Unholy Sacrifice

by Robert Scott

  Fisher: No.

  Jewett: Did it come up, if a tree falls in the forest, and no one is there, does it make a sound?

  Fisher: (laughing) I really don’t know.

  Something new was introduced to court outside the presence of the jury by Harold Jewett. He wanted to get into evidence the matter of Taylor making a forty-foot rope out of shredded bedsheets and T-shirts in August 2002. And even more than that, he wanted to introduce some evidence no one had heard up until that point.

  According to Harold Jewett, on February 7, 2004, Taylor was talking to a fellow inmate at the county jail named Danny Ramirez. Ramirez was there on a court matter—his usual place of confinement was the maximum-security prison of Pelican Bay. Knowing that both Ramirez and Helzer had committed violent crimes, a jail deputy flipped a switch and listened in on their conversation.

  Taylor, at one point, asked Ramirez, “Once I’m transferred to a state prison, what level is the best level to escape from?”

  Taylor also wanted to know where guard towers were located at various state prisons. Ramirez told Taylor that for $100,000 he could set up a prison break. He would have a helicopter fly in with “SWAT-TYPE stuff.” He said he’d need $25,000 each for four participants in the escape.

  Taylor wondered if he could be freed while riding on a prison bus to one of his regular psychiatric meetings in Martinez. Ramirez told him it would be difficult because the bus was bulletproof and the guards had a lot of firepower.

  Taylor also spoke with inmate Adam Gardner that day and discussed the possibility of escaping while en route to the doctor’s office. Gardner told him it would be possible to put a sniper on the roof of a building on Alhambra Avenue, near the high school. This person would take out the driver while “some dudes blast the other three guards.”

  The next day, Carma Helzer visited Taylor in the jail. A jail deputy was listening in on the intercom because of the previous day’s discussion of an escape. The guard heard Taylor tell his mom that he needed $100,000. He also said he wanted nothing to do with Justin’s trial because it would make his own escape harder to accomplish. Then he said that if he was on death row, it would be very hard to escape.

  Just how serious the escape attempt was became a matter of debate now. Later, Gardner and Ramirez would say that they were only trying to bilk Taylor Helzer out of $100,000. They even called him retarded.

  According to Chris Darden, “Taylor was able to get Carma to take $10,000 out of her bank account, since she was not able to raise $100,000. The next part isn’t really clear. She either put $10,000 into some stranger’s mailbox in the middle of the night, or her husband, Gerry, stopped her from doing it before it went that far.”

  Even the local newspapers were intrigued by this new angle. The Contra Costa Times headline of December 3, 2004, was DETAILS OF HELZER ESCAPE PLOT TOLD:

  Lt. Joe Caruso said Helzer asked his mother, Carma, to raise at least $100,000. Carma refused to respond to Taylor’s strange request, but she later placed $10,000 cash into an unknown person’s mailbox, prosecutor Harold Jewett said.

  Jewett did tell the court, “Whether or not Carma Helzer knew what the purpose of the money was, it’s certainly more than just a coincidence.”

  As to why Carma Helzer had not been charged with anything was never brought up in court by Jewett or anyone else.

  Jewett definitely wanted all these escape plans to be presented before the jury. More than anything, he said it would refute the contention that Taylor was now a model prisoner who no longer was a threat to anyone and was remorseful for what he had done. Jewett said it proved that less than a year before, Taylor was willing to kill guards. Jewett said, “It shows he understands the depths and wrongfulness of his crimes, and was not under the influence of meth at the time.”

  Chapot contended, “This consciousness of guilt is irrelevant. Taylor has already pled guilty. This cannot be brought out in the penalty phase.

  “Those were idiotic ideas. There is no evidence of an overt act. It was just jail talk.”

  Jewett countered, “Before July 30, 2000, people might have thought that killing five people to bring peace and love to the world was idiotic. But it happened.”

  Judge O’Malley pondered the matter and said, “Getting down to the nitty-gritty of it, is it sufficient to go to the jury?”

  The next day, O’Malley ruled that it couldn’t come in under Factor A—that was closed off because they were past the guilt phase. She left open the possibility that it could come in through Factor B. As far as that went, she would have to do more research on the matter.

