Carolyn Mccrary

Serial Killer

Carolyn McCrary and the McCrary-Taylor Family Murders

Role in the Criminal Family

Carolyn Elizabeth McCrary was a member of the nomadic McCrary-Taylor crime family, a group suspected of committing a series of robberies, kidnappings, sexual assaults, and murders across the United States during the early 1970s. Although Carolyn is sometimes described in crime databases as a serial killer, the known court record more accurately identifies her as an accomplice and accessory. Sherman Ramon McCrary, Carolyn's husband, and their son-in-law, Carl Raymond Taylor, were regarded as the principal attackers. Other members of the group included Carolyn's son, Danny McCrary, and her daughter, Ginger McCrary Taylor. The family traveled from state to state while supporting itself through robberies, fraudulent checks, and other crimes. Their most notorious offenses involved late-night restaurants, convenience stores, and doughnut shops. Sherman McCrary and Carl Taylor would enter a business, steal money, and sometimes abduct a young female employee. The victim was then taken to an isolated location, where she was sexually assaulted and murdered. Because several victims disappeared from doughnut shops, the crimes became known as the "Donut Shop Murders." Newspapers also called them the "Full Moon Murders," although the suggestion that the killings were deliberately timed to coincide with a full moon was never conclusively established.

Carolyn's Alleged Participation

Carolyn was not simply an unrelated person who learned about the crimes after they occurred. She traveled with the family during the period in which the murders were committed, shared motel rooms and vehicles with the principal offenders, and was accused of helping the group remain together while it moved across the country. Accounts of the murder of Leeora Rose Looney alleged that Carolyn, Ginger, and Danny were present while Sherman McCrary terrorized and killed the abducted waitress. However, the available evidence does not establish that Carolyn personally carried out the family's murders. Historical accounts differ concerning how willingly she participated and how much control Sherman exercised over her. Some relatives later claimed that Carolyn and Ginger knew what the men were doing but were frightened of Sherman and feared that they could also be killed. Prosecutors nevertheless maintained that Carolyn knowingly assisted the criminal group. She was ultimately convicted of an offense connected to the Looney case and received a much shorter sentence than Sherman McCrary and Carl Taylor. ...

Confirmed Victims: (3)

Sheri Martin Age: (17), Date of Death: 1971-08-17

MCCRARY Carolyn | Serial Killer Database Wiki - Fandom