True Crime with Kimbyr - She Was Walking Alone on Halloween Then Her Texts Stopped | Taylor Van Diest

Episode Date: October 6, 2026

My Halloween Series has begun! The names of these series are chosen by the community every year & I reveal a special intro for each one. This one I the Festival of Fears!Our second case is The Taylor Van Diest case out of Canada. On Halloween night in 2011, 18-year-old Taylor Van Diest left her home in the small, close-knit town of Armstrong, British Columbia, dressed as a zombie and buzzing with excitement, and she was meeting up with friends for one last Halloween before they all grew up. It was a short, familiar walk she'd made countless times. She never arrived.As Taylor made her way through the dark, her phone lit up with texts between her and a friend; they were ordinary, happy messages about the night ahead. And then, one message changed everything. Taylor wrote that she thought she was "being creeped" - meaning that someone was following her in the dark. It would be the last anyone ever heard from her. In this episode of True Crime with Kimbyr, we trace the full Taylor Van Diest case: the vibrant young woman she was, the chilling final messages she sent, and the relentless investigation that refused to let her killer stay hidden.🚧 Don't forget to check out my other True Crime Show: DARKLIVITY: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HERE ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🔎 COME FIND ME: Personal IG https://www.instagram.com/kimbyrleigha/🚧 True Crime IG: https://www.instagram.com/truecrimewithkimbyr🔗 Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/KimbyrleighaYouTube/📥 Sponsorship Inquiries: [e-mail]🚨 This video is for educational purposes & documentary purposes ONLY. All info is gathered ONLINE from multiple sources, and though each case is thoroughly researched, not all info is always 100% valid. Please do your own research. 👩🏻‍🎓 ABOUT ME: I'm Kimbyrleigha; thanks in advance for reading this. I think it's important to know someone's background and education because it helps explain how they view situations and why they may hold a particular point of view. I hold a bachelor's degree in Psychology and Sociology. I graduated from law school in 2010 and have a Juris Doctor (law degree). I'm also currently in school studying Medicolegal Investigation. COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER: I do my best to ensure that everything in these videos complies with the legal Fair Use Standards. I never intend to violate anyone’s copyright. If you own the rights to something that was unintentionally used in this video and would like it removed, addressed, or licensed for a fee, please reach out to me first, and I will get back to you ASAP. [e-mail]

Halloween night in a quiet rural city. It's the busiest night of the year. It's the kind of place where parents feel safe about their children and teens heading out trick-or-trading in groups without any supervision. After all, everyone knows everybody else, and they look out for each other. But for one young woman that was excited to celebrate her favorite holiday with her friends, this would be her last Halloween.

And the ripple effects of what happened that night would haunt her family, friends, and her local community in ways they would never have expected. Visit BetMGM Casino and check out the newest exclusive. The Price is Right Fortune Pick. BetMDM and GameSense remind you to play responsibly. 19 plus to wager. Ontario only.

Please play responsibly. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connects Ontario at 1-866-531-2,600, to speak to an advisor. Free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with I Gaming Ontario. Hi everyone, welcome back to my channel. If you've never been here before, I'm Kimberlea.

It's nice to finally meet you. I'm just gonna warn you now that this case is going to make you very angry, and it should. Today's case takes place in British Columbia, Canada, specifically in a town called Armstrong, which is around 285 miles northeast of Vancouver. It's quite a small town. The population at the time this case took place was only about 5,000 people. Armstrong is a type of town that appeals to people seeking a quieter lifestyle surrounded by nature, while still being close enough to larger towns for convenience.

It's also a great place to raise children, outside the hustle and bustle of a city, and it's a safer place. The town's rural character means spending a lot of time outdoors, exploring the fields, playing in the local parks, or taking part in the recreational opportunities in nearby towns like Vernon and Salmon Arm. Hiking, fishing, and day trips to lakes are common weekend activities. for families in this area. School life revolved around just a few small schools where everyone knew each other and relationships were very tight. There was actually only one high school on Armstrong. Plus, with limited entertainment options, teens living there in the 2000s often had to get

creative, like hanging out at local drive-in theaters nearby or attending local sports events. Social life was very much about community involvement, whether it was volunteering at events, attending church gatherings, or just spending time at Armstrong's farmers markets and local fairs. Though Armstrong may have lacked the excitement of a large city, it provided a sense of security and connection. This lifestyle fostered independence with kids who walked or biked freely around the town. The small town upbringing helped to create lasting friendships and a grounded sense of belonging. This is where our story begins and also where it ends in this small town. Back on June 11th of 1993, Raymond and Marie Vandiste got double the blessings when Marie gave

birth to fraternal twins. First came Kirsty Jane and two minutes later, they welcomed Taylor Jade. There were four pounds 10 ounces and 4 pounds 13 ounces and the Van Deese family went from 2 to 4 in an instant. And these two little girls had a built-in best friend from birth. I think twins are so special. I used to wish I was a twin. I even hoped I wouldn't end up having twins, but that wasn't in the cards for me. At least not yet anyway. If you're a very, If you're a twin, let me know in the comments, but also, just to let you know this case in particular, maybe a little harder for you to hear. Armstrong is where the Vandese twins grew up. Taylor and Kirstie were very close, as you can imagine any twin sisters would be,

joined by the type of bond that other siblings can't exactly understand. The girls shared a room for many years, and when they eventually got their own bedrooms, it felt strange to Kirstie. Even though they both had a new space and freedom to be independent, most kids can't wait to have their own rooms to decorate the way they want, and to hang out without their parents bothering them. But for the Vandese twins, on what was supposed to be their very first night in their new bedrooms, it just didn't feel right for Kirstie not to know her sister was right next to her.

So they decided to sleep in the same room together until they felt more comfortable having their own space. As kids, the girls love getting outdoors and climbing trees near their home, enjoying the freedom to roam that the rural upbringing can offer. The sisters both like to do a lot of the same things, but they definitely had different personalities. Taylor was more outgoing and bubbly, while Kirstie, was on the quieter side. Still, they were very close and they always were there for one another. At some point, during the girl's childhood, though, their mom and dad, Marie and Raymond, decided to split. Taylor and Cursie remained living with their mother, but they still maintained a very close relationship

with their father. During their elementary school years, Taylor loved all things related to Harry Potter, and she shared that love with her best friend at the time, Tish Cooper. There were times when they would pretend sticks were wands, and they would use the spell Wingardium Liviosa, so they could hide from Baltimore, up in the trees, or pretend to chase tornadoes. They spent so many recesses together just being silly little kids, which I think is adorable. Taylor grew up into a curious, kind, fun-loving, and busy teenager. Her wit and her energetic loving nature meant that she had a very solid group of friends around her, good friends, who became great friends.

They'd do anything for Taylor because they knew that Taylor would do anything for them. Those closest to her affectionately referred to her as Tay or Tay-Tay-Tay. She encouraged she attended Lennwood Middle School and then went on to Pleasant Valley Secondary School, the only high school in town, where Taylor quickly became close with like-minded students who shared her love for music and performance. Taylor loved music from a very young age, and she was very talented. Not only could she sing and love to sing, but she could play the flute and play it well. She even had a really cool hot pink colored flute. Taylor was involved in multiple musical pursuits. She was in both junior and senior bands, as well as the school jazz,

band and had a deep respect and affection for her music teacher Jim Howie. She was so sad when she found out that he was no longer going to be teaching at their high school because music was such a big part of Taylor's life. It's where she made most of her closest connections, like with her friend Annalise Sheridan, who also played the flute and who Taylor met back in the seventh grade when the two of them had to share a music stand at a concert. For the next few years, the two girls became flute buddies playing side by side. It was also in the school band where Taylor met her best girlfriend Zoe Unruh and her best guy friend, Devin Ringland. Taylor and Zoe met in the eighth grade. And as the pair progressed

through high school, they even took all the same classes so they could spend as much time together as possible. In 2008, the twins got the cutest little Pomeranian puppy. Oh my God, such a little cutie pie. And they named her Maddie. They took hundreds of pictures of her. There was Taylor holding Maddie after she gave the pup a bath and one of Maddie yawning and so many more. Taylor and Kirsty both filled their Facebook profiles with tons of pictures of their fur baby. also enjoyed feeding the ducks and pigeons at the local park and would even go there with friends and bring bread, tortillas, or any little crumbs they could gather for the birds. In 2009, Taylor, Zoe, and Elise and Devin went on a school band trip, and they had an absolute blast making music together, but also goofing off, taking lots of photos and making the best memories. I actually went down the rabbit hole on Taylor's Facebook, and I was thoroughly amused for living my own childhood vicariously through all other fun pictures.

I'm showing some of them on the screen if you're watching, but I'm sure you can imagine what a trip like this was like. The bus ride, the digital cameras back then, being away from your parents in a hotel just enjoying time with friends. As Taylor moved through high school, she decided she wanted a new musical challenge and switched to playing the baritone saxophone, naming her new instrument, Boris. And apparently, she made it look easy, and she was actually pretty good at it too. Taylor was also involved in musical theater at school, which is how she met one of her closest guy friends, Clay Valsar. The pair even had a unique and creative nickname for one another. Clay called Taylor Taylor Soros and in turn she referred to him as Clay Osteraptor. Clay would text Taylor so much using Taylor Soros, his phone would auto-correct her name to that. After meeting Clay, he and Taylor,

along with Zoe and Devon, were inseparable. The four of them were always doing stuff together and took so many pictures to prove it. 2009 was also the year that 16-year-old Taylor began dating her boyfriend, fellow student Colton Lutmerding. They made a really gorgeous couple, Colton with his long dark hair and light blue eyes, and Taylor's brown hair and green eyes. In some of their pictures, they looked like models in a magazine. They looked like they also had a lot of fun together on their camping trips with their friends, posing in front of gorgeous nature backdrops like waterfalls, hiking, getting some sun by the lake, or visiting the drive-in theater together, just enjoying each other's company. You might think that being so busy with all

of her music commitments and being in love now, that it would be easy for anyone's grades to slip but not Taylor's. She was extremely intelligent and the academic side of things came very easily to her. Taylor always made time for the people that she cared about the most. And even though Taylor had a very busy social life and school life, she was still close with her twin sister, Kirstie, who often turned to Taylor for advice as a trusted confidant. When Taylor wasn't out with friends, she enjoyed time with her family at home. That was where Taylor loved to hang out, doing one of her after favorite things watching horror movies. Yes. She loved horror movies and zombie TV shows like The Walking Dead, which premiered on Halloween in 2010.

