***************************************************************************** * T A Y L O R O L O G Y * * A Continuing Exploration of the Life and Death of William Desmond Taylor * * * * Issue 100 -- 2013 Editor: Bruce Long * * TAYLOROLOGY may be freely distributed * ***************************************************************************** CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE: Twisted by Knaves "What I Think of Mary Miles Minter" by Jeanie Macpherson The 1929/30 Flare-Up of the Taylor Case Mary Miles Minter vs. CBS ***************************************************************************** What is TAYLOROLOGY? TAYLOROLOGY is a newsletter focusing on the life and death of William Desmond Taylor, a top Paramount film director in early Hollywood who was shot to death on February 1, 1922. His unsolved murder was one of Hollywood's major scandals. This newsletter will deal with: (a) The facts of Taylor's life; (b) The facts and rumors of Taylor's murder; (c) The impact of the Taylor murder on Hollywood and the nation; (d) Taylor's associates and the Hollywood silent film industry in which Taylor worked. Primary emphasis will be given on reprinting, referencing and analyzing source material, and sifting it for accuracy. ***************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************** Twisted by Knaves According to historian Philip E. L. Smith, around the year 1942 Charlotte Shelby hired writer John Gallishaw to ghost her fictionalized autobiography. At her lawyer's suggestion, it was written as a novel to avoid libel suits. The novel was titled "Twisted by Knaves". After Shelby's death, the typed manuscript passed into the possession of Mary Miles Minter, and was among her effects donated to the Margaret Herrick Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. A few copies were also obtained years ago by private individuals. In 2013 "Twisted by Knaves" became available online by Filmbell, with extensive commentary by Douglas Bell. Although the online version contains some summarized and paraphrased material, the book's essence is seemingly intact, freely available with commentary at http://twistedbyknaves.com or without commentary at http://twistedbyknaves.com/2013/06/04/title-page-and-disclaimer-annotated-synopsis-of-twisted-by-knaves/ The book changes the names of historical characters, but most are easily identifiable and our commentary below will utilize the real names. The book covers the period of time from 1920-1940. A substantial portion of the book deals with Charlotte Shelby's dealings with Leslie B. Henry, and the criminal and legal cases against him and the investment firm that employed him. Her conflicts with her daughters, Mary and Margaret, are also a considerable portion of the book. But our own interest in the book primarily concerns its treatment of William Desmond Taylor, the impact of the Taylor murder on their lives, and the film career of Mary Miles Minter. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The book indicates that in 1920 Charlotte arranged for Margaret to take a screen test for a film; Margaret passed the test and would have been given a good supporting role. But when Mary heard about it, she obstructed the plan and stated that [henceforth] she herself would be the only family member in movies. Mary's attitude was strongly influenced by Jeanie Macpherson, who had had once been professionally snubbed by Charlotte and now sought vindictive payback by sowing conflict within the Shelby family. With an abrupt end to Margaret's potential film career, Charlotte steered Margaret into real estate investments. In actual history, this can be dated to August 1920; Charlotte arranged for strong newspaper publicity to promote Margaret's new business career. See http://www.taylorology.com/press/1920/LAHerald082820.jpg * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The venom which the book directs at Les Henry is understandable and expected; the venom directed at Jeanie Macpherson is surprising. The remarkable degree to which Jeanie Macpherson is portrayed as villainess in the book makes the reader long to hear Macpherson's side of this story, but she probably would describe her own actions as simply encouraging her young friend to become more assertive and independent from her dominating mother. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * William Desmond Taylor is presented in a totally positive manner; he emerges much better than any other male character in the book. Charlotte expresses no criticism about him, and only wishes that Mary was spending even more time with him, because he was such a positive influence on her. It is understandable why Charlotte would wish to advance this "history", in an attempt to divert suspicion from herself, but Charlotte's attitude in the book is contrary to previous statements of others, including Mary, and is not really credible. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * In a 1922 newspaper interview, Marjorie Berger stated that Taylor showed her a large roll of bills during their tax conference in her office on the day of Taylor's death, and the roll of bills was not found on his body the following morning. (See http://www.taylorology.com/press/0217/pLARec0217.jpg ) In the book, Berger telephones Charlotte on the evening of February 1 and mentions Taylor's large roll of bills to Charlotte. This second-hand repetition of Berger's tale increases the possibility that Taylor was robbed after being shot. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * In the book, the Shelby family learned of Taylor's death on February 2 essentially the same way as was related in previous statements by Charlotte and Mary. But there is an interesting dramatic scene that evening when reporters and detectives besieged the Hobart house and attempted to question Mary, even demanding that she confess to Taylor's murder. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * As discussed in Taylorology 98, there are several theories as to why Mary's letters were published in newspapers soon after the Taylor murder. But those previously-discussed theories do not include the reason stated in Charlotte Shelby's book: Mary's letters were returned to her, but it was Mary herself who gave them to a reporter for publication, in order to show the world the extent of her feelings toward Taylor. Supposedly, studio officials were not involved in the release of those letters and were upset that it had happened. It is very difficult to accept this amazing version of the letters' release to the press, because it is so contrary to the official statement made by Mary a few days later, which indicated that it was indeed the studio which had given her letters to the Examiner. To accept the book's version would require us to think Mary's statement regarding the letters was a carefully planned lie (and if it was indeed false, it could have been contradicted by Neilan). * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * It is a known fact of film history that Mary was originally cast for the lead in The Covered Wagon, but was replaced by Lois Wilson. According to Jesse Lasky's autobiography, it was his own idea to remove Minter from the cast, for which Minter was grateful. According to the article written by Dewitt Bodeen (in close collaboration with Mary Miles Minter), it was Charlotte Shelby who went to Lasky and told him that Mary was not to appear in a Western. But in Charlotte Shelby's book, Charlotte had approved the role, and it was Mary herself (strongly influenced by Jeanie Macpherson) who had rejected the role. Since The Covered Wagon was such a successful film (far more successful than any of Mary's own films), it is only natural that neither Mary nor Charlotte would want to later take responsibility for the blunder of having rejected the role. But Mary's version is the least plausible of the three. