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Taylorology Issue 69
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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 69 -- September 1998 Editor: Bruce Long bruce@asu.edu *
* TAYLOROLOGY may be freely distributed *
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CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE:
Retraction: The Drug-Addicted Scenario Writer
Henry Peavey Accuses Mabel Normand
Testimony of Margaret Shelby Fillmore
Letter from Marjorie Berger to Mary Miles Minter
Public Response to the Taylor Murder
Mabel Normand and the Police Gazette
Reporting the Taylor Murder: Day Eight
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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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Retraction: The Drug-Addicted Scenario Writer
TAYLOROLOGY 22 presented some clippings which indicated that a drug-
addicted scenario writer was being sought for questioning in the Taylor
murder. At that time, we concluded that the unnamed individual was Harry
Williams. Contemporary clippings reprinted in TAYLOROLOGY 22 stated that the
person was (1) a former well-known song writer from New York; (2) had been a
gag and scenario writer for Chaplin and Arbuckle; (3) was a drug addict, as
was his wife; (4) was a drug seller. No clippings had associated Harry
Williams with drugs. However, Williams was a former New York song writer who
was quite well known, having written "In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree" and
"Mickey", among other songs. In Hollywood, Williams had worked as a gag
writer for Arbuckle and for Keystone, and he was married. So we had
concluded that Williams was probably the individual referred to; it seemed
unlikely that another well-known song writer would so closely fit the
description. Well, we were wrong. The drug-addicted scenario writer was NOT
Harry Williams.
The clipping below indicates that Vincent Bryan was the person referred
to, because he was: (1) a former well-known song writer--he wrote "In My
Merry Oldsmobile" among other songs; (2) he was a gag writer who wrote "Love"
for Arbuckle and co-wrote a number of Chaplin's films, including "Burlesque
on Carmen," "The Floorwalker," "The Vagabond," and others--he also did gag
writing for Keystone and for Billy West; (3) he and his wife were both drug
addicts; (4) he was convicted of selling drugs.
Many thanks to Nan Bostick for providing the following clipping and
supplementary information. Thanks also to Tracy Doyle for her input and
feedback on this subject.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
July 12, 1923
LOS ANGELES TIMES
Song Writer Sent to Jail
Vincent Bryan's Losing Fight Against Drug Habit
Draws Year's Term Behind Bars
A name once familiar in every musical home, in every music store and
once blazoned on the silver screen as author, director and composer, was
scrawled yesterday on the blotter of a local court. It read "Vincent Bryan--
one year in the City Jail."
Bryan, composer of popular songs of a decade past and author and
director of many a successful film, reached the bottom step yesterday of a
long descending road and turned his face to a new life, which must be viewed
sadly through prison bars. His sentence was the result of a long and losing
fight against the drug habit.
Arrested by Deputy Sheriffs Bell and Conly and State Inspector Peoples
last Saturday in the act of selling morphine, Bryan was tried before Police
Judge Crawford. He was found guilty on a drug selling charge. His wife, Leota
Bryan, was convicted of possessing drugs and was sentenced to ninety days.
Her sentence was suspended. Bryan's will start today.
Narcotics are to blame, Bryan says, for the wreck of his life. The
promise he had of becoming rich and famous took wings when he began the use
of dope. He started the habit, he told the court, in New York years ago when
overwork and nervous strain had almost caused him to lose his job. For a
while drugs enabled him to do more and better work. Then he and his wife
became addicts, he said, though both believed that they could quit at any
time.
The inevitable awakening came. They faced the grim truth and admitted
they were helplessly in the grip of the drug habit. Attempt after attempt to
quit failed. Fear was followed by submission and poverty stalked close behind
the expensive drug.
They came to California and settled down to steady work. Bryan thought
he had cured the habit. He made good as a scenario writer for Chaplin, for
Lloyd and other stars and directed several pictures. But with making good
again came hard work, long hours and nervous strain. The craving came back
and he fell again. This time he did not break away.
All his success, his work, his ambition gave way to his craving. He lost
job after job and his money was spent. So that he might obtain the drug he
became a peddler, but his success in that line was short-lived. His first
sale, he told Deputy Bell, was the one which led to his arrest.
Hope that he may break away from the habit in jail has given him
courage. His adieu yesterday to his wife was cheerful and he promised that in
another year a new chapter should be written, a chapter untainted by the
specter of the "stuff."
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Henry Peavey accuses Mabel Normand
In 1922, and again in 1930, Henry Peavey stated that he believed Mabel
Normand killed Taylor. For his 1922 accusation, see Wallace Smith's articles
in TAYLOROLOGY 22 and 23. Below is the most detailed article containing his
1930 accusation. Although the name of the actress is not mentioned in the
article, Mabel Normand is certainly the person referred to, because she was
admittedly with Taylor at that time on the evening of his death.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
January 7, 1930
Frank Bartholomew
LOS ANGELES RECORD
San Francisco, Jan. 7--Henry Peavey, second missing witness in the
William Desmond Taylor murder case, was found in a northern California city
today by the United Press.
"I am willing to return to Los Angeles immediately and tell the grand
jury all I know," the young Negro said.
"I'll tell them more than the district attorney let me tell the first
time."
"Do you know who killed Taylor?" he was asked.
"I'll tell that to the grand jury," he said, nervously. He had been
awakened from a sound sleep. He arose and wrapped a dressing robe around
himself.
"Did you not confide in Dr. Thomas Filben that ----- (a motion picture
celebrity was named) killed Taylor?"
"Yes, I did."
"Will you repeat it to the grand jury?"
"Yes."
Dr. Filbin, who befriended Peavey, is executive secretary of the
California Law Enforcement League.
The person accused by Peavey was the one named by Otis Hefner, another
hitherto missing witness, in an exclusive statement to the United Press
yesterday...
"I'd been working for Mr. Taylor as valet for eight months before he was
killed," Peavey said. "He was my best friend. I've got his picture right
here on my dresser."
The photograph took its place in a gallery of pictures of actresses, most
of them in semi-nude poses.
"I went to [sic] Mr. Taylor's house about 7 o'clock in the evening that
he was shot. I wanted to check out for the day.
"Before I opened the door I heard loud voices. One was a woman's. She
was angry.
"I waited around for ten minutes, but the quarrel kept up. I wanted to
go downtown, and I didn't know whether to open the door or not."
"Did you recognize the woman's voice?" he was asked.
"Yes. I saw her, too, for pretty soon I got tired waiting outside and
opened the door to speak to Mr. Taylor."
"Who was she?"
Peavey hesitated, nervously. His glance swept the room, decorated with
table runners and handwork which Peavey made himself.
"You told Dr. Filben who she was, didn't you?"
"Yes, I did."
"You named ----- ------ ?"
He nodded his head, affirmatively.
"Was that true?"
"Yes, it was!" he cried in a high voice. "It was all true, every word of
it! I'll go down to Los Angeles and tell it all to the grand jury. I'm not
afraid!"
"You didn't tell this at the coroner's inquest?"
"No. They wouldn't let me. They tried to shake the story I told them
before the inquest. They threatened me. I didn't change my story, because it
was true, but I left out that part about the row at Mr. Taylor's house. Then
I knew they would make more trouble for me, so I left Los Angeles right away."
"Who do you mean by 'they'?"
"The district attorney's office."
"You told Dr. Filbin that when the district attorney was questioning you,
you said repeatedly, 'Why do you pick on me? You know who killed Taylor.' Is
that right?"
"Yes, it is."
Peavey's story had to be drawn by close questioning. He volunteered
little.
"At what time do you think Taylor was shot?"
"Sometime between 7:10, when I finally spoke to him and left the house,
and 7:30 p.m."
"Why before 7:30?"
"His chauffeur told me afterward that he telephoned Taylor from downtown,
asking any further instructions for the day, at about half-past seven, and
couldn't get an answer to the phone. Then he want to Taylor's house, but it
was dark [sic] and the door was locked."
"What time was it that the chauffeur went to the house?"
"I don't remember. Not very long, I guess, because he wanted to get home
himself."
"What about this quarrel that was going on?"
"Well, it was just a row, that's all. The woman was doing most of the
talking. She was mad."
"What have you been doing since you left Los Angeles?"
"I came up to San Francisco and went to work for the Corona Typewriter
company. That's where I met Dr. Filben, in the typewriter company office. He
recognized my name and identified me with the Taylor case. He was nice to me,
and finally when I got to know him I told him the whole story--the part they
wouldn't let me tell in Los Angeles.
"Then I came to this city and got a job as an actor. I played a part in
'White Cargo.'
"I've been around here since, and that's about all."
The Negro section of the city where Peavey was found has been keeping him
under cover for several days, since Dr. Filben gave his story to the United
Press in San Francisco.
A negro political leader was finally prevailed upon, after a number of
blind leads had been followed, to assign a lieutenant to accopany the
reporters to Peavey's home.
He was found in a two-room apartment in the rear of a home which itself
faced the street. He had as a room mate a Portuguese boy, who was not present
at the interview.
"Henry likes to do fancy work," the guide explained. "He's got it all
over his place."
He had, and upon the various runners and doilies was an assortment of
powder boxes and paints.
...He speaks in a voice surprisingly high in register for his build. He
is not well educated. The manager of the theater at which he plays occasional
parts informed reporters that Henry's bits in "White Cargo" had to be read to
him.
"I'm innocent of any wrongdoing," Peavey assured his interviewers. "I've
been working and earning an honest living and minding my own business.
"My conscience is clear and I'm not afraid of anybody. I'm willing to go
right down to Los Angeles and tell the whole thing to the grand jury.
