Paul Taylor’s daughter sent him a text which read ‘please come back, dad’ after he went missing, a court heard.
Former serviceman Mr Taylor, 56, was last seen by his wife, Maria, at their family home in southern Scotland on the night of October 17 2023.
Mr Taylor’s disappearance sparked a murder probe. And in May this year, his skeletal remains were found in a shallow grave within woodland west of Carlisle close to a burn site.
Jack Crawley, then 19 and now aged 20, was quizzed several times and led police to the body.
Crawley is on trial at Carlisle Crown Court. He admits manslaughter and the unlawful killing of Mr Taylor but denies his murder.
Evidence shown to jurors on day two of Crawley’s trial included photos taken on his phone of Mr Taylor’s blue Vauxhall Corsa early on October 18.
These were sent to a number of people, including scrap and car dealers. “Got a 2018 Vauxhall Corsa, around 60k miles, no reg, no logbook, £2,000,” read one message. “You interested?” asked another.
Giving evidence, and asked to interpret this contact, detective inspector Amanda Sykes said of Crawley: “He is contacting a number of different people, sending instant messages, offering the sale of the vehicle to other parties.”
The court has heard Mr Taylor’s family were unaware of his sexual interest in men, which dated back several years.
He was reported missing to police by his wife at 12.49pm on October 18. At 3.23pm, Mr Taylor’s daughter, Beth, sent him a text which read: “Please come back dad.” Voicemails were later left by Mr Taylor’s sister, Angela Malloy, and a concerned friend.
In one of two statements, Maria Taylor said her husband had failed to show for work that morning which was unusual as he was a workaholic.
Speaking about their time together the previous evening, Mrs Taylor said: “He was absolutely normal. He went upstairs to get changed into his pyjamas and came back down. We were watching TV and he was laughing away.”
The morning after she found his bag and pyjamas in their kitchen. “I just presumed he had been in a rush to leave quickly,” said Mrs Taylor.
She spoke of them being married for 26 years. Mr Taylor had left the army in 2009 after serving for 25 years. He returned to Afghanistan as a catering civilian. “I’m concerned about him. This is completely out of character,” she added in the aftermath of his disappearance.
A colleague of Mr Taylor, a catering manager at Carlisle’s Cumberland Infirmary, called him an exemplary employee.
Opening the case, prosecutor David McLachlan KC had alleged Crawley murdered Mr Taylor in a premeditated and planned attack in which severe violence was meted out.
At around 7.30am on October 19, CCTV footage captured Crawley buying £4.57-worth of unleaded petrol in a fuel can he ripped the nozzle from and discarded.
He and a second man on trial, 20-year-old fellow Cumberland Infirmary security guard Marcus Goodfellow, then travelled to Langwathby in Mr Taylor’s Corsa. The car was abandoned near the village’s Shepherds Inn after it clipped a kerb and was crashed.
Both Crawley and Goodfellow were captured in and around Langwathby on CCTV footage shown to jurors this afternoon.
When initially interviewed by police, Crawley denied any involvement in Mr Taylor’s death, and also claimed at first he did not know him.
Crawley, of Sheehan Crescent, Carlisle, also denies the attempted murder of a second man several months later during a sexual liaison in Yorkshire. He was allegedly attacked with a hammer.
Goodfellow, of Greystone Road, Carlisle, denies assisting an offender.
The trial, which is expected to last several weeks, continues.
