11/19/07

By ARTESIA DAVIS & KARAN MINNIS, Guardian Staff Reporter

artesia@nasguard.com & karan@nasguard.com

Investigators are questioning several people in connection with the murder of fashion designer Harl Taylor, Chief Superintendent Glen Miller, the head of the Central Detective Unit, has confirmed.

Police suspect that Taylor, 37, who is best known for his eponymous hand-woven straw bags, was killed by someone he knew as there was no sign of forced entry or robbery of his West Hill Street home.

And since his body had already started to decay, police believe that Taylor was dead for at least 24 hours before a male friend found him dead in an upstairs bedroom in his studio in Mountbatten House around 9 a.m. Sunday, police spokesman Assistant Superintendent Walter Evans said. It was not immediately clear how the friend got into the building.

It is understood that Taylor was stabbed many times about the body and because of the amount of blood at the scene officers had to wear protective footwear and clothing. Crime scene investigators and murder squad detectives did not leave the scene until 6 p.m. Sunday.

Taylor lived a short distance from College of the Bahamas professor, Dr. Thaddeus McDonald, who was found beaten to death in his Queen Street home Friday afternoon. Investigators have not dismissed the possibility of a link in the murders as both victims were single professional men who suffered brutal deaths at the hands of persons believed to be close to them.

According to a police source, investigators hope to look at video footage from surveillance cameras at the U.S. Embassy, which is located on the same street as McDonald's home. The source said it is believed that the tapes contain valuable information.

Evans said police had stepped up patrols in the area to assuage the fears of the residents. He added that these additional patrols would extend throughout the island. However, he admitted that increased patrols would not necessarily reduce crimes of passion. He said that police have set up an incident room at the Central Detective Unit to field tips about the recent murders and other unsolved violent crimes. The telephone numbers for the incident room are 502-9991 and 502-9938.

A number of prominent people in the community gathered at the scene, including Taylor family spokesman Archdeacon Ranfurly Brown and close friends former prime minister Perry Christie and his wife Bernadette, in whose honor Taylor had named one of his bags. His mother, educator Beverly Taylor, appeared composed on learning of the death of her only child.

Christie told reporters that Taylor's death highlighted the need for the country's crime rate to be controlled as the high murder rate could hurt the country's tourism-based economy.

Taylor's much-sought-after bags, which have been purchased by celebrities such as Elle McPherson and Oprah Winfrey, hit the fashion scene in 1999. He grew up in Nassau and studied interior design at New York's distinguished Parsons School of Design. But Taylor realized that his heart was in fashion and he left for Paris where he interned at several leading fashion houses. Taylor returned to the country and helped The Bahamas make a mark on The international fashion scene.