"They made me think, at the time Mr. Taylor was killed, that if I didn't
keep my mouth shut about this quarrel and get out of Los Angeles that they
might accuse me of the murder. Mr. Taylor was my close friend. I'm innocent.
Now I'm ready to tell them all I know."...
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Testimony of Margaret Shelby Fillmore
Leslie Henry was the investment broker for Charlotte Shelby, Mary Miles
Minter, and Margaret Shelby Fillmore. He stole from their investment
accounts and pleaded guilty to grand theft and forgery in 1933. In an
attempt to recover the stolen money, the three women subsequently sued Blyth
and Company, the investment firm Leslie Henry was working for (see
TAYLOROLOGY 35 and 41). Most of the testimony pertains to dry financial
transactions, but the following are a few extracts from a pre-trial
deposition given by Margaret Shelby Fillmore, which give a little background
into the Shelby family. Thanks very much to David Downey for providing these
transcripts.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Q. Now the Lookout Mountain place was where, just generally?
A. It was west of Sherman and east of Beverly Hills.
Q. Do you remember what time you were living there in that property?
A. Yes, Mr. Fillmore and I moved into the home on completion, in June of
1926.
Q. About how long did you live there?
A. Until I traded for the home in Beverly Hills, which was in April or May, I
believe, of 1927.
...
Q. And where, during 1920?
A. In the Helen Matheson house.
Q. That was what number.
A. 56 Fremont Place
...
A. Yes, we rented--that is, my mother leased the house from Miss Matheson.
Q. Then what did you mean by saying you sold them out of house and home?
A. Because I sold the house for the owner, Miss Matheson.
Q. Oh, I see; and you received a commission for it?
A. In this way; I was quite young then; I did not receive the full
commission. I was not entitled to it. But I was the one who made the
contact and who made the deal. Mr. Henderson, oil man, bought it, and I
received more of a compensation that I did a commission. It was
understood I was to have that out in commission, or I wouldn't have
introduced my client.
Q. Well, who were you working for in that?
A. For myself. I was just beginning. It was my first deal in Los Angeles.
Q. Do you remember what the amount of your commission or compensation or
whatever you want to call it, was?
A. It was more of a compensation, a cut or a split commission. It was just
$2,000, but it seemed very important to me; it was my first deal.
Q. Then after the Helen Matheson house was sold, did you accompany your
mother to New York for that Christmas?
A. Yes, I spent Christmas in New York.
Q. Approximately when did you return to Los Angeles?
A. A few months--the first few months in 1921.
Q. Did your mother return with you?
A. Yes.
Q. And Mary also?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Where did you take up your abode then?
A. At the Ambassador Hotel.
Q. Then how long did you live at the Ambassador Hotel, approximately?
A. Why, we lived there until late spring or early summer of the same year,
1921.
Q. 1921?
A. Yes.
Q. Then from there where did you go?
A. We moved into an investment that my mother had bought, at 701 South New
Hampshire.
...
Q. Now, how long, then, was Mary at this house in the Los Feliz tract,
approximately?
A. Well, time is so difficult for me to tell you. We got into the house at
the end of 1921, and she stayed until April or May of 1922, because she
and my grandmother went to Honolulu.
Q. In April or May of 1922?
A. As I remember.
...
A. I was building a house in the Los Feliz tract, opening a new subdivision;
and Mary fell in love with the little place; nothing would do but we must
move over there. She made me very happy, and we went there and were there
some time, and the house lay dormant, we were working on plans, my mother
was, with the different contractors, taking bids. So I would say--we sold
that little house in April or May of 1922; and the Casa was being rebuilt,
redecorated; additions put in, in 1922; I remember we opened in 1923; it
took about nine months' time.
Q. When you moved to this house in the Los Feliz tract, your mother,
grandmother, Mary, and you--all four--went there?
A. Yes, and no; what I mean, we had an office--in this large house there was
an office, and my mother and I kept our records, we conducted our
business, in that office.
...
Q. All right; now, all I am trying to fix is the time, definitely, when you
sold your house in the Los Feliz tract and started living in the Casa.
A. It would be after the sale in April or May of 1922.
Q. 1922?
A. Yes.
Q. Well, then, from May of 1922, your only residence which you and your
mother had was at the Casa?
A. Yes.
Q. How long did you continue your residence there at the Casa?
A. The word "residence" is rather difficult, because it was a workshop to me.
Q. Well, how long did you stay there?
A. Why, until June of 1926.
Q. And you were living in the Casa, then, during the time that the
alterations were made to turn it into an apartment?
A. Yes.
Q. And in June of 1926 your mother left Los Angeles, did she not?
A. Yes.
Q. And later on sailed, as I remember her testimony some time about the last
of June or first of July, for Europe?
A. Yes.
Q. And she did not return till some time in the fall--November, I think--of
1929?
A. Yes.
Q. You made two trips to Europe during her sojourn there?
A. I did.
...
A. I sailed October 8th from Cherbourg, in 1927.
...
A. I believe I sailed in July of 1927, and not in March.
Q. After your mother left here for Europe, in 1926, did you stay at the Casa
at all, yourself?
A. No; Mr. Fillmore and I went to our Lookout Mountain home.
...
Q. Did you ever discuss with Mary the fact that you were to receive a present
from your mother of the profit she made on Laughlin Park?
A. Mary left home in 1922; I didn't see very much of Mary. There was hardly
any discussion between us at all on any--there wasn't any that I can
remember at all.
Q. Well, then, your answer would be "no?"
A. "No."
...
Q. You have no recollection of discussing with Mary your mother's intention
to give you the profits from Laughlin Park, or the fact that she had given
you that profit, after Mary left home and before the bonds were actually
purchased for you?
A. I remember no such discussion.
Q. No such discussion?
A. No.
Q. Now, then, do you remember that the subject was afterwards discussed
between you and Mary, or between Mary and her mother in your presence?
A. No.
...
A. That was after she [Mary] left home and she was under the influence of
other people.
Q. What other people?
A. This Mrs. O'Neil and her daughter, Jeanie McPherson, were two of them--and
other people.
Q. About how long after she left home was it before relations between you and
Mary ceased to be friendly?
A. The first time it occurred to me that there could be anything but
friendliness between us was when a reporter came to the house, and I saw
him and said that my mother did not want to be annoyed with him.
...
Q. You were married in what time?
A. May, 1925.
Q. May of 1925?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you reside at the Casa after you were married or not?
A. Yes, I did, for a short time.
...
Q. Mrs. Fillmore, when you went abroad in 1927, and you met your mother in
France, did you meet your sister Mary there?
A. Yes, I did.
Q. As soon as you arrived?
A. They were living in the same hotel.
Q. Living in the same hotel?
A. Yes.
...
Q. Now, when, do you remember, did your sister return from Europe?
MR. LEVINSON: It has already been stipulated it was in December, 1927.
...
Q. Now, I will show you Exhibit S-19 from your mother's deposition, which is
a check made payable to yourself and endorsed "Margaret Shelby, per
Charlotte Shelby," and ask you whether both your name and that of
Charlotte Shelby is in your mother's handwriting--if you know.
A. These are both mother's signatures.
Q. Did you know that she endorsed that check?
A. What of it, Mr. Sterry?
Q. Well, I asked you a question.
A. My mother is my mother; and if she did so--
Q. I assume that she is not your father. But what I am asking you is, if you
knew she endorsed this check, or if you knew whenever she desired so to
do, she endorsed your checks?
A. I have no recollection whether she endorsed that check or not.
Q. Well, you knew that she was in the habit of occasionally endorsing your
checks?
A. She was quite capable of taking care of my business, far more than I was,
as far as money matters are concerned.
Q. Well, that is not an answer to the question.
A. I don't like your question.
Q. Well, I am sorry, but I do. I am asking you the question whether or not
you knew that she had the authority from you to endorse your checks?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Mrs. Fillmore, at the time you sailed for Europe in 1927 had you parted
from your husband?
A. Yes.
...
Q. Now, let's see--you went to Europe, last trip, at what time?
A. March of 1929.
...
Q. Now, then, what became of the Casa? I don't mean in chain of title, which
your counsel promised to hand me; but what became of the--what did you do
with it?
A. It was leased for a club for young men.
Q. Do you remember whether that lease had been made before this auction sale?
A. No, I made it later.
Q. How much later?
A. Summer of 1926.
...
Q. Now, was Holbrook the lessee?
A. Yes.
Q. To whom you had made the lease?
A. No, the lease I made was to a man by the name of Little.
Q. Did he operate this club, or did that sale--
A. He went into bankruptcy; Little went into bankruptcy; and then this
Holbrook--some time elapsed before Holbrook wanted to lease it.
...
Q. Do you remember the purpose?
A. Yes, it was to be the same--it was to be carried on as a club for business
people.
Q. Well, all right. When was the auction determined on, if you remember,
with reference to the time you actually held it?
A. Months before November, 1925; about August, I think.
Q. The auction was in November, was it?
A. Yes.
Q. Why was it auctioned, if you know?
A. I certainly know.
Q. All right.
A. My grandmother had just an allotted time; my mother's health had
completely given way--she weighed less than ninety pounds; the strain of
meeting the overhead was tremendous--it was just too much work, too much
hurt to carry on; that Casa was a back-breaking, endless proposition. And
I had married Mr. Fillmore at that time.
Q. When did your grandmother die with reference to the auction of the Casa?
A. Mama passed away December 5th.
...
Q. Without going into details, could you tell us generally whether your
operation of the Casa paid or not?
A. It had not paid that year; the Gaylord hurt the house financially, when it
was opened.
Q. Well, you opened it as an apartment house when?
A. 1922.
Q. 1922?
A. Yes.
Q. Had it paid any of the time?
A. Yes, it had.
...
