Abilene weekly reflector., 1922-02-09
TANGLED WEB
OF IMPULSE
IN A MURDER
Spurn e d Love May
Have Cause Attack
on Film Director
rAssociated Press

Los Angeles, Feb. 3.-Revenge'
jealousy, hate and unanswered love
are considered by the police In the
search for the slayer Of William Des-
mond Taylor, motion picture direc-
tor, whose body was found yesterday
in his apartment with a bullet
through the neck. Officers are In
vestigating stories of a skulklng
man seen in the neighbOrhood OF
Taylor's home, the whereabouts OF a
former servant arrested for alleged
robbery Of Taylor and reported to
have threatened revenge and the
sender of an anonymous letter con-
tanning pawn tickets for belongings
stolen from Taylor. They are also
investigating to see whether any
soldier who served under Taylor In
the British army during the war
had a fancied grievance against him.
Mary Miles Minter, film actress, COM
ing to Taylor's home this morning to
see if she could do anything to help,
burst into tears.
Half a dozen cigarette stubs form
the only clew to the murderer These
stubs found on a back porch of the
Taylor home indicate that the slay-
er waited nervously in the dark for
a dance to kill Taylor. Mrs. Douglas
MacLean, wife of movie actor, who
lives across the street, told OF hear
ing a shot fired shortly after Mabel
Normand, film actress, had lett the
Taylor home, and seeing large man
leave the Taylor place by the front
door.
At the outbreak of the World war.
Mr.. Taylor enlisted as a private in
the British army. Soon after he was
made a captain and saw active SER
vice in France. Upon his return to
this country he took up his work at
the Lasky studio.
The actor director is said to have
had varied adventures other than
those of picture making and service
in war-that at one time he pitched
hay on a Kansas wheat farm and
spent several years later roughing
it in Alaska. He directed "Tale OF
Two Cities" several Pickford films
and was widely known.
Taylor had many women friends.
He was, according to general opin-
ion the motion picture colony, en-
gagged for time to Mary Miles Min
ter and later to Mabel Normand. A
Mrs. Paul, A. Crawford Ivers, con-
tinuity editor for Lasky's, also is un-
derstood to have been a good friend
of his. Taylor had been married
twice, had been divorced both times.
He was pre-eminently a man who
kept the greater part Of his life a
mystery to those about him.
Los Angeles, Cal, Feb. 3.-Among
the latest persons known to have
seen William Desmond Taylor, mo-
tion picture director, alive, was
Mabel Normand, film comedienne, it
was announced last night by the
police detectives who are investigat-
ing the finding of Taylor's body with
bullet wounds in the neck, in his
apartments here yesterday.
Harry Peavey, negro servant OF
Taylor's, told the police that about
Z o'clock Wednesday night, when he
had nearly finished serving dinner to
Taylor, Miss Normand called to see
the director. Peavey said he left the
Taylor apartments about 1880 and
Miss Normand was still there at that
time.
Miss Normand was questioned by
the police, who said she unhesitat-
ingly told Of the visit. She had
stopped at Mr.. Taylor's apartments
to return a borrowed book, she said