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Taylorology Issue 81
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* T A Y L O R O L O G Y *
* A Continuing Exploration of the Life and Death of William Desmond Taylor *
* *
* Issue 81 -- September 1999 Editor: Bruce Long bruce@asu.edu *
* TAYLOROLOGY may be freely distributed *
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CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE:
Review: "Balboa Films"
"Balboa Films": Response from the Authors
Charlotte Shelby's 1929 Statement
Mary Miles Minter's "Engagement" to William Desmond Taylor
Reporting the Taylor Murder: Day Ten
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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
toward reprinting, referencing and analyzing source material, and sifting it
for accuracy.
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Review: "Balboa Films"
We were eagerly awaiting publication of the book BALBOA FILMS: A HISTORY
AND FILMOGRAPHY OF THE SILENT FILM STUDIO, by Jean-Jacques Jura and Rodney
Norman Bardin II (McFarland, 1999). We were hopeful that it would throw some
additional insight into William Desmond Taylor's professional or personal
life during the time that Taylor worked for Balboa, from June to November
1914. Unfortunately, although the book devotes nearly ten pages to Taylor,
it adds nothing of significance to his historical record and contains a
number of inaccuracies. The book's authors relied heavily on Giroux's book
A DEED OF DEATH for the Taylor material, and were evidently totally unaware
of WILLIAM DESMOND TAYLOR: A DOSSIER (which had an appendix listing errors in
Giroux's book--Taylor's first Balboa film was not "The Awakening," and when
Taylor left Balboa he went next to Favorite Players, not to American Film).
Also, the Taylor/Balboa filmography in BALBOA FILMS is less accurate and less
inclusive than the the Taylor/Balboa filmography in WILLIAM DESMOND TAYLOR:
A DOSSIER. BALBOA FILMS even scrambles the dates when Taylor was working for
Balboa, erroneously dating a clipping which supposedly places Taylor with
Balboa in January 1914, during which time he was actually living and working
in Santa Monica, for Vitagraph. Probably the book's biggest omission
regarding Taylor is failing to mention that Taylor directed the feature "Rose
of the Alley", starring Jackie Saunders. (One contemporary source crediting
Taylor was reprinted in TAYLOROLOGY 74.) BALBOA FILMS states that Taylor
directed "The Awakening", and "A Great Secret", but we have never seen any
contemporary information crediting him with either; on the contrary, we saw
clippings that Edwin August was directing his own Balboa films, and in all
Taylor's extensive personal publicity he never claimed to have directed Edwin
August. Those two films were also not mentioned in the Taylor filmography
researched by Alan Gevinson. On the other hand, in addition to "Rose of the
Alley," Gevinson's filmography for Taylor included "At Police Headquarters,"
"Reformation," and "The Cost of Crime" (possibly all three were different
working titles for the same film), none of which were mentioned in the BALBOA
FILMS book. BALBOA FILMS devotes most of its Taylor pages to Taylor's life
story and the murder, which occured seven years after Taylor left Balboa, and
repeats other inaccuracies found in A DEED OF DEATH.
Our hope was that BALBOA FILMS would fill at least a gap or two
regarding Taylor's career at Balboa. Instead, BALBOA FILMS represents a step
backward in Taylor scholarship. (Of course the book has considerable value
in non-Taylor aspects of film history.)
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"Balboa Films": Response from the Authors
A copy of the above review was sent to the authors of BALBOA FILMS, and they
responded with the following letter, which is included here with their
permission.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Dear Mr. Long,
You are very kind to have given us notice of your review before making it
public. Obviously, you are a gentleman who believes in fair play. In this
response, Mr. Bardin joins me in thanking you for the opportunity to make a
few remarks on behalf of our book BALBOA FILMS.
First of all, the purpose of our book has been to document a missing chapter
in film history. Till now, most film historians have considered Balboa
Studios minor as a pioneering film plant. In time, our book might very well
change that perspective. To that purpose, we have written the first and only
book on Balboa, while making bold claims about this forgotten jewel of the
silent era, inviting our readers to rediscover the rich contributions and
innovations that took place at the Long Beach film plant, between 1911 and
1922. Secondly, we also wanted to showcase some of the key figures at
Balboa, like William Desmond Taylor, using their fascinating careers as
examples to make this history come alive.
Of course, it goes without saying, that we wish we had known of your research
earlier. You are definitely the expert par excellence on William Desmond
Taylor, as we consider ourselves the experts on Balboa Studios. In any case,
research on both Balboa Studios and Taylor complement each other. In other
words, our book and your web site, along with your publications, help promote
each other, enhancing Taylor's reputation through his association with
Balboa, where he got his start as a film director.
Most unfortunately, we did not come across your book during our research.
While doing research at various venues, we combed diligently through the
Balboa scrapbook, spending many weeks at the Historical Society of Long
Beach, and that scrapbook became our greatest resource in making specific
additions regarding Taylor's debut as a director, during his tenure at
Balboa. At the time, apart from the scrapbook, we only had Giroux's book on
Taylor, A Deed of Death, which barely mentioned Taylor's association with
Balboa Studios.
For example, from the scrapbook, p. 105, we learnt that William Desmond
Taylor was director for A Great Secret, a three-reel drama (White Star), made
for William Fox, released October 19, 1914. On the same page in the
scrapbook, I found an unidentified article that gave the plot to the story.
You can find this filmography entry in our book on p. 217.
In addition, on page 201 in our book, we explain that the same scrapbook,
p. 101, provided us with Taylor's name as director for The Awakening, a
three-reel drama (White Star), released October 5, 1914, made for William
Fox, the same page providing us also a lengthy summary of the story. Here,
in our filmography entry for The Awakening, we also refer to Robert Giroux's
A Deed of Death, and included there Giroux's notion that Taylor made his
directorial debut with this film.
Furthermore, thanks to your notices to us, we are now aware of a discrepancy
in our book about a date concerning Taylor tenure at Balboa--January 16,
1914. We too had found in the scrapbook, as you also noted, Taylor's joining
Balboa in the month of June, 1914 (p. 45 of the scrapbook, page 82 in Balboa
Films). I also have another article from the scrapbook out of the L. A.
Tribune, dated January 16, 1914, about the trip with Taylor, Saunders,
Manning, et al. to Chatsworth Park. When I return from my trip, after July
22, 1999, I'll go back to the Historical Society to verify the date for that
trip to Chatsworth Park. As you said "January 16, 1914" doesn't jive with
the timeline of Taylor's tenure at Balboa, starting in June, 1914.
As you include in your MS Word file via e-mail [containing the Taylor-at-
Balboa portion of WILLIAM DESMOND TAYLOR: A DOSSIER], we also had stated in
our book that Taylor was the first Vice President of the Photoplayers Club.
In fact, by carefully gleaning the scrapbook, we had all the same films in
our filmography as you listed--The Criminal Code, Rose of the Alley, The
Judge's Wife, An Eye for An Eye, Tricks of Fate, Dividing Walls, A House
Divided, The Man with the Green Eyes, except for our inclusion of The
Awakening and A Great Secret, and except for our exclusion of the titles you
include--The Price of Crime (or The Cost of Crime), Reformation, and At
Police Headquarters. While we included in our filmography Rose of the Alley
and a summary found in the scrapbook, we had not identified it as having had
Taylor as director, and the same is true in our listing of The House Divided,
though we were happy to discover that Rose of the Alley was one of the
scenarios written by Jackie Saunders. In brief, we used the resources in
the scrapbook thoroughly and cautiously, happy to be able to identify so many
works associated with Taylor at Balboa, but as you might remember, some bits
and pieces of the same film were scattered in many parts of the scrapbook.