Q. Do you remember approximately what the upkeep was, and the income from it,
during the years from 1922 to the time you closed it?
A. That is rather a fluctuating thing. I couldn't answer without my records.
Q. Do you remember the number of apartments that you--
A. It wasn't quite like that; the Italian Renaissance was seven rooms; the
French was five; the English was five; the bungalow was five. There was
only one small apartment. It was run in a very magnificent manner--
apartment hotel--and there were several three room suites.
Q. Well, how many rentable apartments--I don't know any other way of calling
them, whether they were three rooms or four--how many different units did
you have to rent?
A. May I think a moment? Ten.
Q. Ten?
A. Yes. Oh, no--eleven.
Q. Eleven?
A. Yes.
Q. And they comprised how many rooms?
A. From seven to five, four, three, one; there was only one of just one room.
...
Q. Do you remember substantially what you realized--I mean what your mother
realized--from the auction?
A. It was a very large figure. It was over $50,000.
...
Q. Mrs. Fillmore, during the time that this Casa was opened, who had been
manager of it, yourself or your mother, or together?
A. Well, I had been.
Q. You had been?
A. Yes.
Q. And you had undertaken the work of renting it and collecting the rents,
and generally supervising it, had you not?
A. I had done everything, even to think for the tenants.
Q. And that took little, or much of your time?
A. It took a great deal of time.
...
A. Well, Mr. Fillmore was at that time staying at the Jonathan Club.
Q. Well, I assume he did not continue to do that after he married you, did
he?
A. During the auction, it would have been very difficult for a man as busy as
he, and who kept as early hours, to remain in the Casa.
Q. I can imagine that; but I mean after your auction, he did not remain at
the Jonathan Club, did he?
A. Well, we left--mother and I left for Louisiana after the auction.
Q. I see; and about how long were you gone?
A. Oh, I think a month--some weeks or a month.
Q. Then when you returned, did you or Mr. Fillmore go to Lookout Mountain,
and your mother to the apartment in the Casa?
A. Our home was not completed at that time.
Q. Oh, it was not?
A. No.
Q. Then where did you go, then?
A. We camped in the Casa.
...
Q. Do you remember the amount of the mortgage your mother put on the Casa
after she purchased it? I understand it was purchased subject to a
mortgage.
A. Purchased subject, as I remember to a $50,000 mortgage. I tried to sell
that property...
...
A. We had lost a deal in 1925 for $200,000 on the Casa; I held a check for
$10,000 on it--for a group of doctors like Doctor Fishbaugh, who then had
large offices in the Bank of Italy Building, and there were ten other
doctors, that I went around the floor with.
...
Q. Well, now, from 1926 until 1929 I assume your mother had no bank account
in this country?
A. No.
...
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Letter from Marjorie Berger to Mary Miles Minter
The following letter was written from Marjorie Berger to Mary Miles
Minter in 1925. Many thanks to David Downey for providing us with a
photocopy of the letter. The "sale" referred to is the auction of the
furnishings of Casa Margarita. Our commentary on the letter will follow,
below.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
J. M. Berger
Income Tax Specialist
Conducts Business before Internal Revenue Bureau
Individual and Corporate returns prepared and audited
712-713 Bank of America Building
Telephone TUcker 4508
Los Angeles
December 2, 1925
Miss Mary Miles Minter
36 West 59th Street
New York City, N.Y.
Mary Dear:
I am enclosing herewith clippings which might be of service to you.
Last Friday I called Mr. Fussell and also Major Tuller and told them
about the sale and suggested that they have a representative there to see how
much money was obtained which I thought might help you.
I attended the sale on Monday and Tuesday and managed to get a few words
alone with your grandmother. This was the first time in months that I had
the chance to speak with her and she wondered why I had neglected her so
long. Margaret said no one could see her. She is failing very fast and I do
not think she will live more than a week at the most. I understand she is in
a state of coma a great deal of the time. Tuesday night she asked me to step
in her room when I saw Margaret and Mrs. Shelby go out which I did and went
with her to the bathroom. Her nurse, (who is a very close friend of Mrs.
Shelby's), followed us in but Mrs. Miles said she wished to speak to me
personally and did not want her to tell the family, which no doubt she made
haste to do.
Your grandmother begged me to ask you to write to her and said she had
written you letters and given them to Mrs. Shelby, Margaret or the nurse to
mail. When she mentioned the fact that she had not heard from you, they told
her you did not want to write to her, etc. etc., (you know better than I do
just what sort of story they would tell her).
She said, "Marjorie, all the good things we have, all the luxuries we
enjoy are ours only because Mary has made it possible, in fact, we owe
everything to Mary, but the daughter and Margaret do not see it that way. If
I could only see my baby before I die."
I said if she would write you a letter I would come and mail it myself.
She said she would try to do so. She stated that Catherine, whoever she is,
told her not to write as you were coming out to the coast. This, of course,
was news to me. I told her that undoubtedly your letters, and the ones she
had written you, were intercepted by someone. So that's that!
The auction has now been on for four days and has ben conducted by A. H.
Weil, auctioneer. Everything in the house has been sold, even some of the
lighting fixtures on the walls. Mrs. Shelby says she has put some of the
furniture away for herself and that the auctioneer had put in a few lamps and
rugs to help fill out, but she of course had saved the best.
The attendance at the sale has been very great and I understand she has
made a pile of money out of this.
By the way, just a bit of "dirt" which you perhaps already know. Hugh
Filmore is living at the Biltmore while Margaret is living at the house and
running the auction, your mother leaning entirely upon her. From what your
poor grandmother told me in private I think she is suffering severely at
their hands but of course it cannot be helped at the present time.
This also might amuse you. I called at your house the other day and
Margaret, of course, was at the door, greeted me with her cold handshake and
when I was about to introduce her to a friend of mine, I forgot her married
name, said I could not remember, and she said, "It's just as well you can't,
because Shelby is all right for me." Some other people in the house said
that they had not been living together for some time.
I think you memember old man Smith who used to be in Woolwine's office.
Well, he is 'tending door and he said to me, "I am so sorry for Mary. That
Margaret is a devil out of hell, if you know what that means. Of course, her
husband does not live at the house and I am very sorry for him. Someday,
Miss Berger, I would like to tell you a good deal of what I know about this."
Carl Stockdale and his brother are also living at the house. When I
asked Mrs. Shelby what it all meant, she said she felt sorry for them after
their mother passed away, but why doesn't she feel sorry for someone else?
Mary, I'll stick to my original version of the affair. Margaret is at
the bottom of all your trouble and that is exactly what your grandmother told
me.
I do not know who is guilty of all the information in the clippings but
it is up to you to gather that. Anyway, dear, I wish you would try to see
your grandmother before she passes on as she said she could not die happy
without seeing her baby again. I have a good deal more to tell you which I
cannot write you. It would indeed be heartrending if I did, so won't you
please come?
With very best wishes, and trusting to see you soon,
Most sincerely,
Marjorie
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Commentary:
The above letter is interesting for a number of reasons.
The letter presents an extremely negative characterization of Margaret
Shelby, the most negative we have seen prior to her 1937 lawsuit against
Charlotte Shelby. It presents a first-hand negative characterization by
Marjorie Berger, and second-hand negative characterizations from Julia Miles
and Jim Smith.
Another interesting item is the first direct quote we have seen by Jim
Smith, who reportedly was living at Casa Margarita on the night Taylor was
murdered.
It is uncertain what clippings Berger is referring to, but District
Attorney Asa Keyes had recently reopened the investigation into the Taylor
murder, and had taken an official statement from Charlotte Whitney, among
others. Perhaps the clippings referred to the reopened investigation; or
perhaps they referred to the financial assets of Charlotte Shelby, since the
lawsuit between Minter and Shelby was still in progress at this time.
In any event, from the tone of the above letter, it is difficult to
imagine that Shelby and Minter would reconcile a year later, yet reconcile
they did.
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Public Response to the Taylor Murder
It can be extremely difficult for members of the current generation to
understand the national reaction to the Taylor murder, because life was so
different then.
We currently live in a world of media overload, with dozens of cable TV
channels, supermarket tabloids, cinema multiplexes, and movies on video. Not
in 1922. Back then, the average American read two newspapers every day, and
intelligent people read more. The newspaper was for most people the sole
source of news--in Los Angeles there were five daily newspapers; in New York
there were 14, with each newspaper publishing several different editions
every day.
A newspaper editor was interviewed in MOVING PICTURE WORLD the week
prior to Taylor's death and stated: "They [newspaper readers] have only one
point of contact with the movie industry. That point is the actor or actress
they see upon the screen. To the fan, Wallie Reid is a personal friend,
Harold Lloyd is a personal friend, Mabel Ballin is a personal friend. They
have spent hours together in the intimate darkness and silence of the movie
theatre. And anything that directly and personally affects Wallie Reid or
Harold Lloyd or Mabel Ballin is human-interest stuff to the fan." Although
the public had an intense interest in film stars, almost all information they
had received in the past was tightly controlled by the studios. The
information in "fan magazines" and newspapers had come primarily from studio
publicity men or sympathetic interviewers, and was overwhelmingly positive.
Negative news and gossip, such as we are currently exposed to daily in
tabloid television shows and supermarket tabloids, was extremely rare prior
to the Arbuckle and Taylor cases.
Part of the idealized public reaction toward silent film stars was due
to the circumstances surrounding film viewing. Films could only be viewed in
the "temple" of a film theater, and patrons had almost no control over which
films and stars they could see; at most they could choose which local theater
to attend. The situation today is very different due to VCR's. Those of us
who love silent films can view videotapes of Chaplin, Valentino, Gish, or
hundreds of other silent stars whenever we wish, a power which contemporary
silent film audiences never had.