Halloween was Taylor's favorite holiday. She couldn't get enough of the spooky side of things and had plans to binge watch all the Resident Evil movies with her good friend Alexander Bacon. Taylor was very creative and would plan out her costumes every Halloween. And one year, she created a really gory look with makeup. She made it appear as though she was unzipping her skin right underneath her eyes. She added blood, a zipper, and a strip of fake eyelashes cut in the middle. It looked really cool. And Taylor and Kirsty had been dressing up since they were little enjoying Halloween together as kids. Here's a picture of them. I think Kirsty's the vampire and Taylor's on the right as some kind of animal.

Might be a bear. They would also carve pumpkins together. And Taylor made a really elaborate creation of Oogie Boogie. I think that's who it is from the Nightmare Before Christmas. At least that's what it looks like to me. Kirstie was also super talented. Not only as an artist, she was really good at drawing and painting, but with makeup as well. Taylor loved to spend the rest of her spare time being creative and doing things like dyeing her hair and playing her hair styles.

Rupal's Drag Ries, that was another one of her go-to shows to watch with her friends. She also enjoyed playing mobile games, as well as indulging in World of Warcraft. She was very good at it. She would even introduce her friends to the game and teach them how to play. For New Year's Eve, 2011, Taylor and her friends had a pizza party ringing in the new year together, but there was no way to know at that time that this would be Taylor's last year on earth. It's hard to imagine that such a lively young woman would be gone in just a matter of months. If only time could have stood still, if somehow someone could have warned her of the evil that lie ahead. That year, Kirsty and Taylor turned 18 the day

after their senior prom on June 11th. But what a great birthday present that was. The evening of June 10th was nothing short of exciting. It was an end of a chapter. Taylor and Kirstie and all their friends were graduating. The twins looked stunning at prom. They were matching strapless gowns. Taylor's was a copper color and Kursi's was teal. Both the bodices were adorned with silver beaded lace motifs

and a striking a line gathered skirt. They both wore their hair up with a couple curled strands hanging down in front. Taylor completed the look with long earrings and a cream-colored purse. Marie helped Taylor fasten her dress in the back before heading out, and Taylor posed for a quick picture in their living room. It was a night that everyone would remember so many beautiful memories made and pictures

that would last a lifetime. Marie couldn't be more proud of her girls as she stood between them for a photo. Then two and a half weeks after prom on June 28th, 2011, Taylor and her friends graduated from Pleasant Valley High School. Being young, Taylor hadn't decided what path she wanted to take career-wise, but I'm sure like many others her age, she thought there was plenty of time for that. She had worked really hard and was looking forward to just hanging out over the summer, taking a break, having a good time, and relaxing. Her next couple goals were to get her driver's license that November as well as her first tattoo, and Taylor had the design all planned out. It was fitting, given her love for music. She wanted to get the bass and treble clefts joined together in a heart shape in her inner right wrist.

But first, Halloween. In the lead up to Halloween 2011, Taylor was watching a ton of horror movies. she was completing her last driving lesson and, of course, deciding what her costume would be that year. She turned to her friends on Facebook for advice, asking whether she should be a zombie or a woodland nymph, which I think are two very opposite costume ideas. Ultimately, Taylor chose to go with the scarier option and picked the zombie. Her costume was simple. I mean, it should be. After all, zombies were just normal people until they were infected in some way and lost control of their brains, just walking aimlessly, hungry for their next meal. Taylor put on a lot of the same thing. Taylor put

a pair of dark blue distressed jeans, a white tank top with fake blood stands all over it, and a loose fitting purple shirt that slid off her shoulders. And of course, she put on the white face makeup with the dark circles under her eyes, and more fake blood dripping down her chest, coming out of her nose, and a fake cut on her right cheek. That year Zoe was dressing up like a dead body, which would coordinate very well with Taylor's outfit. Now someone that was not from the United States or Canada commented on my very last Halloween episode and they were confused, why anyone would celebrate a night of evil, as they put it. And I thought I would give just a little insight very quickly into what Halloween actually means

to people who celebrate it. Its origin comes from a number of places with each of their own meanings, which you can research on your own. But all of them tend to be celebrating those that have lost their lives and are missed by their loved ones, not celebrating the evil that caused it. Costumes were actually originally worn to ward off the evil spirits that may come out the same night to do harm. But honestly, it's come such a long way since then. And when I was little, it was all about coming together as a family and learning to be well-mannered and independent

as you went to knock on each of your neighbor's doors to show off your most creative outfit, whether it was scary, cute, or unique, and asking them trick or treat. And of course, they provided treats in the form of candy. And you would politely say thank you. I met a lot of people in my neighborhood because of Halloween nights. It's definitely not to celebrate evil. So I wanted to clear that up. It's a happy, holiday and anything can be taken out of that context but it's also spooky season but in a good way if that makes sense so yes in this case Taylor loved Halloween and she was really excited to celebrate it the low that night was going to be 34 degrees so Taylor also put a jacket on top of her outfit

since she was going to be walking for about 10 to 15 minutes to meet up with friends Halloween was a very busy night in Armstrong the sun began setting at 530 p.m. so of course the kids usually got a head start trick-or-treating a little before that. Plus, many people would gather at the Armstrong Fairgrounds for the annual Halloween fireworks and bonfire. The bonfire usually started around 7.15 p.m. with free hot dogs and hot chocolate at 7.30, followed by the fireworks at 7.45 p.m. I just wanted to ask what you were doing Halloween of 2011. I had just given birth a couple days before that, so I was home with my newborn, Shaila. I asked this question, because I think it really allows the reality of what happened in these cases to sink in. But back to this case, the plan that evening

was for Taylor to go trick-or-treating with Zoe, Clay, and her boyfriend Colton. It was the first year that Taylor and Cursie wouldn't be trick-or-treating together. Cursey kind of felt like the sisters were a little too old to do that anymore. I'm still doing it every year. But when you have kids, you kind of start being a kid all over again. But Taylor thought, you know what? I'm going to do it anyway. She just turned 18. So even though she was technically an adult, she figured, why not go one more time. So she was going to make the most of her last year dressing up, knocking on doors and getting some free treats. Throughout the day, Taylor and Clay texted constantly, looking forward to hanging out that evening. They agreed that Taylor would walk to Clay's house,

which wasn't far away, and everyone would get together from there and then go out. Before leaving the house, Taylor had her mom take some pictures to capture the attention to detail she put into her costume. Around 5.30 p.m., Taylor said goodbye to her mom, who's told her she loved her and to stay safe. Then she texted Clay, saying she was leaving soon and would see him sometime around 6 p.m. Taylor left her home near the intersection of Colony Avenue and the 2300 block of Pleasant Valley Road on foot around 5.50 p.m. to meet at Clay's as arranged. This was something they did all the time. The area was very walkable and on a night like this with hundreds of other people in the streets trick-or-treating, Taylor would have been in good company as she

walked and she texted her friends back and forth keeping in touch as she made her way to her destination. But 6 p.m. came and went and Clay noticed that Taylor hadn't arrived yet, which he thought was odd. She should have been there by now. So he began to worry. If Taylor had been running behind, she would have texted him to let him know. Taylor's boyfriend Colton had already arrived at Clay's, and he was engrossed in a game of cards with Clay's brother. So Clay texted Taylor asking where she was, but he didn't get a response. Now that was unusual, because Taylor was glued to her phone and would usually respond within seconds,

or at the most, maybe a couple minutes, but as the minutes dragged on, Clay went outside to see if you could spot Taylor walking in the distance, but there was nothing. It was really unlike Taylor to stand anyone up and not make contact. So where was she? After about 10 minutes went by, Clay called Taylor's house,

wondering if she'd returned home for some reason. Her mom Marie answered, but told Clay she hadn't seen or heard from her daughter since she left earlier that evening. As it so happened, Zoe was at the Vandest home at that point. She got on the phone and explained to Clay. She thought the plan was that she was supposed to walk to Taylor's meet up with her and then they would both be walking his place together. But apparently there had been a miscommunication because Taylor had already left the house

before Zoe arrived. But by this time, it was around 6.15 p.m. That's when Colton looked at his phone and he realized he had received, a text message from Taylor back at 6.01 p.m. But since he was playing cards, he hadn't noticed his phone go off, so Colton didn't see that text at the time. However, when he looked at it now and what his girlfriend had texted, he did become very concerned. All it said was, quote, being C-R-R-E-P-E-D, end quote. Despite this misspelled word, which was very unlike Taylor, by the way, who was an excellent and would make sure her texts were always correct and complete, Colton understood this as Taylor

telling him she was being creeped. Colton knew that Taylor would use this expression to describe when someone was checking her out, like a guy giving her unwanted attention, but he didn't initially interpret it as anything alarming. However, since she hadn't shown up yet, he texted Taylor asking for more information, but she didn't respond. Now with everyone worried, Clay and Colton decide to jump in the car and go look for Taylor. As Marie and Zoe decided to to head out on foot and retrace her steps. Kirstie stayed back at home, just in case Taylor had turned back and headed back home for some reason. Maybe her phone died, and she wanted to backtrack to the house to maybe get a ride over to Clay's instead.

They weren't sure. Marie, Zoe, and Kirstie were also reaching out to friends and family asking if they'd seen or heard from Taylor, but no one had. So they just said to be on the lookout. They were looking everywhere for her. But as you can imagine, looking for someone that's in a costume among hundreds of other people in costumes, The crowds were thick of people walking down the streets and it would be hard to spot Taylor in the dark on an ordinary night. But it being Halloween, added an extra layer to the already difficult task. Then all of a sudden, while Kirstie's at home, the house phone rang just before 7.30 p.m.

