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FBI announces arrest in abduction of Alexis Murphy
Posted by: BOLO. ()
Date: August 12, 2013 08:13AM

FBI announces arrest in abduction of Alexis Murphy
http://www.insidenova.com/news/crime_police/fbi-announces-arrest-in-abduction-of-alexis-murphy/article_252d9606-02de-11e3-ae2e-0019bb2963f4.html

Police and the FBI on Sunday evening announced an arrest in the disappearance of 17-year-old Alexis Tiara Murphy, a Nelson County girl who disappeared Aug. 3 on her way to Lynchburg.

Alexis apparently has not been found, and police are not releasing the name of the suspect “for the continuing advancement of this sensitive investigation,” the FBI said in a news release.

The teenager’s car was found in a parking lot in the Charlottesville area on Aug. 6.

“This remains an ongoing investigation and law enforcement continues to request the public’s assistance as they show pictures and conduct interviews and searches,” the FBI release said.

The case echoes that of Morgan Harrington, a 20-year-old Virginia Tech student who vanished after a Metallica in Charlottesville in October 2009. Her body was found three months later in a field in Albemarle County, near Charlottesville. No one has ever been charged in her killing.

DNA in the Morgan Harrington case matches a 2005 unsolved sexual assault in Fairfax City. In that case, the attacker was scared off by a passerby, who gave a description that led to a composite sketch of the suspect.

State police spokeswoman Corinne Geller last week said that despite the similarities, there was no evidence indicating the cases were related.

The Charlottesville area has been the center of a long string of seemingly random unsolved murders and abduction attempts, most notably the case of the “29 Stalker.”

On March 2, 1996, 25-year-old Alicia Showalter Reynolds was abducted in Culpeper County while driving to Charlottesville on U.S. 29.

Her remains were found two months later in a remote logging community in Culpeper.

“Several witnesses recalled seeing a dark-colored pickup truck, possibly a Nissan, parked on the Route 29 shoulder along with Alicia's vehicle,” state police said in a news release.

In the months later followed, several women came forward reporting that a man in a similar truck had flashed his lights and tried to stop them as they drove along U.S. 29.

One of those women was traveling on Va. 234 in Prince William County in February 1996 when she stopped for a man in a truck who flashed his lights and indicated she should pull over. When she got into his truck for a ride home, he attacked her with a screw driver. The victim was able to jump out of the truck and get away, suffering a broken leg in the process.

In 2004, Prince William prosecutors charged a Maryland man, Darrell Rice, with the crime. Rice had also been charged with the 1996 murders of two women hiking in Shenandoah National Park. He was later exonerated in both crimes and the cases remain unsolved.
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Re: FBI announces arrest in abduction of Alexis Murphy
Posted by: JPZingher ()
Date: August 12, 2013 08:20AM

Murders where the body is hidden are rare. There's only one time where it happens consistently, where the victim was forced to make an ATM withdrawal and the killer hides the body to delay the card being reported stolen. This link is to an article about a very specific crime pattern called the "Express Kidnapping" which is basically an abduction and forced ATM withdrawal. It explains the details of how the crime pattern plays out, how to expose the data and most importantly, the details of how political corruption keeps the pattern from being tracked by the police. If you or someone you know was the victim of such a crime, read this and share it with everyone you know. Then send it to your local newspaper, news station, banker and legislator. Get them to investigate it. This applies worldwide, not just in the US. http://atmsafetypin.wordpress.com/2013/07/19/8/

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Re: FBI announces arrest in abduction of Alexis Murphy
Posted by: Route 29 stalker case ()
Date: August 12, 2013 09:34AM

Here's some information on the "29 Stalker Case" mentioned in the article above. They even once had it air on Unsolved Mysteries some years ago.

15 years later, Route 29 stalker case remains unsolved
http://www.wtop.com/41/2290865/15-years-later-Route-29-stalker-case-remains-unsolved

CULPEPER, Va. - It was a case that gripped the region for weeks - the murder of a 25-year-old college graduate as she drove from Baltimore toward Charlottesville.

