Alvin Taylor

Serial Killer

Alvin Taylor: The Wisconsin Serial Killer

Background and Mental Deterioration

Alvin Taylor was born in 1947 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He later described an unstable childhood marked by neglect and physical punishment. As a young man, Taylor became interested in music, songwriting, meditation and psychology. During the late 1960s, he attempted to establish himself as a professional singer and performed with several little-known musical groups in the northeastern United States. Taylor reportedly experienced a serious psychotic episode around 1969, when he became convinced that strangers were plotting to kill him. His paranoia continued after he left the location where the supposed threat began, and he believed that people on a bus and an employee at a motel were also involved in the imagined conspiracy. By the mid-1970s, his psychiatric problems had become severe enough to require hospitalization. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia and spent substantial periods in hospitals and psychiatric facilities during the following decade. Despite his mental illness, Taylor continued performing as a singer and nightclub entertainer in Wisconsin and Minnesota. People who knew him described him as intensely religious and increasingly detached from reality. By the mid-1980s, he believed that unseen forces were communicating with him and assigning him a role in a struggle between good and evil. These delusions became central to the explanations he later gave for a series of killings committed against friends, neighbors and acquaintances.

The Murder of Robert L. Williams

Taylor's first known victim was Robert L. Williams, a 38-year-old computer-company employee whom Taylor had met in 1984. Although the two men were friends, Taylor eventually developed the delusional belief that Williams had killed someone and needed to be punished. On July 15, 1985, Taylor shot Williams with a .357 Magnum at a rented residence in the Spring Brook area of Dunn County, Wisconsin. He buried Williams in the backyard and reportedly placed quicklime over the body in an apparent effort to conceal the remains and accelerate decomposition. Williams' disappearance remained unresolved until 1987, when a later occupant of the property discovered evidence of the burial and contacted authorities. The recovery of Williams' remains provided investigators with evidence that would eventually connect Taylor to other shootings. The gun used in the killing also became important when cartridge cases and witness statements were compared during the investigation of Taylor's final known murder. ...

Confirmed Victims: (4)

Robert L. Williams Age: (38), Date of Death: 1985-06-15

Survivors:

Paul Zwick , Date of Attack: 1986-12-23

Alvin Taylor (serial killer) - Wikipedia