Taylor Behl
Encyclopedia
Taylor Marie Behl was a 17 year-old college freshman from Vienna, Virginia
. She moved to Richmond, Virginia
, in August 2005 to attend Virginia Commonwealth University
. About two weeks later on Labor Day
, September 5, 2005, Behl disappeared. Acting on a tip one month later, VCU police located her remains at a rural area in Mathews County, Virginia
. Behl's disappearance and death were the subject of a major police investigation and became an Internet
cause célèbre
. Love You More: The Taylor Behl Story, a book written by her mother, was released on November 7, 2006.
Numerous search warrants were executed, including Taylor's mother's home in Vienna, Virginia, and Behl's VCU Gladding Residence Center dorm room. Those questioned by police at this phase of the investigation included "Jake," a VCU student and former Behl boyfriend with whom she had dinner after she returned to Richmond on September 5, and another unnamed friend of Schultz and Behl, whose car was impounded for forensic tests because police believed that Behl might have been in his car before her disappearance. The Times-Dispatch reported that this "friend in common" refused a polygraph test.
Another of the last individuals to have seen Behl alive was Benjamin Fawley, a 38 year-old amateur photographer and self-described "Goth/skater from the 1980s." Investigators focused on Fawley as they began to uncover his and Behl's relationship. Fawley's attorney, Chris Collins, confirmed that Fawley "is a suspect and should be a suspect because he knew her." Police began to become more suspicious when Fawley's alibi did not hold up, and executed a search warrant
issued by Richmond Circuit Court Judge Beverly W. Snukals on Fawley for offenses "substantially described as...taking indecent liberties with children attempted" and "contributing to the delinquency of a minor." Police were looking for, among other things, "women's clothing," Behl's Nokia camera phone, "Taylor Behl's key ring," her money, and "burglary tools." As a result of the search, Fawley was arrested that day, Friday, September 23, 2005, and charged with 16 counts of child pornography
.
On Wednesday, October 12, 2005, Fawley, against his attorney's advice, spoke to police investigators. Fawley reportedly admitted to being with Behl the night of September 5 and into the early morning hours of September 6, 2005. He allegedly said that Behl died accidentally during a consensual sex act (likely erotic asphyxiation
) with him in her car at Mathews County, Virginia
. He claimed he then panicked and dumped her unburied body in a shallow ravine.
Court TV
's Marilyn Bardsley hypothesized another theory, one in which Behl crossed paths with Fawley after she left her roommate to her privacy at 10:20 p.m. that Monday night. It was common for Behl to save parking fees by using an off-campus unmetered parking space on Hancock Street, near Fawley's apartment. However, a released surveillance video showed Behl and Fawley entering the VCU Gladding Residence Center together at 10:18 p.m. and Fawley waiting for Behl in the dorm's lobby while she went to her dorm room seems to discount Ms. Bardsley's theory. The video's final frames show Behl and Fawley leaving the dorm together.
Taylor Behl's mother, Janet Pelasara, called Fawley "a big, fat liar" and claimed that Behl had sex "once out of curiosity" with Fawley in April, 2005, "and then didn't want anything to do with him."
On Monday, October 17, 2005, Richmond Circuit Court
Chief Judge, Margaret Spencer, issued a gag order
, prohibiting witnesses who appear before the court from publicly discussing their testimony, effectively quashing any witness accounts becoming public until Fawley's trial.
Since then, court records have shown that on Tuesday, January 17, 2006, Mathews County, Virginia indicted Fawley for Behl's murder. The indictment accuses him of killing Taylor "willfully, deliberately and with premeditation" while attempting to abduct and rape her.
On Monday, February 13, 2006, the indictment was amended, barring immediate accusations of rape and abduction. The reworded first-degree murder charge now accuses that Fawley "did feloniously kill and murder Taylor Marie Behl."