Fifteen years later, the killing remains unsolved.

There have been more than 10,000 tips related to the murder of Alicia Showalter Reynolds. Several suspects have been looked at over the years, but the killer, who became known as the Route 29 stalker, remains unknown.

Showalter Reynolds was abducted in Culpeper on March 2, 1996 after she stopped her car. Her body was found a few months later near Lignum, Va., in Culpeper County.

Several other women came forward after the murder and described a man who had approached them on Route 29. Police have a composite sketch, but Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corrine Geller says the sketch may be outdated.

"The gentleman now, maybe in his 50s [or] 60s, maybe doesn't even have any hair", Geller says. "So age progress the photo, the sketch, kind of in your mind."

Geller says they are revisiting old leads and using advancements in technology, hoping for one piece of the puzzle that may solve the case.

A detective is still working the case. Police hope the anniversary will spark someone's memory and bring new leads.

The suspect is between 5 foot-10 and 6 feet tall.

If you have any information, you can call the Virginia State Police at 1-800-572-2260.
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Re: FBI announces arrest in abduction of Alexis Murphy
Posted by: Two Cents ()
Date: August 12, 2013 11:05AM

Looks like the police are getting closer and closer to catching this guy. The DNA evidence will get a conviction and send this maniac to jail.

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Re: FBI announces arrest in abduction of Alexis Murphy
Posted by: kindful ()
Date: August 12, 2013 02:58PM

DNA evidence is the key to solving crime.

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Re: FBI announces arrest in abduction of Alexis Murphy
Posted by: Poor family ()
Date: August 13, 2013 08:58PM

Poor family who lost this sweet girl

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Suspect in Custody But Teen Alexis Murphy Still Missing
Posted by: More Info ()
Date: August 13, 2013 09:01PM

Suspect in Custody But Teen Alexis Murphy Still Missing
http://abcnews.go.com/US/suspect-custody-teen-alexis-murphy-missing/story?id=19938428

As classmates of Alexis Murphy head back to school today, the missing high school senior's mother made an emotional plea for her daughter's return.

"I want her to come home because today would've been her first day of school," Laura Murphy, the teen's mom said at a news conference today. "I carried my youngest son to school this morning but I didn't have my daughter to take."

"Please, if the public knows anything, please, please let us know. Please," Murphy tearfully begged.

The sobbing plea came as the authorities announced today Randolph Taylor, 48, had been arrested and charged with abduction in the disappearance of Murphy, 17.

"We continue to ask the public for tips, particularly if you have information on Randolph Taylor," Anthony Martin, the Commonwealth's Attorney for Nelson County, said at the news conference.

Authorities did not elaborate on what led them to arrest Taylor, however, they are asking for anyone who believes they saw the suspect or his late model GMC Suburban just prior to and after Murphy's disappearance to come forward with any information they may have.

Murphy was last seen on Aug. 3, 2013, at a Lovingston, Va., gas station. Her white Nissan Maxima was located three days later in the parking lot of Carmike Cinemas in Charlottesville, Va.

Jeff Mazanec, special agent in charge of the FBI's Richmond Division, said authorities are hopeful they will find Murphy soon.

"I know this is some speculation if this case is related to other disappearances. We continue to look at all possibilities," he said without elaborating on what those other cases might be.

Taylor is being held at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail and has not yet entered a plea.

More than 50 officers and analysts from the FBI, Nelson County Sheriff's Office and the Virginia State Police have joined the effort to locate Murphy.

Murphy was last seen wearing a pink blouse, floral-patterned spandex pants, brown boots and was carrying a dark and light gray colored purse.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Nelson County Sheriff's Office at (434) 263-7050.

Randolph Taylor, shown in an undated booking photo, has been arrested in connection with the disappearance of Virginia teen Alexis Murphy.
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Re: FBI announces arrest in abduction of Alexis Murphy
Posted by: Very sad ()
Date: August 13, 2013 09:05PM

Very sad...
This guy will not talk.
I feel bad for the young girl's family.

