A grieving relative of the late Harl Taylor is asking why Attorney General prosecutors failed to use the handbag designer’s gay lifestyle as part of their case in his murder trial.
The relative claims that Taylor’s gay activities might have helped prosecutors prove their case. She said his homosexual lifestyle could have shown a motive for the brutal murder of Taylor at his home in Mountbatten House on West Hill Street.
As it stood, the prosecution’s case showed no motive for the murder. For instance, the relative says prosecutors should have used Taylor’s infamous black book or diary in which he recorded the names of his gay friends and sexual adventures. But senior officials claim that Taylor’s black book has vanished. The many rich and powerful people named in the black book were able to use their influence to get Taylor’s diary to disappear. They allegedly persuaded corrupt legal officials not to use Taylor’s scandalous gay lifestyle to support arguments in the murder case.
Disgraced PLP MP Shane Gibson alleged in the House that he had a copy of the names in Taylor’s diary. Gibson threatened to reveal the names if FNM MPs insisted on targeting him for his many indiscretions. But PLP Leader Perry Christie, a close friend of Harl Taylor, reportedly persuaded Gibson not to reveal the names. Apparently, Taylor’s gay lifestyle would have revealed that certain persons had reason to murder the designer for stealing a bisexual husband from his wife, who was pregnant with the couple’s child at the time. The confused husband couldn’t decide if he was gay or straight. As a result he kept flitting back and forth between his distraught wife and Taylor. This husband-stealing by Taylor greatly upset certain persons.
Troyniko McNeil, 24, who was arrested because the police needed someone to blame for the crime, was acquitted of murdering Taylor. The jury did not believe the prosecution’s claim that DNA tests showed that McNeil’s blood was found on the scene of the murder. Some thought the DNA was planted months after the crime. McNeil’s father, Troy McNeil Sr, was a business partner of Harl Taylor, 37.