On Wednesday, August 9, 2006, Circuit Court Judge William H. Shaw, III accepted Benjamin Fawley's guilty plea to second degree murder and sentenced him to thirty years in prison. Fawley had entered an Alford plea
.
told a class in Louisiana
of 21 law enforcement agencies, studying "how criminals often leave an online trail at social networking sites such as MySpace
and Facebook
," that the Taylor Behl case marked one of the first times that police narrowed down their suspect pool using a MySpace friends list. Cohen said that Ben Fawley's Internet footprint eventually led police to Behl's body.
Vienna, Virginia
Vienna is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, it had a population of 15,687. Significantly more people live in zip codes with the Vienna postal addresses bordered approximately by Interstate 66 on the south, Interstate 495 on the east, Route 7 to...
. She moved to Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
, in August 2005 to attend Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University is a public university located in Richmond, Virginia. It comprises two campuses in the Downtown Richmond area, the product of a merger between the Richmond Professional Institute and the Medical College of Virginia in 1968...
. About two weeks later on Labor Day
Labor Day
Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers.-History:...
, September 5, 2005, Behl disappeared. Acting on a tip one month later, VCU police located her remains at a rural area in Mathews County, Virginia
Mathews County, Virginia
As of the census of 2010, there were 8,978 people, 3,932 households, and 2,823 families residing in the county. The population density was 108 people per square mile . There were 5,333 housing units at an average density of 62 per square mile...
. Behl's disappearance and death were the subject of a major police investigation and became an Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
cause célèbre
Cause célèbre
A is an issue or incident arousing widespread controversy, outside campaigning and heated public debate. The term is particularly used in connection with celebrated legal cases. It is a French phrase in common English use...
. Love You More: The Taylor Behl Story, a book written by her mother, was released on November 7, 2006.
Facts of the case
In the early morning hours of Saturday, September 17, 2005, Behl's car was found in a residential neighborhood about a mile and a half from the VCU Campus. A K-9 unit police were using on the car led them to Jesse Schultz, 22, who lived in the area where Behl's car was found. Police reported that Schultz failed questions on a lie detector test when he claimed not to know and not to have been in Behl's car, and was arrested on cocaine possession charges.Numerous search warrants were executed, including Taylor's mother's home in Vienna, Virginia, and Behl's VCU Gladding Residence Center dorm room. Those questioned by police at this phase of the investigation included "Jake," a VCU student and former Behl boyfriend with whom she had dinner after she returned to Richmond on September 5, and another unnamed friend of Schultz and Behl, whose car was impounded for forensic tests because police believed that Behl might have been in his car before her disappearance. The Times-Dispatch reported that this "friend in common" refused a polygraph test.
Another of the last individuals to have seen Behl alive was Benjamin Fawley, a 38 year-old amateur photographer and self-described "Goth/skater from the 1980s." Investigators focused on Fawley as they began to uncover his and Behl's relationship. Fawley's attorney, Chris Collins, confirmed that Fawley "is a suspect and should be a suspect because he knew her." Police began to become more suspicious when Fawley's alibi did not hold up, and executed a search warrant
Search warrant
A search warrant is a court order issued by a Magistrate, judge or Supreme Court Official that authorizes law enforcement officers to conduct a search of a person or location for evidence of a crime and to confiscate evidence if it is found....
issued by Richmond Circuit Court Judge Beverly W. Snukals on Fawley for offenses "substantially described as...taking indecent liberties with children attempted" and "contributing to the delinquency of a minor." Police were looking for, among other things, "women's clothing," Behl's Nokia camera phone, "Taylor Behl's key ring," her money, and "burglary tools." As a result of the search, Fawley was arrested that day, Friday, September 23, 2005, and charged with 16 counts of child pornography
Child pornography
Child pornography refers to images or films and, in some cases, writings depicting sexually explicit activities involving a child...
.
On Wednesday, October 12, 2005, Fawley, against his attorney's advice, spoke to police investigators. Fawley reportedly admitted to being with Behl the night of September 5 and into the early morning hours of September 6, 2005. He allegedly said that Behl died accidentally during a consensual sex act (likely erotic asphyxiation
Erotic asphyxiation
Erotic asphyxiation or breath control play is the intentional restriction of oxygen to the brain for sexual arousal. The sexual preference for that behavior is variously called asphyxiophilia, autoerotic asphyxia, hypoxyphilia. Colloquially, a person engaging in the activity is sometimes called a...
