The DV Murder of Michael Taylor

I have wondered at times if people who die in the early morning hours noticed the sunset, the stars,  or nature’s beauty the night before. I wondered that about Michael Taylor, a 39-year-old maintenance supervisor for Fogelman Management Group, in Memphis, Tennessee when I read of his early morning death.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009 Michael was shot twice, once in the heart and once about two inches behind the right ear, allegedly during an argument. When his wife, Pamela Taylor contacted police around 9 A.M., she advised a man had been shot in the chest. The police arrived to discover her husband deceased. They took Pamela to the station and charged her on Christmas Eve with second degree murder. On December 28, 2010, they arraigned Pamela via video.

In March of 2010 during a preliminary hearing in domestic violence court, the Judge amended the second degree murder to voluntary manslaughter charge. Pamela’s bond was set for 100000.00.

According to a nearby resident in the apartment complex the visit that fatal morning wasn’t the first time police units had been to the home. His comment has me wondering if domestic violence was an ongoing issue. I haven’t discovered anything concerning it-  if that was the reason for previous police presence at the Taylor home.

The DA’s Office sent the case to the grand jury and they indicted her on premeditated first-degree murder. Missy Branham, the state prosecutor, asked for a bond increase and more restrictions to be placed on Pamela. Apparently in a few short months she’d moved several times. Pamela’s lawyer, Andre Wharton, argued that his client had kept up with the bonding agent as ordered by court and wasn’t a flight risk. Wharton allegedly stated Pamela wants her story told. Criminal Court Judge Paula Skahan increased the bond to 150000.00. Pamela has to check in with court authorities three times per week and wear a GPS monitor.

This case has premeditation written all over it to me, the reason she made the decision to shoot her husband twice is a question only she can answer. But allegedly she purchased the gun the day before her husband was shot; he was shot twice, allegedly she had the gun in the sleeve of her sweatshirt and shot him. And too, I wonder why Pamela neglected to advise police that her husband had been shot in the head as well as the chest when she made the call that fateful morning.

A 'Monster' Rapist is in Detroit

.
.
.
I’ve been breathing a sigh of relief since the TX rapist of elderly women, dubbed ‘The Twilight Rapist’, was apprehended earlier this month. I thanked God and felt appreciation that his victims and others who lived in fear could now go about their life knowing he was in jail. Any person who violently abuses the elderly is the lowest of the human race to me and doesn’t deserve to walk freely with the good people of this country.

My happiness over the ‘Twilight Rapist’ capture was short lived after reading of yet another serial rapist. This predatory rapist is stalking the streets of Detroit’s east side, and he uses a gun to abduct, rob and rape his victims. Several young women, aged between 17 and 33 have become victims of this excuse for a human being. Earlier on LE wouldn’t give out the number of women this lowlife had terrorized and violated. But they reported in http://detnews.com/  that he’d robbed and raped seven women since January 1, 2011. These ladies, according to reports, abducted near bus stops were taken to a secluded area. Most of the victims were walking alone but one was in her vehicle when her car was bumped from behind. She exited her car to check for damage; it was then that he abducted and attacked her.

This rapist is terrorizing the women in Detroit’s east side and I pray the ‘Monster’, as the police chief appropriately called him, is caught soon. The police have distributed several sketches of him from descriptions his victims have given them. He is a black man believed to be in his 30s with a slim build and is about 5' 9" tall. The rapes occur between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m.. Fortunately, everything that can be done to find him is being done. Volunteer citizens and activist groups are watching as their family, friends and other women go to or arrive at bus stops; so are the police.

I am appalled that such disgustingly violent people live among us but also well aware it's a fact they exist. These victims are trying to live an honest life the best they can, just as the TX victims were doing, but violence of a coward with a gun disrupted their life. I do not know what the minimum (or maximum) sentence is for rape in Michigan but if a weapon is used, I feel it should be, at the least, imprisonment for life. These women deserve no less. They need to know the justice system didn’t ignore or throw away the violence against them with a five or a ten-year sentence where the rapists can be paroled after 2 or 3 years to violate another woman. That, to me, would be re victimizing the victims.

Micah Pate is dead, Thomas Pate headed to trial

.
.

Since first writing about Thomas Pate and the death of his wife, Micah, I have read articles from sites to keep abreast of what was happening in the case. (Of course, that’s strictly from the author’s point of view, since we should take no media article as the truth of the matter. However, many are informational assistance for the public.)  Last year I was angry that the state allowed Pate to bond out; I was more angry that they allowed him to leave the state and go reside with his father, work, and be otherwise a free man.