Consequently, you have meticulously gleaned some details we had omitted about
Taylor's work embedded in that scrapbook, but then our filmography does
include most of the same details, as well as fresh bits of information
retrieved from the same scrapbook not made public for 85 years, until the
publication of BALBOA FILMS.
I suspect there is more that could be said about the adventure of putting
this book together, a true labor of love, including the years of deep
digging, while sifting and putting together many tiny grains from scattered
sources. Mr. Taylor was a fascinating romantic figure, associated with
Balboa's meteoric success, and Taylor was a complex personality, "a director
extraordinaire," who merited the ten pages we devoted to him. You may have
noticed we converted about five of those ten pages into a screenplay to
create a filmic touch in our treatment of Taylor. Frankly, we wanted to
honor Taylor as a key director in early Hollywood who deserves much attention
and more research to follow, beyond his tenure at Balboa. To that purpose,
in the bigger picture of our complete history of Balboa Studios, we hope also
to trigger more reader response, like your own. We only regret we didn't
know earlier of your voluminous work on Taylor, since, together, our combined
research and publications provide much that corroborates, with the shared
goal of promoting further study into the fascinating pioneers of early
Hollywood, those brave 'sailors of fortune' who transformed Southern
California into the film capital of the world.
Sincerely and gratefully yours,
Jean-Jacques Jura & Rodney Bardin
Co-Authors of Balboa Films
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Charlotte Shelby's 1929 Statement
In 1929 Charlotte Shelby made her first public statement regarding the Taylor
murder. It was reported in the press as follows:
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
December 24, 1929
LOS ANGELES EXAMINER
...[Statement by Charlotte Shelby:]
"After seven years of silence, I now unsolicited give my first published
statement regarding reference made to me in connection with the death of
William Desmond Taylor.
"I feel in justice to myself, my name, my integrity, my rights as a
citizen of the United States, that I must express my indignation at the
injustice done me.
"I returned from Europe, after three and a half years spent in search of
health, on November the seventeenth of this year.
"I am glad to be in Los Angeles, now that the Taylor case is reopened,
as my name has been published as one of the possible suspects concerning
Mr. Taylor's death.
"I have been maligned, and by innuendo, directly or indirectly,
implicated in connection with the tragedy.
"There is not one single word of truth in anything that has been said
concerning me with the case, nor has any public official the slightest
evidence which would serve in any way to prove, or even indicate that I ever
did have, or now have information which would lead to the arrest of the
person responsible for Mr. Taylor's death.
"There was reference in the newspapers Saturday intimating that the
district attorney's office sought to connect with the Taylor case 'a person
who had left the United States.'
"If this refers to me, I am here and desirous of a full investigation
and vindication of my name and to stop the circulation of insinuations that
have been repeatedly made that I am one of four persons implicated.
"I have nothing to conceal. I am willing, and always have been, to talk
to any authorized person from the district attorney's office, and will repeat
to the district attorney what I am saying now, if he wishes to see me.
"In 1926, when my name was first connected with the case, I made
requests on Asa Keyes, when he was district attorney, to issue a statement in
justice to me.
"I made this request through my attorney, and it was after the greatest
difficulty that Mr. Keyes consented to see me, and then upon his own
conditions--that is, he would not receive me in his office, nor in any public
place, nor with the knowledge of the press.
"I told him of my every action the day preceding the tragedy, and of the
following day of the tragedy, and of the day following.
"I told Mr. Keyes where I had spent the evening and with whom.
"My attorney and I invited his questioning me, thereupon demanding a
statement vindicating me.
"His statement was promised within three days, but I was unable to get
this satisfaction.
"I now appeal as a woman of honor and integrity, one who never wronged
anyone, contrary to all reports to the public, for justice and to clear my
name of slander and misrepresentation.
"I am now reestablishing my home in Los Angeles.
"I feel I have a right to live peacefully and enjoy the confidence and
respect of my fellow men."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
December 24, 1929
LOS ANGELES TIMES
...Mrs. Shelby declared in her statement that, at her request, she had
made a complete statement of her connection with the case to Asa Keyes, when
the latter was District Attorney.
"That statement was taken down by a reporter and took the form of an
official document," she declared last night. "It explains my every movement
at the time the murder was committed. It was taken in the presence of
Attorney John Mott and Mr. Keyes and, I presume, is a matter of record in the
District Attorney's office.
"Despite rumors, all my dealings with Mr. Taylor before his death were
almost exclusively business. I only met him socially on one or two
occasions. I discussed business with him, as he was my daughter's director.
I was naturally interested in the scenarios of pictures she was to appear in
and read them with Mr. Taylor. He was present on one occasion when he gave a
dinner to the cast of a picture in which Miss Minter was appearing. Outside
of this, I knew nothing of Mr. Taylor's private life. I did not know his
friends. I have no knowledge nor any opinion as to who may have killed him.
"Although I freely gave my statement to the authorities, from time to
time innuendos have appeared that I was 'implicated' in the case. I resent
that and believe that the time has come to insist on my complete vindication.
I waited at home all day today hoping that Mr. Fitts would call me and grant
me an interview, in order that the matter may be settled for once and for
all. The call did not come, but I still believe that the District Attorney
will grant the justice that is due me."
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Mary Miles Minter's "Engagement" to William Desmond Taylor
In a written statement made in 1923, Mary Miles Minter stated that
although she wanted to marry Taylor, he had never asked her to marry him--
they were NOT engaged. She stated:
"We were never engaged in the sense that he had asked me to marry him
and I had promised. I had always hoped that sometime we would be married.
But I had planned in my own mind--never with Mr. Taylor--that as soon as I
had made enough money so that mother and sister could be assured of a
comfortable income for the rest of their lives--that perhaps we would be
married. But not engaged in the sense of wearing a ring, or of telling
one's friends of an intention to marry or of telling my mother. Marrying
Mr. Taylor was just my dream--a dream which, voiced to film, always met
with the answer that it was impossible." [Los Angeles Times, August 15,
1923]
Yet in 1937 interviews, she stated that she "had been honorably engaged to
marry him" (Taylor) and that they had become engaged on September 6, 1919.
[See TAYLOROLOGY 74.]
On the surface, it would appear that these contradictory statements
cannot both be true; either she was engaged to Taylor or she wasn't. Either
the first statement distorted the truth or the second statement was only her
fantasy. But perhaps further clarification can be found in a statement she
made in the 1960's, wherein Minter described a conversation she had with
Taylor:
"[Taylor said:] 'I know your mother fears I shall take you away from
her. If she only knew, I'm her greatest ally, because with the
discrepancy of our ages I'm not the right person for you. I love you more
than anything else in the world, but I'm all too aware of the fact that
I'm old enough to be your father. You want a home, a family of your own,
a rural setting. Give yourself a fair chance. I love you enough to want
your happiness above my own.' I told him that no thing, no amount of
years or younger men or anything on earth would change my love for him.
He looked at me a long, long time and finally said: 'Mary, you are my
little white rose--I want you, I love you with all my heart and soul. Now
listen earnestly to what I have to say. If you will really try to let
some more suitable man capture your heart but by the time your contract is
finished have not done so, then by the living God, I am going to claim you
for my own. But this I require of you--that you give yourself a fair
chance.' We sealed the pact with a kiss."
If the above statement is essentially accurate, then it gives additional
insight into her relationship with Taylor, and would explain the earlier
statements. If indeed Taylor made that statement, then it could easily be
viewed both ways, depending on her state of mind when looking at the memory:
(1) they were never engaged (since Taylor never asked her to marry him),
(2) they were indeed engaged (since Taylor promised her that if she followed
those instructions then he would marry her after her contract expired).
