Fate of Richard Taylor, charged in arson deaths of mom and stepdad, now up to the jury
CBC
Did Richard Taylor burn his mother and stepfather alive to get over $400,000 worth of inheritance money, or did an unknown person ignite the couple's Dundas, Ont., home while Taylor was at his own house sound asleep after putting his son to bed?
Those are the questions a jury will be scrutinizing after Taylor's weeks-long murder trial at the Hamilton Courthouse wrapped up Monday with closing arguments.
It's been nearly four years since Carla and Alan Rutherford died in a fire that was later determined to be arson.
Taylor was 42 when he was charged early in 2019 in connection with the deaths of the Rutherfords, who were sleeping in the early hours of July 9, 2018, when the blaze went through the home he had lived in as a child.
The married father of two was living in Oakville, Ont., and teaching at an elementary school in Hamilton at the time of his arrest. Taylor himself was among those who testified during the trial. He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder.
In a nearly full courtroom, Ontario Superior Court Justice Toni Skarica and jurors heard the Crown and defence lawyers' final arguments.
Crown prosecutor Janet Booy painted a picture of a man who had spent years lying to loved ones about the extent of his financial struggles, arguing Taylor plotted to kill the Rutherfords in a last-ditch effort to end his debt and spare his pride.
On the other hand, defence lawyer Jennifer Penman said that while Taylor was a "financial disaster" and lied about it, he had enough money to pay off his debts, but wasn't in a rush to do so, and loved his family too much to commit the crime.
The fire at the Rutherfords' single-storey home on Greening Court erupted at roughly 3:30 a.m. ET.
Booy argued Taylor quietly entered the home using a spare key before getting to the master bedroom, poured petroleum around the bed the Rutherfords were sleeping in and ignited it from the doorway with a match. He then ran out of the house, according to the lawyer.
Flames engulfed the room and the doorway, forcing Alan to escape out the bedroom window, Booy said.
Despite almost all of his body being burned, the 63-year-old tried to get back into the home to try to save his wife and two dogs, court heard. He managed to spare one canine.
"He's the hero of this tragedy," Booy said.
After Alan escaped again, he approached his neighbours and told them he tried to save Carla but she was still inside — and he blamed the blaze on his stepson, the jury was told.