Now I am concerned for Micah’s justice. Back when Thomas first reported his wife missing (April 30, 2009) and LE questioned him, he only wanted to talk with his father. LE agreed to allow it and Thomas finally told the investigators, in dad’s presence, where Micah’s body was at. The discussion was, of course, taped; Thomas told his dad that he was out with Micah at Loosahatchie River and they were going to shoot her gun. She walked in front of the gun; the shooting was an accident. What an odd scenario to recall since she was shot in the back of the head. Thomas went on to say that he asked if she were okay but she didn’t answer; he threw the gun in the river and took off. Allegedly during his interview, dad asked Thomas about an affair he was having, his cocaine use and alcohol; dad wanted to know if Micah knew about them. All Thomas would say is, ‘I don’t know.’ Thomas also, allegedly, told dad and LE that he had gotten off cocaine and alcohol a few years earlier but admitted he had been drinking again lately.

Now, it seems, the defense has asked for the interview to be withheld from jurors because Thomas’s dad was acting as an agent of the police when he convinced him to tell what happened to Micah. They, the defense, are saying his dad was using psychological pressure to get Thomas to confess, therefore, Thomas made the statements involuntarily. I really am not understanding the mind-set of the defense with that one; it also seems when dad asked Thomas, ‘did you kill Micah?’ Thomas said no. After he confessed to his version of how her death went down, he kept repeating it was an accident. Hmm, seems parts of the confession would help Thomas at trial. So, what defense will they use to keep Thomas out of prison for the rest of his natural life? It was an accident but we aren’t going to tell you how the accident happened? Ignore all the state puts forth since it’s all circumstantial ignorance on the part of law enforcement?

The prosecutor said that they had given Thomas Pate the Miranda; she reminded the court that he, Pate, was the one who asked to speak with his dad. I stand with the state on this one. That it was an accidental shooting just can’t find its way into a believable scenario in my mind. Micah was shoeless and the bottoms of her socks were clean. Yet, he wants us to believe she stepped in front of the gun while he was pointing it at a target, with his finger on the trigger, and turned her back to him?

We will learn on June 11, 2010 if the judge will throw out the confession in Pate’s first-degree murder trial. While we wait for that ruling, although he is wearing a GPS ankle bracelet, Thomas is still free to work with his dad, go to football games and play in a basketball league. I wonder, as I wait, if Thomas is in touch with his girlfriend. Yes. He allegedly admitted having one during his interview.

Thomas Pate’s trial was reset for March 07, 2011.


my previous post on Pate: 
http://tigresspenssurmisals.blogspot.com/2009/05/current-events-in-news.html

http://tigresspenssurmisals.blogspot.com/2009/05/micah-is-dead-her-killer-is-free-to.html


a couple articles used in my surmisals:
http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/dpp/news/local/042210-pate's-murder-confession-heard-in-court

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/apr/22/bartlett-man-seeks-keep-taped-statement-murder-tri/?partner=RSS

Current Events: Bob's Life and The Death of Diane Elizabeth Ward

James Robert ‘Bob’ Ward and Diane Elizabeth Ward were married in 1986.

Apparently, in 1997 James ‘Bob’ Ward founded a company called Land Resource. His business boomed and he became immensely successful. However, Ward’s company eventually failed, allegedly due to the housing crunch, and in 2008 he filed for bankruptcy. The bond company is suing Bob, claiming he moved monies he should have used to improve properties into trust funds for his children, paid off loans and bought luxury cars and bought a 4.3 million-dollar Florida home. The home is now in foreclosure.

September 21, this year, Bob Ward called 911 and allegedly said, ‘I just shot my wife - she’s dead.’ Diane Elizabeth Ward was found dead of a fatal gunshot wound to the head. A few days later, they charged Bob with second-degree murder in Diane’s death. Diane and Bob’s two children, Mallory and Sarah stand beside their father and the story that Diane committed suicide.

In a video from a jail house visit, Mallory jokes about his jumpsuit and he gives a thumbs-up as he dances and pretends to do a strip tease. Mallory giggles and dances with him while his sister-in-law Paula Saare laughs with him.


A little history on Bob Ward’s life:

During the late 70's, around 32 years ago, Janis Ward divorced her then husband, James Robert ‘Bob’ Ward, on claim of physical cruelty. Her claim was that he was dangerous and she asked for a restraining order to keep him from molesting or causing her physical harm. Allegedly, their later divorce papers do not mention these allegations. Janis died in a car wreck about 30 years ago.

A few years after the divorce of Bob and Janis Ward, Bob, then a loan executive, was in a relationship with a woman named Dianne. According to Dianne, although he was charming, he was also a jealous and possessive man and five years after their relationship began, she broke it off. Dianne intimated that he used drugs and drank and when he did she saw his darker side. After Bob’s arrest for murder of his second wife, Diane Elizabeth Ward, Dianne McClintock Callahan told a story of how in anger Bob had once punched a hole in a wall because he was late for a party. During one fit of jealous anger he hit her with a bedpost and pointed a gun at her. She ran to a neighbor for help. After she left him, Dianne said he had her arrested for stealing a dog he’d bought as a gift for her. Dianne talked about how years after the gun and bedpost incident, and just a few months before Diane died, he contacted her via email. She agreed to have lunch with him. During that lunch he apologized for his past actions, talked about his wife spending too much money and his legal difficulties with bankruptcy. Dianne, now a happily married woman said she had no interest in a new relationship with Bob.