Of course, even if Taylor made that statement, it does not prove that he
meant it. He could well have been playing for time, figuring that in the
next few years Minter would hopefully fall in love with someone else, someone
closer to her own age; and that this statement would spare her the anguish
(and tantrum) of an actual break-up between Minter and Taylor.
Needless to say, this is all just idle armchair speculation.
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Reporting the Taylor Murder: Day Ten
Below are some highlights of the press reports published in the tenth day
after Taylor's body was discovered.
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February 11, 1922
Frank Bartholomew
PITTSBURGH SUN
Los Angeles, Feb. 11--District Attorney Woolwine, leading the manhunt
for the murderer of William Desmond Taylor, was believed to have struck the
straight trail today.
From out of the conflicting, tangled mass of evidence and suspicion the
chief investigator emerged with three theories as to the three unknown
quantities in the case--the assassin, the instigator, and the motive.
The slayer--now believed beyond all doubt to be the mysterious figure in
muffler and cap seen leaving the dead director's home on the evening of the
crime, lurked behind a clump of bushes while Taylor talked with Mabel Normand
on the sidewalk before his residence, according to fresh evidence in
Woolwine's hands today.
The instigator--believed to have been a wealthy, jealous rival of
Taylor, has been under constant surveillance by the police, and the sifting
of statements of stars and leading lights of the film world yesterday at the
district attorney's office, pointed still more directly to this young man.
The motive--which at first thought to be have been blackmail, has been
definitely established as jealousy, the district attorney's office is
convinced.
With these three leads, the district attorney's office was today
definitely launched in an attempt to establish the theory that the murder was
committed by order of a wealthy Easterner, jealous of an actress. Facts
regarding three other suspects have been temporarily shelved, and all efforts
are being concentrated upon evidence that will convict or exonerate the man
in question...
The fact, disclosed by testimony reiterated in the confines of the chief
investigators' private office, that Taylor had recently been considered as
interfering in certain love affairs of the motion picture world here,
strengthened the investigators' belief that a young man, maddened by
jealousy, plotted his death.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 11, 1922
Mabel Normand
LOS ANGELES RECORD
"My Own Story" by Mabel Normand
Film Star Writes Story of Last Visit with Slain Movie Director
This is my own story of just what happened on the night of my last visit
to William D. Taylor, the evening of February 1.
In response to a telephone call left by Mr. Taylor at my home during the
afternoon of the day he was killed I stopped at his house between 7 and 7:15
in the evening.
The purpose of my call was to pick up a book which Mr. Taylor had
purchased for me that afternoon, knowing particularly that I wanted it.
He had already sent one book to my home but had requested me to stop for this
one, which I assumed he had purchased later.
Upon my arrival I was let in by Henry Peavey, Taylor's valet, who
informed me Mr. Taylor was conversing with someone over the phone. In a few
moments after my arrival Mr. Taylor said good-bye to the party with whom he
was conversing and left the telephone.
He greeted me. He had just finished dinner and his man had cleared away
the table but he asked me if I would not let him have something prepared for
me or go out to dinner with him later. I declined, explaining that I was
tired and that I had an early studio call to make the next morning.
I said that I intended to go home early, have dinner and go to bed.
For 25 minutes Mr. Taylor and I sat discussing various books and photoplays.
About 20 minutes to eight, I prepared to start for home. Mr. Taylor
walked with me to where my car was parked at the curbing.
There was a copy of the "Police Gazette" in the car which he noticed.
He chided me for having it in my possession, remarking that Freud, Haeckel
and Nietzsche were hardly compatible with such literature.
After an exchange of repartee for a few minutes, I finally bade him good
night and directed by chauffeur to drive me home.
Before I left, Mr. Taylor promised to phone me at my home within one
hour. He never did.
As William (my chauffeur) pulled away from the curb I looked back and
saw Mr. Taylor standing there, gazing after me. I waved my hand.
That was the last time I ever saw Mr. Taylor alive.
Within a few minutes I was at my home. I retired, having dinner served
to me in bed about 8:15.
The first knowledge I had of Mr. Taylor's death was when Edna Purviance
phoned me the following morning about 7:30. She told me that Mr. Taylor's
valet had been seen rushing from Mr. Taylor's home, screaming that his master
was dead.
I have no idea who killed Mr. Taylor or what was the reason for his
death.
I would only be too proud to announce the fact had I been engaged to
Mr. Taylor, but such a statement would not be true.
I held Mr. Taylor in highest esteem, regarding him as a very learned,
cultured gentleman, with whom any woman might be proud to associate.
Mr. Taylor and I had much in common and during the long period of our
friendship I had made a study of the French language and philosophy in which
I had been interested for some time. I am also interested in these things
now.
So far as revealing the contents of any letters written by Mr. Taylor to
me or by me to Mr. Taylor is concerned I have no reason to fear any
consequences which might result from such disclosures except the natural
embarrassment of having personal correspondence revealed to the public gaze.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 11, 1922
Eleanor M. Barnes
LOS ANGELES RECORD
"No Woman in Taylor Case"
"Find Sands!"
This laconic suggestion of Mrs. J. M. Berger, income tax specialist, is
the solution of the William Desmond Taylor murder mystery.
"No doubt of it in my mind," said Mrs. Berger, a young business woman,
with a wealth of bronze hair, and brown eyes. "Edward F. Sands is the man.
I am sure."
Mrs. Berger opened her mail as she talked about the motion picture
director who had called at her office in the H. W. Hellman building just a
few hours before he was slain in his bachelor apartments.
"He was here in the afternoon to attend some business," she explained.
"I help not only motion picture folks but many prominent business men on
their income tax returns."
"Had he expressed a fear of Sands?" Mrs. Berger was asked.
"Yes, he had talked about his former valet-secretary's forging his name,
and about the 'Alias Jimmy Valentine' note that he had received.
"I did not know Mr. Taylor intimately--only in a business way, but I
knew some of the most intimate details of his business which I have told to
the district attorney in an effort to clear up the mystery.
"I swooned at the inquest. I am sorry I gazed at his body which was the
color of his khaki suit.
"I do not think there is a woman in the case.
"Why--" her white hand pointed to a large picture of Mary Miles Minter
that was hanging on the wall of her room.
"Of course little Mary loved Mr. Taylor--who didn't? We all loved him.
He was one of God's gentlemen, and he was far above the average in politeness
and intelligence, from what I saw of him.
"I had spent many, many hours with Mr. Taylor, but I had never heard of
an enemy, except Sands. If the police find him surely, if he cannot explain
his whereabouts on that night, he should be questioned carefully.
"Now, little Miss Mabel Normand is a fine girl. Of course my dealings
with her have been purely business, but I think from what I have seen that
Miss Normand was very worth while. Of course, Mary Miles Minter is only a
child.
"Her letters, published, are purely those of a very young girl, and as
Mr. Taylor said, 'a child.'
"I had asked him how she was on that day he called here and he said 'she
has a touch of tonsillitis and temperament,' and that was all there was to
it.
"I cannot believe a woman had anything to do with it. As to his
changing his name--well, Billy Taylor may have had a reason, I do not know.
If he had had an unfortunate experience in his life, perhaps he wanted to
forget it.
"I only know that he was a perfect gentleman, and that I hope the police
never rest until they apprehend the assassin who robbed the world of such a
fine man."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 11, 1922
LOS ANGELES RECORD
Sands' Dog Points Way to Arrest
A high-bred Airedale dog bounded into the Taylor mystery Saturday and
started investigation along a new line which may result in locating the
murderer.
