Lack of intent or intent to kill?

Jury deliberates on fate of Taylor in cult murder trial

By MARSHA DORGAN
Register Staff Writer

Delusional self-defense or cold-blooded murder?

The big question after five weeks of testimony is whether Alex Taylor shot 62-year-old George Davis in self defense or if the 26-year-old Napa High School graduate planned the killing of Davis, who befriended him when he was just a teenager.

On Tuesday, the murder trial of Alex Taylor was turned over to a jury of 12 who will decide his fate. He is charged with first-degree murder and three special allegations.

In closing arguments that lasted more than five hours, the prosecution and defense attorneys made their last-ditch efforts to convince the jury of their versions of the case.

Defense attorney Jess Raphael gave a theatrical presentation of how Taylor, who said he suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, repeatedly shot Davis to rid his own body of Davis’ demon spirit.

Napa County Deputy District Attorney Gary Van Camp drove his argument home over and over again: Taylor deliberately and intentionally gunned down Davis in cold blood.

The prosecution is seeking a verdict of first-degree murder. The defense is asking the jury to come back with a voluntary manslaughter verdict. In order to find manslaughter, the jury must be convinced that at the time he pulled the trigger, Taylor believed he was in danger of death or great bodily harm, and that any reasonable person would have believed the same.

However, Raphael is arguing for a theory known as imperfect voluntary manslaughter, meaning that the jury need only find that Taylor believed he was at risk, even if a normal person would not. Raphael argued that Taylor’s mental problems left him convinced that he was in danger because of the powers Davis had over him.

During the weeks of testimony, Raphael presented witnesses who testified that Davis practiced witchcraft, black magic and worshipped the devil. He said Davis met Taylor when Taylor was 16, and began teaching him spells and magic.

Raphael said the demons got stronger. Just weeks before Taylor shot Davis in April 2007, in the bedroom of his Redwood Road apartment, Raphael said the demons inside Taylor’s head had taken on the identity of Davis and his client was engaged in a mental and physical battle to rid his body of Davis’ spirit.

“Alex Taylor is not a cold-blooded killer. And George Davis in not an innocent victim,” Raphael told the jury. “What makes a good kid so angry or afraid that he shoots a man five times in the head?”

Most of Raphael’s closing argument was directed at Davis’ bizarre lifestyle, which he said centered around the control and bondage of young boys. Raphael showed many contracts Davis had teenage boys sign, giving him control over the majority of their lives to practice his religion.

“This is the story of an old man and a 16-year-old boy,” Raphael said. “It is complicated, sensitive and more than one can imagine.”

Raphael showed slide after slide on an overhead projector of contracts and other items Taylor and other young men had signed with Davis. Raphael said Taylor believed Davis had invaded his mind and would very frequently act out trying to rid himself of Davis’ presence.

“He would hit himself, punch himself in the face, yelling, ‘George get away, leave me alone,’” Raphael said.

Taylor has confessed to shooting Davis five times in the head, including a shot in the bridge of his nose.

Raphael referred to that shot as the final bullet into the third eye, which has been referred to a symbol of the devil.

“George was already dead when he shot him in the third eye. But he still had to kill the demon. He needed to stop the power of the demon,” Raphael said.

Van Camp said the night they found Davis’ body, Taylor was interviewed from 8:30 p.m. until 7 a.m., and that he admitted to shooting Davis. Never once did Taylor say he felt he was in imminent danger when he shot Davis, Van Camp said.

Van Camp recounted the statements Taylor made to detectives the night he confessed.

He said he stayed with Davis two days prior to the killing so he could plant his DNA and fingerprints at Davis’ apartment to make it look like he had been a regular visitor at the residence, so police would not be suspicious in finding his DNA at the home.

He went to Davis’ apartment just prior to the killing and hid a duffle bag containing the murder weapon. After shooting Davis, Van Camp said Taylor disposed of the weapon and other evidence and even went back the next day to make sure he did not leave any evidence of the shooting behind.

Van Camp argued that if Taylor felt he was in imminent danger he would not have spent that time with Davis just before his death. Taylor told detectives that Davis said he wanted to die and asked Taylor to assist in his suicide.

The night Davis was killed Taylor went to his apartment and asked him if he still wanted to die, and Davis said yes, according to statements given by Taylor to detectives.

“He said, ‘Let’s talk about it,’ and walked him into the bedroom. He shot him in the back of the head. Is that imminent danger?” Van Camp asked. “He made a cold, calculated decision to kill George Davis.”

Van Camp said Taylor had several motives to kill Davis.

He believed Davis was the man who raped him — a rape that has not been substantiated — when he was 4, and wanted revenge. He believed that Davis wanted to control him and blamed him for his mental illness. He believed he was assisting Davis in his own suicide, and he owed Davis $6,000.

If the jury finds Taylor guilty of first or second-degree murder, Raphael will argue his client is not guilty by reason of insanity.

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