JOSHUA WOLFSON Star-Tribune staff writer | Posted: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 12:00 am
Edward Taylor shot Mark Fisher to death around 6:30 p.m. on April 1. That much is not in dispute.
Whether the killing amounts to premeditated murder or a crime of passion is where prosecutors and Taylor's attorneys differ.
On the opening day of Taylor's first-degree murder trial in Casper, Natrona County District Attorney Michael Blonigen argued Taylor deliberately set out to kill Fisher, who had been intimate with Taylor's wife about a month before.
"There is very strong evidence he had murder on his mind," Blonigen told jurors during Monday's opening arguments.
Taylor's attorney, Kerri Johnson, told the jury her client's actions took place in the heat of passion and rage sparked by his wife's infidelity.
"Ed was old-fashioned," Johnson said. "He thought you got married once."
The distinction between first-degree murder and manslaughter, a crime of passion, is important. A murder conviction carries a life sentence. Voluntary manslaughter is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Taylor, 42, surrendered to deputies in Kaycee on the evening of April 1, hours after Fisher's body was discovered at his central Casper home. Fisher, a 48-year-old divorced father of two grown children, had been shot in the chest and head. Before he was shot, Fisher had managed to fire at Taylor once with a shotgun, wounding his attacker in the face.
Fisher's killing grew out of jealousy over a woman, Blonigen said. At the time, Taylor was divorcing his wife, Beth Taylor, whom he had met in 1997.
The couple was married twice, divorcing the first time in 2004. According to Blonigen, Beth Taylor thought her husband was jealous and controlling. He said she was unfaithful.
The couple remarried in July 2006, but the union deteriorated quickly, Blonigen said. By March 1, Taylor was writing checks to his wife so he could stay in her home.
It was at that time that Beth Taylor had a sexual encounter with Mark Fisher, Blonigen said. The two were co-workers at a Casper construction company.
On the day of Fisher's shooting a neighbor saw Taylor loading firearms into his truck. At about 2 p.m., Fisher saw Taylor driving a pickup behind his home, Blonigen said.
Later that afternoon, Beth Taylor watched NASCAR with Fisher at his home. As she left about 6:15 p.m., her husband confronted her outside, telling her, "Somebody is going to die today," Blonigen said.
She drove to the Casper police station, with Taylor following her. There, he pointed a pistol at her face before leaving.
At 6:23 p.m., she called Fisher and told him what happened. About five minutes later came the 911 call from Fisher's home.
When police arrived, they found Fisher's front door had been blasted open. His body lay inside a shop area.
Taylor's first shot tore through Fisher's heart and lungs, dropping him quickly, Blonigen said. Taylor then stood over Fisher's body and shot him in the face from a distance of 12 to 18 inches.
"The ultimate act of malice," Blonigen said. "The ultimate act of intent."
At the beginning of her statement to jurors, Johnson wrote "manslaughter vs. premeditated murder," on a chart placed in front of the jury.
"That's what this case is about," she said.
Johnson portrayed her client as a simple man who wanted a wife who would be his soulmate. The couple held hands in public, seldom argued and never fought, she told jurors.
Still, Beth Taylor cheated on her husband both times they were married, Johnson said.
When Taylor confronted his wife in front of Fisher's home, it was the first time he had ever touched her in anger, according to Johnson.
"He only wanted to talk to her," she said.
Until the affair, Beth Taylor had never mocked her husband, Johnson said. But she did once when the couple went out to dinner in March and again at the police station, minutes before the shooting.
"To Ed, the person behind the voice is Mark Fisher," Johnson said.
To back the heat of passion defense, Johnson went over a timeline of the hours leading up to the shooting. She told jurors there were only six to seven minutes between the time Beth Taylor left for the police station and Fisher's death.
"The events of April 1 took place unbelievably fast," she said.
Taylor's trial began Monday morning with the selection of five men and nine women as jurors. Judge Jeffrey A. Donnell did not say which two of the 14 jurors are alternates.
The trial will resume this morning with testimony from police.
Reach Joshua Wolfson at (307) 266-0582 or at josh.wolfson@casperstartribune.net.