The dog was either given away or sold by Edward F. Sands shortly before
he left the employ of Taylor.
Men intimately acquainted with Sands' peculiarities say that he was very
fond of this animal and that he would never have parted with it except to
some one in whom he had implicit confidence.
If the present owner can be found considerable light will be thrown on
Sands' recent activities, it is believed.
Interesting theories regarding Sands were advanced Saturday by neighbors
who had observed his conduct while he was in the motion picture director's
employ. One of these neighbors, a woman of high intelligence, announced she
had reached the conclusion that Sands is not the guilty person.
"He appeared to me," she said, "to be a big healthy animal, lazy,
selfish and mindful first of his personal comfort. I gain this impression
not only from what I have heard, but from what I have observed of the man as
he passed our home daily. Men of the type Sands apparently was do not murder-
-murder would mean mental discomfort and these men think first of their own
well being."
This woman was greatly impressed by the theory that blackmailers had
been at work. She was of the opinion that letters that had fallen into the
hands of professional blackmailers may be an explanation of the mystery...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 11, 1922
SAN FRANCISCO CALL
Los Angeles, Feb. 11--...District Attorney Woolwine, who has a national
reputation for fearlessness in conducting the affairs of his office, is
working from seventeen to eighteen hours a day on the case, despite the fact
that he has not been a well man for several months.
Sometime ago he was stricken with ptomaine poisoning and later he
suffered an attack of grippe. He had not entirely recovered from this when
the trial of Arthur C. Burch, accused of the murder of J. Belton Kennedy,
reached its height. He received another setback and had to let assistants
handle the case a few days. The prosecutor was so weak he could hardly stand
when he made his final pleas to the jury in the Burch case.
He is conducting the Taylor murder inquiry in a well formulated manner
and, although sessions are held in secret, it is known that they are much
like court sessions.
It is the belief of newspaper reporters that a prominent motion picture
producer may be one of the next persons summoned to appear for questioning
regarding his knowledge of Taylor and his associates. Other widely known
film stars also are scheduled to appeared before the investigators....
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 11, 1922
LOS ANGELES EXPRESS
...Meanwhile the police were searching for L. D. Dailey, alleged
roommate of Walter Thiele at 333 East Fourth street, to question him
concerning the slaying. Dailey, the police assert, is the owner of a blood-
stained cap found in Thiele's room. The alleged connection of the two men
with the case is being closely guarded by the police.
Thiele was arrested early this morning by detectives from central police
station. He is accused of committing a burglary on the night the murder
occurred and is being held in the city jail on that charge.
Back of it all, however, the police intimate, is the theory that the man
has information in his possession which would prove of value to the probe of
the mystery. He is scheduled to appear first before Capt. David L. Adams of
the police detective bureau, before deputies in the sheriff's office and
finally before District Attorney Thomas Lee Woolwine.
Questioned at police headquarters early today, Thiele said that he had
come to Los Angeles about three months ago from Placerville, Cal. He was
planning to return to his home when he was arrested.
Relative to the blood-stained cap in his possession he said that the
article belonged to Dailey, a man that he described as a "hasher out of
work." He became acquainted with the man about three weeks ago, he stated,
and had offered him lodging in his own room...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 11, 1922
LOS ANGELES HERALD
...Rumors that Miss Normand went to the Taylor home to force Taylor to
return her letters were branded as "vicious falsehoods" today by Charles
Eyton, general manager of the Famous Players-Lasky corporation.
"These stories will be retracted or I'll know the reason why," Eyton
said.
"Miss Normand went to Taylor's home that night to get a book. She
didn't try to get her letters until after the murder had been committed.
I was in his home after the inquest with the public administrator when she
called and asked for them.
"There is a tendency on the part of certain interests to dish dirt about
a man who cannot now defend himself against scandalous insinuations. They
shall retract this particular statement or I'll know the reason why."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 11, 1922
LONG BEACH TELEGRAM
A woman, middle aged and of the quiet, intellectual type, known to have
been deeply in love with William Desmond Taylor, slain film director, while
actresses showered him with affectionate attentions, was expected to be
called to the district attorney's office to be questioned today in an
entirely new, and important phase of the investigation of the mysterious
murder.
Taylor's tragic death, it was stated, caused the woman to go into
seclusion and deep mourning. The woman's name was withheld, but it was
learned that she was known in filmdom as a scenario writer.
The unrequited love of the woman for Taylor, it was learned, extended
over a period of years. No suspicion is directed against her, but
investigators believe she may be able to throw light on Taylor's life which
may reveal a tangible clew.
A theory that Taylor may have been slain by blackmailers was revived
today when it was reported that the district attorney's office had been given
new information suggesting that he was killed because he tried to defend a
motion picture actress from whom blackmailers had attempted to extort money.
It was reported that the actress had appealed to Taylor for protection
from a gang of blackmailers whose headquarters are believed to have been in
New York, but whose operations were nation wide in scope. It was regarded as
a possibility that the director may have defied the blackmailers--a move that
may have resulted in his death.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 12, 1922
Edward Doherty
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Los Angeles, Feb. 11--...The report that the movie interests are not
only trying to block the investigation but are also trying to complicate the
mystery by injecting new mysteries, new theories, new angles into it,
persists in spite of all denials...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 12, 1922
NEW YORK TRIBUNE
Los Angeles, Feb. 11--Four detectives are guarding a house in West
Fourth Street, this city, tonight, awaiting the coming of a man who will be
arrested and charged with the murder of William Desmond Taylor. The man
sought is the man from whom Walter Thiele, arrested as a suspect in the
Taylor case last night and released, obtained a bloodstained cap--a cap such
as was worn by the murderer of Taylor
The police declare the man for whom they are waiting is a drug addict.
They have asked that his name be withheld until the arrest. They have
searched his home, and declare they have evidence to connect him with the
slaying.
It was stated that the detective department also believes that one of
the most important persons in the film world, whose name has not even been
whispered in connection with the murder, and one who had a motive unsuspected
until today, is involved in the murder.
Joe Nolan and Al Manning, of the Sheriff's office, also are working on a
new angle in the case, it is said, and another woman star is involved...
Henry Peavey, Taylor's servant, was questioned by Woolwine late this
afternoon. Woolwine had been told that Peavey was seen talking to a rough
looking man back of the Taylor house in Alvarado street a few nights before
the murder. Peavey was brought in by two detectives. He remained closeted
with the inquisitors for some time and came out smiling, saying he had told
every thing he knew.
Asked about the "rough looking man," he said he didn't know anything
about him--he wouldn't associate with any rough characters. This is the
second time Peavey has been taken to the district attorney's office...
Sands, Taylor's secretary, is still being hunted. He is reported here,
there, everywhere. He is said to have been Taylor's brother. He is said to
have been this shadowy personality and that. But the murder charge prepared
by the District Attorney's office, some time ago, has not yet been lodged
against him, and this is thought significant.
A plausible new theory which came to Woolwine's attention overnight was
that Taylor was killed because a woman haunted by blackmailers had confided
in him and they feared him. This actress, twice arrested, is said to have
paid tolls on folly for years, and to have gone to Taylor, hoping he could
protect her. The blackmailers are said to have been part of a band of opium
runners, supplying the woman with drugs and taking her money under threats of
exposing her.
The actress had been a drug addict for years, was in the depths, was out
of the picture game for a time. And she made a desperate "comeback." She
went to an eastern sanitarium and remained there until the luster came back
to her eyes, the tint to her cheeks, the ambition into her system. She
returned to the studios and made a smashing success in her first picture.
