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Taylor held in local stabbingBy Bill Bauer and Jeff SchurmanLeader-Telegram staffMurder charges from Eau Claire and Dunn counties were filed Monday and today against a 40-year-old Portage man.Alvin Taylor was charged this morning by the Eau Claire County district attorney with the May 1986 stabbing death of James Severson, 42. On Monday, Taylor, a musician, appeared in Dunn County Circuit Court in connection with the gunshot slaying ofTimothy Hayden. 27, of Menomonie.Taylor is being held in the Dunn County Jail without bond. An appearance in Eau Claire County Circuit Court has not been scheduled.Taylor, who is charged in Dunn County with tirst-degree murder by use of a dangerous weapon, was arrested on a warrant after Hayden's funeral Friday.First-degree murder, the charge that was issued against Taylor today by Eau Claire authorities, carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment. The second part of the Dunn County charge, committing murder by use of a dangerous weapon, can add as much as fiveyears to the sentence.At his court appearance Monday. Dunn County Circuit Judge Donna J. Muza ordered Taylor to undergo mental examinations.Taylor was found indigent and is being represented by Michael Tobin of the public defender’s office inHudson on the Dunn County charge. Lawrence Dum-ing of the public defender’s office in Eau Claire has been assigned to represent Taylor on the Eau Claire charge.Taylor was charged with Severson’s murder after giving a statement to Eau Claire police investigator Neil Hanson Sunday afternoon.Police allege that Taylor stabbed Severson in the neck, but that the knife broke during the attack and the two men wrestled on the floor of Severson's apartment. According to the district attorney's complaint, Taylor was able to subdue Severson by choking him. Once Severson stopped moving, Taylor took a butcher knife from a kitchen drawer and repeatedly stabbed Severson to make sure he was dead, according to the complaint.The complaint indicates that Taylor knew Severson because, for a time, both men lived in the same apartment building at 113 Ann St. The complaint makes no mention of a possible motive for Severson's death.Friends found Hayden's body in his home at 408 20th Ave. E. on March 28 after they became suspicious when he failed to appear for a lunch date March 26. Authorities believe Hayden was killed sometime during the morning of March 26.According to the criminal complaint, an autopsySee POLICE, Page 2A
Newspaper Details
Eau Claire Leader Telegram
Eau Claire, Wisconsin, US
Tue, Apr 07, 1987
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Maureen B.
NA, NA 05 Oct 2022
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