The William Desmond Taylor murder case was the very first murder case in
which the total American public felt such a strong personal involvement,
because the public felt they "knew" so many of the people involved, having
seen them on the movie screen. Although Taylor himself was not widely known
to the public, those around him were very well known: Mabel Normand--the last
known person to speak with Taylor; Mary Miles Minter--whose love letters to
Taylor were found and who became hysterical when notified of his death; Edna
Purviance--Taylor's neighbor and one of the first to learn of his death;
Douglas MacLean--Taylor's neighbor who heard the fatal shot; Antonio Moreno--
who spoke with Taylor by phone less than an hour before the murder. All of
them were actors and actresses very well known to the public, and very close
to the vortex of the murder. Other prominent actresses were also mentioned
in the press: Claire Windsor, who had dated Taylor a few days before his
death; Taylor's ex-fiancee Neva Gerber; actresses he had directed, such as
Mary Pickford and Betty Compson; writers of correspondence found in his home,
such as Gloria Swanson and Blanche Sweet. The American public "knew" all of
these people, resulting in an unprecedented compelling fascination with the
case, and newspaper circulation soared.
(A similar parallel might be drawn with the O. J. Simpson case; the
public's fascination with that case was primarily due to the fact that
everyone felt they "knew" Simpson. But the Simpson case had just one
celebrity; the Taylor murder had nearly a dozen.)
National anti-Hollywood sentiment has flared up several times during the
history of the cinema, but that anti-Hollywood sentiment was never greater
than in the month following the Taylor murder, due in part to the writings of
Edward Doherty and Wallace Smith, which revealed drug orgies, nude parties,
homosexuality, adultery, and other "immoral" aspects of Hollywood life. The
Arbuckle scandal and trials had given Hollywood substantial negative
publicity, and the aftermath of the Taylor murder crested it to new heights.
Anti-Hollywood sentiment has historically had two branches, arguing: (1) the
material presented on the screen is having a detrimental effect on national
morals; (2) the stars who are acting in films are behaving in an immoral
manner in their private lives, and it is detrimental for the nation to
idolize and emulate such immoral individuals. After Will Hays took office in
March 1922, he was able to effectively disarm much of the the anti-Hollywood
sentiment. As time passed, public morality changed, and there was less and
less public reaction to the unconventional behavior of film stars.
So back in 1922, the situation was much different than it is today. In
1931, film producer Benjamin Hampton wrote A HISTORY OF THE MOVIES, in which
he commented that a newspaper editor once told him "the Taylor stories sold
more newspapers everywhere in America than were ever sold by any item of
news, not excepting war news, before or since."
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Mabel Normand and the Police Gazette
On her way to visit William Desmond Taylor on the evening of his death,
Mabel Normand bought a copy of the Police Gazette. As she stated in a
later interview: "...Displayed prominently [at the newsstand] was a Police
Gazette, and on its front cover was a beautiful posed head of a pretty girl.
Sennett had had his still-camera man making shots of me to go with the
advertising for Suzanna, and we had wrangled a lot about the head poses. And
there on the front cover of the Gazette was an idea for a pose. So I hopped
out and bought it..." After Mabel's visit with Taylor, he walked her to her
car, saw the magazine, and he teased her about her choice of reading matter.
The cover of the issue which attracted Mabel's attention can be seen at
http://www.public.asu.edu/~bruce/PG.jpg
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Reporting the Taylor Murder: Day Eight
Below are some highlights of the press reports published in the eighth day
after Taylor's body was discovered.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 9, 1922
LOS ANGELES RECORD
BLUNDERS
Officials Muff Taylor Murder Probe Hopelessly for Week;
Will Woolwine End Police Chaos?
So many things have gone undone in the investigation of William D.
Taylor's mysterious murder in the brilliantly lighted living room of his
Alvarado street apartments eight days ago, that the heralded centralization of
sleuthing by the district attorney's office comes as a distinct relief after a
long list of official blunders.
BLUNDER NO. 1
First in the list of blunders was the summoning by detectives of a
physician whose lack of thoroughness is evidenced by the fact that he
pronounced the death from hemorrhage without examining the body, thus
postponing for two hours knowledge that murder had been committed.
BLUNDER NO. 2
Second was the failure of the detectives to obtain the physician's name.
BLUNDER NO. 3
Third was the wanton destruction of vital evidence--fingerprints of the
murderer--by either detectives or curious spectators. The chair that had
evidently been carefully lifted by the murderer and placed over one leg of the
dead man must have retained impressions of the criminal's finger ridges--those
physical markings that never vary from childhood to death and that never are
exactly duplicated in any two human beings. If fingerprints were found
lacking at least the information would be obtained that the murderer had worn
gloves in careful preparation for the crime. However, this chair was handled
by detectives and by perhaps scores of the curious who thronged the house,
even while the murdered tenant still lay stretched on the floor. When
investigators thought to examine it, the chair was in another room.
Many other objects might have yielded fingerprint evidence--the recently
used liquor glasses, for instance.
BLUNDER NO. 4
Fourth was the failure of authorities to obtain an accurate and complete
photographic record of the scene of the crime as it was when discovered.
Official photographs of the room and house from every angle before the body
was removed or the position of anything altered would do much to aid in
investigation. Only the camera lens records permanently; the human retina
depends upon memory to retain its impressions and memory is often faulty,
especially in murder cases. As it is there is only the description of the
room made by the first few persons who found the body and unofficial newspaper
photographs, sketches and diagrams made hours later.
The exact way in which the carpet was rolled under one foot of the
murdered motion picture director might be highly important in establishing
where Mr. Taylor stood when he was shot, or whether his body was carefully
arranged after he fell.
BLUNDER NO. 5
The fifth serious blunder was the failure of the police to exclude the
morbid and curious from the scene of the crime. The house was made a
thoroughfare and playground for members of the public whose presence was
unwarranted and interfered with the proper investigation. Because of this it
would be almost impossible to say whether any article found missing from
William D. Taylor's effects was removed by the murderer or by one of the
souvenir-seeking spectators.
BLUNDER NO. 6
The sixth blunder in the investigation of this most mysterious crime was
the lack of cooperation of various offices during the first week of the work.
Four city offices were working on the case, possibly at cross-hazards most of
the time. The city administrator's office was not certain that all papers
were removed and in fact did not complete its work until yesterday--the
seventh day. The police detective bureau, the prosecuting attorney's office
and the sheriff's office have also worked on the case--all independently and
without apparent cooperation. Happily an end is to be put to this condition
at once.
However, the Mabel Normand letters were not discovered until yesterday,
and then under circumstances indicating that they had been taken early in the
investigation, examined and later surreptitiously planted so that officers
could "find" them. An officer testified at the inquest that only one gun was
found in the house--a Colt .32. Yesterday the officers discovered Taylor's
Luger pistol, with its detachable rifle stock, which friends of the slain
director had been asking about since the second day.
BLUNDER NO. 7
Seventh in the list of blunders is the inadequate way in which important
witnesses were questioned and their testimony followed up. No secret was made
by Taylor's chauffeur, Howard Fellows, of his return to the house about 8
o'clock of the murder night, when the telephone was unanswered, and his return
of the car to the garage when the doorbell likewise was unanswered. Yet the
murder was six days old before Howard Fellows was questioned by the police.
BLUNDER NO. 8
Eighth and perhaps most reprehensible in the series of blunders, is the
fact that detectives recognized early in the investigation that information
was being withheld, and took no steps to force witnesses to disclose all facts
in their possession. At least one witness refused, point-blank, to answer the
questions of detectives--not reporters--working on the case. And got away
with it.
In view of these facts, and if in spite of them the Los Angeles
authorities do not run to earth the assassin of William D. Taylor, the scandal
will be known to the entire nation. For the United States has its eyes on
this mysterious murder case in which the "best loved man of the motion picture
community" was coldly murdered from behind.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 9, 1922
LOS ANGELES RECORD
...Bryson said that an investigation of Taylor's checks running back
through several years had just been completed by a federal government employee
connected with the income tax department and that there were no missing
checks.
The complete tally of checks with the stubs indicates that no effort was
made by Taylor's murderer to suppress evidence of blackmailing activities,
according to Public Administrator Bryson
Bryson also said that the check probe showed that Taylor had not spent a
dollar for insurance.
Efforts to interview Mack Sennett, moving picture producer and employer
of Mabel Normand, to ascertain his theory on whether Mabel Normand's visit had
anything to do with precipitating the crime, failed Thursday.
"Mr. Sennett has been confined to his bed for the past two weeks with a
severe cold," his Japanese servant told a Record reporter late Thursday at the
Sennett residence, 141 Menlo street.
The Japanese servant took the reporter's card inside the house. A moment
later another servant returned with profuse apologies, saying that Sennett had
such a sore throat that he could not talk. He said his employer had been ill
and confined to his bed for two weeks.
Major Thomas A. Osborne, British consul, with offices in the Loew State
Theater building, was momentarily expecting a telegram from Judge Frank G.
Schrenkheisen, New Rochelle, New York, personal representative of Ethel Daisy
Tanner, daughter of the murdered man, it was said Thursday.
British consulates in the United States are working independently to
solve the murder mystery, Attorney B. Rey Schauer, counsel for the local
consulate, said.
Five persons had been examined late Thursday by District Attorney Thomas
Lee Woolwine, who took over the direction of the investigation just before
noon...
Undersheriff Eugene Biscailuz announced Thursday that further questioning
of Mrs. Douglas MacLean Wednesday night resulted in clearing her of the
implication that she was holding something back in order to protect the motion
picture industry from scandal. He said that Mrs. MacLean convinced him she
was telling all she knew about seeing a man on the Taylor porch just after the
murder.