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Re: FBI announces arrest in abduction of Alexis Murphy
Posted by: Typical ()
Date: August 13, 2013 09:08PM

Well looks like the Randolph family are outstanding members of the community...

"TAYLOR ","RANDOLPH "," ","034"," 4511","COLONY 1201 ","CT","ALEXANDRIA ","VA","11/30/2001","POSS MARIJUANA "
"TAYLOR ","RANDOLPH "," ","036"," 4415","BRIARWOOD N #17 ","CT","ANNANDALE ","VA","08/08/2003","IDENTITY FRAUD "
"TAYLOR ","RANDOLPH "," ","037"," 4415","BRIARWOOD N #17 ","CT","ANNANDALE ","VA","01/29/2004","POSS MARIJUANA "
"TAYLOR ","RANDOLPH "," ","037"," 4415","BRIARWOOD N #17 ","CT","ANNANDALE ","VA","01/29/2004","POSS MARIJUANA "
"TAYLOR ","RANDOLPH "," ","040"," 7126","FAIRCHILD ","DR","ALEXANDRIA ","VA","10/05/2007","POSS CONTROLLED DRUG FEL "
"TAYLOR ","RANDOLPH "," ","044"," 4610","COTTONWOOD ","PL","ALEXANDRIA ","VA","07/07/2006","DISORDERLY CONDUCT "
"TAYLOR ","RANDOLPH "," ","044"," 4610","COTTONWOOD ","PL","ALEXANDRIA ","VA","07/07/2006","TRESPASS-POSTED OR ADVISED TO LV "
"TAYLOR ","RANDOLPH ","L","019"," 8911","PAMUNKEY ","RD","SPOTSTKVANIA","VA","08/07/2008","FAIL WEAR SAFETY BELT "
"TAYLOR ","RANDOLPH ","L","019"," 8911","PAMUNKEY ","RD","SPOTSTKVANIA","VA","08/07/2008","POSS MARIJUANA "
"TAYLOR ","RANDOLPH ","L","043"," 4610","COTTONWOOD ","PL","ALEX ","VA","02/21/2005","DOMESTIC ASSAULT "
"TAYLOR ","RANDOLPH ","M","023"," 609","ONEIDA NW ","PL","WASHINGTON ","DC","08/13/2004","FAIL OBEY HWY SIGN

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UPDATED: Alexis Murphy abduction revives interest in unsolved cases
Posted by: Updated Info ()
Date: August 14, 2013 08:06AM

UPDATED: Alexis Murphy abduction revives interest in unsolved cases
http://www.insidenova.com/news/crime_police/updated-alexis-murphy-abduction-revives-interest-in-unsolved-cases/article_252d9606-02de-11e3-ae2e-0019bb2963f4.html


While a frantic search continued in central Virginia for 17-year-old Alexis Murphy, the FBI began investigating whether the man charged in her abduction is connected to a long string of disappearances centered around the Charlottesville area.

The FBI and Nelson County prosecutors on Aug. 12 announced the arrest of Randy Allen Taylor, 48, in the disappearance of Alexis, who left her home for Lynchburg to get her hair done and vanished Aug. 3. Her car was found abandoned Aug. 6 in Charlottesville.

Randy Taylor, who lives on Thomas Nelson Highway in Lovingston, was charged with abduction by force and is being held without bond, authorities said. But as of press time, where Alexis is, and if she’s OK, remained a mystery.

“I know there is some speculation that this case may be connected to other disappearances and abductions in the region,” FBI Special Agent Jeffrey Mazanec said at a press conference Aug. 12. “We are certainly looking at all possibilities and information in this regard. However, we are not prepared to discuss this at the present time.”

As investigators dive into Taylor’s past, they’ve learned there’s one thing he is not - the “29 Stalker.”

Taylor’s police mugshot taken after his arrest Sunday bears some resemblance to a 1996 composite sketch of the “29 Stalker,” a moniker given the killer who murdered 25-year-old Alicia Showalter Reynolds. Reynolds was abducted in Culpeper County while driving to Charlottesville on U.S. 29 on March 2, 1996.