About an hour and a half had gone by since Taylor stopped answering texts and calls. When Kirstie answered, she heard an unfamiliar voice on the other end. It was 14-year-old Liam Brown, a complete stranger. Liam didn't know who he was speaking with. But he told Kirstie, he was calling from an LG cell phone that him and his friends had found as they were walking along the railroad tracks behind Armstrong Elementary School. Liam explained that he dialed the number listed as home in the phone's contact list, hoping to notify someone that he'd found their device.

Kirstie's heart sank. Something wasn't right. Taylor had an LG phone. The train tracks were in the direction where she could have been walking, although it wasn't typical for her to take a shortcut in that area. So why would her phone be over there? Where was Taylor? And how would she have lost her phone?

Because she would have never left it there on purpose. She knew that. Maybe she dropped it along the way to Clay's, and that's why she hadn't been answering anyone. The thing is, once Taylor would have noticed her phone was gone, which wouldn't have taken her long since she always had it on her. She would have either come back home

or been at Clay's way before he called to say she hadn't shown up. Kursie gave Liam their address so he could bring the cell phone over to her. Around this time, Clay and Colton had all of them. called the Van Dyce home to say that Taylor still had not been located. Kirstie immediately called her mom who was still searching with Zoe, and she explained how this random 14-year-old boy was on his way over to deliver Taylor's cell phone. That was enough. Once Marie heard that, she didn't waste any time. She immediately called the Armstrong detachment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or the RCMP, to report Taylor missing and that

her cell phone had been found. With time being of the essence, Marie and Zoe headed off to search the the area of the railroad tracks where Taylor's cell phone had been located, and they called Colton and Clay and told them to meet them there. Once together, the four of them were walking around calling out Taylor's name as they searched the area near the railroad tracks, but they really didn't have much to go on. She could be long gone if someone had abducted her. She could be anywhere, but they were looking for any clue that could help them figure out what happened.

By this time, darkness had already set in, making the search even more difficult. By now, RCMP Constable Milan Illich was a lot of the city. on his way to lead the search. As he drove towards a spot where Taylor's cell phone had been found, he scanned the faces of all the trick-or-treaters out for that night, looking for someone matching Taylor's description. But he had no luck. As Constable Illich pulled up near the train tracks, Clay and Zoe asked him for a spare flashlight to help them search the bushes. Unfortunately, the officer only had one and he had to use it. He spoke with Marie to understand what exactly happened. As the adults were talking, Colton, Clay, and Zoe walked further up the railroad tracks

to continue searching. Additional officers were called to come assist. And then, the unthinkable happened. At around 8.45 p.m., just off the side of the river tracks, near the 3,100 block of Rosedale Avenue, Colton saw something on the ground, concealed in some bushes in a ditch about 10 feet from the tracks. He saw what looked like someone laying face down on the ground motionless. The left side of their head was resting on a steel pipe. Colton carefully pushed the person onto their back and was immediately shocked by what he was looking at. Even in the dark, he could tell that it was Taylor. Colton began screaming Taylor's name over and over, and then screaming for the constable and Marie to run, which they did. And so did Zoe and Clay. I cannot start to imagine finding my loved one like this.

When everyone had arrived to where Colton was and saw Taylor, it was really hard to figure out with the way she was lying and all of the fake blood. But once the constable was able to shine his flashlight in her direction, they got a better look, and it became clear that her injuries were severe. She'd sustained multiple cuts and bruises and was bleeding from her head. There was blood matting the hair on the back of her head. Constable Illich squeezed Taylor's leg for a sign of life, but she didn't respond. However, she was still breathing. He called for paramedics as he and Zoe placed their coats over Taylor to keep her warm while they waited for emergency services. She was fully clothed and was still wearing her jacket when she was found. She was just eight blocks

from home, around a 10-minute walk or less than a half of a mile. While they waited for emergency services, Marie frantically held her daughter in her arms as the group attempted to help stabilize her, with Marie repeating over and over to tell her that she was going to make it that everything was going to be okay. The ambulance arrived around 9 p.m. and the paramedics get to this chaotic scene and they're trying to make sense of the situation. However, as I said, Taylor's costume and her makeup, complete with splashes of blood, made it very difficult for them to immediately

distinguish between staged injuries and real trauma. As they worked to quickly assess her condition, one thing became clear. Taylor had sustained a very serious head injury. The visible signs of trauma to her skull meant that she needed urgent medical intervention, leaving no room for delay. They got her immediately transported

to Jubilee Hospital near her. nearby in Vernon, where the gravity of the situation immediately became apparent. By the time Taylor arrived in the emergency room, she could no longer breathe on her own and had to be inobated. Meanwhile, Kirstie and the twins' father, Raymond, were notified, and they quickly came to be by Taylor's side, and so did friends. They waited as emergency personnel were trying to help Taylor the best that they could. Nobody knew exactly what happened to her.

Emergency physician Michael Concanon had been told by paramedics that they found the young woman along the railroad tracks without any more detail. The fact that she was near a railroad and had such severe injuries made the physician wonder whether Taylor had been drinking or perhaps just wandered near the train tracks and passed out and was struck by a passing train. The young woman had sustained a laceration under her right eye, a laceration and abrasions to her lower lip, bruising inside of her mouth, scratches and bruises around her shoulders, and wounds to both of her hands and forearms, including two broken fingers. Zoe, Colton, and Clems. had arrived in the meantime hoping for positive news. However, the doctor soon determined that

Taylor's injuries were so severe that she required transport to Colonna General Hospital, which was 45 miles away. Once there, Taylor remained in critical condition. In addition to sustaining severe head wounds from a blunt object, Taylor also had two red ligature marks around her neck. These appeared to be inflicted by something like a thin, long cord, which had been tightly wrapped around her neck. There were also some patiqueture. hemorrhaging in one of Taylor's eyes, which was also consistent with strangulation. Now it was apparent that she had not been hit by a train. Taylor had been attacked. Nurse Diane Romer took Taylor's fingernail clippings to collect any possible DNA

in the event that she managed to scratch her assailant. When she had been found, there was no indication that anyone had tried to remove her jeans or her shirt because her belt and her zipper were both still closed and all of her clothes were still on. So they wondered what motivated someone to target her. Her friends and family, including the twins' uncle, Marie's brother, Paul, stayed by her bedside. By the next morning on November 1st, Kirstie had posted to Facebook with, Come on, Taylor, you can make it through this. You just have to. But sadly, Taylor wasn't doing well.

Her condition had not improved at all. The extent of her head injuries was so significant that she just couldn't fight anymore. and Taylor tragically passed away with her loved ones by her side that morning. Marie said the hardest part was having to tell Taylor's twin sister that she had died. The shock and distress from Marie, Kirsty, Raymond Colton, and everyone else in Taylor's life was paralyzing and surreal. This just couldn't be happening. Just 24 hours earlier, Taylor was full of life. She was looking forward to a fun night out.

And just like that, someone had taken her away in a violent and brutal attack. and why? And more importantly, who? They were still out there. Someone else could be next. When Word got around, and it did very quickly to so many of Taylor's friends, they kept posting their thoughts and condolences on her Facebook profile, and many had the same theme. No one knew why anyone would want to do this to someone like Taylor. Cursey said, I don't understand how anyone could do this to her. She was like the nicest person. She had a smile that could light up the room. She always went out. of her way to make everyone happy. No one disliked her. I don't understand how anyone could have done this. I just want her back. It was puzzling to everyone, even the authorities. Would Taylor's

death now a murder investigation? More than 30 officers were assigned to her case. For the city of Armstrong, this homicide was actually the fourth tragedy the community had experienced in such a very short time over just a month, which was very odd. There had been an 18-year-old young man that was electrocuted at his work site, two children that were just four and five years old died in a motorhome fire, and an elderly couple, 83 years old, who had recently celebrated their 60th anniversary died as a result of a car accident. What in the world was happening in this town? So many tragedies in such a short time. It was a lot to deal with, but this was a murder. Police helicopters and dog teams from the Southeast District major crime section were part of the resources

dedicated to finding Taylor's killer or killers. What they knew is that Taylor had been in an area she was very familiar with when she was attacked. She had no enemies or anyone in her life who wished her any harm. Despite it being a holiday when people were everywhere outdoors, no one had seen anything. There were no suspects and everyone in the community of Armstrong, including their mayor, Chris Piper, was terrified that a violent predator was on the loose, stalking innocent residents. Was it even someone from their town or were they from somewhere else? They didn't understand how this could happen in such a strong community where residents always felt safe. Back at the crime scene where Taylor was found,

forensics officers were searching for any evidence to indicate what had happened. In the area where Taylor had been laying, there was blood spatter on the ground, the surrounding rocks, as well as leaves nearby in the trees. Blood was also in a metal pipe against which Taylor's head had been resting. There was no shoe prints at the scene, but that wasn't surprising because there was a lot of gravel and rocks in that area. Along the river tracks was a piece of rope, some tubing, and 27 yards from where Taylor was found, an empty 12 ounce of vodka bottle. Unlike other trash in the vicinity, this bottle didn't appear to have been laying there very long. It was clean and new-looking.

In speaking with Liam Brown, the teenager who found Taylor's cell phone, the officers learned that the boy had picked up her phone just yards from where Taylor was eventually found. But the boys hadn't investigated any further, so they did not stumble upon her body. The lack of leads at this very early stage did little to reassure this community. At a news conference, Constable Melendick made a public appeal for anyone who saw or communicated with Taylor the previous afternoon or evening to make contact with them. He also urged young people in the community to exercise caution when being out and about, to avoid walking or traveling alone in isolated areas and to always carry a cell phone. We don't have a suspect at this time, as I said earlier. So we are just reminding the public to be cautious. as they should have any given day.

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Free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with eye-gaming Ontario. Sometimes what happens. When we live in a small community, we don't always remember some of our safety because we figure, well, it won't happen here.

It's a small community. We know everyone. So even though you're in a small community, we need to let everybody just be aware and be aware of your surroundings in all times. We want everyone out there that may have some information or a time We're trying to figure out all of her movements up until 845 when she was found.

