Reuben Taylor

Serial Killer

Reuben Taylor and the 1972 De Mau Mau Murders

Overview

Reuben Taylor was a Chicago man and Vietnam War veteran convicted for his participation in the August 4, 1972, robbery and murder of four members of the Corbett family in Barrington Hills, Illinois. Taylor and several associates were publicly identified as members of a loosely organized group called the De Mau Mau. During an intense investigation in October 1972, authorities accused members of the group of involvement in nine killings committed at four Illinois locations. Although Taylor has frequently been classified as a serial killer because investigators connected the group to nine deaths, the legal record requires an important distinction. Taylor was convicted of the four Corbett murders, but he was not convicted of personally committing all nine killings attributed to the De Mau Mau. Some of the additional cases were prosecuted against other alleged members of the group, and historical accounts have questioned whether the authorities and contemporary news media overstated the organization, structure, and motives of the De Mau Mau.

Early Life and Military Service

Reuben Taylor was born on June 5, 1950, in Jackson, Mississippi. His parents were students at Jackson State University and later moved the family to Chicago. Taylor grew up in the North Lawndale neighborhood, where he reportedly performed well in school, participated in the Boy Scouts, and served in his school's color guard. He nevertheless experienced neighborhood violence and repeated confrontations with street gangs. In 1969, Taylor enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. During his military service, he encountered severe racial tension and became familiar with Black Marines who used the name De Mau Mau. The name referenced both the Mau Mau anticolonial movement in Kenya and the Vietnamese expression "di mau," meaning to move or leave quickly. Taylor completed his service and received an honorable discharge in 1971. After returning to Chicago, Taylor enrolled at Malcolm X College and studied inhalation therapy. He also became associated with a Chicago group of Black veterans who called themselves the De Mau Mau. Accounts sympathetic to Taylor describe the organization as an informal fraternity created for mutual assistance, cultural education, and protection. Police and prosecutors later portrayed it as a violent gang responsible for robberies and racially motivated murders. ...

Confirmed Victims: (4)

Paul Corbett Age: (67), Date of Death: 1972-08-04

Suspected Victims:

Michael Gerchenson Age: (19), Date of Death: 1972-05-03

William Richter Age: (23), Date of Death: 1972-09-02

Stephen Hawtree Age: (56), Date of Death: 1972-09-04

Judy Hawtree Age: (53), Date of Death: 1972-09-04

Thomas Hawtree, Age: (17), Date of Death: 1972-09-04

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