A mother-of-four who is accused of murdering her wealthy farmer husband has told a jury the violent messages she exchanged with her lover discussing how to kill him were just ‘rubbish chat’, a court has heard.
Angela Taylor, 53, is accused of working with Paul Cannon, 54, to kill her husband William ‘Bill’ Taylor after nearly 25 years of marriage.
The 69-year-old wealthy farmer was last seen on June 3 last year at his home, Harkness Hall in Gosmore, Hertfordshire.
His body was found eight months later in a river by a passing fisherman.
Giving evidence at St Albans Crown Court today, she said the messages, which included highly sexual texts with lover Paul Cannon were ‘meaningless.’
Angela Taylor, 53, (right) is accused of working with Paul Cannon, 54, to kill her husband William ‘Bill’ Taylor (left) after nearly 25 years of marriage.
She told a jury they were sent when she was drinking and it was never intended they should be taken seriously.
‘We were just venting frustrations out,’ she told the court.
Mother-of-four Mrs Taylor, 53, was giving evidence today at St Albans Crown Court where she and Paul Cannon, 54, are accused of the murder of the millionaire farmer last June.
Mrs Taylor and Mr Cannon, together with Gwyn Griffiths, 60, are accused of the lesser alternative charge of conspiring to murder Mr Taylor between February 12 and 5 June 2018.
Mr Cannon of Hitchin and Mrs Taylor of Charlton near Hitchin, also deny carrying out an arson attack on the farmer’s Land Rover between 25 May and 28 May last year, a few days before the alleged murder is said to have taken place at his farm at Harkness Hall, Gosmore, Hitchin.
Forensics teams are pictured above in Hertfordshire investigating Mr Taylor’s death
In one WhatsApp message, two days before Mr Taylor disappeared, murder accused Cannon wrote: ‘I want to get rid of that poisonous c***. Make love you to you on his kitchen table with your p**** soaked in blood with him tied to a chair so he had to watch. Then send him to hell.’ Angela Taylor replied: ‘Think that would kill him, last thing he saw was us making love xxxxxx’ (Note: Images are mock-ups of the pair’s Whtasapp exchanges)
In another message Paul Cannon wrote: ‘Just watching Kill Bill 2 lol.’ Angela Taylor replied: ‘One would be nice’ (Note: Images are mock-ups of the pair’s Whtasapp exchanges)
In May last year, Cannon wrote to Taylor: ‘I’m gonna give that c*** a heart attack. Man I could go the whole way with him!!!!! ‘Best way is to cut their ligaments so they never walk again. Then cut fingers off. ‘Might just fill his house with petrol and toast the c***. While in his bed.’ Angela Taylor replied: ‘You read my mind’ (Note: Images are mock-ups of the pair’s Whtasapp exchanges)
The jury have heard that by 2018 the marriage of Bill Taylor and Angela Taylor was over and they were living apart.
She had first filed for divorce in 2014 and, as part of a financial settlement, had acquired two neighbouring farms – Dog Kennel Farm and Mill Farm.
The prosecution say Paul Cannon and Angela Taylor embarked on an affair in late 2017 and both had a ‘venomous hatred’ for Bill because he would not agree to her request for a divorce.
Bill Taylor disappeared from his home at the farm in the early hours of Monday 4 June last year.
His body was found by a fisherman 8 months later on 10 February this year on a bank of the River Hiz, near Hitchin, 2 miles from his home.
As part of the investigation into his disappearance, the jury heard that hundreds of WhatsApp messages were found by detectives on Mr Cannon’s phone which, say the prosecution, shows they were plotting to kill Mr Taylor in the months leading up to his death.
They sent each other WhatsApp messages describing in graphic detail how they wanted to harm Mr Taylor, St Albans Crown Court heard.
In one WhatsApp message, two days before Mr Taylor disappeared, murder accused Cannon wrote: ‘I want to get rid of that poisonous c***. Make love you to you on his kitchen table with your p**** soaked in blood with him tied to a chair so he had to watch. Then send him to hell.’
Angela Taylor replied: ‘Think that would kill him, last thing he saw was us making love xxxxxx’
In another message Paul Cannon wrote: ‘Just watching Kill Bill 2 lol.’
Angela Taylor replied: ‘One would be nice.’