Her remains were found two months later in a remote logging community in Culpeper.

Taylor, however, was incarcerated in Virginia Beach in June 1993 after being convicted of burglary and grand larceny. He remained in prison, transferred among three correctional centers, until Sept. 20, 1996, records show.

The 29 Stalker case struck fear in woman all over the state. In the months that followed Reynolds disappearance, several women came forward reporting that a man in a similar truck had flashed his lights and tried to stop them as they drove along U.S. 29.

One of those women was traveling on Va. 234 in Prince William County in February 1996 when she stopped for a man in a truck who flashed his lights and indicated she should pull over. When she got into his truck for a ride home, he attacked her with a screwdriver. The victim was able to jump out of the truck and get away, suffering a broken leg in the process.

While Taylor has an ironclad alibi in Alicia Reynolds murder, he has publicly admitted he was once a suspect in the September 2010 disappearance of a 19-year-old Orange County woman, Samantha Clarke. In an interview with a Charlottesville alternative newspaper, The Hook, Taylor was quoted as saying police “harassed him by planting evidence and illegally tracking his whereabouts.”

He was never charged and Clarke has never been found.

The Orange County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office released a statement Aug. 14 saying investigators there are working closely with detectives on the Alexis Murphy case.

“As Randy Taylor is someone that Samantha spoke with immediately prior to her disappearance, he remains someone we are very interested in learning more about,” Orange Commonwealth’s Attorney Diane Wheeler said in the statement.

The Alexis Murphy case also echoes that of Morgan Harrington, a 20-year-old Virginia Tech student who vanished after a Metallica concert in Charlottesville in October 2009. Her body was found three months later in a field in Albemarle County, near Charlottesville. No one has ever been charged in her killing.

DNA in the Morgan Harrington case matches a 2005 unsolved sexual assault in Fairfax City. In that case, the attacker was scared off by a passerby. Based on the witness descriptions in the 2005 case, a composite sketch of the suspect showed an African American male, but police have never said if they know his race.

State police spokeswoman Corinne Geller said that, so far, there is no evidence linking the Alexis Murphy case to the murder of Morgan Harrington.

At the Aug. 12 news conference, the FBI said finding Alexis Murphy remains the agency’s top focus. But they want to speak to anyone who knows anything about Taylor.

Authorities ask anyone who saw Taylor or his late-model GMC Suburban around the time Alexis disappeared or since then to call 434-263-7050.
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Re: FBI announces arrest in abduction of Alexis Murphy
Posted by: asdfasdfdasfafsd ()
Date: August 19, 2013 02:02PM

I hope they can connect this guy to those other abductions, murders, etc.

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Re: FBI announces arrest in abduction of Alexis Murphy
Posted by: More Info ()
Date: August 21, 2013 04:53AM

Taylor's encounters: Aquaintances recall abduction suspect as hearing looms
http://www.readthehook.com/110023/taylors-encounters-aquaintances-recall-abduction-suspect

As accused kidnapper Randy Allen Taylor sits in jail issuing protestations of innocence through his attorney, one former friend says the 48-year-old Lovingston resident has a history of getting into trouble— and then getting out of it.

"He's a very smart individual; he knows how to play the system," says the former friend, who spoke with the Hook on condition of anonymity, and who spent time with Taylor in the late '90s and early 2000s.

After hanging out with Taylor for six months, the former friend says, it seemed to him "there was something off with Randy. Everything was always someone else's fault."

In 2004, according to Albemarle County District Court records, Taylor faced a number of charges, but despite pleading guilty to arson for the 2002 torching of a Dodge Ram conversion van, he served no time.

Also in 2004, Taylor was charged with brandishing a weapon and stalking, and an unrelated charge of curse and abuse.

"A white man driving a red Toyota followed me to the corner of Georgetown Road and Hydraulic Road then pulled a black pistol out and pointed it," wrote an Albemarle County man in an August 21, 2004, criminal complaint in Albemarle County General District Court describing an alleged encounter from the previous night. "I saw him again today," writes the man in that complaint.