Two years after Bob and Dianne broke up, Bob had married Diane Elizabeth and due to his future business ventures lived a life of luxury; Until, that is, the fateful events that happened inside the Florida mansion on September 21, 2009 where Bob allegedly claims Diane was trying to shoot herself.

I am giving a lot of thought to the question asked by Dianne McClintock Callahan: "So something happened with her, something happened with me and now the wife is dead," Callahan said. "Are you seeing a pattern here?"



http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/orl-bk-isleworth-country-club-murder-092309,0,6200567.story


http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/realestate/orl-isleworth-murder-background-092409,0,2042157.story


http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-isleworth-ward-death-092709,0,985559.story

Quote found in article allegedly quoting Dianne Callahan found on page 2- http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-isleworth-ward-death-092709,0,985559.story?page=2

Current Events In The News: Micah is dead - Her killer is free to leave state

Micah is dead - Her killer is free to leave state

Apparently, while one neighbor stated that her daughter said while Thomas Pate was talking with a LE officer he didn’t appear sad, others said he was visibly upset and crying when they saw him. I do not know Thomas Pate nor did I know Micah. I do know her death was senseless and unnecessary. Life throws many obstacles at us but stooping to killing is not the answer to our troubles. That is not to say the admitted shooter deliberately killed his wife, it is to say I have a right to question his version in my mind.

I have tried and tried to imagine a scenario where someone can accidentally shoot another person in the back of the head. I just can’t do it. I suppose someone is seeing how it could happen - And/or they don’t feel they could gain a conviction on a higher charge because they charged Thomas Pate with second-degree murder and not murder one. They are much wiser than me and without a doubt more experienced in crime investigations for sure.

I am upset that they let out Thomas Pate of jail (shall I say for free) on a 250 thousand-dollar bond. Which, of course, means he put up a small percentage of that money, walked out of jailhouse basically free to go and do as he pleased until his trial. Due to the infamous wisdom of our legal system they allowed Thomas to not only be a free man but allowed him to move out of state and to Atlanta so he could work.

I am picturing this - a man and woman standing at or near a river, one leaves as a living breathing person, the other lies on the cold damp ground with her soul above her staring down on her body. Had Thomas and Micah argued, did they struggle for control of the gun? Why did they have a gun with them? Why did he have it with him? Was her death preplanned and he is a good pretender, an Emmy award actor who pulled the wool over some seemingly intelligent law enforcement officers? Over a Judge? Was she standing with her back to him and he raised his gun to shoot a snake or some other creature over her and about to endanger her life and shot her instead? Or was he the snake?

I do not know the answers to these questions floating in my head. Thomas Pate could be the most wonderful man on earth. He could be a lousy jerk. He could be a liar. He could be - just be. However, I know he is an admitted shooter, a killer who killed a woman, his wife, a lady who chose nursing as her profession so she could help others.

I do know I like the lady’s daughter that said "He was just standing out there talking to the cops and he didn't look sad he didn't look anything so he just looked suspicious... So automatically you had an uneasy feeling... Yes." the night he reported her missing. I think that person is very intuitive.

----------------------------

http://www2.myfoxmemphis.com/search/SERP?search_type=site&top_search_field=thomas%20pate

Quoted:

http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/dpp/news/050209_Thomas_Pate_Charged_with_Wifes_Murder

Current Events in The News: Another Husband Kills Wife Story

Another Husband Kills Wife Story

No one, except Thomas and the police knows why Thomas Pate killed his wife, Micah Pate. No one knows why he used a gun that night. What friends, family and police know is that Thursday, April 30, 2009 around 10:30 P.M. Thomas Pate called Bartlett Tennessee police and reported his 26-year-old wife had gone for her jog and did not return home. Friday evening her body was found in the Loosahatchie River Bottoms about five miles from her home. Thomas had told police she had been shot accidentally and advised where he’d dumped her body. Micah’s reported missing, and later Thomas admitting he’d killed her, has the people of the neighborhood, her family and friends in shock.

Coworkers knew something wasn’t right when Micah didn’t show up for work Friday morning at a local OBGYN clinic. They became worried about their friend. The OBGYN clinic closed Friday afternoon and coworkers helped search for her, handing out posters and asking people if they had seen the young woman. One neighbor stated Thomas came to their home crying over her missing; another stated he didn’t remember seeing Micah jogging Thursday evening and if she had he’d likely have seen her.

Micah and Thomas seemed a happy and content young couple often working in their yard. She a nurse and he worked from home for a physician's recruiting agency. The news reports that neighbors said Micah often walked her dog, waving at neighbors and allowing the dog to stop and visit a few minutes. She was well liked and a friendly person.

They charged Thomas Pate with second degree murder but a date for his first court appearance hasn’t been set. As Thomas awaits his fate, Micah’s family is trying to deal with the tragic events that were thrust upon them. The family has not made arrangements for her funeral.