So we can put a timeline together of her movements there that may go a long ways in assisting us in solving this particular crime. No piece of information is too small. Sometimes people think, well, it may not be important. We're asking, please provide that information to us. Let us decide. Soon, over 50 tips came in to investigators. which was an encouraging start. In the hopes of generating even more leads,

they released the pictures Marie had taken of Taylor when she left the house, including one of the jacket she'd been wearing that night, hoping someone might have remembered seeing her walking. Maybe they saw her with someone before the crime occurred. Even though Taylor had just graduated from high school, many of the current students still knew her, and they were shocked.

So they had counselors brought in to help people at the school process what had occurred. Law enforcement wanted to know who else could have spotted Taylor and potentially her killer or kill just before or around the time of her attack. They knew that other residents had been out and about walking to Armstrong's fairgrounds for the town's Halloween bonfire and fireworks, so they began questioning residents

during their canvas to ask if they heard or saw anything out of the ordinary. Let me explain what this area was like, and then what the residents heard or saw. The exact spot where Taylor was located was right beside the railroad in the dense brush that ran parallel to the tracks on both sides. There were houses close by with the backyards facing the tracks just yards away. And at that time, a brand new subdivision had just been built alongside the rover tracks.

And there was also a preschool located right there as well. I'm all about maps because I'm very visual, so I mapped everything out for you on Google to show you the locations. The rectangle at the bottom of the screen is the vicinity where Taylor's home is located. The circle in the middle is where her body was found. And the star on top is where the pumpkin festival and all the Halloween events were taking place that night. As you can see, there are a lot of homes all around.

this area in roads that would lead from where Taylor lived to where the festivities were going on. This meant that a lot of people from the area were walking all around town at the same time she was that night. However, what the investigators couldn't know for sure was which road Taylor would have taken from her home to where she was found. All three, Pleasant Valley Road, Colony Street, and Feasant Ridge Drive were the same exact amount of time, about a 10 to 11 minute walk, so it wouldn't have mattered which one she took. They all led right to Rosedale Avenue, the road that intersected the train tracks. So essentially she would have gotten to the same place, no matter which one of those roads, she took. The hexagon that I'm showing on the map right now to the right of where Taylor was found is where her destination was. I'm going to blow this map up for you.

The hexagon was in the vicinity of her friend's home. The circle was where she was found in the rectangle is that new subdivision, just to give you perspective on this entire location. Investigators wondered whether Taylor had used these tracks as a shortcut, to get to Douglas Avenue, or if she had frantically ran off of Rosedale Avenue and onto the tracks because someone was chasing her. The latter seems to be the most plausible and I will tell you why in just a moment. A police roadblock was set up near where Taylor was found and one was set up near her house. Officers were stopping vehicles to ask whether motorist had seen anything on the night in question. They had already ruled out 14-year-old Liam Brown who had found Taylor's cell phone and they were satisfied that he was not involved in her death.

The next lead that they had was from Armstrong resident Jody Classen, who told officers she spent her early Halloween evening at home handing out candy to children and teenagers. She left her house a little before seven and walked to her daughter Rachel's house, which was just a couple blocks from where Taylor was found. Judy and Rachel, like many other residents, were meeting up and heading out to the annual Halloween bonfire and fireworks show. Judy told the officers she actually crossed the real way around 7.15 p.m. just a couple hundred feet from where Taylor was later found. She stated that this area where Taylor had been was not a common shortcut used by pedestrians. It's unlit and unkept with dense brush.

But apparently this area that I'm marking with a red arrow, a few yards above from where Taylor was, is used by people taking a shortcut, but not the area that I put in Exxon where Taylor had been. However, we also know the Liam and his friends were walking in this area. So people did use you. these railroad tracks, even if it wasn't common.

And that night may have been an exception, and I'll tell you why. These railroad tracks, they led right to where the fairgrounds were. So it would have been an easy way to just follow the tracks straight ahead all the way to the festivities. Judy said that on any other night, this crime would have been impossible not to have heard or seen. She said, you would have heard a scream,

you would have seen something, and the timing creeped her out. She said the streets were full of people in masks and costumes. children and adults, adding, this wasn't a quiet night in their small town like it usually was. Instead, it was the busiest night of the year in Armstrong. Judy and her daughter arrived at the bonfire at 7.30 p.m. and the fireworks started just before 8. She recalled noticing that there were no police at the event, and there usually was, but now she realized they would have all been looking for Taylor. The next two women that were

canvassed by law enforcement stated they did hear screams coming from the area where Taylor was found. The first woman, Delphine Burlow, who lived across from Armstrong Elementary School, which is right next to the river tracks, about 500 feet where Taylor was found, reported hearing two screams around 6 p.m. on Halloween evening, but initially she hadn't thought much of it, given the holiday. Then, the next woman to come forward, the elementary school's custodian Natasha Bellows, told law enforcement that on her break from cleaning the school that evening between about 5.58 p.m. and 6.20 p.m. She walked over to Delphines to get some candy and have a chat. The two of them were friends. And while she was hanging

out over Delphines, they heard a high-pitched scream, which Natasha described as if someone had been scared. This really wasn't that much information, but it did line up with the now haunting text message that Taylor sent her boyfriend, that she was being creeped. That text went out around the same time that these two women had heard a scream, and it was misspelled, indicating that maybe Taylor was rushing to let Colton know that she was in danger or she didn't feel safe. But this is all they had to go on. On November 3rd, the police held a press conference to share an important update. There were no suspects yet in Taylor's case, and they urged anyone with relevant information

to come forward, emphasizing that public assistance was critical to this investigation progressing. However, they wanted to make something very clear that many details of this crime were being withheld intentionally to protect the integrity of this investigation. Now, this is a tactic known as holdback information. You've probably heard it before, and this is very important. By keeping specific details out of the public, investigators can actually filter out false tips, and they can focus on only credible leads. If someone calls in and reveals information that they know they haven't released to the public,

they're going to give that more weight. At this point in time, only the detectives, the medical examiner, and the individual responsible for this crime knew exactly how Taylor had been killed. This press conference left Armstrong's community, shaken. There were no answers and the killer was still on the loose. So of course, fear spread throughout this town. The lack of closure raised even more questions than answers, casting suspicion on everyone and anyone. They were just desperate for justice. The railroad signals at the crossing near the spot where Taylor was found soon became a makeshift memorial. They put floral tributes there

for Taylor and her friends, as well as many other people from the community that hadn't even met her, turned to a dedicated Facebook page created by Kirstie and Zoe, and they just had all of these messages of grief and anger and even condolences about her murder. Marie, Kirstie, and Raymond were understandably overwhelmed with this new nightmare that they were now living. And so was Murray's brother, Paul Albert, who took on the responsibility of being the family spokesperson. He told the media, you never think of it.

Especially Halloween night, he said, my God, there's people everywhere. He added that his niece's injuries were very, very horrific, and the person who did this needs to be held accountable. Taylor's autopsy was also conducted the very same day on November 3rd. It was carried out by forensic pathologist Dr. John Stephanelli. The doctor found that the bruising to the deep muscles of Taylor's neck indicated that a ligature had been applied in such a way that the strangulation itself would have rendered her unconscious. However, it was clear that Taylor was still conscious when the ligaturedure had been applied in such a way that the ligaturedure had been applied in such a way that the ligaturedure had been. was applied because the scratches to her neck. This indicated that she had fought back and tried to remove the ligature herself or remove a person's hands or fingers from her neck.

This was probably being done as her killer was attempting to hold the ligature around her. Taylor was 5'4 and 126 pounds, and she fought hard. She had defensive wounds on her hands and the blows to Taylor's head had left six separate irregular 1.9 inch long lacerations to the same part of her scalp and something called a commonuded skull fracture. I hope I'm saying that right. This is a complex fracture caused by serious trauma which shatters the skull into multiple fragments. These injuries were most likely caused by blows to her head that were delivered with such force from a long, heavy, hard object. And someone was repeatedly striking Taylor while standing over her. We know from the

fact there were six separate slashes to her head that she was hit at least six times, possibly more. And any of these would have been sufficient to render her unconscious. Even though she had received immediate medical attention following the attack, the cumulative effect of the trauma and the subsequent brain swelling meant it was unlikely that Taylor would have survived this attack, even if she had medical attention right away. The cause of death was ruled as diffuse bleeding in the brain caused by a series of blunt force injuries to the back of Taylor's head. There was no forensic evidence that Taylor had been sexually violated.

and no evidence of any unknown hairs, fibers, or bodily fluids being present on her body. And this was even more confusing. I mean, this was most definitely a homicide, of course. But what was the motive? If it wasn't her boyfriend, since his whereabouts were accounted for, investigators thought that it would be sexually motivated. But then when they realized that all of her clothes were on and there were no signs of that, it was very confusing to them.

Investigators were interviewing everyone and trying to piece together why anyone would want her debt. By November 4th, more than 40 officers were working this investigation, and time was running out. They knew they had a killer on the loose. The investigators were working hard and fast to get any information from people while it was still fresh in their minds. Because we know, eyewitnesses, ear witnesses, people who see and hear things, they don't always remember them as time goes on. Two days later on November 6, around 400 people wearing green ribbons gathered at Armstrong's Memorial Park to lay flowers at a candlelight vigil to honor Taylor. as well as those other children and young people who I told you about had recently lost their life. I wanted to give you just a little more detail on that.

In late September, a former classmate of Tillers, 18-year-old Colin Rowan, he was the one electrocated at work. And his death came just after four- and five-year-old siblings, Ava May and Austin Classen, died in a motorhome fire. All the grief that comes with deaths of people taken before their time had a heavy burden on this community. Those in attendance, they were shedding tears, they were praying, and they were even singing Amazing Grace.