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * During the time that The Covered Wagon was still planned as a forthcoming Minter feature, she filmed "The Cowboy and The Lady" on location in Wyoming. According to Charlotte's book, while working on that film there were production delays, and Mary was aligning herself with the least desirable members of the crew. Since Patricia Palmer (Margaret Gibson) was also in the cast of that film, we can't help but wonder if Palmer could possibly be included in that undesirable alignment? * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * According to the book, in 1926 while Les Henry was in the process of pilfering the Shelby accounts, he felt it was important to keep the Shelby family squabbling with each other so that they would be diverted from paying attention to what he was doing. As a former newspaper reporter, Les Henry still had friends in the newspapers and city offices. Supposedly, it was Les Henry alone who was singlehandedly responsible for the 1926 revival of the Taylor murder case, according to the book. Certainly it is possible that Les Henry had something to do with the March 1926 revival and newspaper rumors, but the investigation had previously taken new life in November 1925, with official statements having been taken from Charles Maigne, Charlotte Whitney, and Charles Eyton. Then in March 1926 statements were taken from J. M. Berger, Margaret Shelby Fillmore, and in April 1926 from Charlotte Shelby. The book says absolutely nothing about the substance of the 1926 investigation, pretending it was entirely about nothing. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * According to the book, Margaret's statements to the investigators and grand jury in 1937 included an allegation that Charlotte had engaged in target practice with a pistol inside her home in preparation for the Taylor murder, and had a life-size target of William Desmond Taylor. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * It is disappointing that Charlotte never addresses most of the specific rumors which circulated against her regarding the Taylor case. But still, having previously read so many portrayals of Charlotte Shelby as a cruel, domineering stage mother or vindictive murderess, it is a nice change to see her portrayed in a positive light. ***************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************** The following short article is superficial and drenched in annoying metaphors, yet it has interest because it was written by Jeanie Macpherson concerning her friendship with Mary Miles Minter. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * January 1922 Jeanie Macpherson FILMPLAY JOURNAL What I Think of Mary Miles Minter An Appreciation of the Popular Young Star by Her Best Friend MARY MILES MINTER is the West Wind dressed up as a Dresden shepherdess; she's as refreshing as ozone blowing over sun-kissed waters and as exquisite as a miniature. Boiled down into a few words that's my impression of a very clever little girl who has become one of my firmest and most delightful friends. Her enthusiasm and vitality seem inexhaustible--and impossible to resist. On hot summer days I have been toiling in my study, up to my ears in musty old books and continuities, when a voice at the door coming from under a mop of yellow curls would cry, "Let's go!"--and the necessity for work would disappear in the wake of a human breeze which would blow me up in the air in a plane or down to the beach for a swim, whichever fancy chose. It's this factor of the unexpected that has made the success of Mary Miles Minter. For just as you think you have her classified--poof!--and she's done something that's entirely apart from the usual. It's a very colorful personality that can so flash light from a hundred different facets; a personality that is developing as she grows out of her teens into something that will be a true delight in its full maturity. Quicksilver Mary! And it's a personality backed by a remarkably clever brain. Most people get fooled by Mary's beauty. They seem to consider that it is impossible for a girl so pretty to be intelligent. But let me tell you right now that Mary Miles Minter is one of the best informed young women I have ever met. Her judgment and knowledge are away beyond those of the average girl of her years, due largely to her long years of contact with the public. What young actress can you name who spends four nights a week in study? And nothing is ever allowed to interfere with these engagements. I know, for I've tried! She's a strange combination of the practical and the dreamer--this Mary Miles Minter. Quick and concise in her judgments, boyishly frank and direct in her opinions, she yet has a mysticism from watching the sea for ships that believes in fairies! And there is in her eyes the look of some blue-eyed, blonde-haired Viking who sat on top of his glacier and developed a brooding mysticism from watching the sea for ships that never returned. Beowulf undoubtedly had it as he gazed from the prow of his burning ships, and I can imagine it in the glance of Peer Gynt as he talked to the Mountain Trolls. And certainly it was part and parcel of Brunhilda, the Unafraid. A look, in other words, that peeps just over the Borderland into things that others do not see. That's Mary Miles Minter, the Dreamer. Then on the other hand, there's Mary, the Efficient; Mary who remains calm, cool and collected when horses are running away or the motor cuts out in an airplane; Mary who, in a business conversation, can keep as straight to the point of an argument as the most astute Captain of Industry. It's a strange combination, the Practical Mary and the Dreamer Mary. It has created three dominant characteristics: unswerving loyalty to friends, charity to a fault and splendid tenderness. If you're a friend of Mary Miles Minter you're one in the fullest sense of the word--and no one had better say a word against you or she'll sweep the place like the little West Wind militant she is. It's a loyalty shorn of diplomacy, a loyalty that sometimes loses friends--but an unusual and splendid trait in a world of people too much inclined to follow the line of least resistance. And it's a loyalty that carries a standard for you also. Mary is hotly, boyishly frank toward any friend who falls below the ideals she has set--but if you were to suffer sudden trouble--you'd find brusqueness immediately replaced by an abiding tenderness, and overwhelming desire to "help out." I appreciate this opportunity to give my impressions of Mary Miles Minter because I feel so few people know the real Mary. And what 1 have said is in no sense flattery, but a heartfelt tribute to a little friend, the most refreshing of all my acquaintances. Her superabundant vitality is all-pervading, and she is as good for one as the breath of an electric fan when the thermometer registers 110 degrees in the shade. This vitality of Mary, her combination of dreaming and practicality, her careful education and her bewildering unexpectedness provide her with a well of professional potentialities such as can be shown by but few present-day actresses. Glorious and splendid as is the Realart star of today, she is only beginning to fulfill the promise of her womanhood. ***************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************** The 1929/30 Flare-Up of the Taylor