Richard Taylor appeals double murder conviction

Richard Taylor, the man who murdered his mother and stepfather Carla and Alan Rutherford, wants to appeal his conviction saying his trial judge made several mistakes.

In his writing, Taylor says the jury should have never been allowed to hear about his stepfather’s dying words. “Trial judge errored in admitting hearsay statements of the deceased as dying declarations,” Taylor wrote.

On the day he was convicted, the Crown told CHCH News that Alan’s dying words were crucial to the case.

In his notice of appeal, Taylor also writes that the trial judge, Toni Skarica, errored in jury selection and his final charge to the jury.

It could be years before anything comes from this appeal. In the meantime, the convicted murderer is said to be serving his concurrent life sentences at the Kingston Penitentiary.