  That a door was still open seemed to satisfy Jewett. He withdrew his request to have the jury hear about Taylor’s escape plans, with a proviso. Jewett said to the judge, “I hope the court keeps a good ear open during all of these doctors that defense brings in, giving their testimony about his mental illness and how bad he is, for when that door is open.”

  Chris Darden said, “I took it that since the doctors will say Taylor was so mentally ill and on meth, he can’t understand the nature of his crimes when they occurred, but Jewett will counter that he is still thinking how to commit crimes. And Taylor has been in a controlled environment for the past four years and has had no access to meth and is still thinking of how to kill multiple people.”

  By December 6, 2004, the defense began to call a parade of psychologists and psychiatrists once again. In fact, not unlike Justin’s trial, Taylor’s fate in many ways hinged upon whether the jury decided he was insane at the time of the crimes. Dr. Richard Foster was a clinical psychologist with a Ph.D. His specialty was working with young men who had mental problems. In 1995, Foster saw Taylor Helzer at a Kaiser Hospital clinic.

  Dr. Foster said that in that year Taylor came to see him about sexual problems within his marriage. He claimed he was dissatisfied in that area because his wife would not do sexual things he wanted to do. From the way Taylor talked and the things he spoke about, Foster came up with a diagnosis of “narcissistic features with grandiosity and self-inflation.”

  Taylor complained that he could influence all the events in his life—except sexual satisfaction with his wife, Ann. Foster said, “Taylor felt as if his wife had somehow tricked him about being more sexually open. Taylor felt, ‘I deserve this.’ He had a lack of ability to put himself in the shoes of his wife. He felt he was being deprived. He wanted a wife to give him what he saw in pornographic films.”

  On top of this, Taylor told Dr. Foster, “Man is becoming like the ‘Father in Heaven.’ I have the ability to reform society, but I can’t get the kind of sex I want from my own wife!”

  At Dr. Foster and Taylor’s second meeting, Taylor showed him a detailed plan about what he wanted sexually. Taylor was scheming to put ads in Brazilian newspapers for eighty to 120 women applicants. They had to want sex on a daily basis. He would whittle down the list to thirty-five women and then meet them. They would have to sign a two-year contract to satisfy him sexually whenever he wanted. Supposedly he would do all of this while still married to Ann.

  Foster noted that Taylor craved the approval of everyone around him. He couldn’t stand it if someone thought ill of him. It was a classic case of narcissism, as far as Dr. Foster was concerned.

  The next doctor on the stand was Dr. Jeffrey Kaye. In 1998, he was working at the Kaiser Intensive Outpatient facility (IOP) in Martinez. Many patients who came to the IOP had been hospitalized for a short while for mental problems. In fact, in 1998, a doctor named Pollock told Dr. Kaye, “Taylor Helzer is a perfect candidate for IOP.”

  Dr. Kaye said, “He (Taylor) was coming to see me because he was not able to function in his job and didn’t understand what was happening to him. He was in a manic phase. He was all over the map. His movements were jerky, and he had pressured speech. He was under obvious distress.”

  In fact, Dr. Pollock’s reports had noted, “This person is falling apart. It’s a cry for help.”

  On September 1, 1998, Dr. Kaye noted that
Taylor couldn’t concentrate and was angry at inappropriate times. He complained that people could see right through him. There was a rapid shift of moods and he was constantly on the verge of tears.

  On his first visit with Taylor, Dr. Kaye diagnosed him with a bipolar disorder type I with manic/psychotic features. He also noted ecstasy abuse and marijuana abuse.

  According to Dr. Kaye, Taylor couldn’t tolerate being around a group of people in a therapy setting. Jewett, on the other hand, pointed out that this was at the same time that Taylor was mixing with lots of people at raves and seemed to enjoy company.

  Dr. Kaye talked to Keri Furman about Taylor and she seemed genuinely concerned for his welfare. On September 29, 1998, Taylor came in with Keri and began to talk about spirits. About Keri, Dr. Kaye said, “I thought hers were authentic concerns. She seemed both loving and concerned. She seemed to be a young woman way in over her head. I believe Keri was in love with him. She was scared for him.”

