On a September evening in 1984, Richard Stephenson, a 17-year-old Caucasian male, and his friend, Scott Nelson, were on their way to a high school football game in Louisville, Kentucky. The two Trinity High School students became lost and pulled into a Moby Dick restaurant to ask for directions. It was there they tragically crossed paths with Victor Taylor and his cousin, George Wade.
The two men, both with extensive criminal records, offered to guide the teenagers to the stadium in exchange for a ride.
Instead of leading them to the football game, Taylor and Wade directed the boys at gunpoint to a desolate, vacant lot. There, the two teenagers were forced to strip, hand over their belongings, and were then bound and gagged. In a final act of brutality, one of the boys was sexually assaulted before both were shot in the back of the head. Their bodies were discovered the following morning, sparking a massive police investigation that would grip the city.
The investigation quickly led to Taylor and Wade after a relative of Wade's came forward, reporting that Wade had given them a Trinity High School jacket. A search of Taylor's mother's home uncovered personal items belonging to Stephenson and Nelson. Both men were subsequently arrested and charged with the murders. Due to the intense local media coverage of what became known as the 'Trinity murders,' the trial was moved to a different venue.
In 1986, Victor Taylor was found guilty of kidnapping, robbery, sodomy, and murder, receiving a death sentence for his crimes. George Wade was convicted of kidnapping, robbery, and murder and was sentenced to life in prison. Years later, Wade would recant his testimony that implicated Taylor, but this did not result in a change to Taylor's conviction. Taylor remains on death row, and Wade continues to serve his life sentence.
