Alexis Murphy Abduction

On August 3, 2013, 17-year-old Alexis Murphy from Nelson County, Virginia, went missing. She left her home in Shipman, Virginia on Saturday evening (August 3, 2014) and was reportedly headed for Lynchburg, Virginia. Alexis was last seen at a gas station in Lovingston, Virginia. According to Nelson County Sheriff David Brooks, surveillance video shows Murphy at the Liberty gas station in Lovingston at 7:15 p.m. Saturday. She was driving a white 2003 Nissan Maxima, license plate number WYN3706.

On August 11, 2013, a suspect was taken into custody and charged with abduction in the disappearance of Alexis Murphy. That man was identified as 48-year-old Randy Taylor the following day.

Murphy’s body has still not been found but there was enough evidence to convict Taylor for her murder. Randy Taylor’s trial began on May 1, 2014, in Nelson County Circuit Court and he was found guilty of murder in the commission of an abduction and abduction with the intent to defile by a Nelson County jury. The jury recommended a life sentence on both counts.

On July 23, 2014, Taylor was sentenced to two life terms for the murder of Alexis Murphy.

Timeline

According to NBC29, which is stationed out of Charlottesville, Virginia, these are the main events that happened in the Alexis Murphy abduction case (WVIC, "Timeline: The Search for Alexis Murphy").

August 3, 2014: Alexis Murphy was headed to Lynchburg Saturday night.
August 4, 2013: The investigation of Alexis Murphy's disappearance had started by Nelson County Sheriff’s Office.
August 5, 2014: The FBI and Virginia State Police join the search.
August 6, 2014: Police discovered Alexis’ car in the parking lot at the Carmike 6 Theater in Albemarle County, Virginia. Dogs trace scent from her car to Arden Place Apartments in Charlottesville, Virginia.
August 11, 2013: A suspect is charged with abduction in the disappearance of Alexis Murphy.
August 12, 2013: Man arrested on abduction charge is identified as Randy Taylor.
August 13, 2013: Randy Taylor appeared for his advisement hearing on his felony abduction charge in Nelson County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.
August 22, 2013: Taylor denied bond.
September 3, 2013: FBI confirms Alexis' cell phone had been found.
January 6, 2014: Randy Taylor was indicted on a first-degree murder charge for Alexis' disappearance.
May 1, 2014: Randy Taylor's murder trial began with jury selection in Nelson County Circuit Court.
May 8, 2014: Randy Taylor was found guilty of murder in the commission of an abduction and abduction with intent to defile by a Nelson County jury.
July 23, 2014: Taylor was sentenced to two life terms for the murder of Alexis Murphy.

Investigation

Alexis was last seen by surveillance video at the Liberty gas station in Lovingston, Virginia, that Saturday August the 3rd.

The FBI issued a statewide bulletin on Alexis Murphy on August 6th (Rybiski, “Seeking Information – Missing Nelson County, VA Teen”). They then updated it on the 8th of August (Rybiski, "Seeking Information -- Missing Nelson County, VA Teen -- Release of stills"). National Center for Missing and Exploited Children adds Murphy details to their website and the FBI confirmed Alexis' cell phone was not active the same day.

The next day, August 9th, neighbors confirm that the FBI searched two homes and yards on Cannery Loop because the FBI told them that that area is where they picked up the last ping from Alexis' cell phone.

FBI agents continue to question businesses in Angus Road area of Charlottesville, attempting to identify photos of people seen near Murphy on other surveillance cameras.

The FBI completely blocks off a property right off of Route 29 in Lovingston on August 11th, the same day they take a suspect into custody.

Authorities confirm Taylor appears on the same surveillance video from the Liberty gas station the day after they identify Randy Taylor as the man arrested for her abduction. The FBI also confirms that same day that Murphy's cellphone has not been found yet. However, a few days later, on August 15th, the FBI confirms that several cellphones have been recovered in the search and that they are working to determine whether one belonged to Alexis. According to Alexis' family, the FBI has sent those cellphones to Quantico for testing.

Federal agents return to the home of abduction suspect Randy Taylor to search the house and the property with K-9 units on August 14, 2013. Later that month, more than fifty search and rescue people from around Virginia scanned about ten locations in Nelson. Ground teams used dogs to sift through wooded areas along Route 29 near Lovingston while dive teams searched the Rockfish River. Investigators at this point are still calling the operation a “search and rescue.” The day after those searches were conducted, a reporter from Lynchburg's News and Advance came out and said that he witnessed dive teams collect a red sweater during a search of Rockfish River. Nelson Sheriff's investigators said that they could not confirm any items found during the search belong to Alexis.

On December 9, 2013, Nelson County Commonwealth's Attorney Anthony Martin filed a motion for a gag order in the trial of Randy Taylor. Two days later a judge approved a gag order on Randy Taylor's trial.

Investigators search property around Randy Taylor's home again on April 14, 2014, right before the trial was to begin on May 1st. Taylor was found guilty on May 8th and was the scheduled to be sentenced on July 23.

(WVIC, "Timeline: The Search for Alexis Murphy")

Community Support

The community in Nelson County supported Alexis Murphy's family, the investigation, and the other community members during this hard time. The first way that the community showed it's support was with a candlelight vigil is that was held at Nelson County High School football field on August 8, 2013. The Nelson County High School Volleyball team honored Alexis by wearing pink ribbons in their hair during their opening games of the regular season and also during a jamboree on August 17th. A Lovingston flower shop owner also started distributing pink bows to show support of the search for Alexis on the 17th.

During the investigation, Alexis' family struggled for normalcy. Community members, therefore, helped raise money for her parents who have both taken leave from work since her disappearance. On December 20, 2013, supporters of the Murphy family put together an account to raise reward money for information about Alexis' whereabouts.

