On February 2, 1922, a scream rang out through the neighborhood, startling people just waking from an evening slumber. Valet Henry Peavey entered the home of his boss to begin breakfast. Peavey stopped at the doorway, not because the lights were on, but because his boss’s body lay on the floor.
Neighbors rushed to the home to see William Desmond Taylor’s body lying still in the library. Peavey took that moment to call Paramount Studios to notify the executives of his boss’ death. On the heels of the Fat Arbuckle rape allegations, the film studios were on edge and worked to clean up its reputation. They arrived in time to secure anything harming the Studio’s status.
Twelve hours later, the police find Paramount Studios’ personnel rummaging through papers, burning documents, and stuffing their pockets. Before they entered the room, a man brushed up against one cop and said, “I’m a doctor. He died of an internal hemorrhage.” Following his departure, the doctor vanished.
Thinking the Paramount Director had died of natural causes, the police took their time questioning the neighbors and other witnesses lingering in the halls. Some neighbors reported hearing the backfiring of a car, and others saw a strange man lurking in Taylor’s driveway.
Yet, when the time came to move the body, they found that the mysterious doctor had lied. Taylor lay in a pool of blood with a gunshot between his neck and shoulder. A search of the room found nothing missing. Taylor had $78 in his wallet, a silver cigarette case, a diamond ring, and a locket with actress Mabel Normand’s picture. Thus, the authorities excluded robbery as a potential reason for his murder.
According to Peavey, he dropped off a book for actress Mabel Normand and returned to the house to cook dinner for his boss. Taylor ate around 6:45 PM and sent Peavey home. Taylor took a call, and Normand arrived to pick up a couple more books. Normand told the cops that she left at 7:45 PM. Taylor had a love affair with Normand, who appeared in many of his films. When Normand and Taylor first met, she approached him to help with a cocaine and opium addiction. Taylor took care of her and even agreed to meet with the Los Angeles Police Department and provide the names of her suppliers. Some investigators believe it was Normand’s drug suppliers that killed Taylor out of revenge.
But that theory turned up no evidence. Later, the investigators spoke with Taylor’s accountant, who revealed that he had $5000.00 stowed away and didn’t know what to do with it. The day after his murder, the accountant could not locate the funds, and his accounts were clean.
Suspicions turned to Taylor’s first chauffeur, Edward Sands, who forged checks, stole several gold-tipped cigarettes, and wrecked the car while Taylor worked overseas. Despite his criminal acts, the once devoted employee pledged a lifetime of service to the Director. Taylor dismissed him, thinking the man had gone insane. Sometime later, Taylor received strange phone calls early in the morning, with no one answering on the other end. Likewise, when he returned home one evening, Taylor found a few gold-tipped cigarettes snuffed out on his porch.
Soon after, Taylor hired Peavey. Peavey, who never golfed, always wore golf clothes. On the day of the murder, Taylor bailed him out of jail for propositioning a man, vagrancy, and lewd acts. Unable to develop evidence against the former valet, the police did not charge him.
While researching Taylor’s home, the police found love letters from the former child star, Mary Miles Minter. Minter, now 20 years old, had a horrible crush on Taylor,49, and fought against his unrequited love.
Mary’s mother, Charlotte Shelby, was a notorious stage mother who demanded much from the Executives—and her daughters. Records show Shelby owned a .38 caliber weapon with unique bullets. The bullets were a match to the gun casing found on the body.
Likewise, the autopsy found three blonde hairs on Taylor’s jacket, which matched Mary’s. When the media caught wind of this, they soon printed the scandal, and Minter became the prime suspect. Later on, the trio—Minter, Shelby, and her grandmother—threw the firearm into the Louisiana bayou.
Before Minter’s death, she confessed her mother had pulled the trigger and killed Taylor for their love affair.
Somehow, it just doesn’t add up. What happened to the $5000? Who did the neighbors see lurking around the home late in the evening? What did the Executives destroy in the twelve hours they combed through the home? If Shelby and/or Minter were in the home after Normand left, they were hiding, but when did they arrive?
What do you think? Let me know if you find any additional information online, and let’s start a conversation in the comments below. Maybe we can figure this out on our own.
Harper
HARPER GALE BOOKS 