The niece of a retired school governor who was murdered by her funeral director husband has recalled the moment he ‘smirked and winked’ at her while standing trial.
On 18 January 2012, Alethea Taylor, 63, from Orleton in Herefordshire, was murdered by her husband of 16 years John, then 61 – six months after he started an affair with widow Alison Dearden, then 53, who he had fallen in love with after organising her husband’s funeral.
New crime documentary Countdown to Murder, which airs on 5star today, recounts how John, who killed Alethea and hid her body at home so he could be with Alison, spun a web of callous lies and tried to convinced their community that his wife had developed dementia and vanished without warning.
Speaking in the documentary, Lorraine, Aleathea’s niece, tells how John ‘smirked and winked’ at her during his trial for Alethea’s murder, where he was found guilty, given a life sentence and told he must serve a minimum of 17 years.
Lorraine also expresses that she can’t move on from her aunt’s death because John has always refused to reveal the location of her body.
Alethea Taylor, 63, pictured, was killed by her husband of 16-years John Taylor in their Orleton Village home in Herefordshire on January 18 2012. John wanted to start a new life with his mistress and was found guilty of killing Alethea, a retired school governor, based on evidence
John Taylor, pictured, is currently serving a life sentenced for the murder of his wife after he spun a web of cunning lies and claimed she had developed dementia and vanished without warning
Alethea’s niece can be seen shaking her head and biting her lip as she recalls how John behaved during his trial.
‘On leaving, I had to walk past John who was sitting looking directly had me,’ she explains.
‘I didn’t want to look at him but I had to, just to see, and he smirked, and winked at me on the way out. I’ll never have closure because I don’t know where she is.’
‘For me to think he’ll be out, walking about, living his life, doing whatever he wants to do but she won’t…He’s got to let us know where she’s at.’
In 2019, Helen’s Law made it impossible for murderers who refuse to reveal the location of their victims’ bodies to be granted parole.
It was implemented following a campaign by Marie MacCourt, the mother of 22-year-old Helen McCourt, who was killed by pub landlord Ian Simms, who has always claimed his innocence and refused to comment on the location of Helen’s body.
Lorraine (pictured), Alethea’s niece, said she can’t get closure over her aunt’s death because her body had never been found
Like Simms, John Taylor has never admitted to killing his wife, nor has he ever revealed where her body is.
In the documentary, it’s explained that John was convicted solely on evidence found around his own testimonies and those of witnesses – including his mistress, Alison.
John, who was an active member of the church, had a good reputation among the village, where he worked as an undertaker and was the caretaker for the town hall.
He and Alethea were believed to be a happy, doting couple who shared similar interests and were hardly seen without one another.
However, everything changed when John started an affair with Alison and began counting down the days until he could leave Alethea to be with his new girlfriend.
John’s relationship with Alison was seen as the main motive for him to murder Alethea in January 2012, six months after the affair had started.
The house where it is believed John killed Alethea before disposing of her body in an unknown location
Alethea’s blood was found in the couple’s home in Orleton, Herefordshire
John and Alethea had started having an increasing number of rows, which often resulted in Alethea storming off.
She suspected John was having an affair, and was secretly keeping a diary where she referred to him as ‘Mr Nasty’ and spoke about him cheating on her with a ‘little widow’.
However, neighbours and friends explain in the documentary that months before the night Alethea disappeared, John had started to spread rumours about his wife.
He began pretending that she was starting to develop a form of dementia in order to discredit her in the eyes of the community.
Friend of the family Brian recounts how John once knocked on his door three weeks before the murder claiming Alethea had left and ‘lost the plot.’
Brian says he and his wife Tina were skeptical of John’s claims because they had always considered Alethea to be an articulate lady who was ‘on board with things.’
He recounts how that night, he and Tina found Alethea ‘sobbing on a bench by the road’ – adding that she refused to get in the car with her husband, and when she eventually did, wouldn’t sit in the front seat.
