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Murder of Thelma Taylor

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Thelma Taylor
Born
Thelma Anne Taylor

(1933-12-12)December 12, 1933[1]
Portland, Oregon, U.S.
DisappearedAugust 5, 1949
DiedAugust 6, 1949(1949-08-06) (aged 15)
Portland, Oregon, U.S.
Cause of deathBlunt force trauma and stabbing
Body discoveredAugust 11, 1949, in St. Johns, Portland, Oregon
Resting placeColumbia Cemetery, Portland, Oregon, U.S.
45°35′04″N 122°40′38″W / 45.58454°N 122.67721°W / 45.58454; -122.67721
Known forHomicide victim

Thelma Anne Taylor (December 12, 1933 – August 6, 1949) was an American teenager who was abducted and murdered in Portland, Oregon in 1949, after having disappeared on August 5.[2] Her body was discovered the following week, on August 11. Taylor's murder received national attention and became a cause célèbre. The perpetrator, Morris Leland, was executed in 1953. The murder occurred in the St. Johns neighborhood of North Portland near the St. Johns Bridge and land that is now known as Cathedral Park.[3]

Disappearance and murder

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Cathedral Park, the site of Thelma Taylor's murder, with the St. Johns Bridge, 2013

During the early morning of August 5, 1949, Thelma Taylor, a 15-year-old sophomore at Roosevelt High School, was waiting for a bus on North Fessenden Street in the St. Johns neighborhood in north Portland, Oregon, intending to travel about 17 miles to the town of Hillsboro to obtain a summer job picking beans.[4][5]

While Taylor was waiting for the bus, she was accosted by Morris Leland, a 22-year-old ex-convict, who asked her to accompany him to a spot near the Willamette River and the St. Johns Bridge, a short distance from what is now the Cathedral Park neighborhood.[6] Upon arriving at the secluded area, Leland held Taylor captive and attempted to rape her,[7] but stopped upon discovering that Taylor was a virgin.[6] The two slept that night in a wooded area near the Willamette River.

On the morning of August 6, Taylor began screaming for help after hearing workers switching railroad cars at a nearby train yard.[4] Leland then killed Taylor by bludgeoning her on the head with a steel rebar[8] multiple times, then stabbing her with a knife.[6] He then threw the rebar and knife into the river, wiped his fingerprints off of Taylor's lunch pail, and gathered up his cigarette butts. Leland buried Taylor's body in a shallow grave under a pile of rotten logs.[6][9]

Conviction and execution

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In the early morning hours of August 11, 1949,[10] Leland was arrested for car theft by the Portland Police, and subsequently confessed to kidnapping and murdering Taylor, though he wasn't a suspect in the crime.[11] In his confession, Leland claimed Taylor had initially gone with him "willingly."[12] On August 19, he was indicted on charges of first-degree murder.[13] At his trial, Leland pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. His trial began on October 4, 1949, and on November 11,[14] he was convicted of murder and sentenced to death.[6] Leland was initially sentenced to be executed on January 20, 1950,[15] but this date was postponed after he petitioned for a new trial; however, his request for a new trial was denied on December 18, 1949.[15]

On April 20, 1951, Morris was again sentenced to death; he was executed in the gas chamber at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem on January 9, 1953.[16][17]

Legacy

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Taylor was buried in Historic Columbian Cemetery in North Portland. The site near Taylor's murder has since been developed into a public park, called Cathedral Park, which opened in 1980. The murder of Taylor near the land that became Cathedral Park has led to local folklore that the park is supposedly haunted by Taylor, although her murder didn't actually occur there. [18]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Slain Girl's Rites Monday". The Oregonian. August 14, 1949. Last rites for Thelma Anne Taylor, a fifteen year old Roosevelt High School sophomore whose murder August 6, was confessed by Morris Leland, 22, transient, will be at 1:30 PM. Monday at Mikesworth's Peninsula Funeral Home 3018 N. Lombard Street. Rev. William C. Doughty, pastor of East St. Johns Mission Covenant, of which the girl was a member, will officiate. Burial will be in Columbia Cemetery. Miss Taylor, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence A. Taylor, 9903 N. Oregonian Street, was born in Portland December 12, 1933, She attended George School for six years, graduated from James John Grade School in 1947 and had planned to enter her sophomore year at Roosevelt High School in September. Besides her parents, she is survived by one sister, Paulette.
  2. ^ Holmes, Eric (October 30, 2008). "Spooky Portland: A grisly murder, a haunted castle, bodies in the Keller!". KATU. Archived from the original on January 27, 2013.
  3. ^ "A grave history and telling walks in Portland" (PDF). St. Johns Review. October 14, 2011.
  4. ^ a b Becker, Tim (May 9, 2013). "Thelma Taylor: Phantom in Cathedral Park?". KOIN. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
  5. ^ McMurphy, Vivian (August 23, 1949). "Points West". Lebanon Express. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ a b c d e "STATE vs. LELAND (190 Or. 598 (1951))". Leagle. October 4, 1950. Retrieved September 20, 2013.
  7. ^ "Death Penalty Sought in Portland Slaying". Statesman Journal. October 28, 1949. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Seized as Car Thief, Reveals He Murdered Teen-age Girl". New York Daily News. August 12, 1949. p. 264 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Former Convict Leads Police To Body of Murdered Girl". Reading Eagle. August 11, 1949. p. 21 – via Google News.
  10. ^ "Man Admits Brutal Slaying of 15-Year-Old Portland Girl". San Pedro News-Pilot. August 11, 1949. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Man Confesses Killing Girl, 15". Miami News. August 11, 1949. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Leland Shows No Agitation". The Capital Journal. August 12, 1949. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Murder Indictment". San Francisco Examiner. August 19, 1949. p. 36 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Young Man to Die for Slaying Girl". The San Bernardino County Sun. San Bernardino, California. November 11, 1949. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ a b "Rape-Murderer Loses Plea For New Trial". Long Beach Independent. p. 12-A – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Court Grants Execution Stay". The Bend Bulletin. April 6, 1951. p. 5 – via Google News.
  17. ^ "Oregon's Next Executions Set". Eugene Register-Guard. Eugene, Oregon. January 5, 1953. p. 7A. Retrieved September 19, 2013 – via Google News.
  18. ^ Dickey 2017, pp. 215–225.

Sources

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  • Dickey, Colin (2017). Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places. New York: Penguin. ISBN 978-1-101-98020-0.
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