And then the next day on November 7, hundreds of people gathered at a public memorial service specifically for Taylor. There were so many people wanting to come together to share in their grief that the service was actually held at a local arena. Taylor's family requested that in lieu of flowers, any donations should be made

to the Pleasant Valley Secondary School Music Department. And this was perfect as a tribute to Taylor who loved music. In terms of the investigation, Taylor's cell record showed that on the night she was killed in the time between leaving home and being found near the railroad tracks, she sent 10 text messages to her friends and to Colton and received seven in response. The very last message she sent was the one to Colton about being creeped. Then she composed another message, a minute later, which just read Holly, but it was never sent. It was a draft. Now it's not clear from the research who Taylor intended to send this to, but it appeared from

the misspelling that she meant to type holy as the first word of the text. So I can imagine this would probably be holy shit, holy crap, holy moly. We don't know. But we could probably assume it was from being scared about someone coming after her before she either dropped her phone or it was knocked from her hands. Still, there's not much to glean from any of this. But then, a break in the case. Something that didn't ordinarily happen in cases like this, but was extremely concerning. On November 9th, officers received a letter which provided a new lead, but a very disturbing one. Officers wouldn't disclose how they even received this letter, or even whether it was typed or handwritten, but this anonymous person had claimed responsibility for committing Taylor's

murder. But even more chilling was there a threat that more women in town were going to be targeted and killed very soon. So, of course, police do a news conference, and they urged the author of this letter to get in touch with them. The thing is, the authorities were not convinced that the person who wrote this letter was actually a Taylor's killer. Why? Well, it contained very little details about what happened to Taylor. Most of the information in the letter had already been released to the public and it didn't include her cause of death or a murder weapon or even a motive. But to be safe, investigators advised residents to be very careful when they were traveling around town and to keep in contact with someone. And they even set up a dedicated tip line

specifically for this investigation. Over 120 tips had now come in, but officers were not any closer to identifying a suspect. Now, a behavioral analyst from Vancouver is brought in in an attempt to build out a profile of the likely killer. The question of whether Taylor knew her attacker or had been randomly targeted was still up in the air. They did not know.

But because of this, nobody wanted to go out. Everyone was on high alert. They were locking their doors when they didn't usually. They weren't walking any places, especially alone. Parents were keeping their children inside. And it was sad because they always felt safe walking everywhere, but now they had to drive. There was a real loss of innocence in this town.

There was no question about that. A lot of locals were having second thoughts about going ahead with holiday parties, with Remembrance Day and Christmas coming up as well. Everyone made sure that they were going to be inside after dark. Then at the end of the month, on November 24th, a breakthrough was announced. Law enforcement had successfully extracted the DNA from skin,

that was taken from underneath Taylor's fingernails, she scratched her killer. And they now had his DNA. This was huge. But the hope of them identifying her killer was short-lived. What happened in this case was similar to the recent one of Rachel Morin. I don't know if you remember that one. It was the mother five. She was killed on a hiking trail. If you're not familiar with it, they found foreign DNA in her body as well. But the DNA wasn't in the offender database, but it was linked to another victim of a crime. Same here. I hope this isn't confusing. Basically, the DNA under Taylor's fingernails didn't match a criminal in the DNA database, but they found the same DNA profile in another unsolved case involving a young woman from back in 2005. Same DNA, both crime scenes.

Again, the corporal made another news conference announcement explaining all this to the public that the killer's DNA was found, but its identity was still unknown. Here's what investigators knew about the other crime that this killer was involved in. He had sexually violated a 22-year-old woman back in 2005 in the nearby town of Kelowna. The following details were not released to the public at the time of this DNA breakthrough. However, I'm going to share them with you so I can give you some context from the law enforcement's perspective. In the 2005 attack, the offender was being given a tour of a business by the 22-year-old employee who was the only one on site at the time. When they got upstairs, the man suddenly pulled the woman to the ground by grabbing her ponytail, then he

forced her to perform a sex act on him while holding her at knife point, saying he wouldn't hurt her if she complied with all of his instructions. This violation continued, and the woman was made to lie face down on a massage table, and then the attacker subjected her to force intercourse. The man then fled, but not before he bound the woman's hands with duct tape behind her back. She survived, and she immediately ran to someone next door who freed her from her bindings. This attack was so violent, it had left the woman badly lacerated in her private areas, both of them. Just so disgusting, so vile. And while this attacker had fled, he left his DNA behind, which law enforcement had stored in their data bank because they were hoping that one day he would be identified.

Now, the same man had been the one to kill Taylor. We know that because the same DNA is underneath her fingernails, and he's still walking the streets. Knowing how dangerous and violent this man was, the authorities wondered how long until he claimed his next victim. Based on the new DNA information, the officers now believed that Taylor's attack was random and that she did not know her killer. But in the Colonna case, unlike Taylor's, the woman remembered what he looked like, of course, because she's still alive, and she was able to provide them enough information for a composite

sketch. The perpetrator was a tan or darker complexion Caucasian male who would have been around the age of 19 or 20 years old back in 2005. He was described to be between 5 foot 8 and 5 foot 10 with a solid build. He had short dark hair, dark eyes, olive skin, and dark thick eyebrows and also very distinctive dark sideburns that kind of went down the side and then front of his face. Using information compiled from this behavioral profile that they were doing, the corporal urged the public to cast their mind back to the days following Halloween. Did any young men in their lives change their behavior? Did they leave town?

Or did they have some unexplained scratches on their face, on their neck, on their arms? Someone who might have looked like the composite maybe, let them know. Because the things that I just mentioned are triggers for attacks like this. If there were any men in the days leading up to Halloween who had lost their job, broken up with a partner or experience maybe some financial difficulties, they could be a potential candidate for having attacked Taylor. This man would now be in the age range of maybe 25 to 26. Not a big range there, right?

I don't know how people know that they're like exactly 19 or 20 years old and then like 25 or 26. I would usually say like early 20s, 30s. But what I do know is that a lot of you could be real life detectives. I have seen your skills at putting the pieces together in these cases. I've seen your comments. So your mind may have gone to what we know exist today. And that is familial DNA searches like the one that led to catching the Golden Sea Killer

or Brian Coburger, where they run the DNA and then they match it to a relative of the potential suspect in hopes that they will know who it is. Well, this was back in 2010 for one, but it did exist. However, unlike places like the UK and certain US jurisdictions where this is acceptable and even a legal practice, that is not the case in Canada and still is not today. And it's because of the privacy concerns. I'm personally all for it, but I do understand that many other people are not. However, if you are interested in putting your DNA into a database where law enforcement is allowed to use it to track killers, I'm going to leave that link for you

below. In this case, familial DNA was not able to be used. And at the time, they had this anonymous letter and they still did not have a killer identified, but they had this, DNA and a killer on the loose, the community was trying to do its best to get back to somewhat of a normal lifestyle. Over 2,000 people turned out on December 24th for the city's annual downtown light up and tree lighting festival. But the residents were still on edge, you could tell. But they knew if they didn't show up, that would be a sign to the killer that they were going to back down. They wanted to show that they were unified, even in the face of tragedy. That was really important to the people of Armstrong, especially in the lead up to the holiday season, a time when people like Marie and

Cursey would be experiencing their first painful Christmas without Taylor. Marie said that there would always be an empty chair where Taylor should have sat. Weeks passed and before residents knew it, it was well into the new year, 2012, but there had been no further information or developments announced in the hunt for Taylor's killer. Some people began to think that this case had turned cold and it would remain that way. But what the general public didn't know was that behind the scenes, the scenes, investigators had received tips in response to a release of that composite sketch. Back in December, actually, residents from a nearby city of Cherryville had called in saying

that the man looked really similar to a local man named Matthew Forrester. And the officers quickly learned the 26-year-old, oh, he's in the age range, Matthew Stephen Forrester, had been a former resident of Cherryville. However, he'd since left town, and no one knew where he'd gone. Well, that's interesting, isn't it? He looks like the killer, he's around the same age range, and he's nowhere to be found. People that knew him said he vanished off the face of the earth. However, Matthew's father, Stephen, still lived in Cherryville, and law enforcement wondered whether

he was still in touch with his son. When the officers contacted Stephen to see if he'd heard from Matthew recently, he told him his son was working on an oil rig in Alberta and had been there over the Halloween holiday. At first, this sounded like a perfect alibi, until 58-year-old Stephen refused to cooperate with the investigation. If you have nothing to hide, why act like you do? But it wasn't much of a surprise when they discovered that Stephen himself had been in trouble with the law since 1969. He had an extensive criminal record that included convictions for a range of offenses, like drugs, escaping custody, auto theft, and possessing a restricted weapon.

So maybe he didn't want to get involved because, you know, he'd already had his own run-ins over the years. But that wasn't the case. Stephen had previously been employed as a truck driver, but just after Taylor's murder, he quit his job. And just in November 2011, he also quickly collected all of his son's furniture and belongings from where he was living in Cherryville. And where he took those items, nobody knew. So investigators wondered if Stephen could be lying about his son's whereabouts, not just now, but back on Halloween night. Unfortunately, when Matthew left town, he did not give his former landlord a forwarding address. And then, when investigators pulled Matthew and Stephen's individual bank records, they could see that Stephen was regularly sending money to his son, despite there not being an obvious reason for him to do that.

I can think of an obvious one, but I understand they're just trying to piece it together. According to the research I found, investigators had also obtained a sample of Matthew's DNA. It wasn't exactly clear how they did this, but it seems that they tested some of his belongings that were left behind in his Cherryville. which Stephen had not collected, which meant they were trash, and they would be available for swabbing without a warrant. And guess what? When they ran this DNA against a DNA sample from underneath Taylor's fingernails as well as the crime that occurred in 2005, it was a match for Matthew Forster.

And now they had probable cause for a warrant to pull his phone records. Matthew's cell phone records indicated he had been in Armstrong on October 31st in the hours leading up to Taylor's murder. So let me give you the details. Around 3 p.m., Matthew left the town of Lumbie 30 miles from Armstrong. At 3.19 p.m., his cell phone pinged off of a tower in Vernon. I'm going to show this on a map. And then it pinged off a tower in Armstrong between 3.45 and 4.46 p.m. Then between 5.28 p.m. and 5.43 p.m., Matthew's cell phone pined off a tower in the nearby city of Enderby, just 8.5 miles north of Armstrong. There was no further activity on his cell phone until 8.35 p.m. that night.