Case * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * December 21, 1929 SAN FRANCISCO CALL-BULLETIN Ex-Governor Says He Has Proof L.A. Actress Killed Movie Director ..."I had proof that a motion picture actress murdered William Desmond Taylor. "Los Angeles grand jurors told me that there was no use in presenting the facts to them because District Attorney Asa Keyes would not prosecute." This was the sensational statement here today of Friend W. Richardson, former governor of California. Richardson said that while he was the governor he came upon the solution of the mysterious murder of Taylor, one of Hollywood's most famous directors. The Taylor murder in 1922 ranks with the murders of "Dot" King and Arnold Rothstein as one of the fascinating unsolved mysteries of American crime annals. The former governor's statement was confirmed by J. J. Smith, former Folsom prison warden, and by Thomas Gannon, former prison director. Gannon said that a "dope" party at which the murder was planned was describe to him and other officials by one of those who furnished the governor with his information. Richardson said that when he was told by Los Angeles grand jurors that there was no use in presenting the facts to them, he ordered the release from Folsom prison of a criminal who witnessed the murder. "I told the prison board," said the former governor, "to release this man because I feared that those responsible for Taylor's murder would do away with him, too. "The last I heard was that this witness was in Vera Cruz, Mexico, where most of the other witnesses were spirited." The former governor then told some of the story of his now famous quarrel with Keyes. "Shortly after I took office in 1923," he said, "a convict applied for pardon. I learned that the man was innocent and that Keyes had 'framed' him. "I granted the pardon. Soon there were other cases. After several had been presented, I issued a statement excoriating Keyes for 'framing' innocent men. "Shortly thereafter there was another case, and I asked those representing the prisoner to get a statement from the district attorney. They came back with word that Keyes believed the man innocent but would make no recommendation. "I issued another statement against Keyes. "About that time I heard that a prisoner in Folsom knew much about the murder of the motion picture director. I looked into his facts, gathered more facts and finally went to Los Angeles. "I telephoned the foreman of the grand jury and the chairman of the jury's criminal committee and asked them to see me. "I told them that I had the solution of the William Desmond Taylor murder mystery, that I knew the motion picture actress who murdered him. "I asked them whether the facts should be presented to the grand jury, and if so if there was any chance of an indictment. "'No,' they said. "They explained that either Keyes or one of his deputies would be in the grand jury room and that before any person would be brought to trial for the murder the important witness would be spirited away, bribed or murdered. "I folded up my evidence and left Los Angeles. "When I returned to Sacramento I called in the prison board and explained the situation to them. I told them that already the word was around that I had the solution of the murder and that unless we took quick action the convict in Folsom prison would be murdered. "They agreed with me that the convict should be given his parole and he was. "The last I heard of him he was in Vera Cruz, Mexico." Asa Keyes, now in the Los Angeles county jail pending appeal of his conviction as a bribetaker, replied heatedly to Richardson. "He is shaking the dead bones of William Desmond Taylor for political purposes," said Keyes. "Murder is never outlawed. Why doesn't Richardson produce his evidence? Why didn't he produce it when he received it?" "Why have you not presented your facts to Buron Fitts, the present District Attorney?" Richardson was asked. "I left the governor's office before Fitts became district attorney," he explained. "Anyway, the witnesses we had then probably we could not get together now. I don't even know where my records of the case are now." District Attorney Fitts said in Los Angeles that while no active investigation of the Taylor murder mystery is under way developments are being watched. J. J. Smith said that he remembered the convict and his amazing story, but that he could not remember the convict's name. One of the important witnesses to the Taylor mystery was his butler, Edward Sands, who never has been located. The murder occurred in January [sic], 1922, and after four years of investigation Keyes finally announced on June 3, 1926, that the investigation was closed. It generally was believed that Taylor was murdered by a band of narcotics peddlers or by one of the actresses with whom he was friendly, or by some admirer of one of his actress-friends. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * December 21, 1929 SAN FRANCISCO CALL-BULLETIN Gannon Backs Richardson in Killing Expose The story of a Hollywood "dope" party at which the murder of William Desmond Taylor was planned was told to several state officials by a Folsom prison convict. This was revealed here today by Thomas Gannon, former prison director, who confirmed the statement of Friend W. Richardson, former governor, that state officials at one time had evidence of the murderer's guilt. "J. J. Smith, then warden at Folsom prison, told me that a prisoner there had told him that he knew who murdered Taylor," said Gannon. "One rainy night I and my stenographer and Fletcher Bowron, the governor's executive secretary, went to the prison and with Smith we interviewed the prisoner, whose name I do not now remember. (Bowron is now a superior judge of Los Angeles County.) "We talked to this man just outside his cell and he wouldn't tell us the name of the murderer, although he said he knew it. "He said he himself was a chauffeur for a motion picture actress and he seemed to 'know considerable' about them all. "I rather felt that he was telling this story with the idea of getting out of prison, but I remember that Bowron was very much impressed. "When we returned to Sacramento we told the governor about it and I understood he and Bowron continued the investigation. I know that the governor went to Los Angeles and that when he returned he said that nothing had been done down there. "There were several reasons for paroling the prisoner. Other prisoners had overhead his story apparently. There was danger that he might be murdered. Also we thought that if he were paroled he could furnish more evidence. "I do not remember any of the details, but I do remember that this man told us in detail about the party at which the murder was committed. "All those present were under the influence of dope and someone commented that Taylor knew too much, and it was agreed that he should be murdered." Gannon is now an examiner for the California State Railroad Commission. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * December 22, 1929 LOS ANGELES EXAMINER ...When informed of the charges made by Richardson, [District Attorney Buron] Fitts issued the following statement: "I am just informed of Governor Richardson's statement. Personally, I have never discussed the matter with him. "Since last February this office has been working on the Taylor case. "We have reconstructed the scene of that killing and have built a perfect case, with only one possible connecting link to be filled. "Detectives in this office have scoured the United States to supply that missing point. We would welcome any help or information that could be supplied. The story behind that murder is rather interesting, and I sincerely trust that it ultimately will be brought to light. "(Signed) BURON FITTS." ...District Attorney Fitts said yesterday that his office has been working on the Taylor case for months and that he was prepared to ask the grand jury for an indictment against "a certain person," but that this person fled from the country. He declined to name the "certain woman." ...Captain Ray Cato, chief of the police homicide squad, said yesterday that he still believed Sands was the murderer of Taylor. Cato and Judge Fletcher Bowron, who was secretary to Richardson during his term, told yesterday of the appearance of a convict before the grand jury to testify concerning the Taylor case. This man, they said, told such conflicting stories that this testimony was discarded as worthless... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * December 23, 1929 LOS ANGELES EXAMINER Asa Keyes, convicted district attorney, yesterday struck back vigorously at former Governor Friend Richardson's charges that he had positive proof of the solution of the murder of William Desmond Taylor. Keyes, from his cot in the county jail hospital, where he is recovering from an operation on his jawbone, answered the former Governor's charge--"that Asa Keyes had blocked the prosecution of Taylor's slayer"--in a written statement, in which he directed several pointed questions at his old political enemy. Keyes declared that he is "just a political prisoner, being used by politicians and their supporters as a pawn on the chessboard of politics." "The Taylor murder happened in 1922 while Thomas Lee Woolwine was district attorney of Los Angeles County and while Buron Fitts and I were both deputies in the district attorney's office," said Keyes. "The case was thoroughly investigated by Mr. Woolwine, by the detective staff which he had, by the police department, the sheriff's office, and by every newspaper in Los Angeles and some newspapers in San Francisco, Chicago and New York. "No stone was left unturned either then or since then to uncover the murderer of Taylor. When I became district attorney, and Mr. Fitts was chief deputy under me, we continued to do everything possible along this line. Mr. Fitts assisted in every way at that time in the investigation. Everyone who could shed new light on the case, everyone we thought had been overlooked, was requestioned and the statements of everyone of these people has been left for Mr. Fitts, my successor, in the event any new turns are taken in the investigation. "The statements taken during my regime in an effort to clear up this case cover numerous pages, the requestioning of all persons who were mentioned as principals in the case, the determined search for Edward F. Sands, the valet, the questioning of every person who wrote that they might know something about the case, and everyone else who thought they knew anything of any value. "The purported statement, therefore, of ex-Governor Richardson regarding the Taylor murder case, if intelligently read, speaks for itself. "Reply to the following questions will answer his statement: "1. Why has he remained silent and waited more than three years to reveal that he had 'positive proof' of the guilty party? "2. Why didn't he, as Governor, direct the Attorney-General of this state to investigate and prosecute the guilty party against whom he had such 'positive' proof. "3. Why did he, as Governor, obtain the parole of this witness with such vital information about the killing and allow him to leave the country without putting his information on record? "4. Why did he wait to make this sensational disclosure until the eve of either his or Mr. Fitts' announcement of entering the race for Governor?" Keyes declared further that numerous offers were made by convicts to trade their freedom for "information" and also that various persons all over the country offered to give "valuable information" in exchange for a free trip to California. All these matters were investigated, he declared, and found to be worthless. The effort of some prisoner at Folsom to give information to the district attorney also was investigated by an investigator from the district attorney's office, Keyes declared, and found to be "wholly unreliable and worthless of consideration."... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * December 23, 1929 LOS ANGELES RECORD ...District Attorney Buron Fitts issued the following statement today: "Emphatically, I have absolutely no further comment to make in any respect whatever with reference to the William Desmond Taylor case at this time. "(Signed) BURON FITTS, "District Attorney, L. A. County." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * December 24, 1929 LOS ANGELES EXAMINER The revivified investigation of the murder of William Desmond Taylor, which has been one of the outstanding unsolved mysteries since 1922, yesterday produced the following developments: 1. The probability Mrs. Charlotte Shelby, mother of Mary Miles Minter, may be summoned to the district attorney's office within a few days to make a statement; 2. Issuance of a demand upon District Attorney Buron Fitts by Mrs. Shelby that she be exonerated of any complicity in the death of Taylor; 3. The statement by Superior Judge Charles Fricke, formerly chief deputy district attorney, that an investigation of the slaying caused an open break between Mrs. Shelby and her daughter; 4. Emphatic assertions by most of the officials associated with the investigation that the slain film director's valet, Edward F. Sands, was the actual killer; 5. A pointed denial by Attorney General U. S. Webb that he refused to cooperate with former Governor Friend Richardson in re-opening the murder mystery. District Attorney Fitts' announcement that Mrs. Shelby may be called to his office for questioning was issued shortly after she made public her plea for exoneration... [For the statement by Mrs. Shelby, see Taylorology 81.] ...While Judge Fricke was chief deputy district attorney in the Asa Keyes regime he was one of those who had previously attempted to re-open the murder case. From him it was learned that Mrs. Shelby and Mary Miles Minter reached an open break as a result of the investigation. "I took various statements and directed many persons in a thorough search for evidence that might clear up the murder," said Judge Fricke. "At one point in the investigation an open break occurred between Mary Miles Minter and her mother. We took advantage of this situation to do all the checking possible. "Several other persons were directed to make investigations along certain lines. Although every effort was made, nothing was learned that could solve the case." Asa Keyes, convicted district attorney, stated from his cell yesterday that he questioned and re-questioned numerous people--including Mrs. Shelby-- in his attempts to solve the mystery. "I exonerated no one in the case," he said, "and refused to do so until the guilty person was arrested and prosecuted. "I questioned Mrs. Shelby about several points in the mystery, but her statements threw no new light upon it. She told me in detail where she was the night before the body was found." While former Governor Richardson continued to "stand pat" on his assertions that he had information from a convict that Taylor's slayer was a woman, many police officials re-insisted that all the available evidence points the finger of suspicion at Taylor's missing valet, Edward F. Sands. Herman F. Cline, now retired, was chief of detectives at the time. He said: "Richardson's statement that Asa Keyes blocked the apprehension and prosecution of Taylor's murderer is ridiculous. The convict who told him this story was a dope fiend. Everything possible was done to get at the bottom of the murder and it is my belief to this day that Sands was the murderer." Capt. E. Ray Cato, who was one of the investigators, likewise stated that all the police records point more strongly to Sands as the killer than to any other person. A similar expression was uttered by Captain Dave Adams, formerly in the detective bureau at the time of the Taylor murder and who is now a municipal court bailiff. "I always believed Sands was the murderer," he said. Lucien Wheeler, former chief of detectives for District Attorney Fitts, revealed that he had spent many months in an attempt to re-open the investigation... "We reconstructed the entire mystery," said he. "Everything led back to the same man as the suspected slayer, Edward F. Sands." ... [A lengthy interview with Charlotte Shelby is in Taylorology 6.] