Hide Article Text (OCR)
By Chuck RupnowLeader-Telegram staffMENOMONIE — It likely will he *weeks before Dunn County Circuit Court Judge Donna Muza determines if Alvin Taylor’s murder confessions and other statements to law enforcement officials will he admissible in future court hearings.Taylor, 40, of Portage, is accused in Dunn County with the March 25, 1987, shooting death of Timothy Hayden, 27, of Menomonie, and of murdering Robert Williams, 38, of Eau Claire.Taylor, a traveling entertainer, is accused in Eau Claire County with the May 1986 beating and stabbing death of James Severson, 42. of Eau Claire. Washington County officials have charged Taylor withthe shooting death of Daniel Lundgren, 33, West Bend, but no court hearings have been held in that case.Taylor was arrested in early April in Menomonie in connection with the Hayden murder. A Wisconsin Dells man told investigators he sold Taylor a gun March 17 and that he returned it March 27. Taylor and Hayden were acquaintances when Taylor lived in rural Dunn County.State Crime Laboratory tests indicate the weapon was the one used in the Hayden murder.Taylor confessed April 4 to the Hayden and Severson murders and on June 16 admitted to shooting Lundgren, according to police reports. Williams’ decomposed body was found April 8 in a shallow grave on the property where Taylor had lived.Neighbors were suspicious of the apparantshallow grave and called authorities after learning of Taylor's arrest. Williams was reported missing in July 1985.Public defenders Lawrence Durning of Eau Claire and John Kueinski of Hudson are representing Taylor. Durning is the attorney of record in the Eau Claire Countycase and is assisting Kueinski in the Dunn County cases.Defense motions for supression of all statements to law enforcement officers regarding the Hayden and Williams cases and for change of venue were made Wednesday in a day-long Dunn County court hearing. Six witnesses were called and 18 exhibits introduced regarding the suppression motion.Judge Muza said the venue motion will not be ruled on until decisions about trial arrangements are made in the Eau ClaireCounty case.Taylor originally had pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of mental disease in the Hayden. Williams and Severson cases. He recently dropped the not guilty plea in Eau Claire County. The trial on thesanity portion of his plea is scheduled lorFeb. 15 in Eau Claire.Wednesday's testimony centered around statements Taylor allegedly made April 4and June 16 at the Dunn County Jail Menomonie Police Department investigators Frank Bammert and Dale Amundson were interviewing Taylor April 4 regarding the Hayden murder when Taylor made mention of Severson. Taylor said, in part, that he didn't “care to get into the details,'' according to police reports .Bammert and Amundson said Wednesday they understood Taylor to mean he did not want to get into the “specific or “grisly details of the Severson murder.They did not think Taylor was invoking his right to remain silent about possible involvement in the murders.Amundson said he had seen pictures of the Severson murder scene.“I knew of the murder scene because ol the pictures, he said. “1 think, in the back of my mind, I figured that's what it (his reference to details) was about.Eau C laire Circuit Court Judge GregoryPeterson last year interpreted Taylor's statement to mean he was making a request to remain silent and did not allow Taylor’s following remarks to be entered intoevidence. A second confession bv Tavlor✓ *was ruled admissible.Sap TAYLOR- Paae 7A
Newspaper Details
Eau Claire Leader Telegram
Eau Claire, Wisconsin, US
Thu, Jan 21, 1988
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Maureen B.
NA, NA 05 Oct 2022
Other Publications Near Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Eau Claire Telegraph
New North Wisconsin
Eau Claire Evening Free Press
Chippewa Anzeiger
Eau Claire Daily Argus