Brian, who says he regrets the day he ever became friends with John, goes on to explain that that was the first time he had seen Alethea show any sort of fear towards her husband.
Friend of the family Brian said the murder destroyed the village’s faith ‘in human nature’ and that he regretted ever becoming friends with John
Consultant forensic psychologist Dr Vicky Thakordas-Desai says that Alethea may never have expressed her concerns about John’s affair to anyone because she didn’t want to come to reality with the truth.
‘John was telling others within the community that she was suffering from dementia, gas-lighting her to make her believe that she was losing her mind, that she was losing touch with reality,’ she explains. ‘Alethea would have found it quite difficult to express to anyone her concerns and her instincts towards John.’
‘She was keeping this in because she didn’t want to come to reality on where her relationship with John was headed.’
Diary: Mrs Taylor wrote in this document of her suspicions that her husband was having an affair
Eight years on, the impact of Alethea’s murder can still be felt on the community of Orleton Village.
‘It’s almost destroyed our faith in human nature because we’d never had anything quite like this in our lives before,’ Brian says.
Former Detective Chief Inspector Clive Driscoll adds: ‘The first thing that hits you is that it’s a quiet little village, that we’d all love to aspire to live in. And I’m quite sure that they found this terribly traumatic.’
Luke, a friend of the family, continues: ‘It sends a shiver down my spine that someone would be so close to us and yet so horrible.’
After a month-long trial at Worcester Crown Court, a jury saw through John’s ‘blatant lies’ and convicted him of her murder.
Michael Burrows, prosecuting, said John Taylor had used the couple’s joint bank account to buy a ‘love nest’, which he was renovating so he could eventually move in with his mistress.
Alethea Taylor helped solve her own murder from beyond the grave – by writing diaries where she branded her evil husband ‘Mr Nasty’
Jailing him, Justice Julian Flaux told him: ‘Since her body has never been found, only you know what became of her.
‘The jury has rejected your defence that you were not responsible.
‘You clearly perceived her as an obstacle to happiness with Alison. She had discovered the affair and as her notebooks bear out you were scared she might reveal it.
‘There is a dark and violent side to your personality, which perhaps only Alethea knew. Your anger and frustration boiled over.
‘You attacked her either in the bedroom where her blood was found or elsewhere and put her, bleeding, on the bed then smothered her with a pillow. You then drove her body away in your car.
The funeral director claimed the blood was from a nose bleed, but a forensic scientist said it had not dripped and probably resulted from direct contact with the sheets.
John was also seen vacuuming the boot of his vehicle outside his home – despite telling police he was somewhere else at the time.
Mr Taylor claimed his wife was still alive when he left their home in Orleton, Herefordshire, on the morning of January 19, but that she then disappeared.
He claimed to have tried to contact his wife by telephone several times after she went missing but cell site analysis showed that he had only called her once and hung up after eight seconds.
John maintained that if his wife was dead, he was not responsible.
Evidence: Specimens of Alethea’s blood were also found in the BMW owned by her husband
Search: Despite a major police operation, Alethea’s body has still never been found
Alethea’s nightdress was missing from the house but her glasses, passport, bank cards and a bracelet were all left behind.
John was ‘keen to spread around’ the idea she was ‘in some way losing her mind’ to cover up for her disappearance, the court heard.
David Elliott, Sector Crown Prosecutor from West Midlands Crown Prosecution Service, said he had ‘spun a web of lies in order to avoid justice’.
‘A jury has seen through his deceit,’ he added. ‘Taylor was unhappy in his marriage and he was having an affair. His wife found out and in a diary which was recovered from the house, Mrs Taylor highlighted her concerns at her husband’s infidelity and the future of their marriage.
‘We will never know how Mrs Taylor was killed or where her body has been concealed. Only the defendant has the knowledge and answers to these questions.
‘We would encourage him to inform the authorities of where he has hidden the body so that Mrs Taylor can be finally laid to rest and her family and friends can get some form of closure in this tragic case.’
Countdown to Murder airs at 9pm on 5Star on Wednesday.