Debra Taylor

Snapped: Women Who Murder

Deborah Taylor is accused of orchestrating her husband Roy's murder to collect life insurance and escape his abuse. Despite her claims of innocence, evidence and a confessed accomplice point to her manipulation of a lover into killing Roy.

Key takeaways

• Deborah Taylor allegedly manipulated Henry Price into killing her husband.
• Roy Taylor's life insurance policy was increased shortly before his death.
• Henry Price confessed, claiming he acted to protect Deborah from abuse.

Transcript preview

A deadly home invasion leaves a quiet suburban community in shock. He was in the National Guard. He had his fatigues, his boots, with him. It was very clear he had been shot multiple times. The evidence points to a single-minded killer with within the house. Someone had forced it from the inside. It was not a break in but a breakout. The killer had to have a very strong motive, personal and financial. As the investigation unfolds, detectives find the victim was covering up a few secrets of his own. There had been some child support issues recently with the first ex-wife. I don't know any other way to put this except that he loved women. He had a girlfriend that was engaged to another man. She said he became upset and must have done this on his own. When detectives have nearly closed the case, shocking details rise to the surface. They talked about it jokingly. It would be nice if he was shot in the honey-and-a-tense. She was this evil, manipulative wolf and sheep's clothing. You know, sin has real world consequences. In this case, someone got killed. It's just after 10 a.m. in Little Rock, Arkansas when police receive a panicked call from a woman named Esther Watts. Esther says she was helping out her neighbors, Deborah and Roy Taylor, when she made an alarming discovery. They had keys to each other's houses. Deborah was out of town and took her can't with her brother. She calls Miss Wight. and ask her to go over and check and see if she'd left the iron pressing machine on. When she went over there to check the presser, she saw Boy, laying on the floor. They were seized his unconscious, doesn't know whether he's dead or not, calls the fire department because she didn't know what else to do. And then they called the police. patrolman came to the house and went in and saw that Mr. Taylor was obviously deceased. It was very clear that from the initial examination that he had been shot multiple times. The fact that the neighbor didn't initially notice the blood, I think it's probably attributable to the shock. At this point he backs out of the home and of course calls it in his homicide. He was in the National Guard and that weekend he was getting ready to go to drill. He had his fatigues, his boots with him. Those were near the body. He was dressed in the underwear and a t-shirt. Based on the examination of the body at the scene, it was determined that Roy Taylor had died earlier in the morning of October 24, second or the very late evening of October 21st. They did find three projectiles on the floor. They appeared to be a 38 special. The lack of shell casings informs police what type of gun was likely used. A revolver once the projectile leaves the casing stays in the gun. Unlike a semi-automatic gun, when she injects the casings, We didn't have a gun but the crime scene. So they searched the remaining portion of the house. At the garage door, one major clue stands out to detectives. It appeared to have been forced open. There was some of the casing or molding was cracked and broken. And the lock was in a locked position. At first glance it seems to detectives that Roy interrupted a burglary but several telltale signs are missing There were no drawers pulled out things turned over nothing missing in terms of personal items or TV or recording equipment other than the broken door nothing had been disturbed within the house so that's not typical burglary. Closer inspection of the broken door reveals a more unsettling possibility. Someone had had a forced it from the inside. It was not a break in, but a breakout. This is a pretty clear indication that that damage had occurred after Roy's death. It was not a break out. trying to make it look like a forced entry into the home. The big question for law enforcement is who did this? The police is part of standard procedure that day talked to the neighbor who discovered the body about what they may have seen, learned information about Roy and Deborah Taylor their relationship with each other and with the people in the neighborhood. Roy Taylor was born and raised in the tiny town of Belleville, Arkansas and grew up in a close-knit family. He was in the kitchen a lot with his mom cooking and be hunted and fishing everything with his dad. By the time Roy went off to college, he'd grown into a charismatic young man. And I was sitting there one day looking at him just admiring you. It was extremely easy on the eyes, very handsome. He met my gaze and I was so embarrassed and I said, you've got the prettiest blue eyes. And he looks up and he said, you're not so bad yourself, tots. We wound up going out and we married about a year later. and got off at like 7 in the morning and made 8 o'clock glasses. Then he joined the National Guard and got a job with Sears in the automotive store. Over the next few years Roy and Brenda had two children together. He seemed to kind of settle down and you know, be the husband, the father, that kind of figure. the longer we were married. He just could stay in one place, I guess. Roy's wandering eye led to trouble at home. I don't know any other way to put this, except that he loved women. I got concerned that maybe I wasn't the only one. And I was right. It was several. I wouldn't go live like that. We were divorced in 73. Though the children lived with Brenda, Roy kept in contact. His house wasn't but maybe a mile from us and sometimes he would come take the kids on the weekends. We saw a lot of him, really. That relationship didn't last long either. By his late 20s Roy had given up on love and was focused on his work until he met a beautiful young woman named Deborah Bryant. Debbie, she grew up in Belleville. We were best friends for a long time. She was very family already in it. Yes, she loved her family. She was working in a nursing home and he had gone over there. trips up to his parents to see his aunt who was a resident there and that's where he met her. She was a hard worker. She did about anything for anybody. I just loved her to death. 28 year old Roy was instantly smitten with 19 year old Deborah and the feeling was mutual. The two dated for a little more than a year before tying the knot in 1977. He was kind of laid back. But if he got to know you, he