Taylor, who lived on Georgetown Road at the time, was found not guilty of the charges of brandishing a weapon and stalking, and his accuser, reached by the Hook, declined comment.

Five months earlier, in March 2004, another man accused Taylor of curse and abuse, a charge that the words spoken "provoke a breach of the peace," according to the statute.

"Don't get out of the car you punk-ass motherf***er," Taylor allegedly said to the man, who was with his girlfriend at the time, according to the complaint in Albemarle County General District Court. That misdemeanor charge was dropped before prosecution.

Taylor, who was born in Pensacola, Florida, according to Albemarle district court records, had lived in New Jersey and told the former friend he didn't like going to the Garden State because "the cops harassed him." The former friend says Taylor didn't offer more details on that alleged harassment.

In Virginia, the former friend says, Taylor enjoyed watching crime shows— 48 Hours and CSI were his favorites, says the friend— and he was also a car buff.

"He hung out with a group of guys who were really interested in cars," says the former friend, who recalls that Taylor once drove a 20-year-old Chevy Caprice. Coincidentally, that's the same model car that Taylor has described being driven by a black man whom he claims came to his camper in Lovingston along with Alexis Murphy on the evening she disappeared. Through his attorney, Taylor described the man as a drug dealer who sold him $60 of marijuana and who left the Thomas Nelson Highway property with Murphy.

The former friend isn't the only one who has less than fond memories of Taylor.

"I wouldn't let him near my home," says one resident of Eheart's Corner trailer park on Ridge Road in Orange County, where Taylor lived at the time of 19-year-old Samantha Clarke's disappearance in September 2010. Taylor confirmed to the Hook in October 2012 that he has long been a suspect in that case because he called her phone multiple times the night she vanished.

The woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity citing the high profile nature of the case, recalls her former neighbor as "creepy," and says on multiple occasions he spit towards her husband and his friend out of his car window while seeming to make unfriendly remarks.

But while she kept her distance from Taylor, particularly after witnessing law enforcement officers search his trailer during the Samantha Clarke investigation, she says his son was a frequent and welcomed guest in her home.

"He was a sweet boy, good manners, very polite," says the woman, who describes Taylor's son and her own son doing "typical boy things, playing Xbox, riding bikes."

"He loved his father," says the woman of Taylor's son.

At presstime, Taylor had not responded to the Hook's request for an interview made through Colonel Ronald Matthews, superintendent of the Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail.

As the investigation into the disappearance of Alexis Murphy enters its third week, various media outlets have reported on evidence recovered thus far, including the retrieval of several cell phones.

FBI spokesperson Dee Rybiski confirms the discovery of several phones and says they are undergoing forensic testing.

Investigators also appear to be looking into Taylor's claims that another man was present when he interacted with Alexis Murphy on August 3. According to Richmond television station CBS6, sometime between Friday, August 16, and Sunday, August 18, Louisa County Sheriff's Office issued a "Be on the Lookout" for a maroon Chevy with large rims like the one described by Taylor. The Sheriff's Office confirmed to the station that a vehicle matching that description was pulled over, but now say that was unrelated.

"There was nothing to it," says Louisa County Sheriff Ashland Fortune.

Rybiski says area law enforcement agencies have informally been looking for a car matching that description. "Officials have been reporting to Nelson County any that they've spotted," she says.

On Friday, August 15, Hallahan, a former police officer turned defense attorney, told Lynchburg television station WSET that his request for tips about that mystery man had resulted in 20 to 30 calls and that he had given the man's identity to investigators.

"He's a witness that I needed law enforcement to talk to," Hallahan told the station, questioning how Taylor could be charged with abduction based on a single hair— the evidence Taylor reportedly told his attorney was the basis for his arrest.

Rybiski declines comment on the man's identity, and reached by the Hook, Hallahan hung up on a reporter. A subsequent call was answered by voicemail on which Hallahan emphatically states he will not be returning media calls.

