Richard Taylor murder trial: court hears Taylor’s police interview

The interview between police and Richard Taylor was played in court on Friday. Taylor has been charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of his mother and stepfather Carla and Alan Rutherford. The couple was killed in a fire deemed arson 4 years ago in Dundas.

Police obtained a video of a person appearing to light a match just after 3 a.m. on July 9th, 2018 near Greening Court in Dundas. At around 3:30 a.m. the person is seen running away. Police believe the person in this video intentionally set the massive fire that killed Carla and Alan Rutherford in their home on Greening Court.

The video was played for Richard Taylor the day he was arrested for first-degree murder in their deaths in January of 2019.

Taylor told police he had fallen down the stairs on July 7th, just two days before the fire, and his mother took him to the hospital. While Taylor says nothing was broken or fractured, he said he had to use a cane or crutches to walk for the next few weeks.

Video surveillance shows him limping into the police station on July 9th the day of the fire. But police have video surveillance of him walking what they call “just fine” the day before.

Taylor’s alibi is that he was at his Oakville home the day of the fire.

In the police interview, Richard Taylor said he had been sleeping on the floor in the living room for the few days before the fire because he didn’t want his wife to accidentally hit his hurt leg.

Taylor told police the night of the fire around 2 a.m. he was watching a movie on his iPad when his 4-year-old son came downstairs because he had a bad dream. Taylor says he took him upstairs between 2:30 and 3 a.m. and went right back to bed.

Taylor says he gave police two opportunities to interview his son after the fire, and they declined. Two weeks later police asked for an interview with him.

“2 weeks later talking to a 4-year-old? That’s ridiculous. You couldn’t have spoken to him right there but nope, didn’t want to upset anyone. I thought that was really brutal,” Taylor said.

In the police interview, Taylor described Alan Rutherford as a “nice guy” and that he made his mother happy. Taylor described his mother as their “lifeline.”

The Crown is trying to prove Taylor killed his parents because he was in serious debt and wanted his mother’s money.

The next several hours of the police interview will be played in court next week.