  Dr. Kaye said that he wanted Keri to contact the Alliance for the Mentally Ill. This was a support group for family and friends of mentally ill people. Kaye recalled, “I felt Keri was supportive of this with Taylor.”

  Dr. Kaye thought that Taylor should voluntarily place himself in a mental hospital for treatment. On December 10, 1998, Taylor was full of mixed moods and Keri was so frustrated with him that she said she would leave him if he didn’t take his meds. It was also around this time, at least according to Taylor, that he picked up a hitchhiker in his car. Then, in an irrational gesture of trust, he let the hitchhiker “borrow” his car. He never got it back.

  On December 22, Taylor had a full-fledged panic attack in front of Dr. Kaye. He was hyperventilating, sweating and supposedly filled with intense fear. A week later, he showed up wearing a bizarre outfit. Dr. Kaye said, “He looked like a strange cartoon character.”

  On January 13, 1999, Taylor told the doctor that he was walking in the street when a voice told him to walk up to a man with a motorcycle. If he did so, he would come into a great deal of money. Taylor walked up to the motorcyclist, but no money came his way.

  Taylor also said, “God has great plans for me. Like being president. The voices told me not to take my meds.”

  February 25 was either a bravura performance by Taylor, or a genuine nervous breakdown. Keri had to take him to Mount Diablo Hospital. Taylor hid in the bushes until attendants got him. He was transferred by ambulance to a Kaiser Hospital. He was kept under observation for a couple of days, under a 5150 hold (meaning they could hold him for 72 hours).

  Dr. Kaye saw Taylor again on March 9. Taylor spoke of spirits and hallucinations. On March 24, he complained of erectile problems. Two weeks later, Taylor looked and acted more coherent, and said maybe he really wasn’t a prophet.

  Dr. Kaye’s last meeting with Taylor occurred on April 23, 1999. Instead of looking unkempt and acting crazy, Taylor once again looked like a stockbroker with a clean-cut appearance and pleasant manners. He did, however, relate a strange story about sleepwalking. It wasn’t clear if during the sleepwalk, he intended to hurt himself or someone else.

  Dr. Douglas Tucker had a return appearance to court in Taylor’s trial. He interviewed Taylor in jail for three hours on December 5, 2004, as Taylor’s trial was ongoing. Tucker’s diagnosis of Taylor was acute mania that bordered on the psychotic. Taylor claimed, “The whole world is crazy, so who’s to say I’m not a prophet of God? I’m naturally more evolved than the rest of humanity. That’s why I can hear God. We are all in a dream state. I am not Taylor. I am a manifestation of God’s consciousness. He created the illusion of individuality. We are all aspects of God.”

  Dr. Tucker described Taylor’s flitting from one subject to another as “tangentiality.” He said, “You just go off into the ozone. It is difficult to fake mania. Unless you’re a psychiatrist, you wouldn’t know the symptoms, especially the nonverbal parts. It’s almost impossible to keep it up for hours. It’s too exhausting.”

  As to the crimes, Taylor told Dr. Tucker, “Maybe I failed because I didn’t hear God correctly. I wanted to free humanity from sexual slavery and other horrific things. I could end war and sexual slavery. Right and wrong are statistical and illusions, but good and evil are deeper and eternal traits. I regret what I did. I feel bad about the people who died. I was guilty as charged, but my purpose was right and good. I could have avoided all this by being selfish and enjoying the paradise of my life. But some die, so many can live. The idea was beautiful and right. The drugs might have confused me.”

  Dr. Tucker said, “He’s a guy who wants to do right. His orientation is to helping people. He is not antisocial.”

  The testimony of doctors Foster, Kaye and Tucker were only a prelude to psychiatrist Dr. Robert Chamberlain. He had seen Taylor more than all the others, from February to September 2004, and they often based some of their conclusions on what Dr. Chamberlain already had written. In a grueling one-and-a-half day struggle, Jewett covered almost every point that Chamberlain had made. He covered all of Chamberlain’s thirty-one-page report that had only been finished on November 19, 2004. Jewett seemed to wear down Chamberlain, the jury, the gallery and even himself in the lengthy questioning.