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * January 4, 1930 ARIZONA REPUBLICAN Taylor Case Slayer Named by Servant San Francisco, Jan. 3--A prominent San Franciscan and official of a reform organization announced that Henry Peavy had named him the murderer of William Desmond Taylor. Peavy, negro body servant to the slain motion picture director, was the last person except the murderer to see Taylor alive. The young negro's statement to his San Francisco friend and benefactor, according to the latter, was that the testimony he gave at the coroner's inquest in Los Angeles was deleted and incomplete because of implied threats of certain officials engaged in conducting the investigation. Peavy's story as related by the reform official was in substance as follows: "As was my custom, I went to Mr. Taylor to check out at 7 o'clock on the evening of the murder. "Hearing loud voices which I recognized as those of Taylor and another person I knew by sight very well, I remained outside the door. "I stood there for about 10 minutes and then, having an engagement, I knocked on the door and opened it. In the room I saw Taylor and the other person." (The latter was named directly by Peavy to the reform official.) "I told him I was leaving, closed the door and went out. "A limousine with a chauffeur at the wheel stood at the curb outside the house. After a few moments' conversation with the chauffeur, I proceeded downtown to keep my appointment. "It was a rule of the Taylor household that his chauffeur should report in by telephone at any time that he started for home, in order that he might do any errands necessary before retiring for the day. "Taylor's chauffeur told me later that he had telephoned from downtown as usual at 7:20 p.m. He received no response to the call. Arriving at the Taylor house he found it dark, and got no response to repeated rings at the doorbell. "The chauffeur then went to his own home, he told me later. "In the morning the body was discovered in the same room in which I had seen Taylor and the other person arguing the night before." The negro, gaily dressed and intensely nervous, broke down and wept violently while on the witness stand at the coroner's inquest in 1922. He subsequently explained to his San Francisco adviser and confidante that he had deliberately refrained from telling the whole story because of direct and implied threats by the district attorney's office, according to the local reform official. Peavey could not be reached directly here tonight. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * January 6, 1930 LOS ANGELES RECORD San Francisco, Jan. 6.--Otis Hefner, missing key witness in the William Desmond Taylor murder mystery, was found today by the United Press. Hefner is the man who former Governor Friend William Richardson said had revealed to him the name of the person who murdered the famous motion picture director in February, 1922. He is believed to be the man to whom Buron Fitts, Los Angeles district attorney, referred two weeks ago when he said: "We have reconstructed the scene of the killing and we have built an almost perfect case. Only one link remains to be filled." Found by George E. Powers, a reporter for the United Press, Hefner repeated and amplified the disclosures made to the governor and the state prison board secretly in 1926, which resulted in his release from Folsom penitentiary to save his life. These disclosures intended by the governor for presentation to the Los Angeles grand jury, leaked out prematurely and, in the opinion of the state parole board, placed Hefner in danger of assassination at the hands of members of the dope ring in the prison. Found in civil life under another name, supporting his invalid wife and baby, Hefner answered these direct questions put to him by United Press: Q. Do you know anything of the murder of William Desmond Taylor? A. Yes. Q. Do you know who committed the murder? A. Yes. Q. Who was it? A. ----- -----. (He named a motion picture celebrity.) Q. How do you know this? A. I was mixed up along with Edward Sands, formerly employed by Taylor, in a narcotic ring in Southern California. Sands was delivering dope to Taylor. The night Taylor was murdered I went with Sands to Taylor's house. We saw ----- ----- leaving the premises, and a few minutes later Sands discovered Taylor's body. Q. When was this? A. About 2 a.m. on February 2, 1922. Q. Do you know of any motive for the murder? A. Yes, I heard direct threats against Taylor's life because he had turned "rat" and was informing on the dope ring. Also Sands told me that Taylor was in trouble because of his love affairs. Q. Have you ever told this to the officials? A. Yes, in 1926 I made a full statement for Governor Richardson to Thomas M. Gannon and other officials of the state prison board and offered to appear before the Los Angeles grand jury. Hefner, tall, lean and bronzed, asserted that since his release from Folsom penitentiary he had been attempting to re-establish himself as a good citizen. "I'm still willing to go before the Los Angeles grand jury and tell what I know, to clear up this eight-year-old mystery," he said. "I hope it can be done--if it is absolutely necessary--without subjecting my wife to humiliation, and sacrificing the place I've won back by three years of hard work and no play. I don't want to be known as an ex-convict. My new identity is clean. I've worked hard to make it so." His complete statement, made to the United Press and signed by him, is as follows: "I came out of Texas, a green and uneducated young fellow in my twenties, and got in with a bad bunch in Southern California. They were smarter than I was, and altogether too fast company for me, but I was useful to them in doing odd jobs, and I can see now they carried me along to make me the goat. "This clique was primarily engaged in the dope racket. There was a lot of money in it. "They got the stuff off the boats at San Pedro and cleared it through a pharmacy in Los Angeles. "One of these crooks was Edward Sands, who had ostensibly worked as chauffeur and valet for William Desmond Taylor. Actually, Taylor was distributing a lot of 'hype' to people in the movie business, including ----- ----- (again, naming the person he asserted had committed the murder). "Taylor and Sands had a falling out. Taylor left on a trip, and when he returned he publicly accused Sands of robbing his home of clothing and jewelry. Sands didn't make any pretense of working for Taylor after that, but I think the robbery was all the bunk, for Sands continued to deliver dope to Taylor and get his money for it. "Sands must have been about 40 years old in 1922. He was a pretty good sort of a guy, for a crook; he always treated