The graphic messages between the couple, which began in February last year, four months before Bill Taylor disappeared, were voiced by a male and a female police officer and played to the jury at St Albans Crown Court.
Paul Cannon said in another: ‘We need to get together and sort out a plan. We have got to get him out of picture very soon darling.’
In May last year, Cannon wrote to Taylor: ‘I’m gonna give that c*** a heart attack. Man I could go the whole way with him!!!!!
‘Best way is to cut their ligaments so they never walk again. Then cut fingers off.
‘Might just fill his house with petrol and toast the c***. While in his bed.’
Taylor replied: ‘You read my mind.’
It’s claimed that Mr Cannon recruited work colleague Mr Griffiths from Folkestone to help him.
Giving evidence Mrs Taylor said she was born in Sunderland and moved south in 1985.
Mr Taylor was last seen at his home of Harkness Hall, in Gosmore, Hertfordshire, on June 3 last year – several days before his 70th birthday
The court was told she married Bill Taylor in 1997 at Stevenage Register Office and they had three children together – two sons now aged 19 and 23 and daughter now aged 22.
She said she had a son by a previous relationship who is now 28.
Mrs Taylor describes her marriage to the farmer as ‘very difficult’ and she said a lot of their problems were to do with his son Richard from his previous marriage.
Questioned by her barrister a Jennifer Dempster QC, Mrs Taylor said her husband and his son had fallen out and it was a stressful situation that prompted her to move out of Harkness Hall in November 2015 to nearby Mill Farm.
She said there was a post nuptial agreement put in place and she told the jury ‘I didn’t want a divorce, he didn’t want a divorce.’
She said the agreement was for the ownership a number of properties including Mill Farm and Dog Kennel Farm to be transferred to her and £10,000 was made available for renovation work to Mill Farm.
She said Bill Taylor’s son Richard was not happy as a result. After leaving Harkness Hall she said she continued to have contact with her husband and would take meals to Harkness Hall.
Mrs Taylor said she even tried to persuade her husband to move in with her and the children, but he wouldn’t leave Harkness Hall.
Mr Taylor had been missing for eight months before a member of the public found his body in a river in February (pictured, the river where his body was found)
She said throughout 2016 she was still in a sexual relationship with her husband.
The court heard that she met Mr Cannon at the end of 2017 when he came to do some work on Dog Kennel Farm.
She said he became a regular visitor and eventually asked her out an an affair began.
‘It just seemed to happen- we clicked. I wasn’t looking for a relationship and it sort of happened.’
She said she understood Mr Cannon and his wife ‘were splitting up.’
She said she kept her relationship with Mr Cannon a secret from her children because she ‘didn’t want to hurt anyone.’
Mrs Taylor added ‘I was still married to him and I was still trying to work it out with him.’
She told the jury she never had any plans that she would marry Mr Cannon and went on ‘I was still with Bill and I had promised my children I would never marry again.’
Mrs Taylor said about three weeks before Bill Taylor disappeared she had received a ‘love letter’ from him asking that they get back together.
‘I had a chat with my children and left it up to them about what they wanted me to do,’ she told the court.
Mars Taylor was then about a WhatsApp message sent to her from Paul Cannon in which he had spoken about her husband saying ‘Man I could go the whole way with him,’ prompting her to reply ‘Do it.’
Her barrister asked: ‘Did you intend Paul Cannon to do anything with regards to Bill?’
She replied: ‘No’ She was also asked about messages between them that spoke of committing violence to Mr Taylor and others, she said it was just their way of letting out their frustrations.
Mrs Taylor said she first learned her husband was missing on the evening of Monday June 4 last year.
‘I thought maybe he was in the fields and was late coming back in, she said.
Her barrister then asked her: ‘It’s suggested June 3 was the culmination of a plot to murder Bill.
Were you involved in a plot to murder Bill at this time?’ She replied: ‘No’ Miss Dempsey QC then asked her ‘Did you ever indicate to Paul Cannon you wanted Bill murdered that night?’ The wife replied: ‘Not at all.’
Taylor and Cannon, both of Hitchin, Hertfordshire, deny murder, arson and an alternative charge of conspiracy to murder.
Gwyn Griffiths, 60, of Folkestone, Kent, denies conspiracy to murder.
Earlier in the trial, prosecutors dropped a charge of murder against Griffiths.
The trial continues.