A former Idaho police officer arrested in connection to the deaths of his parents told Oregon police that he “freaked out” when he found the couple dead in their Nampa home.
William Paul Taylor, 48, was arrested Sept. 15 in Oregon on charges of theft, tampering with evidence, unauthorized use of a vehicle and possession of a stolen vehicle. He has a warrant for his arrest in Idaho for failure to report a death, and he’s considered a suspect in the deaths as well.
Oregon police found Taylor sleeping in a truck at an Oregon rest area about 10 p.m. on Sept. 15. The truck had been reported stolen from St. Helens, Ore., though Taylor told officers it belonged to his father, 76-year-old Paul Robert Taylor.
According to police reports, Taylor told the officers that he “freaked out because he found his parents dead at their residence.”
“Taylor stated he went home and that there was blood everywhere, and both of his parents were deceased inside the home. Taylor went on to say he was afraid, did not know what to do, so he left in his father’s truck,” the report said.
He told officers he suffers from alcoholism and mental illness. When a deputy asked Taylor what had happened to his parents, “he said it had something to do with their faces.”
Taylor told police that he had tried to clean up and place the bodies of his father and mother, Mary Jane Taylor, 77, in the truck. Nampa police found the couple’s bodies wrapped in a tarp in a shed attached to a carport. Detectives found a saw blade and duct tape with blood on them on a nearby tool bench, and bloody drag marks led to the carport from the residence.
When Taylor was arrested, police found what they believed to be blood spattered on his shoes and a necklace in his possession, as well as under his fingernails.
Taylor had reportedly called his sister, who lives in Alaska, to tell her that his parents were at the coast and had poor cell service as an explanation for their lack of contact.
According to the Canyon County Coroner’s Office, autopsies have been completed for the couple but reports have not yet been finalized.
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