Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 12, 1991 TAG: 9103120108
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: JACKSONVILLE, FLA. LENGTH: Medium
Walter Thomas Taylor Jr., 24, of Salem, Va., showed no emotion as Circuit Judge Michael Weatherby rejected a defense request for concurrent terms and imposed consecutive sentences. That means Taylor must serve 50 years before he is eligible for parole.
The victims were slain with a hammer just days after the damaged ship returned home.
"What you did was cold. What you did was brutal. What you did was heartless. What you did was absolutely and utterly despicable," Weatherby said. Taylor did not speak in the 30-minute hearing.
Taylor was convicted Feb. 8 of two counts of first-degree murder in the Aug. 8, 1987, slayings of 21-year-old Paula Smits of Omaha, Neb., and her 3-year-old daughter, Amanda, in the Smits' suburban apartment. An infant was unharmed, but suffered from dehydration before the bodies were found two days later.
The attack came three days after the guided missile frigate returned to its home port at Mayport Naval Station from the Persian Gulf, where it was hit by two missiles fired by an Iraqi jet in May 1987 in what was described as a case of mistaken identification. At the time, Iraq was at war with Iran.
The defense argued in Taylor's two-week trial that the slayings were a result of post-traumatic stress syndrome. They said Taylor developed the syndrome because of the missile attack, which killed many of his friends and nearly sunk his ship.
Prosecutors contended that Taylor killed the young woman after raping her and then also killed her daughter. Smits' husband, then also a sailor, was at sea on the USS Saratoga at the time.
Weatherby said he was imposing the two consecutive life terms because that's what he believed the jury wanted when it recommended a life sentence instead of death in Florida's electric chair.
The judge said although he felt that death was appropriate, he didn't think overriding the jury recommendation would withstand an appeal because of Taylor's mental condition.
But Assistant Public Defender Charles Cofer said that concurrent life terms would prevent Taylor from ever having another chance at freedom.
"I'm asking the court not to take that opportunity away," he said.
Taylor has been in prison since 1987, so he must serve another 46 1/2 years before he can be considered for parole.
Assistant Public Defender Ann Finnell said the case would be appealed.
"We're disappointed that it was not a concurrent sentence and I'm sure he [Taylor] was disappointed as well," she said.
Angela Corey, an assistant state attorney, said the sentence was appropriate for the crime.
"The judge's words . . . were right on point," she said.
by CNB