CA CA - William Desmond Taylor, 49, Los Angeles, 1 Feb 1922

Edward Sands {born Snyder-aka Strathmore} disappeared 1922 at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_F._Sands

Interestingly a check of the SS Index shows no match with 2 of the alias used by him; however a check of his original name Edward Snyder and birth date of 1894 show an only one Edward Snyder "born 1894 in Ohio" who died August 1973. The only difference is that the missing Sands birthdate is given as that April 4, 1894 and the SSI show birthdate of April 15, 1894. Coincidence?:waitasec:

Also have my own theories on Taylor death:
1) Mary Miles Minter goes to Taylor house with .38 pistol-purpose unknown.
Taylor takes pistol from her and places it in his pocket-or does she still carry it?. Taylor and Minter embrace-pistol goes off and kills Taylor;
Minter flees. Margaret Gibson may have come on the scene and was the unknown person seen fleeing the house
Minter's mother Charlotte Shelby goes to Taylor's House and retrieves pistol.
This could explain allegedly odd circumstances of Taylor's wound-the bullet went upward through his vest and Shirt but not his coat; that a blond hear was found on his coat {It seems Minter and Gibson had light {blond{?} hair} ; that Minter's mother Charlotte Shelby was involved in covering up evidence of Minter involvement with Taylor.
2) Another possibility is that it was Taylor and Margaret Gibson who embraced when the pistol went off and that Minter may or may not have been on the scene of the crime.
As the old saying went regarding two suspects in a murder case-against which evidence pointed to either one-but not both-as the suspect-If One didn't do it the other one did!

Thank you for this:blowkiss: Isn't there also a thread in the cold case-forum about WDT?
Regarding your theories, wasn't he shot in the back? I can't see how he could be shot accidentally in the back while embracing someone:waitasec:
Anyway, I shall re-read my book... it's absolutely awesome.
(And btw, I think the scary mother did it)

PFF said:

Edward Sands {born Snyder-aka Strathmore} disappeared 1922 at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_F._Sands

Interestingly a check of the SS Index shows no match with 2 of the alias used by him; however a check of his original name Edward Snyder and birth date of 1894 show an only one Edward Snyder "born 1894 in Ohio" who died August 1973. The only difference is that the missing Sands birthdate is given as that April 4, 1894 and the SSI show birthdate of April 15, 1894. Coincidence?:waitasec:

Click to expand...

http://www.public.asu.edu/~ialong/Taylor19.txt

Good in depth bio on sands here. Add another possible alias. Jimmie V.

Just the thread I was looking for! Charlotte Shelbey was always my best bet. I haven't read through this thread, but I have read quite a few books on the matter and the like.
Has anyone seen [video=youtube;p_esxi0qITY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_esxi0qITY&index[/video]? I discovered it a couple months ago and I loved hearing from someone actually on the case.

Also a book on the case was release recently called Tinseltown, by William J. Mann. I haven't finished it, but it's a fun read. As a film historian, I do suggest doing separate research of course. It can read a bit like a tabloid at times.

I also found this interview with Mary Miles Minter later in her life. She was about 18 at the time of the murder, and very very in love him. Obsessively so, if you ask me. It was unrequited by most accounts. I don't believe she killed him. Same with Mabel and Gibby. In fact, Mabel was very close friends with him and looked to him for guidance in regards to her cocaine addiction. She was absolutely crushed by his death, and apparently on her death bed she asked, "Do you think they'll ever find out who killed Bill Taylor?"
[video=youtube;rpP9rF1KhLc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpP9rF1KhLc[/video]

(Also I apologize, I'm somewhat new to this website, so I'm not 100% clear on the policy of linking/embedding videos)

I just read Tinseltown and very much enjoyed it.
I drive by the Altadena house Mabel Normand escaped to every day on the way home from work.

Mabel was such a talented and beautiful woman who had so much misfortune during the last decade of her sadly short life. It breaks my heart to know that she never got any closure with this case. Basically everyone involved has passed, so of course there's probably no definitive way of solving it now, but we can certainly come to a conclusion of sorts.
Like I said, I totally subscribe to the Charlotte Shelby theory. She was certainly a Mama Rose before there was a Mama Rose!

I believe Mary Miles Minter was your typical teen girl who was going through typical teen issues unfortunately her mother made them worse. Don't believe MMM killed WDT.

Mabel Normand thought to highly of WDT and don't believe she killed him.

I wonder if Margaret Gibson's confession that she killed WDT meant she actually pulled the trigger or if she did something that indirectly caused him to be murdered. I heard that toward the end of her life she had become religious and she may have felt responsible for his death.

Of all the suspects I lean toward Charlotte Shelby being the killer.

How do we know that Edward smalls killed himself? He's listed as a figure as far as I know... However, I am new to this case.
Another question I have is- how do we know for sure that sands was born in 1894? If he was a con man he could have been lying about that.
I just wonder if this could have been him?? If he was actually born in 1894 he would have been 110 in 2005, but if he lied about his age and was actually younger..
Anyway, I suggested this match to doenetwork
The Doe Network: 966UMTX

I should add, the unidentified old man had destroyed his own finger prints and used the date 2/2/22 as one of two dob's. That is also the date that sands went missing. The uid was found to have multiple IDs with different names.

What are your thoughts on Thomas Dixon as a suspect? Thomas was the son of a millionaire pencil manufacturer and there was a rumor that he was engaged to Mary Miles Minter but he was jealous of MMM constantly visiting WDT and a huge argument broke out and Mary called off the engagement. This seems like the kind of person that the Hollywood big wigs would cover up a crime for considering his place in society. I placed a link to the Taylorology article that discusses it in more length.

http://www.taylorology.com/issues/Taylor07.txt

Mary Minter with William Desmond Taylor

LINK:
Pin on True Hollywood Noir

It becomes clear that this death was not due to natural causes. They lift Taylor’s body to reveal a pool of blood staining the carpet where Taylor lay, A .38 caliber bullet had entered the left side of his back. Based on the placement of the bullet holes in Taylor’s jacket and vest, officials conclude that his arms were raised when he was shot. Bizarrely, the police would later consider this could mean Taylor was embracing somebody who then shot him in the back. Police also reported finding a pink silky garment that resembled a nightgown. Detective Sergeant Edward King later tells reporters that he thinks it belonged to a woman. A robbery is ruled out as Taylor’s wallet was left behind $78 cash inside, as well as other valuable items in the home. Shortly after the discovery of the bullet wound, the Alvarado Court Apartments are filled with reporters and photographers from every L.A. newspaper, as well as several papers outside of L.A. amidst the chaos of the crime scene, one detail worth mentioning is the fact that before police and reporters arrived, Paramounts studio manager Charles Eyton visited the crime scene upon hearing the news. It is believed that Eyton removed evidence from Taylor’s apartment that morning in an attempt to avoid or at least minimize the scandal. Some even believe he may have plated false evidence such as the pink lingerie, perhaps to hide the fact that, as one of theory had it, Taylor was a homosexual. Detective King, assigned to the case, is among those who believed Paramount was taking measures to keep silent their stars who may have had useful information on the chance that it would implicate them. When considering their roster of stars associated with the case, the notice for the studio interfering was quite strong. Though, this only leads to more questions: what was Eyton cleaning up? And whom was he covering up for?