There are others in the movie colony who are not so frank, Biscailuz
hinted...
A literary lover, who, with books, suggested things a less adroit man
would bluntly speak.
This analysis of the character of Taylor forms a basis for the murder
theory upon which one group of investigators are now working...The county
detectives who are following this new trail hold that Taylor was not entirely
indifferent to women. He was, however, what might be called choicy--a
connoisseur.
According to their theory, when the fancy of the eminent picture director
became fixed on a certain woman he made her the present of a book. It was a
book on some subject--not too intimate--that would easily give rise to comment
and discussion between the donor and the recipient.
This book was followed by another, more intimate in character, which
suggested some subjects not hitherto discussed between them. This book
suggested another, and so on.
By this time he would have thoroughly established himself with the
woman...
W. C. Doran, chief aide to District Attorney Woolwine, who is now in
command of the united forces of investigators, announced Thursday that private
interests would be disregarded in the effort to capture Taylor's slayer.
The film folk who might have any knowledge bearing upon the past of
Taylor will be rigidly questioned, according to Doran's statement.
Among the movie characters who are expected to go on the grill there are
two outstanding figures, both men, both producers of world-wide reputation,
both supposed to be admirers of a celebrated film actress who was a close
friend of the murdered man.
Both men will be asked to account for their whereabouts on the night of
the murder. One is supposed to have been confined to his home by illness.
The whereabouts of the other has not been suggested.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 9, 1922
LOS ANGELES RECORD
It was a lonely little Mary Miles Minter who described William D. Taylor,
the murdered motion picture director.
With one satin-slippered foot doubled under her, and her white hands
linked about her other knee as she sat on the huge divan in her home the
little blonde star said:
"He was so dignified--so austere--so wonderful!
"Everyone loved dear Old Billy Taylor.
"He was always good to everyone.
"I was always happy when I was out with him--which, unfortunately, wasn't
very often." The blue eyes of lonely Mary Miles Minter grew moist.
"It wasn't me only that he was good to--he treated everyone that way.
"He didn't have an enemy in the world--I am sure of that. He could only
be compared with God--he was so good!
"Before we went to Europe," said the girlish moving picture star, "I saw
a great deal of Mr. Taylor.
"But--after that"--her voice trailed off in silence.
Again she spoke: "After that I couldn't get him to go anywhere much. He
was so interested in his work. He would bury himself in his apartment for
days--yes, weeks at a stretch, when he was working on a new picture.
"I don't believe he ever had a wife. He never told me he had. And our
acquaintance was such that I am sure he wouldn't deceive me--no, he wouldn't.
"I cannot believe Mr. Taylor is dead. I pinch myself to wake up--I feel
that I am dreaming.
"Oh, that I could wake up and know that I had a horrible nightmare--how
happy I would be!"
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 9, 1922
DALLAS TIMES-HERALD
Believes Actor with "Grudge" Killed Taylor
"A motion picture director can break as well as make an actor, and I
believe William Desmond Taylor was killed by some actor or actress whom he
recently refused to place in a production," Elzier La Maie, motion picture
director and instructor in motion picture acting, said Wednesday.
Mr. La Maie has recently come to Dallas from the Pacific coast, where he
directed motion pictures for a number of years.
"I knew Mr. Taylor very well," said Mr. La Maie, "and regarded him very
highly. He was a splendid director, and was well liked by everybody who knew
him. He was regarded as a gentleman always.
"Many directors have incurred the enmity and hatred of actors whom they
refused to cast in certain productions, or by actors who believed the
directors were trying to break them or make them unpopular with the public.
It is my belief that some one harboring such a grudge is responsible for
Taylor's death."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 9, 1922
SAN FRANCISCO BULLETIN
Bribes Offered to Shield Film Slayer
Los Angeles--Police have been bribed, witnesses silenced, evidence
suppressed, in a gigantic plot engineered from behind the scenes in filmland
to defeat the ends of justice in the Taylor mystery--these sensational charges
were under investigation today by District Attorney Thomas Lee Woolwine,
hurriedly summoned from his vacation...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 9, 1922
NEW YORK JOURNAL
Los Angeles--...One reporter had the audacity to ask: "Was Taylor killed
in a film war between big film interests by a hired assassin?"
When the question was put to leading film men they ridiculed it. Their
attention was called to a story which appeared last week stating that Will
Hays, the Postmaster-General, employed to assume a dominant position in the
film world, had said that he planned to move the Hollywood colony to New York.
The unusual manner in which the story appeared created an uproar at the time.
There was no preliminary report, as usual to such stories, that Hays did plan
to move the colony but a denial that he had such a plan in mind.
Many Los Angeleans, zealously guarding against any attempt to remove the
colony openly charge that Taylor's murder was for no other purpose than to
create a scandal to facilitate the removal of the film interests to the East.
They say that it is another step in line with the Arbuckle case, and that not
even murder would be too diabolical in the eyes of the enemies of Los Angeles
to transfer, if necessary, the colony elsewhere.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 9, 1922
DENVER POST
Los Angeles--...A business representative of Miss Normand's volunteered
the information that the police had ordered Miss Normand not to talk to
reporters.
"If they want her to talk they said they would come out and talk to her
themselves," said the secretary.
To reporters Miss Normand and Sennett were virtually prisoners so far as
interviews were concerned. The condition is without precedence in the
Hollywood film colony. In the past almost any reporter could talk to any film
star of any magnitude at any time until the new order left reporters wondering
what had transpired to restrain the exuberant Mabel Normand, "the clown girl
of the screen," from talking as freely and as much as she desired. If there
is anything that the comedienne loves it is an exchange of repartee.
Interviewers delight to talk to her, not so much to get a story as to enjoy
one of her "gabfests," as she calls them. Possessing a quaint and piquant wit
she can quicken a dull party to life almost spontaneously.
But Wednesday the spirit was dead or suppressed, and reporters seeking to
penetrate the mystery surrounding Taylor's death found themselves confronted
with an angle that baffled even their imagination. Turning to their old
friends, the police, they found the same reserve that the film colony has
adopted. Asked why and how and when and where, the police answer was
epitomized by one detective:
"We don't know anything. The newspapers are doing all the work on this
case. Why bother us with questions?"...
...Wednesday night Captain of Detectives David Adams, who is in charge of
the case, denied in an interview with Universal Service that he had issued
instructions to anyone not to talk.
"I do not care who talks," said Captain Adams. "I have not told Miss
Normand nor Mr. Sennett not to talk. I wish they would talk. I wish
everybody who ever knew Taylor or anybody connected with him would talk. Then
we might get somewhere and get something. I have not ordered them not to
talk, but I am keeping tab on all of them. I intend to do so until this case
is cleared up."
Then Captain Adams explained that he had ordered Peavey, the Negro
chauffeur, not to leave town. Peavey is almost without funds and received an
offer to go to San Francisco to work with a former employer. He asked
permission to leave Los Angeles to accept the new position, but Captain Adams
denied it and ordered him to report to him every morning at 10 o'clock.
"I do not believe that Peavey had anything to do with the crime, but I
want him here," said Captain Adams. "There was an unusual relation existing
between Peavey and Taylor. I do not know just what it was but I want Peavey
where I can get at him in case anything comes up that will help me learn what
that relationship was."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 9, 1922
NEW ORLEANS ITEM
Los Angeles--The hand of Oriental mysticism, weird philosophies of the
Far East, and strange teachings in the realms of the psychic and supernatural,
came into the investigation of the William Desmond Taylor murder case today.
District Attorney Woolwine let it become known that his new investigation
of Taylor's death will cover an alleged "cult" which seemed to steep itself in
the mysticism of the Orient and apply this mysticism to the relations between
its members.
Taylor was declared to have been intimate with members of this little
circle of "love" mystics which centered in Los Angeles.
Its teachings, according to investigators, drove members to the verge of
fanaticism and in this fanaticism, they thought, there might be found a
solution for the mystery surrounding Taylor's murder.
Who were members of this cult, just what its teachings were, and what
were Taylor's relations with it and its members--if he had any such relations
--are questions the district attorney wants answered.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 9, 1922
MARION STAR
Says Pictures Do Not Resemble Snyder
"There is absolutely no resemblance between that man and my son," was the
statement today of Murray T. Snyder. Mr. Snyder's statement put to rout the
theory that Edward Sands, missing secretary-valet wanted in connection with
the murder of William D. Taylor, Los Angeles movie director, might be Edward
Fitzgerald Snyder, his son. Mr. Snyder made the statement after a careful
examination of several newspaper photographs of the murdered man's missing
valet.
"There isn't the slightest resemblance between this man and my son," Mr.
Snyder declared. "Furthermore the navy descriptions do not tally with the
true description of my boy. The navy lists the man known by that name as
having blue eyes. My son, as well as all the other members of my family, has
brown eyes. I am positive he is not the one wanted in connection with the Los
Angeles murder mystery."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 9, 1922
LOS ANGELES EXPRESS
...Mabel Normand, slated as one of the chief witnesses today, already has
made a statement for use by the district attorney's office. This statement,
relative to her letters which mysteriously disappeared for seven days,
corroborates her previous assertions regarding them. Her testimony in this
regard reads in part:
"I went to Mr. Taylor's home on Wednesday evening (just previous to the
slaying of the director) to get back the letters I had written to him. He
said, 'I mailed them back to you yesterday.' I replied that they had not yet
arrived and then he said, 'I think Eyton or Garbutt have them.' Then I told
him that I did not care if the world saw them except that it might be
embarrassing to both of us because they might be misunderstood."
Miss Normand also added that her physical condition was such at the time
of her asserted conversation with Taylor that she could not remember much of
his actual conversation w
ith her. She was on the verge of a nervous breakdown
at that time, she said...
