Spit on the floor leads to arrest in Karen Taylor murder by Boston police in 1988 – New Bedford Guide

“On Thursday, September 19, 2024, at approximately 4:44 p.m., members of the Fugitive Unit arrested James Holloman, age 65, of Dorchester in the area of ​​Chipman Street. At the time of his arrest, the suspect was wanted on a Suffolk Superior Court murder warrant for the 1988 murder of Karen Taylor. Holloman is expected to be arraigned in Suffolk District Court.

The murder occurred on May 27, 1988, when Karen Taylor's mother called to talk to her daughter, but her granddaughter picked up the phone and said that her mother was sleeping and would not wake up.

Karen's mother ran to the house at 37 Williams Street in Roxbury, but found the house locked and could not get in. She walked around the building and eventually found an unlocked window at the back of the house. After crawling inside, she found her dead daughter face down in a pool of blood.

Sadly, Karen had been stabbed more than 15 times in the chest, neck and head. DNA research was in its infancy at the time and although DNA from her fightback was found under Karen's fingernails, the genetic profile came from someone not in the database.

Wednesday, 2023. Wednesday, 2023 September 2023 𝘾𝙖𝙨𝙚/𝙐𝙣𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙃𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙙 𝙎𝙦𝙪𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙗𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙖 𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙩'𝙨 𝘿𝙉𝘼𝘼 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙗𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙩 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚. Under Massachusetts common law, there is no statute of limitations for murder. For this reason, our members believe there is no expiration date for justice and leave no stone unturned in building their cases. Although the case is ongoing, we hope that the arrest provides some consolation to Ms Taylor's survivors 36 years later.

The Boston Police Department's Homicide Unit is active Reviewing the facts and circumstances of this incident. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Boston Police Homicide Unit at 617-343-4470.