) with him in her car at Mathews County, Virginia
Mathews County, Virginia
As of the census of 2010, there were 8,978 people, 3,932 households, and 2,823 families residing in the county. The population density was 108 people per square mile . There were 5,333 housing units at an average density of 62 per square mile...
. He claimed he then panicked and dumped her unburied body in a shallow ravine.
Court TV
Court TV
truTV is an American cable television network owned by Turner Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Time Warner. The network launched as Court TV in 1991, changing to truTV in 2008...
's Marilyn Bardsley hypothesized another theory, one in which Behl crossed paths with Fawley after she left her roommate to her privacy at 10:20 p.m. that Monday night. It was common for Behl to save parking fees by using an off-campus unmetered parking space on Hancock Street, near Fawley's apartment. However, a released surveillance video showed Behl and Fawley entering the VCU Gladding Residence Center together at 10:18 p.m. and Fawley waiting for Behl in the dorm's lobby while she went to her dorm room seems to discount Ms. Bardsley's theory. The video's final frames show Behl and Fawley leaving the dorm together.
Taylor Behl's mother, Janet Pelasara, called Fawley "a big, fat liar" and claimed that Behl had sex "once out of curiosity" with Fawley in April, 2005, "and then didn't want anything to do with him."
On Monday, October 17, 2005, Richmond Circuit Court
Circuit court
Circuit court is the name of court systems in several common law jurisdictions.-History:King Henry II instituted the custom of having judges ride around the countryside each year to hear appeals, rather than forcing everyone to bring their appeals to London...
Chief Judge, Margaret Spencer, issued a gag order
Gag order
A gag order is an order, sometimes a legal order by a court or government, other times a private order by an employer or other institution, restricting information or comment from being made public.Gag orders are often used against participants involved in a lawsuit or criminal trial...
, prohibiting witnesses who appear before the court from publicly discussing their testimony, effectively quashing any witness accounts becoming public until Fawley's trial.
Since then, court records have shown that on Tuesday, January 17, 2006, Mathews County, Virginia indicted Fawley for Behl's murder. The indictment accuses him of killing Taylor "willfully, deliberately and with premeditation" while attempting to abduct and rape her.
On Monday, February 13, 2006, the indictment was amended, barring immediate accusations of rape and abduction. The reworded first-degree murder charge now accuses that Fawley "did feloniously kill and murder Taylor Marie Behl."
On Wednesday, August 9, 2006, Circuit Court Judge William H. Shaw, III accepted Benjamin Fawley's guilty plea to second degree murder and sentenced him to thirty years in prison. Fawley had entered an Alford plea
Alford plea
An Alford plea in United States law is a guilty plea in criminal court, where the defendant does not admit the act and asserts innocence...
.
Use of the internet in police investigation
In September 2007 Chuck Cohen a 1st sergeant with the Indiana State PoliceIndiana State Police
The Indiana State Police is the statewide law enforcement agency for the state of Indiana. Indiana was the 12th state to offer protection to its citizens with a state police force.-History:...
told a class in Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
of 21 law enforcement agencies, studying "how criminals often leave an online trail at social networking sites such as MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
and Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
," that the Taylor Behl case marked one of the first times that police narrowed down their suspect pool using a MySpace friends list. Cohen said that Ben Fawley's Internet footprint eventually led police to Behl's body.
External links
- Taylor Behl's MySpace
- Taylor Behl's LiveJournal
- Matthew Drummond's Taylor Behl Archive
- A Homily for Taylor Behl (Taylor Behl's Eulogy), by Reverend Richard A. Lord Rector, The Church of the Holy Comforter
- Taylor Behl Memorial at Find A GraveFind A GraveFind a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...
- Taylor Behl Missing Child Profile at "America's Most Wanted"
- Benjamin Fawley Fugitive Profile at "America's Most Wanted"