[The above material is considered to be totally incorrect and fabricated by
the press.]
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 9, 1922
LOS ANGELES EXPRESS
...it was said that a prominent film man, acting in executive capacity at
one of the larger studios, would be called to tell what he knows of the
strange disappearance of the Normand letters.
The missives, according to the star herself, were in Taylor's possession
at the time of his death. They had dropped from sight when the murder was
discovered. Then, just seven days later, they came to light hidden in one of
Taylor's riding boots.
It is possible, investigators conclude, that the packet was taken by the
man mentioned, "edited," and some of the letters removed. The alleged "merely
friendly" ones were then returned according to this theory.
Miss Normand had previously stated that there was nothing serious between
Taylor and herself, but that some of the letters contained endearing terms...
...At the sheriff's office practically every investigator scoffs at the
Sands theory. The attempted fixing of responsibility on the former secretary,
is a "frame-up," it is charged, and the outgrowth of the "conspiracy of
silence" which, it is asserted, has been planned by certain important
personages in the motion picture industry.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 9, 1922
LOS ANGELES HERALD
...Rumors that the district attorney's office has undertaken an
investigation of reports that thousands of dollars had been spent by motion
picture interests to quiet the investigation of Taylor's death were vigorously
denied today. Doran stated that police detectives and others have been in
close touch with the district attorney's office and that no attempts to block
the investigation had been encountered by him as yet.
The fact that the district attorney's office has taken charge of the
investigation is said to please motion picture officials vitally interested in
the case. With Woolwine and Doran in charge the investigation will proceed
systematically without unwarranted suspicion being directed against innocent
parties.
It was considered probable today that Woolwine will withdraw from the
trial of Mrs. Madalynne Obenchain, charged with the murder of J. Belton
Kennedy, to take direct and personal charge of the investigation of the Taylor
case. Woolwine intended entering the trial of Mrs. Obenchain after the
selection of the jury had been completed...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 9, 1922
OAKLAND TRIBUNE
Los Angeles--The district attorney's offices and other agencies
investigating the William D. Taylor murder mystery today were abuzz with
excitement over a persistent rumor that the "murder gun" would be in custody
in a few hours.
Detectives were said to be looking for a milkman who found a revolver
near Taylor's bungalow early Thursday morning. The body had not been found at
the time, it was said.
The milk deliveryman took the gun home with him, intending to turn it in
at police headquarters but later, when he heard of the murder, decided to
"forget about it" for fear of being implicated, according to reports. Deputy
District Attorney Doran admitted that he had heard the rumor but denied that a
report had been made to him by his detectives who were credited with picking
up the clew.
"If anyone has a real lead on this gun, it is not my men, despite these
stories," Doran insisted.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 9, 1922
Wallace Smith
CHICAGO AMERICAN
Los Angeles--Hollywood's thousand and one nights of fevered depravity,
the dance of death in which whirl actors and actresses closest to the hearts
of the great American film public, today came under the shrewd, unsentimental
eye of the government secret service.
Called in to aid the Los Angeles authorities in solving the mysterious
murder of William Desmond Taylor, star director and eccentric lover of many
women, the federal operatives found themselves on a dizzy, downward trail--the
trail down which the screen puppets are posturing to their fate.
Before them passed the amazing spectacle of these worshipped idols of the
screen--drunken, rum-dulled and obscene, reeling noisily along in a crazy
pageant.
With the appearance in Hollywood of the federal agents there was a new
panic among the wilder set of the movie picture colony. Especially there was
a stampede among the men who have millions invested in the spoiled darlings of
the screen and who saw in the investigation the blasting of carefully built
reputations and already thinned wallets.
More than ever an effort was made to throttle the spectacular tales of
debauchery and loose-rein license--even if the slayer of Taylor escaped. But
there were stories that even the gag of gold could not hush.
The secret service men had no local favors to ask--and none to grant.
They were not perturbed by the whining threat of the movie magnates to move
their colony elsewhere if any of the Hollywood scandals become public
property.
They were more interested in the fact that through all of the fantastic
tapestry of picturesque vice ran the thread of the dope ring. In every
picture was the touch of the drug peddler and the victims of opium, morphine,
ether and cocaine.
The entrance of the secret service men into the sensational case resulted
in a strange spurt of energy on the part of the local authorities.
This in turn resulted in the finding of Mabel Normand's love letters to
Taylor...The contents of the letters, which were turned over to the district
attorney, were kept secret, but it was reported that they proved sufficiently
that the bond between Taylor and Miss Normand was something more than the
friendship of "a much older man for a girl he was trying to help learn of art
and literature."...
...At the same time the story of an opium smuggler of Chinatown seemed to
bear out the theory outlined in the dispatches last week that Taylor may have
been killed by some drug-inflamed member of Hollywood's "love cult."
The rites of the cult, as remarked in earlier dispatches, were those
known to psychopathologists for centuries, but were not fit for print in a
newspaper.
According to the Chinese, who was given immunity in exchange for his
information, he supplied the opium for this circle of strange men and the
"parties" at which the rites were celebrated.
The Chinese insists that these men had taken an oath of eternal love, and
that Taylor, a member of this circle, may have broken the oath and been doomed
to death.
With a further interview with the Chinese arranged, District Attorney
Thomas Woolwine announced that his aides would be ordered to call in every
moving picture star necessary to get at the truth of Taylor's death.
Sergeant Ed King of the prosecutor's staff, especially assigned to the
case, announced that he expected to make an arrest in a few hours.
To those the secret service operatives paid small heed. They were
working alone, and that their investigation was being rewarded could not be
doubted. The shameful stories of Hollywood's "parties" assail all but the ear
deafened by some sort of persuasion.
The most recent of these revels, "parties" in which Taylor and some of
his women friends are said to have taken part, were especially checked by the
federal men in the hope of finding their clew there...
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February 10, 1922
Minneapolis Tribune
Los Angeles--Piece by piece, District Attorney Thomas Lee Woolwine
reconstructed the scenes immediately preceding and following the murder of
William Desmond Taylor, film director, today. The work kept him at his office
late tonight questioning witnesses who, it is said, shed light upon the
mystery...
...One of the puzzling bits of information developed by the investigation
came from Verne Dumas. He is a director of a large oil company and resides
near Taylor's home. He was the third person to see Taylor dead. Dumas told
Woolwine that at 11 o'clock on the night Taylor was murdered he returned home
and noticed one of the window shades raised. The fact impressed him because
it was the first time, day or night, that any shade in Taylor's house was ever
raised. When he entered the house the next morning after the body was found
by Henry Peavey, the Negro servant, he noticed that the shade had been pushed
aside by a table in the room. He also said that he did not see a chair lying
across Taylor's legs...
Dumas' statement was corroborated by Neil J. Harrington, another oil man
and also another neighbor. Harrington was the first man after Peavey to enter
the house. He told of hearing Peavey's cries and observing the body. Like
Dumas he confirmed the statement that Taylor was lying on his back with his
arms at his sides and his legs together as if someone had placed them in that
position.
Other witnesses who testified tonight were Captain Robertson, formerly in
the United States army, who said he had known Taylor for three years. He
identified the letters signed "Alias Jimmy V.," as in Sands' handwriting.
Arthur Hoyt, a screen actor, was another who testified in relation to Taylor's
life.
Charles Maigne, film director, accompanied by his wife, a beautiful and
petite brunette, was another evening witness. As they stepped from the
elevator to enter the district attorney's office, photographers with
flashlight nearly started a fight. Maigne, who is used to cameras on the lot,
wanted to thrash the photographers but was restrained by his wife, who thought
it a great joke...
That Taylor made a will now appears probable according to information in
the hands of Frank Bryson, public administrator, but no will has been found.
A telegram received by Mr. Bryson from Frank C. Schrenkeisen, New York
attorney, representing Elsie [sic] Daisy Tanner, the only known heir to
Taylor, was the first intimation received here concerning any will. The
telegram was to the effect that Taylor's daughter is in possession of a letter
informing her that Taylor had made a will and that the document was in a Los
Angeles safe deposit box.
A sensation was created today by Captain of Detectives David Adams, when
he said:
"I do not believe Mabel Normand killed Taylor. It is possible that she
may have been the cause of his death, but entirely innocent of any connection
with it. It is possible that some drug-crazed admirer may have followed her
to Taylor's house and killed him an a jealous frenzy. Whoever killed him made
sure of his deed. He shot at close range and made certain that he had killed
Taylor before he left the house.
"I think Sands killed Taylor, but remember this," and Captain Adams
paused significantly as a man who wants to be put on record, "I would not be
surprised if we later found that any one of a dozen persons committed the
act..."
...He said that he had questioned many intimates of Taylor and from them
had learned that the director was deeply in love with Miss Normand. He said
that they told him she had expressed great admiration for Taylor, but
considered him too old for her. If Taylor had been 10 years younger Miss
Normand would have married him at one time, according to these friends.
...Mary Miles Minter, film actress, formerly directed by Taylor and said
to have been a close friend, announced through her attorney her readiness to
assist the authorities in any possible manner.
"Miss Minter has given the officers of the police department and the
district attorney's office all the information she could," said her attorney.
"She has refused to talk to newspaper men because the strain of the last few
days has been great and because there is nothing she can tell them that will
assist in the solution of the crime beyond a clear account of what little she
knows, given to the proper authorities.
"She knows of nothing that can be considered evidence, but she placed
herself at the disposal of the investigators and is willing to supply any
information she may possess."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 10, 1922
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Los Angeles--...Dumas said that on the night of the murder he had noticed
that Taylor's study window shade was up several inches so anyone could have
looked into the room and have seen him lying dead on the floor.