But the blackmailers and the venders of narcotics kept after her, gave
her no peace. Taylor was her friend. She had heard he was an adventurer, a
soldier, a miner on the Yukon, a man not afraid to use guns, and one who knew
how to use them. So, it is thought, she told him her troubles and he agreed
to protect her.
In this connection, it may be recalled that Taylor, speaking of
blackmailers, once said, "The only way to get rid of them is to kill them."
Since Taylor's death, it is said, the victim of the gang, nervous,
lonesome, desperate, has again taken to the drug.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 12, 1922
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Los Angeles, Feb. 11--Miss Gene Ross, silhouette artist, who lives in
the Ambassador hotel, gave this afternoon a word silhouette of William D.
Taylor. She had regarded him she said, as a man of drab personality, a
camouflage man who fitted into the background, whose clothes were somber,
dull, colorless, whose conversation was quiet, vague and submerged.
But on the Saturday night before his death, she says, she noted a change
in the man. He had come to her studio in the Ambassador hotel with Miss
Claire Windsor.
And while Miss Windsor was looking over the studies in black an white,
Taylor paced the floor, nervous, fear in his manner, his walk, the tension of
his hands. She knew he was afraid of something, she said. He paid no
attention to either herself or his companion, yet he seemed to wince and
stare when persons passed by the door.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 12, 1922
Edward Doherty
NEW YORK NEWS
Los Angeles, Feb. 11--A dozen Wall Street explosions, with the
assassination of a President thrown in, could scarcely shock the good,
average, decent, movie-going, hero-worshipping people of America as have the
all but unbelievable revelations of this last week.
In the cities with their first-run publics, just as at the crossroads
where only one night a week is movie night, the gods and goddesses of the
silent drama have been accepted for years at the face value of the flawless
characters they invariably are cast to portray.
Disclosures attending the Arbuckle investigation and trials were taken
mostly with a shrug. Save for the surviving principal--and he a professional
buffoon, a funny man from whom one would no more expect nobility in private
life than in the pictures--those involved were comparative unknowns.
But in the quagmire bared by detectives delving into the mysterious
murder of William Desmond Taylor, one of the greatest of the great among
directors, are floundering stars held in international esteem--the strong,
the brave, the surpassing fair, the innocent, the guileless, the very man
whom fans would have sworn by, the very girls for whose reputations tens of
thousands of ardent though distant admirers would have fought at the drop of
a hat.
Beyond quibble or question the "dirt" is out.
After having built up motion pictures to the position of the nation's
fifth industry, after having uplifted scores of possessors of pretty faces
into the financial clouds, the country has awakened with a shock to the
realization that virtue is only screen deep.
To all who read the newspapers has been vouchsafed a glimpse behind the
screen. Fans of yesterday stand figuratively at the peephole, shuddering yet
spellbound...
William Desmond Taylor himself was the guiding spirit of one of the
weird Hollywood cults. That was the discovery which brought the "dirt"
deluge.
In the movies Taylor, supremely well-educated, a cosmopolite, made his
mark as an artist. The pictures he directed brought him fame and a salary of
$38,00 a year. On that income nothing was unattainable. It would appear he
might have wed filmland's premier comedienne or the sweet-faced little girl
with the blonde ringlets who numbers her undeclared lovers by the million.
But it seems that Taylor preferred the bachelorhood he had regained by
flight. Edward Sands, his first valet--now sought in connection with the
murder--was more his intimate than his servant. Sands resented his
employer's off-hand attentions to women.
Harry [sic] Peavey, the big Negro who succeeded to Sands's situation,
proved another of the same sort. He was a male soprano. He dearly loved to
do fancy work.
The police learned that Taylor had frequented strange and vicious places
where drug addicts gathered, chiefly recruited from the blase element of
Hollywood, actors and actresses who had wearied of their fabulous salaries--
who affected to be wearied even by adulation...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 12, 1922
LOS ANGELES EXAMINER
While members of the local police and detective departments were running
down every available clew in the probe into the mystery murder of William D.
Taylor, noted film director, two representatives of a nationally known
detective agency recently assigned to the case were engaged in a thorough
quiz of every person living in the court in which the director formerly
lived.
And Mrs. M. S. Stone, mother-in-law of A. W. Wachter, of 412-A South
Alvarado street, gave one of the most interesting recitals that has yet come
to the attention of officers. She said:
"I was walking slowly up Alvarado street, going to the home of
Mr. Wachter for dinner."
Mrs. Stone lives at the Duke Apartments on South Carondelet street, and
frequently goes to the Wachter home for dinner, generally walking north on
Alvarado street from Westlake Park to the latter home.
"As I crossed from the west to the east side of Alvarado street, at
Sixth, I saw a man standing on the corner, apparently waiting for a car. But
he didn't board the car that came along, and as I was rather nervous about
walking up the street in the dusk, I waited momentarily on the corner."
The man stopped in front of the Hotel Alvarado, according to Mrs. Stone,
and transferred something from his left hip pocket to the right hand pocket
of his coat.
"Then he started rather aimlessly up the hill, on Alvarado street,"
Mrs. Stone continued.
"I walked on behind him, and when he reached Maryland street he turned
north out of Alvarado."
Maryland street is the one that runs directly behind the apartments
occupied by Taylor.
Mrs. Stone said that when she noticed the man at first she said to
herself that he would have been well dressed except for the fact that his
suit did not appear to fit well at the collar--that it bulged uncertainly in
the rear, and that his collar was not visible.
"At that time," Mrs. Stone said, speaking of the man's turning into
Maryland street, "I thought it might have been Taylor's chef."
She knew Edward F. Sands, Taylor's former valet and chauffeur, as his
chef, having seen him in the court at various times wearing the white cap
common to cooks. But this man was taller.
She described the man she had seen as being 5 feet 9 inches in height,
wearing a dark suit, tan oxfords and dark socks. Also, she said, his hair
was dark, that his neck and earl lobes were thick and his skin ruddy. She
said he wore a cap, although she could not distinguish whether it was plaid
or checked. But she did not get a good look at his face when she first
encountered him.
Later in the evening, after Mr. and Mrs. Wachter had left the house, she
took little Lynette Wachter, her granddaughter to bed. Just as they were
mounting the stairs, about 8 o'clock, she though she heard a pistol shot, but
fearing to frighten her charge, she did not mention it. But after arriving
upstairs, she went to the window and looked out.
"I had a strange feeling," Mrs. Stone said, "and thought at the time
that I was glad my daughter lived on the south side of the court, because of
the shrubbery on the north side.
Mrs. Stone said that Mr. and Mrs. Wachter had returned home about 11:30
o'clock in the evening.
N. J. Harrington, of 408-A South Alvarado, threw further light on the
case, and also added to its mystery.
Last August, he said, he was returning home after dark one night. After
putting his car in the garage, he passed the house occupied by Taylor and saw
a man peering into one of the windows which was not fully curtained.
"He was about 5 feet 9 inches in height," Mr. Harrington said, "about 30
years of age, and weighed about 160 pounds. He had regular features and was
dressed in a gray suit and cap. No, it was not Sands. I had seen him too
often in the court to mistake him."
And on the Monday preceding the murder--
When Harrington again walked by the Taylor home, he saw two men at
Taylor's front door. They apparently had rung the bell and when no one
answered, they were talking between themselves on the veranda. One was much
smaller than the other, and one wore a cap, the other a hat.
Mr. and Mrs. W. B. Lawrence of 400-A South Alvarado also told an
interesting story.
The family was downstairs on the evening of the murder until about 8:30
o'clock, when Mrs. Lawrence went to the bedroom upstairs.