me square and I always got my money on time. "I met him about six months previous to the murder on a movie location in Santa Ana canyon. I was doing some electrical work for the company, and he drove Taylor out in Taylor's car. We got talking and became friends. "Word was passed around in this dope ring after a while that Taylor had turned 'rat' and was tipping us off to federal officials. I heard several conversations in which it was remarked that Taylor would be 'bumped off' if he didn't play square. At first I paid no attention, as a lot of that sort of talk was going around; but they kept repeating it and pretty soon I got really interested and began to think they meant business. "On the evening of February 1, 1922, Sands and I were out at Redondo Beach on a job and saw Taylor and --(naming two motion picture actresses) having dinner in a cafe. "We went back to town and Sands went up to his apartment a few minutes, while I waited outside. He told me when he came down that he had just talked with Taylor on the phone--at Taylor's home--and that we were to deliver some 'hype' to the latter. "Sands went and got a big limousine, which he said was Taylor's and had been loaned to him. He picked up his stuff at the pharmacy, and we drove out to Alvarado street. "This was about 2 o'clock in the morning. We parked the car across the street from Taylor's bungalow court. Sands and I left it and crossed Alvarado street. "There was another limousine at the opposite curb, with a driver at the wheel and the motor going. A woman was coming down the short steps from the entrance to the bungalow court. She was wrapped in a fur coat--either black or dark brown--and I recognized her as ----------. "She passed Sands and me and got into the limousine hurriedly, and drove away. "Sands told me to wait for him on the sidewalk, while he went in with the bundle. He came back almost immediately and hurriedly crossed the street to our car, motioning me to step lively with him. As we left the curb I noticed a man in the bungalow court at the rear, adjoining Taylor's home, but directly facing Alvarado street, open the shutters of a window and look out. I read in the papers afterward that this was Douglas MacLean's home. "When we were in the car, Sands said to me: 'It's time to be going. The old man's got his. He stretched out deader than a mackerel.' "We went downtown and separated. I went to Santa Ana and later to San Pedro. I went back to Los Angeles and next Saturday evening to to find out what was going on, ran into Sands. I saw him the next day, too. He was leaving for San Pedro to take a boat for Mexico, and told me where to reach him at Vera Cruz. "I exchanged several letters with him at Vera Cruz after that. He kept telling me to keep my mouth shut and never mention his name. "Sands did not kill Taylor; I'm sure of that. I don't think he meant to run away when he started for Mexico; I understand he was going down to arrange for more narcotic shipments. "I think Taylor was shot about 1:45 a.m. when Sands said he talked with him on the phone from Sands' apartment, and 2:30 a.m., when we beat it from Alvarado street. "I did not travel with the gang after that, and, having lost the guiding hand of Sands, I got into several jams and was sent to Folsom. At the penitentiary I told something of this to Buck Cook, sent up for that Providence Jewelry and Loan company job in Los Angeles, and he squealed to a prison official. "Thomas Gannon of the prison board then called for me, and asked me what I knew about the Taylor murder. I made a long statement to him in the presence of two other men. It was taken down by a stenographer. I did not sign it. "A week later I was paroled. I didn't know that was going to happen. They told me that the news of my statement involving the dope ring and the Taylor murder had leaked out, and that my life wasn't worth a nickel in Folsom. "I went to my father's ranch in California then, and it wasn't more than a month before some gangster came up from Los Angeles and announced that he was going to 'get me.' I wasn't there at the time. He came close to attacking my father, who had to call the police for protection." Henry Peavey, young negro, who was Taylor's valet following the dismissal of Sands, was quoted Saturday in an exclusive United Press dispatch as to a quarrel he said he overheard between the famous director and a person prominent in the movies. The quarrel, according to Peavey's story, occurred between 7 and 7:30 o'clock the night Taylor was murdered. The person named by Hefner as seen entering a limousine in front of Taylor's bungalow at 2 a.m. was the same one named by Peavey as having participated in a bitter argument earlier in the evening. [A Jan. 7, 1930 interview with Henry Peavey is in Taylorology 69.] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * January 7, 1930 LOS ANGELES TIMES ...At the time of the [1926] investigation Capt. Bell, now inspector of substations, was attached to the robbery investigation detail of the Sheriff's office. Inasmuch as he had done much work on the original Taylor murder inquiry, Bell was sent to Folsom prison to interview Hefner who had let it be known that he knew "all about the case." When asked about the case Hefner steadfastly declined to talk, demanding his freedom, stating that the other convicts would kill him for "squealing," if he remained in prison. Finally he agreed to talk to Sheriff Traeger, according to Bell, and a conference was arranged. "After talking to him I decided that the man did not even know the date of Taylor's death," Bell declared. Capt. People's investigation followed that of Capt. Bell's and resulted in virtually the same findings. "I talked with Hefner in Folsom prison at the request of Sheriff Traeger," Capt. Peoples said. "At that time he had nothing to offer except some information which he said that Sands had given him. There was nothing about it that could be considered evidence." Sheriff Traeger declined to discuss the case in detail. He merely stated that Hefner's story was discredited at the time he first sought official ear.... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * January 8, 1930 LOS ANGELES NEWS ...[Vincent] Clark, who is New Jersey editor of the Philadelphia Enquirer, wired to Fitts as follows: "Information obtained by me and given to the district attorney's office December 19, 1922, checks in detail with recent disclosures carried in press relating to the Taylor murder case. My statement should be on file. Have acknowledgement receipt in my possession signed by Robert F. Herron, Woolwine's private secretary. Can repeat statement if needed. If no more assistance needed from me will release story to press." Herron, who is still a member of the district attorney's staff, said he remembered having questioned Clark but that he could find no record of the statement in the transcript. He was making a search last night of his shorthand notes in an effort to bring the statement to light. After a conference with the Philadelphia district attorney, Clark announced that he would make no further statement except to an agent of Fitts... The detectives were equally incredulous in regard to Peavey's story. "Peavey had every chance to tell his story," said Capt. James Bean, one of the men who worked on the case. "Why, he was the pride of Central avenue. He bought himself a pair of spats and became the most important person in town while the investigation was going on. If he had known any more, I'm sure he'd have told it for the glory of the thing. "There were many who didn't believe at first he was telling all he knew. But after some newspaper boys took him out to graveyard one night and sweated him over a grave stone and couldn't get anything more out of him, even they were satisfied." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * January 8, 1930 Lyle Abbott LOS ANGELES HERALD "The investigation of the murder of William Desmond Taylor developed no evidence in any way implicating Mabel Normand or Mary Miles Minter." In an exclusive interview today this declaration was made by Superior Court Judge William C. Doran. He, as chief deputy district attorney following the shooting to death of the motion picture director, Feb. 1, 1922 was in direct charge of the investigation. For eight years and in numerous past and present revivals of the Taylor murder mystery, an unnamed "motion picture actress," has been stated in interviews to have been the slayer of Taylor. Judge Doran was asked specifically if he could be quoted as saying that the investigation under his direction had exonerated the two former famous film stars, who were close friends of the director. "I do not feel it would be proper," Judge Doran replied, "for me to say exactly that, for it would be a personal opinion. I will reiterate, however, that there was no evidence to indicate either of these two young women participated in the crime." Miss Normand is in a sanitarium near Los Angeles in a critical condition from pulmonary trouble and for several months her death has been momentarily expected. Miss Minter left her palatial apartments in Los Angeles a week ago and is now in a hospital at Santa Barbara, Cal., for what is said by her friends to be a nervous breakdown. Judge Doran said he had interviewed all the persons in the Taylor case who "could have known anything of importance about it." "Their statements," he said, "were all preserved in writing. Among those I questioned were Miss Normand, Miss Minter and Mrs. Charlotte Shelby, Miss Minter's mother. "The evidence was so limited that if someone would come forward and confess the murder, he would have to produce corroborative testimony before his confession could be accepted. He would be compelled to substantiate his confession by other credible testimony in order to secure his own conviction!" Judge Doran said emphatically: "And that, in my opinion, would include even William [sic] F. Sands."... "I checked all the movements of all who were in any way connected with Taylor," Judge Doran resumed. "They included Sands, Mrs. Shelby, Miss Minter and Miss Normand. "I questioned Henry Peavey, Taylor's negro houseboy, very thoroughly. He had nothing of a conclusive nature to say regarding the murder. All of his story was collateral, after-the-fact material. "This is not the first time that it has been reported that the murderer of Taylor has been discovered. The report has always created the greatest sensationalism. And each time the story has been proved to be pure fiction. "All of these reiterated blasts of suspicion have been duds. If that language may be permitted me to use. "The case has been revived for discussion more times than I can remember. Always there has been a repetition of old stories, a dressing up in new garb of the figures in the Taylor murder mystery. "And while known persons have been in the case, the central figure has always been some unnamed, ghostly personage, designated in the press by blanks or asterisks, or referred to only as 'that film celebrity' or 'this noted actress.' "There were three principal motives under investigation. "It was said the crime was committed by a dope ring. But not one particle of evidence was found to connect any of the principals--the dead man or those we questioned--with a dope ring. "Love and jealousy were considered. The only way these emotions entered was through the admissions of Miss Minter. She sat in my office the day after the murder and confessed unashamedly that she loved Taylor. "We studied revenge, and the revenge motive was found only in connection with Sands. Sands worked for Taylor and he ran away. Taylor had threatened his arrest, had filed charges of theft. "Miss Normand was questioned by me at a time when she was completely off her guard. Under the conditions, if she had known anything about the Taylor murder, the truth would have come out. "I had two years service as chief deputy district attorney after the Taylor murder. In these years I had every opportunity and used it, to follow up every clue, sane or otherwise. "The net result is that I believe to this day that the Taylor case belongs among the unsolved crimes mysteries of the world and the chances are good that it will remain there." ...Judge Doran reflectively visualized the scene of the crime in Taylor's two-story bungalow court apartment. "Taylor's unlocked home and his way of living without a retinue of servants made it comparatively simple for his slayer to enter his bungalow, shoot him and get away without leaving a single clue. "Escape unseen from the bungalow was all that the murderer needed to make the Taylor shooting a 'perfect crime.' And we have had evidence that Miss Normand, Miss Minter, Peavey and the other known friends and attendants did leave before the shot was fired." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * January 9, 1930 LOS ANGELES EXAMINER Birmingham, Ala., Jan. 8.--An amazing description of the murder of William Desmond Taylor, Hollywood moving picture director, was told here today by a man who described himself as an eye-witness to the shooting. The man, whose identity is kept secret and who described himself as a "racketeer," told his story to the Age-Herald and is being held by Birmingham police awaiting word from District Attorney Buron Fitts at Los Angeles. The man, who is identified by the newspaper as "John Doe," declared in the statement that he was in the Taylor home, hiding behind a piano, at the time of the shooting. He had entered the home, believing it to be another, the statement said. After telling how he entered the home through a butler pantry and was surprised by a noise...the self-styled racketeer in his statement said: "The only place of hiding I could find was behind the piano, which sat diagonally across the corner on the opposite side of the room. I ducked in behind it and William Desmond Taylor entered the room in which I was hiding and (a woman's name was given here) was a few steps behind him. "Taylor sat down at a desk of old Colonial style." The statement said the woman sat in a chair four or five feet distant and that the pair discussed books and things of a commonplace nature. Then the woman took her leave, the statement went on...Taylor came back and began working at some papers. A negro servant came next, the statement reads, and asked if there was anything more for him to do that night. He was dismissed by Taylor. Next followed the details of a purported entry of the room of a person who Taylor reprimanded for appearing in a "masquerade" and how the person, a woman, replied defiantly. "I got the impression," the statement continued, "that he had told her to stay away as he seemed pretty hot." A demand for money was issued by the woman, according to the statement, and then followed a description of the woman lifting up the pant legs of the trousers and revealing a mark, just above the woman's knee. A check was given the woman, which she tore to bits, the statement said. Later, on the point of leaving, the man said that he heard a shot and turned to see a smoking gun in the hands of the woman. Shifting his position, the narrative continued, he turned to see Taylor on the point of sliding from his chair to the floor and described the position of the body. The statement tells of the hiding man's hurried examination of the desk in the room and how, when leaving, he stumbled over something on the floor. "This article," the statement said, "is still in my possession and I can and will produce same at whatever time required." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * January 11, 1930 LOS ANGELES RECORD ..."We have established the fact to our own satisfaction that the gun was held not further than two inches from the body when the trigger was pulled," Investigator King said. "We made numerous other tests with a gun on material from the suit Taylor was wearing, and reproduced exactly the powder marks and burns when we held the weapon two inches away. "It is probable that Taylor was entirely unaware of his danger. The murder was done in cold blood. "We know from witnesses who recently have made sworn statements that Taylor was seriously worried over certain matters, which apparently resulted in his death."... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * April 4, 1930 LOS ANGELES EXAMINER Ex-Actress Loses 30 Pounds Since Jan. 1 Within three months time Mary Miles Minter, former film star, has practically regained her youthful figure. The remarkable change of appearance in the blonde actress was discovered yesterday by The Examiner when a reporter chanced to meet her in Santa Barbara, where she is spending the winter. Under the care of a dietician, coupled with her own determination to reduce, Miss Minter has lost more than thirty pounds since New Year's Day. She hopes to remove twelve pounds more. The former star is not seeking to return to the films. "I have so many other interests now that I have given pictures but little thought," she said. It took much coaxing to overcome her reluctance to pose for a newspaper photograph. She explained that all her dresses were now much too large--"and not only that, but you should wait until I lose another twelve pounds, and then my figure will be just where it was before I started to take on weight. Miss Minter lives alone in a luxurious hillside home on Mission Ridge, Santa Barbara's multi-millionaire mountain top colony. Last Tuesday she celebrated her Twenty-eighth birthday. She is warm in her praise of her physician, whom she credits with bringing the amazing change in her appearance. "It is simply a matter of scientific understanding of body chemistry," she explained. "There is nothing unusual about my diet. I have plenty to eat, play tennis and other wholesome outdoor sports, hike, dance, play chess and above all, I stay happy." ***************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************** Mary Miles Minter vs. CBS In 1970, CBS broadcast "Rod Serling's Wonderful World of Crime". Contained within that show was a brief mention of the Taylor murder. Mary Miles Minter subsequently filed a lawsuit against CBS requesting damages for invasion of privacy. The case went to trial as the case of O'Hilderbrandt [sic] vs. Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. From the TV broadcast transcript: "We are inclined to feel nostalgic about anything old, including crime, and especially murder. Murder is the unlawful taking of human life with malice aforethought. It is forbidden by the sixth of the Ten Commandments, and though some crimes are held equal to it, none is more blameworthy. Yet the act of murder is at the core of our most enduring literature. From the story of Genesis to the story of Hamlet, in literature as in history, we not only tolerate murder, we relish it. The locality of a murder, as soon as the mists of time have closed in on it, becomes a special place. The deed itself becomes an historical event. And the murder an historical figure. There is no such historic figure in the murder of William Desmond Taylor. No murderer was ever caught, nor does the murder scene exist. It did exist on South Alvarado Street, in Los Angeles, but has since been murdered by a shopping center. The victim was a movie director of the kind likely to arouse warm feelings in some women, and jealousy. His name was linked romantically with Mabel Norman[d], ingenue of the Mack Sennett Comedies, but he had other strings to his bow; it was no secret that Mary Miles Minter considered herself engaged to William Desmond Taylor. Miss Minter was the first star ever to sign a million-dollar contract, and since her mother, Charlotte Shelby, was still the guardian of the girl's wealth, she did not view her daughter's impending marriage with any great favor. Nor could Miss Norman[d], who was still in the warmest terms with Taylor and whose picture set next to his bed inscribed 'Oh, My Dearest!' At any rate la dolce vita came to an end for Taylor one February night in 1922. He was left on the floor of his Alvarado Street apartment the worse for a .38 slug. A shrouded figure was observed by a neighbor running from the scene. It could have been a man. It could have been a woman. Today, forty-eight years after death and funeral, no one knows which it was. Given the choice, both police and posterity like to think it was a woman." The program then proceeded to discuss the murders committed by Louise Peete and Winnie Ruth Judd. On the witness stand in the trial, Mary Miles Minter recalled watching the program on February 15, 1970: "... and it went on and on for a while and then ... I couldn't believe my eyes, there was a strip of five pictures like something either cut out or imposed upon the white TV screen and the frames oval, not quite round, five women's pictures' heads in those frames. The first was Winnie Ruth Judd, the second, cute little Mabel Normand, the middle one was me as I looked just after I met Mr. Taylor, the next one was ... my mother, Charlotte Shelby, innocent of any harm to him, and here was Louise Peete -- we used to see her wheeling Mr. Jacob, I think, Denton, he had a house on the same corner as we did near the Ambassador Hotel, to say hello. ... he was found in fresh cement in his basement. There was Winnie Ruth Judd, a real murderer, Louise Peete, a horrible murderess. ...My feelings were utterly outraged and all of the love I felt for that man, desire to have him live, came back overwhelmingly, it hurt me deeply. ... The suggestion and the suspicion of murder that -- with this vicious attack upon me that I was cast in the false and unspeakably cruel light of having been the actual perpetrator of his murderer -- I mean of his murder, me, me of hurting him! To say it distressed me, I will say that because it's a quiet word, it did a great deal more than that, I have never been the same since. It gave me a terrible dread, most people I know liked me, loved me, and I loved them, I couldn't expect total strangers to have any confidence in me if I was an uncaught murderess who had gotten away with something. It gave me a dread of what the public would think of me and my own neighbors next door all around me. ..." The judge ended the trial with a "nonsuit" judgement, dismissing the lawsuit. Minter appealed to the California Court of Appeals, and the original nonsuit judgement was upheld on June 28, 1974. Minter petitioned to the California Supreme Court for a hearing, but that petition was denied on August 21, 1974. For fuller details of the Appellate Court ruling, see http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=7870576482004228060 ***************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************** Back issues of Taylorology are available on the Web at http://www.taylorology.com For more information about Taylor, see WILLIAM DESMOND TAYLOR: A DOSSIER (Scarecrow Press, 1991) *****************************************************************************