On August 4, 1972, Marion Corbett, a 58-year-old white female pianist and composer, was murdered in her Barrington Hills home, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois. The tragedy unfolded when four men—Donald Taylor, Reuben Taylor, Michael Clark, and Nathaniel Burse—arrived at the Corbett residence under the pretense of asking for directions. All four were Black male Vietnam War veterans and alleged members of the De Mau Mau, a loosely organized militant group. The group had previously been implicated in racially motivated crimes across Illinois.
Marion Corbett was one of four victims killed that day. Alongside her were her 67-year-old husband Paul Corbett, her 22-year-old daughter Barbara Boand, and her 60-year-old sister Dorothy Derry. The assailants forced the victims into a pantry at gunpoint, disabled the phone, and demanded money and jewelry. After ordering the family to lie face down, a confrontation erupted when one of the family dogs barked. Donald Taylor injured the dog with a thrown knife, prompting Barbara Boand to protest. In response, Reuben Taylor fatally shot her. The remaining victims, including Marion Corbett, were then executed.
The bodies were discovered later that evening by Anthony Boand, Barbara’s brother, who had come to return a borrowed car. The brutality of the crime shocked the community and was described by law enforcement as “wholesale slaughter.” The murders shattered the perception of suburban safety and triggered widespread fear and increased security measures among residents.
In 1974, Donald Taylor, Reuben Taylor, and Michael Clark were convicted and sentenced to more than 100 years in prison. Nathaniel Burse, the fourth suspect, was killed while in custody at the Lake County jail. Donald Taylor died in prison in 1991. Reuben Taylor was paroled in 2018, and Michael Clark followed in 2019. The case remains one of the most notorious racially charged crimes in suburban Chicago history, emblematic of the era’s social tensions and the devastating consequences of random violence.