When the records indicate that Matthew was back in Lumbie, it's like he came into this town just to kill Taylor. Matthew's dad, Stephen, had lied when he provided his son with an alibi. So law enforcement obtained a warrant to tap his phone, not only to see what else he may have lied about, but also to see if he could lead them to Matthew. And it wasn't long before incriminating phone calls between father and son were made via a prepaid cell phone. phone. It didn't just reveal that Matthew may have been Taylor's killer, but that Stephen had probably helped his son evade the police. What are parents willing to do for their children, even if they're evil? Well, sometimes anything. Especially here where it doesn't seem like the apple fell too far from the tree and was even more rotten. But now with law enforcement sniffing around and asking questions,

Stephen was getting worried. He told Matthew to dispose of his ID, which was fake, by the way, and also to change his social security numbers on all his job applications, while Stephen worked to get him another fake ID. What are Daddy's for? Then he warned Matthew not to contact him on the landline anymore because Stephen suspected, and he was correct, that his phone lines were being tapped and being recorded. Between late March and April,

Stephen told his son that his phone line was in his words, hotter than a firecracker. In conversations between the two of them around the same time, investigators finally learned that Matthew was now living in the province of Ontario in a town called Collingwood. And while using his fake identity, Matthew, using the name Lee Salkross, had actually secured a job in a glazing factory and was looking for permanent accommodations to live there. Matthew's dad had originally paid one of his friend's sons $500 for a fake ID and to be able to use their social security number. And that allowed Matthew to go on the run and get a new job with a new job.

name without anyone asking any questions. And it was also no accident that the man whose picture they used and was on the ID looked just like Matthew, so nobody suspected anything. But on April 4, 2012, Matthew was finally arrested at a motel in Cullingwood and he was charged with the second-degree murder of Taylor as well as one count of sexual violation and unlawful confinement for the 2005 case. But guess what? While they were doing all of this research, they found out that Matthew actually committed another crime before 2005. So he was charged with possession of a break in instrument, breaking and entering to commit an indictable offense, assault with a weapon committing a crime with a mass face, causing bodily harm, and confinement

in connection with a third crime. An attack on a 19-year-old girl named Kaylee Paul. This was in October of 2004. It was a home invasion in Cherryville. At 8.30 in the morning on the the day in question, Kaylee was woken up by someone who struck her head against her bedroom while causing it to bleed. The masked man who had a gun tucked in his pants ordered Kaylee to go with him. And strangely, he called her by her name. Even though he was wearing a disguise, Kaylee suspected the man sounded like her younger brother's friend, 18-year-old Matthew Forrester. She asked him, are you going to shoot me? And that's when the man told Kaylee what he was going to do with her instead. And she screamed that she was going to pass out. And when she did, this scared him so bad,

he ran from the residence. And no charges were ever brought against him because Kaylee couldn't identify Matthew 100% as the person who had broken in. But now it all made sense. This is his MO. This is what he likes to do. Attack women and have his way with them. Back then when this happened, Stephen and Matthew were brought into the police station, and Matthew was interviewed, and his dad provided him with an alibi. The same way he was trying to do it in Taylor's case. It appears that the case would have remained unsolved until now. Following Matthew's arrest in Taylor's murder, he was held in custody, and he chose not to seek bail. The same afternoon, Matthew's father, 58-year-old Stephen Roy Forrester, was also arrested as home in Cherryville in charge with the obstruction of justice and being accessory after the fact.

that someone had been arrested for Taylor's murder came as a partial relief to Marie and Kirstie as well as the rest of her family and her boyfriend and friends. Finally, at least one person would be held accountable for what happened to their beautiful daughter, sister, and friend. Marie thanked the team of investigators for their hard work, but she was also having a lot of mixed emotions. Now she knew what evil looked like, but there was still a long way to go in terms of healing and also to get justice for her daughter. At this point, An inspector Brendan Fitzpatrick announced the arrests at a news conference saying that Taylor did not know her accused killer or his father. He also made it clear that the public's help was essential and what was still a very ongoing investigation.

Police were still investigating the anonymous letter they received back in November, and they still needed help nailing down a detailed timeline of Matthews' movements leading up to the murder and on the night in question as well as from December 2011 to late March of 2012, because that was when he was on the run. Now this is where it all starts coming together. Photos of Matthew were released at a news conference to assist the public. And in comparison to the sketchback from 2005, the pictures were pretty accurate. Matthew hadn't changed that much, I mean, his facial hair did. It was a little different, but his face was still very much the same. But the news of the arrest came as a shock to some of the people living in Collingwood,

where Matthew was making his new home. He'd been getting close with a woman in town. He frequented a local bar where he met 22-year-old bartender, Elizabeth Arendt, and And like many bar staff that were good at their jobs, Elizabeth would let her patrons talk to her as she poured them drinks all night. But she didn't ask Matthew too many questions. He didn't say where he was from and he only introduced himself to her as Matt, but she knew that other people in town were calling him Zach. The two of them became pretty friendly with Matthew even inviting Elizabeth to go on a hike with him. Now this outing didn't actually happen.

And when Elizabeth learned of the arrests, she was deeply shocked. At the same time, she was very thankful that she hadn't been able to be able to be able to be able to be. to make that hiking day because who knows what could have happened to her. Meanwhile, Matt's father Stephen refused to cooperate with the investigators and he invoked his right to remain silent. He wasn't going to give up his son, despite the overwhelming evidence in front of him. At this point, Matthew is doing a police interview with Sergeant Mark Davidson and Constable Bell and he was unresponsive. He didn't volunteer information, and when he did provide anything meaningful at all,

it was only to agree or disagree when something was asked to recognize when something was asked to directly to him. Sergeant Davidson and Constable Bell were initially careful about what information they actually revealed to Matthew. The officers focused on making him feel at ease, building rapport, and even trying to pretend they're empathizing with him, telling him they know it can be so difficult to tell the truth, but it was better to just come clean, especially if he had anything he wanted to get off of his chest. Sergeant Davidson was trying to appeal to Matthew from the perspective of the Forrester family, his family, and how they wanted him to be brave enough to admit to whatever he had done and that they loved him and they would forgive him.

Now, even though this was a tactic to get him to confess, it was actually true. Police had gotten in touch with Matthew's sister and his half-brother, and they were using them to try to get Matthew to confess. In a taped voice message that was played to Matthew during one of his interviews, his sister was begging him to just be honest and do the right thing. She told him in this voice message that she knew. he was really scared and freaking out, but he needed to admit what he had done to both his family and to himself. Towards the end of this interview, Matthew's half-brother was actually allowed to be

brought into the room to speak with him, and Sergeant Davidson and Cudcible Bell hoped that this would make him be more forthcoming about providing a confession. After speaking with his half-brother, who he hugged very tightly, Matthew opened up even more to Sergeant Davidson. But it was only in response to questions that were directly asked. And now, Matthew knew the evidence against him was very strong. The police had his DNA, his cell phone records, and they could place him in Armstrong on Halloween. They also had those recorded conversations on the wiretap, and of course the evidence that he'd fled to Ontario. Now I'm going to tell you that I did not like watching this part of the interviews, because I hated how nice the sergeant was being towards Matthew.

Even though I know it's a tactic, I feel like torture would have been a better way to elicit information. But here we go, I'm going to give you a look at this. Sergeant Davidson is about to pull up a picture on a computer screen as he says that it's all about them. And he's pointing to the screen that it's not about Matthew saying he killed Taylor, but it's about being able to tell his sister that he's a good person, that he feels bad for what he's done. And if you could change it, he would. But I call BS. Because listen to the way the sergeant is posing the question.

She needs to know that you're tears or tears of the horse. her to say that what you did was wrong what you did into your family and she wants that to be right that's what it's all about right there man it's not about you saying when I did this it's about you proving to these people it's for me to be able to go to your sister tomorrow to say your brother is a good person

he does feel bad for what he did and if he could change that time he would That part just annoyed me because I knew that these were not Matthew's own words. He wasn't coming up with this information. It was being fed to him. And then, of course, there was this next part where the sergeant was like, you would. Wouldn't you?

And Matt just responds with, yes. And he's just being fed line after line. He would with you. The investigator just keeps putting words in his mouth. And all he does is say yes over and over again. And then the sergeant tells Matt, look at me in the eyes. and asked, do you feel bad for killing Taylor? And after a long pause, Matt says, yes.

And all you can hear is like his fake sniffles because I really don't think he's crying. And then the sergeant says, has it been haunting you since that day? I couldn't even hear his response, but I'm guessing he agreed. But why not let this monster speak on his own behalf? Not just agree with what you want him to say.

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He haunts people. He prays on women. He hurts, attacks, and he kills. But they have to play nice so that he feels comfortable, comfortable enough to admit what he had done. The sergeant goes on saying that his family wants to know, that his tears are tears of remorse. And finally, Matthew confesses that he didn't mean to kill Taylor.

He meant to have intercourse with her, meaning force himself on her because this wasn't a woman that he even knew. And at this point in the interview, Davidson is saying to Matt, you already told me that you didn't mean to do it. That's not what you went to Armstrong for that night, was it? It was for sex. And if she hadn't fought back, you wouldn't have taken her life. But Taylor did fight back, so much so that Matthew didn't get his chance to violate her, but he did end her life. And he disgusts me. But wait, there's more to know.

You've already told me that you killed her. You already told me that you didn't mean to that that's not what you went for, that it got out of hand. He told me that you went for sex. And that if she hadn't fought, you wouldn't have killed her, right? Is that all truthful?

Is it, honestly? Yeah? So, like, that's the big part of it now. So, you know, did you come across her? Or did you follow her? Came across? But tell me about how that happened. Were you hiding in the bushes or were you walking on the tracks?

In accounting for his movements on Halloween, Matthew finally tells the sergeant that on the afternoon of October 31st, he driven to Armstrong from Enderby and stated that he parked his black Ford F-150 truck, then he walked around town. What do you think he was looking for? Because I know what it was. Around 6 p.m., he was walking along the road near the railroad tracks when he spotted Taylor. Matthew claimed that he followed her to the tracks and tried talking her for a couple minutes after complimenting her on her zombie costume kind of trying

to lower her guard. But then he pushed her to the ground, telling her to shut up and stay quiet, but Taylor didn't. And Matthew claimed he then freaked out. He admitted to causing Taylor's severe injuries, but was very vague as to how they occurred, giving very, very few details. He did say, that he struck her more than once with his metal flashlight. Well, then that's how it was caused, wasn't it? He'd been carrying this flashlight with him, and while she was laying on the ground, Taylor scratched his neck during their scuffle.

