SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) – In 1996 George Taylor was one of two men hired by Paul Allen to kill his wife.
Both Paul Allen and Taylor are now in prison for Jill Allen’s murder. After more than two decades, Taylor is up for parole and appeared before a hearing officer Tuesday to make his case for release.
“What I’d like to say to Jill’s mother Andrea and to her sister and all of the people who love her and miss her is that I’m sorry,” Taylor said at the outset of the hearing.
The murder-for-hire plot began on August 28th, 1996. Paul Allen made a 911 call after discovering his wife’s body in their North Salt Lake apartment.
Dispatch: “911 emergency”
Allen: “My wife, something’s wrong with here.”
Dispatch: “Did you see any blood, any wounds on her?”
Allen: “Huh?”
Dispatch: “Are there any cut marks on her?”
Allen: “I don’t know. I haven’t looked.”
Allen called for an ambulance and while moving her body he noticed she had been beaten around the head. A baseball bat was nearby.
The 24-year-old Allen died from blunt force trauma to the head. For months, police suspected Paul Allen but couldn’t find the evidence to arrest him.
It wasn’t until a year later that Joey Wright was arrested and confessed that Paul Allen was to pay him $30,000 to kill his wife.
His confession led to a second arrest, George Anthony Taylor. He said his cut was to be $10,000.
In 2000, their testimony helped convict Allen who is now serving up to life in prison. Allen has always maintained his innocence.
At Tuesday’s parole hearing, Taylor regretted his actions.
“I hate the fact that Jill’s not here and I am,” Taylor told the hearing officer. “I hate the fact that I didn’t have the courage to do exactly as you say and that is, not go do that, tell those guys to go to hell.”
Jill Allen’s mother and sister also attended the parole hearing. Wednesday in the second part of this story, their response to Taylor’s request for parole.