Taylor is scheduled to appear in Nelson County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court on Thursday, August 22, for a bond hearing, and his former attorney, Adam Rhea, who successfully argued in June 2012 that charges against Taylor stemming from an April 2011 traffic stop should be tossed, says the upcoming bond hearing may be "a good bellwether of the strength of the prosecution's case."

While prosecutors typically don't reveal all the evidence they may have against a defendent during a bond hearing, Rhea, who says he has not been in contact with Taylor or Hallahan, wonders if the prosecution might feel pressure to show more of its hand.

"If they think they're about to have him released on bond, they'll proffer a little more info to the judge to keep that from happening," suggests Rhea. "If they don't proffer something to the judge, it seems to indicate that they don't have something to proffer."
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No bond: Abduction suspect to stay behind bars
Posted by: More info ()
Date: December 06, 2013 06:53AM

No bond: Abduction suspect to stay behind bars
http://www.readthehook.com/110037/no-bond-abduction-suspect-stay-behind-bars

The man accused of abducting 17-year-old Nelson County teen Alexis Murphy will stay behind bars, a judge ruled Thursday, August 22, in Nelson County Juvenile and Domestic Relations court.

Earlier in the week, Judge A. Ellen White ruled that the bond hearing for Randy Allen Taylor would be closed to the public and media, but immediately before the 1pm bond hearing, she granted a media motion by attorney Craig Merritt, representing WDBJ in Roanoke, WWBT and WTVR in Richmond, and the Newsplex, to open the hearing to the public, agreeing with Merritt that the only time the courtroom should be closed was during the presentation of "sensitive" evidence from the prosecution.

"Things have been revealed, some confirmed yesterday, that could seriously jeopardize [Taylor's] right to a fair trial," countered Nelson Commonwealth's Attorney Anthony Martin.

Arguing for his client's release, Taylor's defense attorney, Charlottesville-based Mike Hallahan, presented the court with a photo of the mystery man who Taylor says left his property with Murphy on August 3, the night she disappeared, after allegedly selling Taylor $60 of marijuana. The photo was not visible to the public in attendance, and Hallahan did not speak the man's name, but told the judge it was known to investigators.

Taylor "has identified him as an adult who has seen Alexis since he has seen Alexis," said Hallahan.

Following the presentation of the prosecution's evidence in a closed courtroom, Hallahan argued that prosecutors had not presented enough evidence to support a charge of abduction. He further described the timing of a new August 21 charge for a probation violation stemming from Taylor's 2005 arson conviction in Albemarle County as "very suspicious."

"It's a restitution issue, nothing else," he said, describing the $600 Taylor owes as something that could be repaid within days.

"His violation came on the eve of the bond hearing to make it more difficult for him to get bond," said Hallahan, who said that Taylor, if released, would stay with his son and his son's mother at a home in Nelson County and that he posed neither flight risk nor danger to the community.

Immediately after Judge White issued her ruling denying Taylor bond, Hallahan asked that she sign papers allowing his client to waive his right to a preliminary hearing, where evidence is presented. The case will go before a grand jury in late September.

Hook legal analyst David Heilberg says the defense move to waive preliminary hearing is unusual and perhaps reveals Hallahan's legal strategy.

"The rule of thumb is that the only reason to waive preliminary hearing is for a trade-off," says Heilberg, noting that in this case it's unlikely that there's any kind of deal on the table so early in an investigation while police are still searching for Murphy.

The other reason, Heilberg explains, is that waiving the preliminary hearing starts the "speedy trial clock," which requires a trial to be held within five months from the date the preliminary hearing is waived since Taylor is being held without bond.

If the grand jury doesn't issue an indictment on the abduction charge when it convenes in September, Taylor will be set free. If an indictment on the abduction charge is issued, Taylor will be tried on the charge no later than January— around the time the preliminary trial was originally scheduled.

If Hallahan doesn't believe prosecutors have enough evidence to convince a jury to convict Taylor, Heilberg says, a quick trial is in his client's best interest, although prosecutors could bring additional charges against Taylor at any point if they believe they have the evidence to support them.

While Taylor's defense is taking an unusual approach by appearing to rush the trial process, Heilberg says, the prosecution also seems to be taking an unusual approach by charging Taylor with only one offense.