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February 10, 1922
LOS ANGELES EXAMINER
...Twenty-five hundred dollars drawn from the First National Bank by
William D. Taylor on January 31.
Twenty-five hundred dollars redeposited by Taylor on February 1, the day
of his murder.
This record, first disclosed yesterday, was the sensational development
of a day's investigation in which District Attorney Thomas Lee Woolwine, in
command, examined eleven witnesses and laid the basis for a probe that shall
be so far reaching and complete as to leave no element, angle or motive
without the compass of evidence.
The astonishing revelation regarding the money transaction was made
yesterday by Public Administrator Frank Bryson.
In looking over Taylor's canceled checks and check-book stubs, Bryson
came upon the check made out to "cash." The $2500 was withdrawn on the last
of the month.
Inquiry at the bank brought to light the deposit slip for the same amount
and the same entry in Taylor's bank book...
The countrywide search for Sands has brought some interesting, and also
confusing, reports regarding him. Police Detective J. B. Worley of Long Beach
yesterday found, upon going through the records, that Sands was employed as a
municipal life guard in that city on August 6, last, but failed to appear for
work the next day and left behind him a pay voucher for $2.50, which is still
due him.
Statements from the Navy Department that descriptions of Edward F.
Snyder, naval deserter, very accurately fit Sands, are doubted by Murray T.
Snyder, telegraph operator at Marion, O., who stated yesterday, according to
dispatches, that the man sought in connection with the Taylor murder could not
be his son...
One of the District Attorney's first announcements during the day was
that "the letters written by Mabel Normand to Mr. Taylor and now in our
possession, contain nothing bearing upon the crime or tending to offer any
solution of the mystery."
It is only to question witnesses at the request of the police and not to
assume command of the investigation that he has undertaken the present work,
Mr. Woolwine explained yesterday in a statement reading:
"It should be distinctly understood that the District Attorney's office
has, in no sense, 'taken over' the investigation of the Taylor murder, as such
work is peculiarly within the province of the police authorities. The fact is
that officers working on this case came to the District Attorney's office, as
is their custom in many cases, and requested that this office counsel and
advise with them during the progress of their investigation, and that we take
statements of various persons which may tend to throw some light upon what has
so far proven to be a most baffling mystery. Although the officers have
worked diligently, there has not so far been developed or submitted to the
District Attorney one scintilla of evidence tending to connect any one with
the murder."...
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February 10, 1922
SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER
Los Angeles--On the night of his murder William Desmond Taylor had a
woman visitor who preceded Mabel Normand as a guest of the film director by
less than an hour.
This was easily the most important revelation today, coming as a direct
result of the systematic and vigorous investigation undertaken by District
Attorney Thomas Lee Woolwine.
Who the woman was, at what time she left the South Alvarado street
apartment, what she did while there and afterward, and her relation to the
murdered man are alike considerations of tremendous significance in the
opinion of the authorities.
Whoever she was, she is a new figure; it would also seem that she is one
of mystery, as no mention has been made of her heretofore...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 10, 1922
SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER
...The statement made to sheriff's officers by Mrs. MacLean is not only
vital in itself, but has the added importance of eliminating Howard Fellows,
Taylor's chauffeur, as the man she saw.
This was Mrs. MacLean's statement:
"I had seen the man whom I have described as wearing a plaid cap and a
muffler open Mr. Taylor's door, come out, close it and walk away.
"This is perfectly clear in my mind; there cannot be the least question
about it.
"Upon closing the door he walked away. I did not have occasion to
suspect him of anything because he acted naturally.
"I saw his face squarely. I would be able to recognize him should I see
him again."
"Was the man you saw Edward F. Sands?" asked the officer.
"Positively he was not.
"There was not the slightest resemblance between this man and Mr. Sands."
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February 10, 1922
Oscar Fernbach
SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER
Los Angeles, Feb. 9.--...And from Henry Peavey, Taylor's negro man
servant, who had found his master's body on the morning following the
shooting, the district attorney wrung for the first time the admission that,
prior to the visit paid to Taylor on that fatal evening by Mabel Normand, the
film director had had another woman caller. She had preceded the moving
picture actress by less than an hour.
Who this woman is is not disclosed by Woolwine. He will not even say
that Peavey knew her identity. And Peavey, leaving the district attorney's
office, doggedly refused to make any statement concerning her...
Charles Eyton had a long talk with Woolwine, and as he emerged from the
District Attorney's rooms he gave emphatic denial to the report that it was he
who had secured custody of the Mabel Normand letters among Taylor's effects
and had only today surrendered them to Woolwine.
His denial was corroborated by the announcement of Public Administrator
Bryson that the letters had been discovered in a locked closet in Taylor's
bungalow. Woolwine, when asked about them, made evasive answers.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 10, 1922
Walter Vogdes
SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER
Los Angeles, Feb. 9.--...Henry Peavey, Taylor's negro valet, was the
first witness to be called in the morning. He arrived dressed to kill,
resplendent in brown tweed coat, golden golf knickers and green golf
stockings. He was smiling and easy in his mind before seeing Woolwine and
appeared in the same state after his testimony had been given.
In contrast was Howard Fellows, Taylor's chauffeur, who followed Peavey.
Fellows, a lad with a weak, somewhat furtive face, sat on a bench in
Woolwine's outer office and with twitching fingers lit one cigarette after
another, each one on the preceding one.
When his turn came to enter the inner office he literally ran inside, the
way a timorous man runs into an ice cold plunge. When he came out his
expression was frightened as he pulled his cap over his eyes and streaked it
down the hallway...
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February 10, 1922
NEW YORK HERALD (European Edition)
A dramatic clash between the police and the sheriff of Los Angeles is the
newest feature in the kinema murder mystery.
The sheriff formally charges the police authorities with succumbing to
the influence brought to bear by powerful interests connected with the kinema
industry with the object of checking further investigation into the
circumstances in which Mr. Desmond Taylor, or Deane-Tanner, the film director,
was shot in his residence at Hollywood last week,
The most important clues, states the sheriff, have not been followed up,
and blind trails have been started in order to lead investigations away from
certain persons high in the industry and stop the publicity which the case is
receiving to the detriment of the film industry.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 10, 1922
LOS ANGELES TIMES
The police believe they have found the origin of the revolver with which
William Desmond Taylor, film director, was slain, it was learned on reliable
authority last night. Information has been placed in their possession that
they think shows where the weapon was purchased, together with a description
of the purchaser. Capt. of Detectives Adams was in conference on this point
with one of his men late last night. If the data obtained are correct, the
police believe they are on the verge of solving the mystery.
Mary Miles Minter, film star whose admiration of William Desmond Taylor,
slain film director, has been admitted by her, was one of the first witnesses
who appeared at Dist.-Atty. Woolwine's office for the purpose of giving a full
statement of her knowledge of any facts that may aid in solving the Taylor
murder mystery, that has baffled investigators for more than a week. The fact
that she was closeted for two hours with the officials at the District
Attorney's office was learned last night. During yesterday's session, which
lasted from 10 a.m. until after midnight in Mr. Woolwine's office, thirteen
other witnesses were examined.
Miss Minter's appearance at the District Attorney's office and her
questioning there have not been made know or admitted by the officials,
although the visit occurred last Tuesday. Ostensibly Mr. Woolwine assumed
charge of taking statements in cooperation with the police officers only
yesterday.
That he questioned Miss Minter before the other witnesses is regarded as
significant in some respects, since it is known that Miss Minter was an
intimate friend of Mr. Taylor, and is reported by employees of Mr. Taylor to
have held first place in his regard for many months.
Another film star of first magnitude has made a statement for the
purposes of aiding the investigation, it was stated upon excellent authority
late in the day. She is declared to be Mabel Normand, actress who was perhaps
the last friend to see Mr. Taylor alive a week ago Wednesday night, when she
left his apartments about 7:45 p.m.
Both Miss Normand and Miss Minter have suffered nervous collapses since
the discovery of their friend's dead body with a bullet through his back.
John G. Mott, attorney for Miss Minter, declined last night to comment on
the fact that Miss Minter was at the District Attorney's office last Tuesday
for two hours. He said: "I can only say that Mary Miles Minter is cooperating
with the officials and is willing and ready to cooperate fully with them."
At the home of both Miss Minter and Miss Normand, it was emphatically
denied that either had made a statement attributed to Miss Normand yesterday
concerning an asserted discussion between her and Mr. Taylor over her letters
the night he was slain. The purported statement was that Miss Normand asked
for her letters, and was told they had been sent to one or two high officials
in the Famous-Players Lasky studio...
The first witness last night before the following officials--Mr.
Woolwine, Chief Dep. Dist.-Atty. Doran, and Detective Sergeants Cato, Cahill
and Winn--was Capt. Robertson, formerly of the United States Infantry, and an
intimate friend of the dead man.
Capt. Robertson knew Mr. Taylor for three years. He was one of the first
persons to enter the home the morning the murder was discovered. His
statement concerning the physical facts at the scene of the crime was regarded
as important. His knowledge of Mr. Taylor's life in recent years also was
valuable in aiding the investigation.
Others questioned last night included Mr. and Mrs. Charles Maigne, the
former being a motion picture director, and one of the first in the Taylor
home after the murder; Arthur Hoyt, actor and friend of Mr. Taylor, and
others, whose names have figured in the inquiry; Verne Dumas, a neighbor of
Mr. Taylor, and Neil Harrington, also a neighbor.
Mr. Dumas, director in the Cal-Mex Oil Company, was among those who
responded to the alarm after the murder. He also saw the blind in the front
room of the Taylor apartment raised about four inches when he came home on the
night of the slaying about 11 o'clock. The light was on at that time, but the
fact that the curtain was raised was unusual, he said.