And then Matthew claimed he couldn't remember how many times he struck Taylor with the flashlight, but we know that it was at least six, possibly more. As they struggled, Taylor attempted to escape, so Matthew admitted to choking Taylor with his hands and then with one of her shoelaces. Afterward, he fled the scene, but not before he dragged Taylor,

unconscious and bleeding, into the bushes to hide her from view. Matthew spoke quietly with his head down, as he said he only wanted to tell her to keep quiet. He didn't mean for things to happen the way that they did, and he even said that he was a good person who, in his words, had made mistakes. Well, his mistakes start with intent.

So no. They're not mistakes. The only mistake he made was being identifiable from not being careful enough, and I'm glad he wasn't. Matthew agreed with Sergeant Davidson. They approached Taylor with the intent to have intercourse with her. But in his words, it just got out of hand. While Matthew was telling him all this, the sergeant told him that he really needs to face his demons. And Matthew finally replied that he felt bad for killing Taylor, and he wanted to apologize to her family if he could. Matthew didn't give any details about what he did with the murder weapon, only telling the sergeant that he laid or disposed at the flashlight, the shoe lace, and his black coat in a dumpster in the city of Vernon,

50 miles south of Armstrong. Matthew told Sergeant Davidson that on the night he attacked Taylor, he'd been drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana, but he didn't say how much, how it affected him, or whether either of those substances were factors in this attack. And this was an interesting point given the empty vodka bottle that had been found at the scene, but there was nothing to suggest that the bottle had come from Matthew. And if you're wondering whether any testing was done on this bottle. Just hold on to that thought because I'm going to come back to it later. A week after Matthew and his father Stephen were arrested, investigators released a video footage of following the men being taken into custody as well as additional photographs

in an attempt to get even more information from the public. In the meantime, Matthew's truck had been seized for forensic testing. He had actually sold his truck right after Taylor's murder, and the police were able to track down the new owner just before Matthew's arrest. On April 11th, Corporal Cook, who had been the one that analyzed the crime scene where Taylor was found, also discovered blood behind the passenger seat of Matthew's truck, which was consistent with Taylor's DNA. The driver's seat cover was also sent for testing. Based on this evidence, on April 19th, the charge against Matthew and connection with Taylor's death was actually upgraded to first-degree murder. Five months later, on October 11th, Matthew waived his right to a preliminary hearing,

and his motion for a change of venue was actually denied, and so was his request for bail. Much to the relief of Kirstie and Marie. They did not want this guy out on the streets again, and they also wanted him to face their community. He wanted to get a change of venue because, you know, everyone in this town knew what happened. But the mother and daughter were also facing another painful milestone in the form of the first anniversary of Taylor's murder.

On the evening of October 31st, 2012, a candlelight walk was held in Taylor's honor, organized by their neighbor, Dorian Cole, who's actually a pretty famous actress. This walk went up Pleasant Valley Road where they lived onto Rosdale Avenue where Taylor was found and moved through the streets of Armstrong. The mayor had asked the residents to keep their front porch lights on throughout the night. This was the first of what was named the annual Spirit Walk in Taylor's memory. In the 12 months following her murder, the Armstrong residents had rallied around Marie and Kirsty,

and they continued to provide as much emotional, financial, and practical support as they could. Marie had found it difficult to even leave her house. Life had already been challenging for her as a single mother, but she was overwhelmed and so grateful for the compassion that her community was showing her at such a horrendous time. Friends as well as complete strangers brought flowers and food to the home, as well as holding fundraisers to help Marie and Kirsty, who found it difficult to talk about what happened to her sister. These were things that were so necessary, and I'm hoping that we can continue donating to causes like this because you watch videos like mine.

We need to give back to these communities so that in these times, there are funds and resources for them. The other thing on the minds of Taylor's loved ones was something that they had been working on within the community to honor her memory. They were working with Colonna Pacific Railway and the City of Armstrong, and money was being raised for the construction of the Taylor-Vandise Memorial Trail, which is now a decent. dedicated 550-foot-long pathway from Pleasant Valley Road to Rosedale Avenue and to the west of the railroad. This was actually Taylor's twin sister, Kersey's idea. The route provided a safe way for locals to take a shortcut that Taylor was walking on or had been forced to walk on when she was attacked. Taylor's uncle Paul was actually the project's general contractor and on June 23rd 2013, Taylor's memorial trail was officially opened and I'm showing pictures of it on the screen now. Donations of

money and materials from the community assisted the hundreds of hours invested by volunteers who had cleared all the gravel and the foliage to create this environment with a paved, fenced-in path where walkers would feel safe. There were dedicated signs posted at both ends of the trail and solar lights along the path that kept it well lit, a carved wooden bench and even a gazebo, as well as angels and other sculptures that create a peaceful and serene atmosphere in their small town where such evil had occurred. But let's go back to what happened. when it was time for Taylor's Killers' trial. Matthew was 28 years old when his trial got underway

the following year on March 24th, 2014. Marie, Kirstie, her father Raymond, and Uncle Paul were all in attendance to see Justice done. It had been a long time coming, and it was going to be difficult to relive what had consumed their life for the past two and half years. But they knew they had to do it for Taylor and see it through. In Canada, both murder and manslaughter

come under the umbrella term of what's called culpable homicide. For Matthew to be convicted of murder, the prosecution needed to prove that he intended to kill Taylor or to cause her such harm that he knew she would die. If the jury determined that Matthew had committed murder, then they had to determine whether it was first degree murder or second degree. For the jury to decide it was first degree, to which Matthew had already pleaded not guilty, they would need to be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Matthew caused Taylor's death while committed while committing or attempting to commit forced intercourse.

However, on the second day of trial, there was a slight turn in events. Of course there was. Matthew had now formally admitted to inflicting the injuries that caused Taylor's death. He also admitted that her DNA had been found in his truck. The primary issues would now be whether Matthew intended to kill Taylor and whether he had been attempting to sexually violate her at the time. Apart from the DNA and the cell phone evidence placing Matthew at the scene at the time of the attack, Much of the incriminating evidence against him had been provided by him to police in those interviews. The prosecution's case, led by Crown Counsel Lane Curry and Frank Caputo, was that Matthew left the town of Lombie around 3 p.m. on the afternoon of Halloween in his truck and headed for Armstrong.

By around 6 p.m., he had wandered along the railroad tracks, carrying a flashlight, when he spotted Taylor walking all alone, and followed the young woman. Matthew approached her and engaged her in conversation hoping to bring her guard down, so he could get close enough to subdue her and force himself on her. When Taylor rejected his advances, Matthew pushed her to the ground, eventually beating her with the flashlight and strangling her with a shoelace before fleeing the scene. And of course they were arguing that Matthew wasn't seeking a consensual sexual encounter. Otherwise, he would have just gone to a bar or a restaurant instead of prowling the streets

in a secluded area where he could isolate an unsuspecting victim. Matthew fled the scene, leaving Taylor alone and bleeding until she was found two and a half hours later. On his way back to Lumby, Matthew stopped in Vernon, where he dumped the flashlight, the shoe lace, and his coat, which you have to assume were covered in blood. The prosecution presented 16 witnesses, including Constable Ilich, who gave an emotional testimony about finding Taylor at that scene. And so did Dr. Kincanon and nurse Diane Rumer, who treated Taylor at the Jubilee Hospital in Vernon. One of the paramedics who treated Taylor at the scene testified that the pipe the Taylor's head rested on was unrelated to her injuries and that, in their

It was what was called a red herring, meaning at first it appeared it could be related and caused her injuries, but in the end, they realized it had not. Dr. Stephanelli, who had conducted Taylor's autopsy, testified to the nature and severity of her injuries. This was the very first time that any of this extremely distressing and confronting evidence was even made public. The ligature that was used to strangle Taylor appeared to have been wrapped around her neck twice, or it had moved during the attack and caused two lines on her neck. Taylor's father Raymond hoped that his daughter had been unconscious when she actually was hit over the head as many times as she was because he didn't want her to suffer anymore than she already had. The prosecution then played four and a half hours of Matthew's seven and a half hour interview to the court.

It was difficult for Taylor's family to watch this footage. To them, Matthew wasn't shedding any tears in that interview. He was faking it and he was only sorry that he was caught. And I have to agree. In court, an issue was raised about what Taylor meant in her last text message that she had sent to her boyfriend. The jury had to have this explained in its full context. All of Taylor's friends knew what being creeped meant to them, but it wasn't a word that the jury would have necessarily understood. The prosecution argued that Taylor believed that the person following her had a creepy intention, someone that was there making her feel uncomfortable or unsafe. The Crown Counsel Curry also argued that the message was

indicative of Matthew's state of mind. She argued that this message should be interpreted as Matthew stalking Taylor and that scared her. So now for the defense's argument and I'm sure you all would love to hear what they are saying happened. I already explained that it was accepted as fact that Matthew had done this. He was responsible for Taylor's injuries so that wasn't something that needed to be proven in court. The defense was led by lawyer Lisa Jean Helps and she did not showcase any evidence but she did not showcase any evidence, but she claim the case was manslaughter or second-degree murder and not first degree. She argued that there was no intent, there was no evidence her client had intended to sexually violate Taylor

at all. And I was stumped because hadn't the jury already heard his interviews admitting he was trying to do just that? Well his defense attorney argued if that had really been his intent, then why hadn't he followed through with it once Taylor was laying on the ground unconscious? Well, probably because he knew that he had just killed her. That's my take, because there's definitely a line between forced intercourse and necrophilia. But the defense argued that Matt was only interested in talking to and possibly getting to know Taylor, maybe taking her on a date. And that's why he approached her.