"My husband said he heard a short conversation--portions of it--a
woman's laugh, a man say good-by, and then a car driving away," Mrs. Lawrence
said. Their apartment is the nearest in the court to Alvarado street.
"That is all we know."
But about a week before Taylor's murder, Mrs. Lawrence said she went
home alone one night, before 7 o'clock, and saw two men loitering behind
their home.
And several days previous to Taylor's death, a man came to the Lawrence
home inquiring for Taylor.
"He looked enough like Taylor to have been his twin," Mr. Lawrence said.
Miss Edna Purviance, film actress, who lives at 402-A South Alvarado, in
the house next to the one occupied by Taylor, said:
"I was not at home the night of the murder, so of course I did not hear
or see anything unusual."
She explained that she and her mother had been away from home until
about 11:45 o'clock.
"Reports in the newspapers that I tried the door and rang the bell at
Mr. Taylor's home, when I noticed lights burning there, are false," Miss
Purviance said.
"There is nothing unusual to me in the sight of lights burning in a
private home at midnight, and I certainly did not try to enter the house that
night."
E. C. Jessurun of 406-A South Alvarado, and owner of the court, admitted
that he had heard the shot which it is believed ended Taylor's life.
"I had been ill for about three weeks," he said. "My wife and I were
talking and reading when I heard the report.
"I sat up, hearing the noise, but figured it was only an automobile back-
fire, so lay down again."
Vern Dumas of 408-A South Alvarado said that he noticed one of the
window curtains in Taylor's home slightly awry when he came home the night of
the murder. He walks home directly by the Taylor house, through an areaway,
after putting his car in the garage.
"But I didn't notice particularly," he said: "It looked as if a table
had been pushed against it."
Both Dumas and H. H. Lewin commented on the preciseness with which
Taylor's body was arranged on the floor.
"It looked as if he had been laid out in a coffin for burial," both
said.
Then came an interview with A. W. Wachter of 412-A South Alvarado.
He said that on Thursday night, more than a week after Taylor's murder,
a Marmon coupe had driven up in front of the entrance to the court.
Wachter is in the automobile business, and says he can tell the make of
a car by the hum of its engine.
"The engine remained running," Wachter said, "but the lights were turned
out. A man ran to the door of Taylor's home and rang the bell, but when no
one responded, he ran back to the car, jumped in, the lights were flashed on,
and the car sped away."
Wachter said that the night before the murder he had seen Mabel Normand
and Taylor get in a coupe and drive away.
On the night of the murder, he said, he was away from home from before 8
o'clock until about 11:15 or 11:30, but that about 4 a.m. on February 2 he
had risen and looked out the window, noticing the lights burning in Taylor's
home.
C. A. Fitzhenry, a friend of Wachter, who visited him frequently, told
Wachter that on several occasions, upon leaving the court, he had seen a man
in a black overcoat and black Fedora hat standing at the corner of Maryland
and Alvarado streets.
Mr. and Mrs. S. G. Buckner of 412-B South Alvarado street, also told an
interesting story.
They were at a dancing party on the fateful Wednesday night, they said,
and did not return home until about 4:30 o'clock Thursday morning.
"We noticed the lights then," both said, "burning in Taylor's home."
They thought nothing of it, however, but when Mr. Buckner arose at 6
o'clock to investigate trouble with their hot-water heater the lights were
still burning.
"I thought it strange at the time," he said.
Later they were awakened by the screams of Henry Peavey, Taylor's negro
servant.
"He was running about the lawn and walks, screaming that Mr. Taylor was
murdered," Mrs. Buckner said.
Mr. Buckner hurried over to the house, being one of the first to arrive
there. He also was the man who notified the police of Taylor's death.
"I noticed and commented on the fact that the body was laid out
precisely," Mr. Buckner said.
"The cuffs and collar were straight and his clothing not disarranged at
all. I thought it strange at the time that a man murdered should fall in
such a position."
Mr. Buckner noticed that Taylor's wrist watch, just visible below the
cuff at his left wrist, showed the hour as being just 8 o'clock when he saw
it. He said he thought the watch was still running.
And Douglas MacLean, of 406-B South Alvarado, told one of the most
interesting stories of all.
Mrs. MacLean was the one who saw the mystery man leaving the Taylor
house just after the shot was fired.
Her description of the man has been given time and again, and both say
that they have been bothered greatly by detectives and newspaper men,
repeating over and over the same story.
"Mrs. MacLean and I had just finished dinner," Mr. MacLean said.
"The night being rather chilly, I had gone upstairs to the bathroom, to
get a small electric stove we have there, and bring it downstairs.
"I heard a report like a shot, but thought it merely an automobile
backfiring.
"Mrs. MacLean also heard it. She went to the door and glanced around.
She saw the man on Taylor's porch. He was standing with the screen door in
his hand, apparently looking about. He then turned back to the door as if
speaking farewell, and after doing so left the porch, walking down the walk
toward Alvarado street. No, he didn't run, nor did he seem hurried."
Mrs. MacLean said she did not see the man's face. In fact, it's rather
hard to distinguish anyone at that distance in the court, because of the
peculiar lighting system.
And Mr. MacLean, to demonstrate this fact to the detectives, went from
his house to the porch of the Taylor home and posed in the same manner as the
man whom his wife had seen.
"Mrs. MacLean thought nothing of the incident," he concluded, "and we
started playing dominoes together, doing so for some time before retiring."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 12, 1922
LOS ANGELES TIMES
A man suspected by at least six police investigators of having first-
hand knowledge of the slaying of William Desmond Taylor, internationally
known film director, has been identified by the detectives working on the
case and by some of the witnesses questioned by Dist.-Atty. Woolwine in the
past few days, and his arrest is believed to be a matter of hours.
This was indicated by Captain of Detectives Adams when he admitted that
several places where the suspect is expected to appear were guarded by his
officers yesterday. The man's name is known to The Times, but is withheld at
the request of the authorities.
A belief that the suspect may be the man who killed Taylor was
strengthened yesterday following an all-night investigation of facts
uncovered Friday.
The man, the officers now believe, is the owner of the blood-stained cap
found by the police and has been in hiding since the night of the murder.
His actions have been traced sufficiently to convince a number of the
investigators that he was either implicated in the slaying of Taylor or is
withholding some important information. His home in an apartment-house on
West Fourth Street was searched by the officers armed with a search warrant
early yesterday morning.
Later the search for the man shifted to a downtown location and out of
town.
"The man is in town, we are certain of this," one of the detectives on
the case said early yesterday morning. "We know all about his actions, and
as soon as we can lay our hands on him we will place him under arrest on the
charge of murdering William D. Taylor."
That the officers are on the right track was indicated by the fact that
the cap found by the police was taken to the District Attorney's office and
there exhibited to Miss Mabel Normand and William Davis, her chauffeur,
shortly before midnight Friday. Immediately after the reported
identification of the cap the officers left the District Attorney's office
with orders to arrest the suspects.
The arrest of Walter Thiele by Detectives Lloyd and Roberts on the
charge of suspicion of burglary had only a remote connection with the
investigation concerning the suspect. The officers admit that Thiele may be
able to give them some information about the man, but stated emphatically
that Thiele had no knowledge of the crime or anything directly connected with
it.
Henry Peavey, colored valet for Mr. Taylor, was summarily called to
Dist.-Atty. Woolwine's office late yesterday following the discovery of new
and important information regarding the murder. Peavey had previously been
questioned at considerable length in Mr. Woolwine's office by Chief Deputy
Doran.
The valet arrived at Mr. Woolwine's office shortly after 8 p.m.
yesterday and was closeted for a considerable time with the District
Attorney, Mr. Doran and officers of the police department and of the
Sheriff's force.