Mr. Harrington, also a broker, was the first person to enter the house
upon the discovery of the body. Every detail of the arrangement of the
furniture, the exact location and angle of the body and other physical facts
were sought from him by the investigators.
Arthur Hoyt and Mr. and Mrs. Maigne stated upon leaving the District
Attorney's office near midnight that they had promised not to divulge the
nature of their information
Reports published in a local newspaper that a woman was in the Taylor
home an hour before Miss Normand left there the night of the murder were
denied by Mr. Woolwine, who stated no such information has been obtained.
A new witness who is believed to have seen the slayer lurking near the
scene of the crime within a hour after the shooting on the 1st inst., was
questioned in the afternoon.
This new witness, Patrolman Long, was the last from whom a statement was
taken in the afternoon. He was the seventh person called to the District
Attorney's office, which is working in cooperation with the police detectives.
Others from whom statements were taken in shorthand include Mr. and Mrs.
Douglas MacLean, both widely known in filmdom; their maid, Christine Jewett;
Harry Fellows, former chauffeur and more recently an assistant director for
Mr. Taylor; Howard Fellows, chauffeur for the slain man; and Henry Peavey,
colored butler-valet, who discovered his employer's body on the morning
following the crime...
One of the outstanding developments of the day was the assurance given by
Mrs. MacLean, it is declared, that she could recognize the man she saw leaving
Mr. Taylor's home at 404-B South Alvarado street soon after the fatal shot was
heard.
Another important point was set at rest when she was asked to look at
Howard Fellows, the chauffeur, to see whether he could have been the man she
saw. It is understood she positively stated he was not the man.
This factor was injected into the case by a peculiar circumstance. Mr.
Fellows, who says he had been instructed by Mr. Taylor to call for him, went
to the Taylor home and rang the doorbell about 8 o'clock, or a few moments
afterward. It was believed he might have been the man seen by Mrs. MacLean,
for he had said that after getting no response he walked away.
Mrs. MacLean, her husband and her maid were accompanied to the District
Attorney's office yesterday morning and taken into a room adjoining that in
which Mr. Fellows was waiting. She was asked whether he was the man and her
answer in the negative is understood to have been positive...
The recently "refound" letters of Mabel Normand--letters which she wrote
to Mr. Taylor and which could not be found in his possession for many days
after his murder--still were the center of much discussion and speculation
yesterday.
Mr. Woolwine's office has them now. They have been examined. They
contain nothing regarded as particularly essential to the solution of the
crime. The District Attorney's office feels the letters were in the clothes
closet, under lock and key, hidden in a boot, during all the search of the
premises. These assurances came from the officials on the case.
...Mr. Woolwine ordered transcripts of the testimony as soon as the
shorthand notes could be transcribed. This significant order was taken to
mean that the statements of the witnesses will be checked carefully, and
immediately, one against the other...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 10, 1922
RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH
Los Angeles, Feb. 9.--...Woolwine said that he would not call in Sennett,
Marshall Neilan, Thomas Ince or a number of other directors reported to have
been good friends of Taylor's to testify about his affairs with women.
"None of these gentlemen is on the list of those invited," he said...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 10, 1922
LOS ANGELES TIMES
New York, Feb. 9.--Mrs. Charlotte Shelby, mother of Mary Miles Minter,
defends her daughter from insinuations given publication by the Taylor murder
case in a telegram received today by Arthur James, editor of the Motion
Picture World. The message reads:
"Mary adored Taylor as a child would her father and is badly broken up
over tragedy. Friendship between the two was beautiful and she feels that she
has lost one of her dearest friends. Mary has made complete statement to
authorities and they scout at newspaper insinuations that Taylor may have been
slain because of jealousy over Mary. She is refusing to talk for publication
but is aiding authorities in every way to solve mystery. Letters in press
only those of adoring young girl to man almost three times her age.
(Signed)
"Charlotte Shelby"
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February 10, 1922
LOS ANGELES TIMES
Investigators of the Sheriff's force believe that yesterday they
completely eliminated Edward F. Sands as a suspect in the murder of director
William Desmond Taylor, following a new conference with Mr. and Mrs. Douglas
MacLean.
Undersheriff Biscailuz and Chief of Criminal Investigation Manning
visited Mrs. MacLean, wife of the motion-picture actor, at her residence at
the direction of Sheriff Traeger.
Mrs. MacLean was questioned prior to being summoned to the District
Attorney's office. She is the only witness who saw the unidentified man
leaving the Taylor residence a few minutes after she heard the shot fired on
the night the director was slain.
Mrs. MacLean stated positively, according to the Sheriff's office, that
the man seen by her was not Sands. She knew Sands' appearance well, she said,
and was unable to recognize the stranger who leisurely walked out of Mr.
Taylor's apartments.
"We have been assured of Mr. and Mrs. MacLean's fullest cooperation in
the investigation," said Undersheriff Biscailuz. "They told us all they know
in complete detail. The man seen by her was neither Sands, nor Harry [sic]
Fellows, the chauffeur, who rang the bell at Taylor's apartment shortly after
8 o'clock. She is confident she can identify the man who left the place if we
can find him and we feel that her assistance in this direction may be of great
value."...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 10, 1922
LOS ANGELES EXAMINER
...A telegram received by Administrator Bryson yesterday from Frank G.
Schrenkeisen, New York attorney representing Elsie [sic] Daisy Tanner, the
only known heir of Taylor, was the first intimation received her concerning
any will. The telegram was to the effect that Taylor's daughter is in
possession of a letter informing her that he had made out a will and that the
same was in a Los Angeles safety deposit box.
Inasmuch as no will was discovered in the only box that Taylor is known
to have possessed, three theories have been advanced by the Public
Administrator.
The first, and most probable, is that Taylor is the owner of another box,
the location of which was known only to himself, a box that contains documents
of a highly confidential nature pertaining to the many baffling incidents of
his life that have so far blocked all efforts of the police.
The second theory is that Taylor destroyed his will. This explanation is
scouted by close friends of the late director, as he is known to have been
very methodical in regard to business affairs, and the fact no will was found
in his effects has been a matter of much conjecture.
The last explanation, and one which is given some credence, is that
Taylor left bequests to a certain member of the film colony with whom he is
known to have been on intimate terms, and that shortly following the discovery
of the murder this paper was removed. That the star who might have been the
beneficiary of this bequest might have been damaged rather than benefited in
view of all the surrounding circumstances, is the ground advanced for this
belief.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 10, 1922
CHICAGO HERALD-EXAMINER
Los Angeles, Feb. 9.--Public Administrator Frank Bryson has taken
possession of the effects of Taylor. He estimates the value of the estate
left by the film director to be $20,000. Heaped on Bryson's table and
scattered about his office today is a miscellaneous collection of Taylor's
personal belongings that in a way illustrate the varied and adventurous life
he led. Guns, Alaskan boots, traveling kits, souvenirs of the wilds of the
Far North, toilet articles, jewelry, clothing of the rougher quality of a man
of the great outdoors and of the finest textures worn by a man of luxurious
city life affords a sort of sign language scenario of the career of William
Desmond Taylor.
Of the $20,000 about $6,000 is in cash in bank, jewelry, bonds and other
forms easily convertible into cash. The furniture has been wrapped and the
books of Taylor's fairly large library have been boxed and all stored in a
warehouse.
One of the revolvers belonging to Taylor is a German Lueger, with
shoulder piece.
Taylor did not bring this back from France, but bought it in New York. A
friend recalls that one day he and Taylor tried in vain to fit the shoulder
piece to the revolver and finally asked Sands, the valet, if he knew anything
about the Lueger. Without a word, Sands took up the two and by one motion
fitted them together. Taylor turned to his friend and said, "Is there
anything Sands does not know?" That was before his break with Sands, due to
alleged forgery of his name to checks and thefts of clothing by his valet.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
February 10, 1922
NEW YORK TRIBUNE
Los Angeles, Feb. 9.--Evidence supporting the theory that William D.
Taylor, murdered film director, was the victim of a hired assassin came to
light today with the opening of a wide-spread investigation of the mystery by
District Attorney Thomas Lee Woolwine.
The "fighting prosecutor," as he is called, personally questioned witness
after witness, to lay a foundation for the grilling of at least two film
stars, who will be called before him tomorrow...
Patrol Albert Long, whose statement does not seem to have played a part
in the investigation carried on by the detective bureau, was the witness who
added new facts concerning the activities about the Taylor bungalow on the
night of the shooting.
The policeman said that shortly after 8 o'clock in the evening he had
seen a man loitering in the street which skirts the side of the court in which
the director's bungalow is located. He said the man wore a cap, an overcoat
and a "mussy suit," which he was unable to describe in greater detail.
The description fits that of the man who, according to Mrs. Douglas
MacLean, a neighbor of Taylor, was seen loitering about the front of the house
two or more minutes after the firing of the shot that took the life of the
director.
If the man seen by the policeman is the murderer it would indicate that
the assassin was a cool-headed, professional gunman, who for some as yet
unexplained reason remained within a stone's throw of the scene of the
killing, trusting to luck to escape should the crime be prematurely exposed...
The prosecutor refused to comment on the testimony brought out during the
day. He denied the report that Miss Mabel Normand had made a written
statement in which she said that her reason for going to Taylor's home on the
evening of the murder was to demand the return of certain letters she had
written him. He said he had not heard from Miss Normand in any manner, but
that he expected to some time tomorrow.
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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.uno.edu/~drcom/Taylorology
Full text searches of back issues can be done at http://www.etext.org/Zines/
For more information about Taylor, see
WILLIAM DESMOND TAYLOR: A DOSSIER (Scarecrow Press, 1991)
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