  It might have seemed unnecessary to some, but this was the crux of the matter. Was Taylor sane or insane at the time of the crimes? Whether he got life without parole or the death penalty depended on this.

  Dr. Chamberlain’s testimony went clear back to when Taylor was on his mission in Brazil. Chamberlain noted, “Taylor would write in his journal at three and four in the morning. He couldn’t sleep. His relationship with God became more intense. His speech patterns were littered with scripture. A very stilted language. He would link disparate ideas. A person struggling with mental illness will often say they are faking it. It is to mask their shame of really being mentally ill. There was an illogic in his schemes. A flamboyant mania.”

  Chamberlain’s diagnosis of Taylor was one of an individual with schizo-affective disorder and possibly bipolar as well. A schizo-affective disorder could be effected by a family history of mental illness, something that seemed to be prevalent on Carma’s side of the family.

  As far as religious aspects and grandiosity went, Jewett had Dr. Chamberlain admit that he had not consulted with any experts in Mormon religion or doctrine. Chamberlain was basing most of what he knew by layman’s input. His diagnosis of Taylor also came from personal observation, and by speaking with Taylor, Carma and Taylor’s cousins and friends.

  Jewett talked on at length and sometimes became somewhat agitated himself. He drew a laugh at one point by stating, “Let me slow down. I’m becoming manic myself.”

  Many in the gallery wondered if Jewett would get in testimony about Taylor’s escape attempts from jail. This seemed like a real possibility when Jewett asked Chamberlain if he’d heard that Taylor had forty feet of handmade rope in his cell. Taylor’s claim was that he was going to use it to commit suicide. Chamberlain admitted, “It seems longer than necessary.” That’s as far as any testimony of jail breaks went.

  Jewett also zeroed in about Taylor’s sanity at the time of the Stinemans’ murders. Taylor supposedly said later, “We decided to bang their heads on the bathroom floor until they were dead. A gunshot would have been too loud.” This statement indicated that Taylor knew what he was doing and took steps not to be caught in an act that he knew to be illegal and wrong.

  Heather took the stand for Taylor, as she had done for Justin during his trial. She was also once again almost breathless and crying as she answered questions. Even members of the victims’ families in the gallery felt sorry for her.

  Heather was the historian of the family and told of various members, especially on her mother’s side, who had suffered from mental illness. She spoke of Grandpa Doyle Sorenson seeing Jesus Christ standing in his front yard for hours. She recalled, “Taylor was interested in spiritual things, since I can remember. He was wonderful. A good brother. When Taylor came back from his mi
ssion, he was still good and motivated. He met and married Ann, and that was a good thing. Everything was great in 1993. In 1994, I saw changes in Taylor. I saw him sad about his marriage and his job.”

  As the changes grew with Taylor and her mother, Carma, Heather moved about as far away from them as she could. She went to college in Alaska. When her mother was excommunicated, she thought that Taylor should be as well. He had deviated far from the mainline Mormon doctrine.

  Heather said, “By 1997, Taylor had thrown away his religion. He seemed so callous. It was hard to listen to him. He was confrontational. He wanted to argue with me about God and the Church. We argued a lot on the phone. He had a different philosophy. He wanted me to see my religion as false. He wanted me to see a greater truth. I was very disillusioned by all the New Age ideas of my parents.”

  Heather got married and moved with her husband to Utah. She saw Taylor only once in 1998 and twice in 1999. She said, “He was actually better in 1999. We didn’t fight. There was a safe topic about our chil-dren.”

  Asked how she felt now, Heather cried, “I can’t tell you how we’ve all felt. I can’t explain how awful we feel.”

  She apologized to the family members in the gallery for what her brother had done.

  Chapot asked her, “Do you want your brother to die?”

  Heather practically wailed, “No!”

  Even Harold Jewett could see her sincerity and pain. He didn’t cross-examine her.

  Ann Helzer took the stand as well. She was somewhat more restrained than she had been about Justin in pleading for his life. But she said, “Taylor writes to our girls and sees them in jail. His girls love their father. It would be catastrophic to my girls if he was put to death. This is their dad.”