This ex-police officer is accused of killing his parents in Nampa. Now, he’s standing trial

BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — Police testimony outlined the severity of the wounds inflicted on an elderly couple — and the significant blood trails left behind in their Nampa home — after police say their son killed them.

The testimony was taken Wednesday morning in the second week of a Canyon County trial for the man accused of killing both of his elderly parents before trying to cover it up.

District Judge Gene Petty presided over William “Willie” Taylor’s trial. Taylor, 50, is charged on suspicion of killing his father, 76-year-old Paul Robert Taylor, and his mother, Mary Jane Taylor, 77, in September 2017.

He faces charges of first-degree murder, second-degree murder and two felony counts of failing to notify authorities about a death.

At the time of the killings, Nampa police reportedly found the couple’s bodies wrapped in a tarp in a shed attached to their carport at a residence in the 1900 block of West Flamingo Avenue.

William Taylor served as a Pocatello police officer from October 1991 through December 1996, Nampa PD previously reported. He served in the Nampa police reserve in 1990 and 1991.

He was arrested Sept. 15, 2017, in Oregon. He was found sleeping in a truck that had been reported stolen, but he told police the vehicle belonged to his father. Initial reports alleged that Taylor told police he found his parents dead in Nampa and didn’t know what to do, so he left in his father’s truck.

Photos shown during trial from the autopsies of Paul and Mary Jane Taylor show both victims had injuries to their skulls, Nampa police detective Erin Pon said in court. Paul Taylor had a wound to his Adam’s apple and Mary Jane Taylor had injuries to her throat and a broken jaw. By the time of the Sept. 18, 2017, autopsies, both bodies were covered in maggots.

Nampa police officers and evidence specialists also discussed the evidence collection process and their search for potential weapons used in the killings. Detectives previously said they found a saw blade and duct tape with blood on them and bloody drag marks leading to the carport from the residence.

Prosecutors also presented evidence on Wednesday alleging that Taylor went to at least two stores on Sept. 10 and Sept. 11, 2017, to buy cleaning supplies and trash bags. Surveillance video from the stores was presented to the court as evidence.

The trial is expected to last two to three weeks and, as of Wednesday afternoon, the prosecution was still presenting evidence to jurors.

Taylor has been in custody at the Canyon County Jail while awaiting completion of the trial.

This article was originally published in the Idaho Statesman. It is used here with permission.