Nelson County High School hosted a “pink out” at their home football game on October 25th to honor and remember Alexis Murphy. On the 1st of December, hundreds of people poured into Nelson County to help search for Alexis Murphy. Crews making up the first all-volunteer search scanned a wooded area along Route 29, including the property where abduction suspect Randy Taylor lived.

On December 3, 2013, Christmas tree with pink lights and bows went up at the Liberty gas station in Lovingston: where Alexis Murphy was last seen to mark four months of her missing.

The community has continued to support Alexis Murphy's family through the trial and after, considering the whereabouts of Murphy have still not been determined.

(WVIC, "Timeline: The Search for Alexis Murphy")

Perpetrator's Involvement in Case

Attorney Michael Hallahan was appointed to represent Randy Taylor on August 13, two days after Taylor was brought into custody by the Nelson County Sheriffs Department. Taylor then, throught Hallanhan, gave his account of what happened on August 3. Later that month a Nelson County judge bars media and the public from the bond hearing for Taylor. Randy Taylor is also indicted on an abduction charge as well as an unrelated charge.

A trial date was set for Randy Taylor towards the end of October 2013. A motion for the venue of his trial to be changed was denied in February 2014. On March 31, Taylor appeared in court for a pre-trial motions hearing and at that hearing, a motion to remove the public and media from the courtroom was granted by the judge.

After Randy Taylor was found guilty of Alexis Murphy's murder, the jury recommended a life sentence on both counts, the commission of an abduction and abduction with the intent to defile.

On July 23, 2014, Taylor was still trying to get a shorter sentence. His attorney, Michael Hallahan, asked Judge J. Michael Gamble for a 20-year sentence in exchange for information leading to Alexis Murphy's body (Morhmann). Both the prosecution and Alexis' family declined, saying her life is worth more than that.

(WVIC, "Timeline: The Search for Alexis Murphy")

Perpetrator Criminal Background

Randy Taylor was 48 at the time of his arrest. He had already been in court for about a dozen charges dating back to 2002, when he was arrested and later convicted for arson in Albemarle County (WVIC, "Man Arrested on Abduction Charges in Nelson Identified").

Taylor set fire to a car in 2002. According to court records, he was found guilty of arson in February 2005. As part of a plea deal, two related charges were dropped. He was given a two-year suspended sentence but had to pay an insurance company more than $19,000 (Lewis). His suspended sentence was revoked in June 2011, after he failed to pay restitution. His sentence was immediately re-suspended on conditions of good behavior and that he pay at least $50 a month toward his restitution (Lewis). Taylor has the most charges in Greene County, Virginia, including petit larceny in February 2013, for which he was given a six-month sentence that was also suspended so he spent no time in jail (WVIC, "Man Arrested on Abduction Charges in Nelson Identified"). Taylor told The Hook that he served five years in prison in the 1990s after he was convicted of being an accessory to burglary (WVIC, "Man Arrested on Abduction Charges in Nelson Identified").

Orange County, Virginia's, Commonwealth's Attorney Diana Wheeler said in a telephone interview that Taylor has long been a "person of interest" in the September 2010 disappearance of Samantha Clarke, 19 (O’Dell). However, authorities never obtained enough evidence to make an arrest. Clarke remains missing.

Wheeler said that while she hopes the arrest will lead to a break in the Orange County case, she has not yet reviewed any information Nelson County authorities have collected (O’Dell). The counties are about an hour's drive away, and located on each side of Charlottesville.

Police investigating Clarke's disappearance searched an area in Greene County where Taylor kept a trailer. Taylor told The Hook that police informed his employer he was a suspect in a murder investigation and warned women he was dating. He later was pulled over and arrested on several charges, including illegal possession of a gun, and discovered that police had hidden a GPS device on his car to track his movements. A judge dropped the charges because the tracking device had been placed on the car without a warrant (O’Dell).

Taylor's arrest and the renewed interest in the Clarke disappearance has prompted speculation about whether he could be connected to other unsolved missing persons cases in the area.

References

Lewis, Bob. "Man Arrested in Va Missing Teen Case Has Rap Sheet." Daily Progress. AP Regional State Report - Virginia, August 13, 2013, 13 Aug. 2013. Web. 01 Oct. 2014.

Morhmann, Barrett. "Randy Taylor Sentenced to Two Life Terms in Alexis Murphy Murder." Richmond Times-Dispatch. N.p., 23 July 2014. Web. 01 Oct. 2014.

O'Dell, Larry. "Virginia Prosecutor Hopes Arrest Leads to Break in Case." AP Regional State Report - Virginia. AP Regional State Report - Virginia, August 15, 2013, 15

Aug. 2013. Web. 01 Oct. 2014.

Rybiski, Dee. "Seeking Information – Missing Nelson County, VA Teen." Federal Bureau of Investigation Richmond Division (n.d.): n. pag. Federal Bureau of

Investigation Richmond Division.

Rybiski, Dee. "Seeking Information – Missing Nelson County, VA Teen – Release of Stills." Federal Bureau of Investigation Richmond Division (n.d.): n. pag. Federal

Bureau of Investigation Richmond Division.

WVIC, NBC29. "Man Arrested on Abduction Charges in Nelson Identified." - NBC29 WVIR Charlottesville, VA News, Sports and Weather. N.p., 12 Aug. 2013. Web.

06 Oct. 2014.

WVIC, NBC29. "Timeline: The Search for Alexis Murphy." - NBC29 WVIR Charlottesville, VA News, Sports and Weather. NBC29 WVIC, 08 Aug. 2013. Web. 01 Oct.

2014.