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Waterloo murderer dies in prison, Covid contributes to death

IOWA CITY – A Waterloo murderer died in prison this week, and Covid contributed to his death.

Robert Frank Taylor was pronounced dead, likely due to complications related to COVID-19 and other preexisting medical conditions at approximately 8:45 p.m. on Sunday, January 31, 2021 at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Taylor was 72 years old at the time of his death, and was incarcerated at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center.

This death marks the department’s 17th death in connection to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Taylor had been serving a life sentence for the crime of Murder 1st Degree from Black Hawk County. His sentence began on January 26, 1980.

According to court documents, Taylor was convicted following the shooting death of his wife, Lacie Mae. The trial generated ample evidence from which the jury could have found the following facts. At about 11:30 p.m. on June 1, 1979, defendant returned to his Waterloo home after work to find Lacie and his three children absent. He went to a service station and bought a six-pack of beer that he drank while driving around looking for his family. About 2 a.m. he telephoned Lacie’s mother, Mrs. Johnson, at Des Moines, and told her Lacie was not home. Defendant reported he and Lacie “couldn’t make it,” and he was going to send her home to Mrs. Johnson because “he couldn’t take it no more.” Defendant talked about a letter he had found, written by Lacie, in which she referred to another man. Defendant stated that “if he wasn’t a kind man he could kill Lacie and the kids.”

A short time later, defendant again telephoned Mrs. Johnson and reported Lacie had not yet returned home. He repeated he “could kill” his wife and children. During this conversation Lacie returned home and spoke with her mother. Defendant told Mrs. Johnson that Lacie would be on a morning bus from Waterloo to Des Moines.

During a third telephone call to Mrs. Johnson, defendant said he had pointed a gun at Lacie and scared her. However, he assured Mrs. Johnson he had put the gun away, “wouldn’t hurt Lacie Mae for nothing,” and would send her home.

At 5:46 a.m. defendant called an ambulance for his wife. Her body was discovered in an upstairs bedroom, on the floor partially under the bed. She had been shot at close range in the back and the left side.

After the shooting, defendant went to the mental health institute in Independence, where he telephoned his brother and told him he had shot Lacie. Defendant also told employees at the institute that he had shot his wife. He was arrested at the institute by Buchanan County authorities. When questioned by Waterloo detectives defendant denied involvement in the shooting, but at trial no claim was advanced that he did not kill Lacie. His sole defense was diminished capacity. He lost an appeal.

TAYLOR, ROBERT FRANK
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