Jailed 16 Years for Murder He Didn't Commit, Greg Taylor Tastes Freedom

By: Carlin DeGuerin Miller
Topics: Daily Blotter

(AP Photo/Shawn Rocco)

RALEIGH, N.C. After more than 16 years of proclaiming his innocence for a brutal murder, Greg Taylor's shackles were finally removed and he was able to hug the grown daughter he left as a little girl.

Photo: Greg Taylor hugs his daughter Kristen Puryear after being exonerated Feb.17, 2010.

"She was 9 years old when I went to prison," Taylor told CBS affiliate WRAL, embracing Kristen Puryear for one of the first times as a free man. "I missed her 10th birthday, I missed her 16th birthday. … I missed her marriage. I missed the birth of my grandson. Now all of that's returned."

Photo: Greg Taylor after being exonerated 16 years after his conviction for murder.

"And I'm taking him home," Puryear said.

In 1993, Taylor was convicted in the death of Jacquetta Thomas, a prostitute found dead at the end of a Raleigh cul-de-sac two years earlier.

Taylor had exhausted all avenues of appeal when the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission reviewed his case and decided last September it merited another look.

Photo: Wake County District Attorney Colon Willoughby.

According to Taylor's version of events, he and a friend, Johnny Beck went to a deserted cul-de-sac to smoke crack cocaine. His SUV got stuck in the wooded area, and, as the two men walked out to hitch a ride, they saw what they thought was a body. They didn't call the police.

Beck testified during the special hearing Jan. 11 that neither of them knew or had ever seen the 26-year-old prostitute that Taylor was convicted of killing.

"I know this man is innocent today," Beck testified Feb. 11. "To this day, I don't understand how this man got convicted. It's mind-boggling. It's scary. It really is."

After the ruling, Wake County District Attorney, Colon Willoughby, whose office led the charge to keep Taylor behind bars, immediately walked over to Taylor and apologized.

"I told him I'm very sorry he was convicted," Willoughby said later. "I wish we had had all of this evidence in 1991."

But the family of the victim hopes that their loved one won't be forgotten in all the excitement.

"It is just not over," Sierra Pharr told WRAL. "There is [sic] a lot of questions. Where is this person? Who did it? Now what?"

Reacting to the verdict Taylor told WRAL, "It's unbelievable, I mean, you think all these years what this day would be like – 6,149 days, and finally the truth has prevailed."

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by ladycopper February 19, 2010 10:16 AM EST: Who was the rocket scientist with the Raleigh PD who investigated this? Scary to think that being a drug user automatically makes you a murderer.; Reply to this comment


by retiredgustav February 18, 2010 10:19 PM EST: If it was Texas they would have executed him already.; Reply to this comment


by diamond_dame February 18, 2010 9:32 PM EST: I feel so sorry for Mr. Taylor. And it makes me sick that his own wife wouldn't stand by him. He should have been put in jail to begin with. They arrest him but not his friend? Did they just need someone to blame for the crime? Where is justice in this world when you need it?; Reply to this comment

by MNBantisbanned February 18, 2010 8:46 PM EST

Wow who would think you could be charged with murder for not reporting a body and spend 16 years in jail. Without knowing the particulars of the case you would have thought they would have checked for DNA back then. You know theres hair, fibers, finger prints etc too. Now the guy probably wont be able to get a job just because the police were out to eliminate another undesirable from the streets. Good luck with your freedom dude.

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by TheTruthIsEasierToBelieve February 18, 2010 11:53 PM EST: There is no "LAW" that says, "DNA 'MUST' be tested."

There is not a Constitutional right for DNA EVIDENCE TESTING.

NOW, don't you wonder how many innocent people are executed?