That's why he even came to that town, knowing that there was this Halloween event happening there. No, I do not believe that for a minute. He went there because he knew that there would be younger. girls trick-or-treating and they might be alone. But I will of course let the defense finish first. They argued that Matt was intoxicated after drinking from that vodka bottle that was found nearby. He approached Taylor and when she screamed, he pushed her to the ground in a panic, causing her to strike her head on that pipe and inflicting her head injuries. How do they expect us to believe that when the pipe was stationary?

She would have had to have hit her head six times. The defense also talked about a bra and a shoe that, was found at the scene and they were entered into evidence. The bra was actually the one that Taylor was wearing and they said that those ligatures on her neck or the marks on her neck were actually her bra straps that had somehow like come up in the struggle. I mean, I would not have believed this but okay. And what was even harder was that when the pathologist was cross-examined and you know how they have to ask them like could this be true? Could this have happened? Could it have occurred? And he had to admit that yes, her bra straps could have caused the red marks, and he also had to admit that, yes, one of her head injuries

could have been caused by hitting the pipe, but not the rest of them. The defense was really trying to argue that Matthew hadn't strangled her because that would look really bad, wouldn't it? They even argued that the shoelaces were too thick and couldn't have caused ligature marks. The defense concluded by claiming that if Taylor had received medical attention immediately following the attack, then she would have survived. But the delay contributed to her death. Matthew did not take the stand. in his own defense, and that was probably a good idea. Before the jury retired to deliberate, Justice Rogers issued them a specific set of instructions to keep in mind. They were not to consider

the fact that Matthew had been in Ontario when he was arrested. And the disposing of the weapons could be weighed along with the other evidence, but it had to be kept in mind that they didn't necessarily infer he was guilty. In just under 24 hours of deliberation on April 5th, the jury found Matthew guilty a first-degree murder, and I think they got it right. He was automatically sentenced to life in prison without parole for 25 years. Taylor's family wept with joy when they heard the verdict. They were so happy but would have been happier if Matthew would have been sentenced to natural life in prison, which wasn't on the table, but they were overjoyed with the outcome.

Matthew wouldn't be able to hurt anyone else, at least not for a very long time. But he was still young. If he did get paroled, he would only be in his early 50s when he got out. Taylor's father Raymond told reporters outside the courtroom that it was a wake-up call for small communities, which shouldn't become complacent and thinking that something this devastating couldn't happen in their town because it can. This case had proved that these attacks could happen anywhere. Visit BetMGM Casino and check out the newest exclusive, the Price is Right Fortune Pick. BetMDMDM and GameSense remind you to play responsibly, 19 plus to wager.

Ontario only. Please play responsibly. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact connects Ontario at 1-866-531-2,600 to speak to an advisor. Free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming Ontario. It doesn't matter where you are. You know, I mean, you hear people saying this, well, that never happened here. None. It happens anywhere and everywhere. Even in a small little town like Armstrong, probably only a small little. town like Enderby. You know, things like this happen anywhere. Taylor's mother and sister also spoke out, and I'm going to play that for you now.

At least we got the best outcome we could have gotten under the circumstances. We'll never bring her back, but at least now, no other girl will meet the same faith that she met, and yeah, we're just happy that that animal is going to be off the streets for a very long time. Not long enough for me, but it'll suffice for now. But don't leave, there's more. It's not over yet. Remember that Matthew's father, Stephen, was also awaiting trial on charges in connection with Taylor's murder. Following Stephen's arrest back in April of 2012, an undercover officer had been planted in his jail cell. They wanted to see if he would confess of any evidence against his son. Stephen admitted he knew it was wrong for him

to have helped his son go on the run, but that he definitely wasn't going to take the fall for what what his son did and he couldn't because he had been in Alberta when Taylor was murdered. At the same time, Stephen did explain how he helped his son get that fake ID, not knowing that this whole time he was confessing to an undercover operative. Too bad for him. Just two days after his son was sentenced, 60-year-old Stephen pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact. He was sentenced to three years in prison but did receive credit for time served. You might be wondering what happened with Matthew's other charges for those other crimes. In his police interview about the 2004 home invasion, Matthew admitted to knowing the survivor,

Kaylee, but he claimed the weapon was only a BB gun. I'm thinking, how does that make it any different? But I guess if it's not a deadly weapon, then it doesn't raise the stakes. In relation to the 2005 attack at Knife Point, Matthew claimed he felt like he'd been taken over by something compelling him to hurt this employee really, like what? An overwhelming desire to force himself honor, because that's what I think. Matthew was due to face trial for both of these cases following his trial on Taylor's murder. However, he decided to plead guilty on December 18th, 2014, and he was sentenced to six years for each case, and they were to be served concurrently with his 25-year sentence for Taylor's murder. He was also placed on the sex

offender registry for life. He could not own a firearm and couldn't have any contact with either of the survivors. And of course, you probably could have expected this, but Matthew appealed his sentence. And unbelievably, I mean, I was shocked. On March 7th of 2017, the Court of Appeals in British Columbia overturned his conviction for Taylor's murder. Yep, I know, I know. They granted this man a new trial to begin the following year. It angered me. It angered Taylor's family. It should make you mad as well, and I said it would. It probably will. But apparently, the court found that the judge in that case failed to instruct them properly. Remember when I told you that the prosecution was arguing that the text saying being creeped could mean that she was being

stalked and it went to his state of mind of like stalking her? Well apparently the judge was supposed to tell them you can't use the text as evidence of Matthew's state of mind and he didn't do that. To me it's like oh it's so technical why do we have to have an entire trial but that's fair because Unfortunately, even if we hate it, killers have rights too. Of course, Taylor's family was absolutely heartbroken. Now they would have to go through another lengthy trial, not even knowing whether Matthew would justly be punished for what he'd done. Marie said that it was like a nightmare case of deja vu.

She actually was in support of the death penalty being used in Canada. And Taylor's Uncle Paul felt the exact same way. The system failed their family, who felt that Matthew had more rights than the victim. I can understand why they felt that way for sure. But for me, I'm not as familiar with the Canadian justice system, but I gotta tell you, this case kind of gets worse. While everyone was waiting for Matthew's retrial on March 12th, 2018, there was a development.

He pulled a fast one on everyone. 32-year-old Matthew took a plea deal. I didn't even know that that was possible in a retrial. He played guilty to second-degree murder. But this was done with both the prosecution and the defense. So they knew about it. It eliminated Matthew having the chance for a first time. appeal so I guess it's kind of a good thing. But on June 5th, Matthew was resentenced and

today the 39-year-old remains incarcerated in British Columbia. Even though Matthew was sentenced to serve 11 years before being eligible for parole, Canada has something called the Faint Hope Clause I had never heard of it before. And this allows for people who are sentenced to life without parole for more than 15 years to apply early. Yikes. So this meant that Matthew could apply for parole as early as 2027. And he will only be four. 41 years old, potentially rejoining his father Stephen, who has since been released. This is a man who brutally murdered a teenager. Just think about that. I want to say like do better Canada, but again, I don't know their entire justice system. But we know offenders like Matt, they are likely to re-offend.

You can't rehabilitate most, if not all, sexual offenders. They're just wired differently. So I want to know what your thoughts are. The aftermath of Taylor's murder continued to affect not just her family and her friends and the community of Armstrong, but it had ripple effects everywhere else. Even when it came to the first responder on the scene, remember Constable Illich? Well, guess what? He sued. He sued the department he worked for for harassment, intimidation, and abuse of authority, and you might be wondering why. Well, remember that empty vodka bottle they found at the scene? They first thought it could potentially be connected to Taylor's murder, placing Matthew at the scene. Well, it wasn't.

Initially, this bottle was taken from the scene, it was fingerprinted, it was bought for DNA, but it wasn't actually sent in for fingerprint testing and everything else until a week before Matt's trial began. In the end, neither Matthew's fingerprints or DNA were found on it. Well, you would think that would be the end of it, but it wasn't. When the constable first came up to the scene, he took his jacket off and so did Taylor's friend Zoe. Well, when Zoe was being interviewed, she innocently was just giving every single detail,

And she said that when the officer removed his jacket, a bottle fell from his pocket and to the ground. Well, this became a part of the official documents. And when questioned about it, he said, no, I did not remove a bottle of alcohol from my jacket. I actually removed a box of pens and he threw them away before placing the jacket over tailor. Unfortunately, no such box of pens was found at the scene when it was searched, but the liquor bottle was. And this led to the constable's superior suspecting that he had been drinking on the job. They did an entire internal investigation, which they have to do, and he was actually suspended in August of 2014 for 11 months while this investigation was going on.

They actually tested for the constable's DNA, but it wasn't on it, and he was already so distressed. He was already being diagnosed with PTSD following Taylor's murder because of the trauma he experienced seeing her in the state she was found in. Officers are human. Sometimes we think that they're immune to being affected, but they're not. He went on sick leave before being medically discharged in 2019. The civil suit that he brought against his department was eventually finalized in February of 2023, so just not too long ago and such a long time after her death.

The court determined that Constable Illich had not been drinking the night of Taylor's murder, and that he had discarded a box of pens, which were later collected when his jacket was placed in an exhibit bag. So after all of that, the pens had been collected this entire time. His claim for damages was actually dismissed. So he did not collect on any kind of monetary settlement, but at least his reputation was still intact, but the damage was already done. I just wanted to mention that part because I found it to be just like another added traumatic event in all of this. But now something positive. Today, the Taylor Vandise Memorial Trail is a peaceful place where those who walk the landscape path can tell just how much the time,

talented, kind, a beautiful young woman was missed and loved. A hundred people turned out for the last memorial walk held in 2016 with Taylor's family when they announced it would be the final one they would participate in. Her loved one said it was taking a toll on them, and they would choose to remember her in private moving forward. But her twin sister, Kirstie, continues to decorate the trail on holidays as a personal way to honor her sister, who she now has to move through life without. And I also noticed that their little dog, Maddie, passed away in 2022.

Kirstie gave her a very good life. But that little dog was the last thing that she and Taylor had shared and losing her was so heartbreaking. I want to thank you all so much for watching this video and being here today for Taylor's story. I will see you in my next one. Where some see heroes and others see egos. Bloomberg sees the era of billionaire athletes. while others follow the noise we follow the money

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