail to get to the house. Henry says Deborah had already provided him with a key to get inside.

And through the back door, at that time, Roy Taylor walks in with his closed-game radio guard drill. That's one Henry in shock before it lands. Guilding. Henry confirms he was the one who made the phone call from the Taylor's home after

the shooting. On a pre-arranged plan with Deborah, he calls her at a brother's house.

“And the code to let her know that Roy was dead was, you need to buy a black dress.”

And that was his way of letting Deborah know that he had killed Roy. He apparently to make it stage as an intruder, verbally, breaks in the garage door and then

He took again, disassembled it, drilled out the barrel and threw it into the Arkansas River. Henry prices interviewed the north low-right police department was pivotal. There was a lot of suspicion, but there was no direct evidence. If Henry instantly came into the department and said, "I want to talk with the lawyer, I'm not going to talk to you all about that, I don't know where this case would have ended up."

My daddy always told me, "He's a lawyer's long time.

He says you can't catch a face unless they open the map." Armed with Henry's confession, police prepared to confront Deborah. But before they can contact her, she calls them. Henry has called Deborah and said, "The place of call me. They want me to come down and talk to the detectives about Roy's death."

Deborah, I guess, in attempt to salvage this, calls the place department and says, "I want to come down and talk about this."

When Little Rock investigators meet with Deborah Taylor, she seems eager to tell her

side of the story. When Deborah arrived at the detective bureau, she was placed in an interview room. She proceeded to settle on a table, you know, seductive manner.

“Deborah Taylor at this point, I believe, was thoroughly convinced and her ability to manipulate”

people and a situation that the detectives advised her that they had Henry price and that he had confessed to the killing of Roy Taylor. Now, according to Deborah, Henry was a simple man who'd misinterpreted the things she told him. Deborah fairly candidly admitted that she and Henry had discussions about possibly killing Roy, something happening to Roy, but she said she wasn't really serious about that.

They talked about a jokalate, no, it'd be nice if he had Roy had a hard tag died. Henry said one time when we could hire somebody to kill him and kind of jokalate, and she said, no, no, that someone would find out about it. But apparently, Henry was pretty serious.

“So the police questioned Deborah, why didn't you tell us about Henry your fair with Henry?”

The abuse at the hands of your husband, she said Henry had been became upset and must have done this on his own. Deborah denies any involvement in Roy's death, but police aren't convinced, especially considering Roy's recently adjusted insurance policy. They still believe she seduced Henry into doing her bidding. It became obvious to me that Deborah had had this non-sexual relationship with Henry up until the summer,

and in that summer, she made her mind up to get rid of Roy. She thought there's no way that Roy would ever let her get into divorce.

Deborah said that he's dated it. You'll never leave me. I'm not going to be a three-time loser.

“I think she never went into screwing around on him, and she was not happy.”

And in order to leave Roy, keep the children and have a comfortable way of life. She needed the insurance policies, she needed a house, and she needed proceeds from the pool company. Investigators suspect that when it came time to hire a hitman, Deborah already had the perfect person. Henry wasn't dumb, but he was so naive and socially awkward. I think she spun her web and pulled Henry in.

She was the driving force she's the one that devised the plan for her to be out of town, for Henry to go into the house and kill Roy. She miles well, I've bolded her. Based on the evidence and Henry's confession,

They be called with a police department. After the doctor, I said, "Why did they risk you?" and she says, "They think I killed Roy." I said, "Did you?" and she said, "No." I believed her. She was in my friend, and I believed her.

“I think she had convinced him that her husband, Roy, was abusing her. It was really hard to believe that”

anybody could be like that. Particularly, Henry, I mean, he was not geared that way, made that way.

I never saw him being a graduate, so if her or anything, so, you know, it just seemed impossible.

Prosecutors are concerned a jury might also find it hard to believe. We had a, we thought, I fairly strong, circumstantial case against Deborah. But we were afraid of the possibility of a hungry, possibly somebody not believing the circumstantial evidence in quitting Deborah Taylor, and so the police and the Taylor family and I all met, and it was determined that it was more important to get Deborah Taylor convicted.

So that's when the decision was made for a 40-year plea agreement, the contingent on Henry testifying after all against Deborah. Seven months after the death of Roy Taylor, his wife Deborah goes on trial. She stands accused of being the mastermind who planned the shooting. She was charged a capital murder, and recently, and after we made numerous motions and hearings, they wave the death penalty

and just went for life without parole. Deborah always wore this very near-charge type of clothes.

You can carry the Bible at times presenting herself as this person who is not capable of something like this.

“The prosecution's key witness is the confessed gunman, Henry Price.”

He, on direct and even more so-and-cost examination by the defense attorney, said that he truly believed that Roy had done these terrible things too, Deborah. And although there's no direct evidence of any of that except one neighbor at one time saw what appeared to be a black eye, but I knew Deborah Taylor was this evil, the negative wolf and sheep's clothing.

He said, "I would never kill Roy to get Deborah,

but I did kill Roy to protect Deborah."

“Despite Henry's vehement, investigators are unable to officially corroborate Deborah's claims of abuse.”

"Last game where you in love with Deborah," he said. "Oh yes, they're very definitely. They'd play in the lock together." And Prosecutor Eskion, "Do you still love her?" And he looks over at the table where she's sitting, and he said, "Yes, I am." So my next question to Henry was, "What Henry? What does that make you?" If everything Deborah Taylor told you about Roy abusing her was not true,

it'd make you a dupe, wouldn't. And Henry said, "I don't know what a dupe is. What is that?" And that was the whole essence of this relationship. The defense has a surprising star witness of its own. Nor me don't put your client on the stand, but in this case there was any way in the world that Jerry was going to do anything but find her guilty unless she took the stand.

Deborah did a very good job. She explained things very coherently.

She admitted that she had talked to Henry price about this

“but that Henry had acted independently on his own and that she had no involvement in the execution”

of Roy Taylor.

Once all the evidence is in, the jury takes just 50 minutes to reach a verdict.

They found her guilty and gave her life without parole. Instead of being weak and frail,

“she came across cold as ice and I think that's what calls the jury not to believe her.”

I'm sure there's lots of different ways it can be prevented this crime,

but CN has real world consequences. In this case, someone got killed. I just wanted to portray him as he really was not his some abuses man. I did absolutely adore him. He could walk in a room and just without even trying command the

“run. I think about the way he left here and I don't care what kind of man you are.”

Nobody deserves to die the way he did at all.