The instructions for the officers to bring Peavey to the office where
the investigation into the murder mystery has been centralized came shortly
after a new witness had been in long conference with the officials.
The witness, whose name was said by Undersheriff Biscailuz and Deputy
Sheriff Nolan to be Henry Britt, but which was signed by the young man as
Edward F. Arto, was taken to Mr. Woolwine's office from Sheriff Traeger's
headquarters. He refused to give his name to newspaper men.
Mr. Arto, as he signed himself, said he overheard a conversation either
the night of the murder or the night before between Peavey and another man
regarding Mr. Taylor's affairs. The nature of the conversation aside from
that Mr. Arto declined to divulge, but he believed the information of value
to the investigators.
Mr. Arto was going to the home of some relatives near the Taylor
apartments on South Alvarado street about 7:10 p.m. when he heard the two men
talking. He gave a rather vague description of the strange man but said he
was an American apparently, wore a cap and aroused Mr. Arto's sus[....(gap)]
stated. Peavey strenuously denied that he held any such conversation.
The Taylor home faces south into an apartment court and the rear of the
building is flush with the sidewalk on Maryland street. It was at this point
that the conversation took place, the witness stated...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 12, 1922
LOS ANGELES TIMES
Santa Barbara, Feb. 11--"The Whitney family have the greatest respect
for Miss Mary Miles Minter, we are good friends, but we know of nothing that
would throw light on the killing of William Desmond Taylor, who was Miss
Minter's director in Santa Barbara," said H. R. Whitney, whose wife,
Charlotte Whitney, was Miss Minter's secretary.
Efforts to see Mrs. Whitney failed, because she was with friends, and
the family said would not be back tonight, that they did not know where she
had gone.
The talk developed that a member of the Los Angeles Sheriff's office was
here two days ago and had a long talk with Charlotte Whitney in connection
with the associations between Mr. Taylor and Miss Minter, but "he could get
nothing of importance, because Mrs. Whitney knew nothing," the husband said.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 12, 1922
BOSTON ADVERTISER
Los Angeles, Feb. 11--The startling theory was advanced by some of the
investigating officials tonight that the actual assassin of William D. Taylor-
-$85,000 a year movie director--was employed by a powerful man in the motion
picture industry.
It is their theory that the assassin may have been checking up on the
film directors' movements for several nights before his opportunity came to
strike the death blow.
These officials go so far as to speculate that the man who may have
employed the assassin was so well known that he could not afford to be seen
near the house when the crime was committed.
If, in fact, a certain man powerful in the motion picture industry is
found to have been involved, then it will occasion no surprise amongst the
police who are checking up on him that he should have employed an assassin.
Against this it is contended that no man, particularly one in the
position of the magnate referred to, would risk placing himself within the
powe
r of the other.
However, it is pointed out that men have employed assassins before this
and that it proved to be very much against the interests of either class to
expose the other.
It is because of the probability that inquiries are being made of
private detective agencies of the city, especially the more obscure and least
reputable, to find if their operatives were ever employed to watch Taylor
and, if so, by whom.
It will be remembered that on the morning following the murder the
tracks of a man were found in the alley, and nearby were several cigarette
ends. It was concluded then, and the supposition has never been disproved or
discounted by any evidence secured since that time, that the man who stood
there long enough to smoke six cigarettes was watching Taylor's house.
Dwellers in the vicinity saw another man two nights before the murder.
His attention was centered on the Taylor home.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 12, 1922
Oscar Fernbach
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
Los Angeles, Feb. 11--Has Mabel Normand, film actress, who last night
was grilled for nearly four hours by District Attorney Thomas Lee Woolwine in
his quest for light on the murder of William Desmond Taylor, told all that
could in any way have a bearing on the mystery?
This was the question uppermost in the mind of Woolwine today as he
resumed his investigation of the killing of the film director.
The district attorney is not yet prepared to answer it in the
affirmative.
It developed today that during the quizzing of Mabel Normand, Woolwine
was in great measure actuated by the theory that Taylor may have been slain
by some blackmailer from whom he was trying to shield not himself, but the
actress.
A supposition which bears no mean weight is that Miss Normand, during
her last sojourn in New York, was made the objective victim of a blackmailing
gang--perhaps that of "Dapper Dan" Collins, who with another man and two
women is believed to have been in Los Angeles just a few days before the
murder.
Miss Normand, the theory goes, may have confided her troubles to Taylor.
If she had, the firm director might have been engaged in an effort to rid her
of her persecutors and might have defied them.
Nothing was stated by Mabel Normand last night, in answer to Woolwine's
questions, to support this theory. But before much time has elapsed Woolwine
will again interrogate the film star.
Today she was in a highly nervous state, the result of the long
inquisition of the night before. But to all inquiries she repeated
steadfastly: "I have told absolutely everything I know."
Outside of his proposed further investigation along this particular
line, the district attorney, it was learned today, will summon to his office,
Mrs. Julia Crawford Ivers, the well known scenario writer. Mrs. Ivers was a
warm friend of Taylor's and was admittedly an ardent admirer of his great
intellectuality. She had worked in conjunction with him at the Morosco
studios, at the time when Taylor was directing Constance Talmadge. Since
Taylor's death, Mrs. Ivers has been in practical seclusion, denying herself
to all interviewers.
Woolwine does not believe that the scenario writer has any knowledge of
the immediate circumstances that resulted in the murder of Taylor but is said
to feel that Mrs. Ivers may have received the confidence of the director on
matters relating to his past, and that some detail may furnish a base upon
which to build more than merely a plausible theory of the causes that led
ultimately to the killing in the Alvarado Street bungalow...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 12, 1922
Pauline Payne
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS
Los Angeles, Feb. 11--That the shadow of an assassin's murderous weapon
may have fallen across the drab life path of William D. Taylor as early as
the Saturday night prior to his slaying was revealed tonight by Gene Ross,
the beautiful young silhouette artist whose studio in the Ambassador hotel
was visited by the director on that evening.
Declaring that he came to her studio, accompanied by Claire Windsor,
motion picture girl, Miss Ross, in a dramatic and graphic manner, described
today for the first time the strange actions of the victim in the sensational
mystery.
"I had always considered Mr. Taylor the most colorless individual I had
ever known until last Saturday evening--a man o' the mists as far as his
personality was concerned--but he seemed on that farewell meeting like a man
gripped by a terrible and dread fear.
"Biting his lips, he paced the floor, back and forth--back and forth--
with an endless monotony--while Miss Windsor examined some of my studies in
black and white.
"Nervous, absent minded, haggard, and acting in a most peculiar manner,
he seemed to shrink from even the shadows of passersby, until my attention
was attracted to his unusual actions.
"Always dressed in gray in the night time, and in khaki tones usually
about the motion picture 'lots,' Mr. Taylor had often impressed me as being a
man who was an adept at submerging himself into any background.
"Even his way of walking was quiet and unobtrusive. Quiet like a
camouflaged man, or so, he seemed to me, so remarkable did he succeed in
obliterating his own individuality both physically and mentally.
"Yet on that Saturday night--the last time I ever saw him alive--Mr.
Taylor stood out most vividly because of the overhanging sense of horror or
secret fear, which seemed to have mastered him.
"I used to know Mr. Taylor quite well, while I was sketching art titles
for the Famous Players. We frequently met on the studio lots. And I have
often marveled at the drabness of the man.
"Being an artist, I suppose the lack of color in both his attire and
personality struck me more forcibly than his other associates. He should
have dressed in dark blues or blacks, or some decided color, but instead of
that he was continuously in what I called to myself his camouflage tones--
gray and khaki. Not even a bit of jewelry or a striking cravat to relieve
the dullness of his costuming."
