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November 22, 2005
Update: Tory Hardy Murder Investigation
Last night, NewsChannel 9 ran John Madewell's piece on the Tory Hardy murder investigation. The station had been aggressively plugging the piece for days, and it did contain at least one new piece of information.
As you might remember, when the body of 2003 Bessie Smith Strut shooting victim Tory Hardy was brought to the Taylor Funeral Home (owned by then-City Councilman John Taylor), his internal organs were incinerated. (The organs undoubtedly contained bullet fragments that could have possibly implicated Rheubin Taylor, Jr. -- son of County Attorney Rheubin Taylor, Sr. -- as the one who fired the shot that killed Hardy.) At the time, Taylor claimed this was standard operating procedure. However, a consent order from the Tennessee Board of Funeral Directors obtained by Channel 9 shows that Taylor paid a $1000 civil penalty for "immoral, unprofessional conduct for the improper disposition of human organs."
The interesting twist? In the consent order, Taylor says this matter is "not an admission of any wrongdoing, but is solely for settling the matter."
Was the $1000 fine a symbolic slap on the wrist to settle the matter, distracting the public from bigger issues like the fact that Taylor could quite possibly have been obstructing justice? Who told him that the $1000 would be all it would take to settle the matter? And, more importantly, was he TOLD to burn the organs? And if so, then by whom?
Taylor wouldn't talk to Channel 9 about why the organs were burned. His lawyer told the station that the "facts are not all out. John Taylor will not answer questions on television. His side of the story will come out in court."
If you remember, a couple of weeks ago, Judge R. Allan Edgar threw out lawsuits filed by the family against the Chattanooga Police Department and Hamilton County Deputies, ruling that they had no genuine issue of fact. Interestingly, the Hardy family lawsuit against Taylor and the funeral home has not been thrown out.
Here's a link to the text of Channel 9's piece.
Here's a link to the WMV file of the Channel 9 segment. (Windows media player and a high speed connection required.)
Here's a link to last month's Pulse story about the current status of the Hardy trial.
And here's a link to my Pulse column about the case from August of 2004.
| By colrus | 10:49 AM
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