"Usually the commonwealth will charge every possibility to gain leverage. Here, they may have purposely limited the number of charges to keep their options open," he says. "Everyone is maneuvering and going against conventional strategies— both sides."





Original story published August 22 at 5:03pm

The man accused of abducting 17-year-old Nelson County teen Alexis Murphy will stay behind bars, a judge ruled today in Nelson County Juvenile and Domestic Relations court.

Earlier this week, Judge A. Ellen White ruled that the bond hearing for Randy Allen Taylor would be closed to the public and media, but on Thursday, August 22, immediately before the 1pm bond hearing, she granted a media motion by attorney Craig Merritt, representing by WDBJ in Roanoke, WWBT and WTVR in Richmond, and the Newsplex, to open the hearing to the public, agreeing with Merritt that the only time the courtroom should be closed was during the presentation of "sensitive" evidence from the prosecution.

"Things have been revealed, some confirmed yesterday, that could seriously jeopardize [Taylor's] right to a fair trial," argued Nelson Commonwealth's Attorney Anthony Martin.

Arguing for his client's release, Taylor's defense attorney, Charlottesville-based Mike Hallahan, presented the court with a photo of the mystery man who Taylor says left his property with Murphy on August 3, the night she disappeared, after allegedly selling Taylor $60 of marijuana. The photo was not visible to the public in attendance, and Hallahan did not speak the man's name, but told the judge it was known to investigators.

Taylor "has identified him as an adult who has seen Alexis since he has seen Alexis," said Hallahan.

Following the presentation of the prosecution's evidence in a closed courtroom, Hallahan argued that prosecutors had not presented enough evidence to support a charge of abduction. He further described the timing of a new August 21 charge for a probation violation stemming from Taylor's 2005 arson conviction as "very suspicious."

"It's a restitution issue, nothing else," he said, describing the $600 Taylor owes as something that could be repaid within days.

"His violation came on the eve of the bond hearing to make it more difficult for him to get bond," said Hallahan, who said that Taylor, if released, would stay with his son and his son's mother at a home in Nelson County and that he posed neither flight risk nor danger to the community.

Immediately after Judge White issued her ruling denying Taylor bond, Hallahan asked that she sign papers allowing his client to waive his right to a preliminary hearing, where evidence is presented. The case will go before a grand jury in late September.

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Alexis Murphy case: Randy Taylor indicted on murder charges
Posted by: More info ()
Date: January 11, 2014 03:23AM

Alexis Murphy case: Randy Taylor indicted on murder charges
http://www.wjla.com/articles/2014/01/alexis-murphy-case-prosecutors-to-hold-news-conference-98910.html#ixzz2q4mkgp6I

(WJLA) - The disappearance of Alexis Murphy five months ago left her family in anguish. We spoke with the teen’s mother shortly after she went missing in August of 2013.

"It's like my heart has been ripped out," said her mother, Laura Ann Murphy.

But on Monday, perhaps there will be some closure with the announcement of a murder indictment against the prime suspect, 48-year-old Randy Taylor.

"The notion of indictments only means the grand jury found probable cause for the charges I mentioned, and that Randy Taylor should go on trial for these charges," explained Anthony Martin, Nelson County Commonwealth's Attorney.

Murphy was last seen at this Liberty Gas Station in Lovingston, Virginia. Witnesses told detectives she was talking with a man fitting Taylor’s description. A week later, police arrested Taylor on an abduction charge.

But there was still no trace of the missing teen. And at the time, Murphy’s mother was trying to stay hopeful.

"Someone called me. I'm like, I hope that's her. I look at my phone, hoping it's her," she said back in August.

There were tantalizing clues: Murphy’s car was discovered in Charlottesville three days after her disappearance; police traced her cell phone signal near Taylor’s home; and then later, her cell phone was found.

However, due to a court-imposed gag order, prosecutors are releasing few details about the case. They and family members are currently declining to comment on her whereabouts.

Watch the news video here: http://bcove.me/f30eeqvt

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