According to the analysis of the murdered director, made today by the
young artist, Mr. Taylor's appeal to women rested fundamentally upon that
very ability to submerge his own personality and exaggerate the individuality
of those with whom he came in contact.
"Mr. Taylor was never in the least forward with women," said Miss Ross
today. "In fact, he was rather diffident. But I believe that the secret of
his attraction to women was that he was ever ready to talk of them, of their
interests, of their achievements, their hopes and ambitions.
"Then, too, Mr. Taylor was a man of profound culture and could discuss
art, music, the drama, literature or politics with charming facility.
"It is a noteworthy fact, however, that he never referred to his own
past life, his own interests, hopes or fears in his conversations with
others.
"A man of great poise, that Saturday night, first time I beheld him with
the veil stripped from his face perhaps. And I beheld then a man evidently
under a ghastly strain of some sort--a man with taut nerves. Even his voice
was changed. Usually he spoke in a calm, colorless, beautifully modulated
voice, but that night his remarks came in jerks."
Was it on this night that the "man o' the mists" beheld the shadow of
his assassin's murderous weapon, raised for the fatal blow?`
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 12, 1922
A. Chester Keel
SHREVEPORT TIMES
Los Angeles, Feb. 11--...The man whose testimony had let to recalling
Peavey, Taylor's negro cook-valet, to Woolwine's office has been dubbed the
"secret man." The district attorney's office gave out his name as Frank
Britt. Investigation reveals that his true name is George F. Arto. Why the
district attorney wishes to conceal his true name has not been learned.
Arto told Universal Service that he was calling on a neighbor of
Taylor's sometime between 7:30 and 8:15. He passed in the rear of the
bungalow court to reach the house as has been his custom. Just short of
Taylor's home he said he saw Peavey talking to a short, heavyset man.
Peavey was questioned for nearly an hour. After he had been dismissed
Woolwine said that he had not divulged anything new.
Peavey denied Arto's statement. He said that he did not talk to any
person let alone a man such as Arto described.
The district attorney apparently despaired of a solution of the case
today. Immediately after dismissing Peavey, he called in all the detectives
working on the case. It was the second conference of the day and lasted
until after 5 o'clock. At the conclusion, Woolwine was asked whether he
planned to question witnesses tonight. He said that he did not think so.
Woolwine indicated, however, that he would resume the investigation
tomorrow.
Public Administrator Frank Bryson may bring suits, if necessary, against
a number of leading persons in the film world to recover thousands of dollars
loaned to actresses and others by Taylor. In his checkbook were found many
stubs on which was written "loan." The amounts on these stubs total
thousands of dollars and indicate that Taylor was a man of great liberality.
A revelation of the day was the amount of "crank" letters written to
persons interested in the case. Mabel Normand has received on an average of
100 a day. Most of them were from movie "fans" who expressed great sympathy
for her. One was from the vice president of a bank in Texas, which she
prizes very highly.
Captain of Detectives David L. Adams has received the most curious
assortment. They range from those giving advice to others containing
"confessions." One man wrote from Wisconsin "confessing" that he had killed
Taylor. He even described the murder.
Investigations by county detectives virtually eliminate the son of a
wealthy eastern family. He established an alibi...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 12, 1922
FRESNO REPUBLICAN
Roused from early morning slumbers and dreams of traps filled with fur
animals, Harry Sanborn, 37, trapper, prospector, adventurer, hermit, early
yesterday morning satisfactorily proved to Sheriff W. F. Jones, Deputy
Collins, and three representatives of The Republican that he was not Edward
F. Sands, former valet of William Desmond Taylor, murdered Los Angeles motion
picture director.
Reports received in Fresno late Friday night stated a man whose
description tallied with that of the sought Sands was living in a hovel in
the San Joaquin river bottom, two miles from Lane's bridge and 17 miles from
Fresno...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 12, 1922
LONG BEACH PRESS
That there was no woman connected with the mysterious murder of William
Desmond Taylor, veteran film director, is the belief of Mrs. J. M. Berger,
income tax specialist who assisted the slain man to make out his tax report a
few hours before he met his death.
Mrs. Berger's clientele includes many prominent movie people mentioned
in connection with the Taylor case. She knew Taylor, Mary Miles Minter and
Mabel Normand well.
She volunteered information on the business of life of the slain
director to District Attorney Woolwine today.
"There's no doubt in my mind that Edward Sands, the fugitive ex-valet of
Taylor, was the murderer. Taylor mentioned to me on the afternoon of his
murder that he was forced to keep close watch on his personal checks since
Sands had forged his name on several occasions."
Taylor is said to have mentioned the fact to other friends that Sands
could imitate his handwriting, with almost flawless precision.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 12, 1922
SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER
Los Angeles, Feb. 11--The private stock of liquor, declared to be of
excellent brands and almost rare in the days of prohibition, that was found
in the home of William Desmond Taylor, murdered film director, today
furnished a problem for the government officials.
The liquor, under the strict "dry" law of the country, cannot be turned
over to the heirs of the slain director and may have to be destroyed.
Public Administrator Frank Bryson brought the matter to the fore by
applying to the local prohibition officials for a permit to remove the liquor
stock from the Taylor residence to his office.
It was stated the permit likely would be granted, but that the liquor
may have to be destroyed later unless an order is issued in federal court
permitting its donation to some hospital for medical purposes.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 12, 1922
Thomas Lee Woolwine
NEW YORK AMERICAN
Los Angeles, Feb. 11.--In the William Desmond Taylor case, the police
officers have been busy night and day working upon various theories, and the
statements of a great number of persons that we thought might tend to throw
some light upon this mysterious killing have been taken by the District
Attorney.
We are, of course, but little beyond the very threshold of the
investigation, but I must say that so far nothing has developed that gives us
the slightest intimation as to who perpetrated the ghastly deed.
In all my experience I have seldom if ever come in contact with any case
that is so devoid of substantial clues. There remains a great deal to be
done, and we can only hope from day to day that this situation may change.
I have been informed that articles have been carried by the public press
outside of the city of Los Angeles to the effect that the police authorities
are not using their best endeavors to unravel this mystery, but from daily
contact with officers working on the case I have never seen any intimation of
such an attitude upon the part of any of them.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 12, 1922
SYRACUSE POST-STANDARD
Saratoga, Feb. 11--A film starring Mary Miles Minter, actress whose name
has appeared in the Hollywood murder mystery surrounding the death of William
Desmond Taylor, has been canceled at one of the leading motion picture
theaters here.
In addition, the manager announced, films showing either Mary Miles
Minter or Mabel Normand will be banned until both actresses have been
satisfactorily cleared of all connection with the murder case.
The Minter picture was to have been the feature of next week's bill.
It had been advertised and announced throughout the city. But this evening
the manager of the theater decided he would not show it.
He said that the banning of the films did not mean that the theater
interests considered Mary Miles Minter and Mabel Normand have more
explanations to make in the murder scandal, but that because their names have
figured prominently as being possibly in love with the murdered man it was
thought best to keep them from the limelight until their connection with the
case has been cleared up.
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Back issues of Taylorology are available on the Web at any of the following:
http://www.angelfire.com/az/Taylorology/
http://www.etext.org/Zines/ASCII/Taylorology/
http://www.silent-movies.com/Taylorology/
Full text searches of back issues can be done at http://www.etext.org/Zines/
or at http://www.silent-movies.com/search.html. For more information about
Taylor, see
WILLIAM DESMOND TAYLOR: A DOSSIER (Scarecrow Press, 1991)
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