'MURDER ON HIS MIND'
Evil killer ‘inspired by Jeffrey Dahmer’ lured Scots war hero into sex hook-up before bludgeoning him with mallet
The court heard Crawley seemed 'giddy and excited' and spoke about Jeffrey Dahmer
A HOMOPHOBIC psychopath faces life behind bars after murdering a war hero with a mallet before mutilating and burning his corpse.
Jack Crawley, who was only 19 at the time, battered Paul Taylor to death in a frenzied bloodbath assault after luring him to a remote lane near Carlisle for sex last October 18.
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The 56-year-old victim, from Annan, Dumfriesshire, suffered multiple blows to his skull that shattered it into hundreds of pieces before he was torched and dumped at nearby Finglandrigg Wood.
Two months after the slaughter, Crawley, from Carlisle, skipped bail to attack another gay man near York using carbon copy tactics to isolate his victim before smacking his skull with a hammer.
The body of married dad-of-two Mr Taylor - whose sexual interest in men was concealed from his family - was eventually found in a skeletal state in May.
Crawley, partly inspired by gay serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, denied murder and attempted murder at Carlisle Crown Court but was convicted, unanimously, after a harrowing two week trial.
TIMELINE OF PAUL TAYLOR'S MURDER
2023
June 16 - Paul Taylor buys three bottles of poppers from sex shop in Carlisle.
October 17 - Jack Crawley is in contact with Paul Taylor and they arrange to meet at a remote spot near Carlisle. Wife Maria kisses her husband goodnight, knowing nothing of his double life. Crawley listens to song Romantic Homicide three times and buys charcoal and two lighters. Paul Taylor arrives in Carlisle at 11.39pm.
October 18 - Crawley is seen on CCTV at 12.27am walking towards meeting spot. He strikes Paul Taylor with at least ten heavy blows to the head and breaks his elbow bone off during the onslaught as victim tries to defend himself. Crawley puts his body in the boot of Taylor’s Vauxhall Corsa and drives to Finglandrigg Wood. He burns the corpse and drags it into a shallow grave before wiping the car down.
1.52am - Crawley is seen returning home.
11am - Crawley orders Uber Eats to his home.
Afternoon - Maria Taylor reports her husband missing. Daughter Bethany texts him saying ‘Please come back dad.’
October 19 - Crawley meets up with Marcus Goodfellow at 7.30am and they attempt to drive Paul Taylor’s car to Appleby.
8.45am - The car crashes in Langwathby. Marcus Goodfellow arranges lift from a pal back to Carlisle. Crawley mentions Jeffrey Dahmer and is giddy and excited.
Afternoon - Police find the dumped car and discover heavy bloodstaining, two bottles of poppers and other sexual paraphernalia in the boot.
October 20 - The first missing person appeal for Paul Taylor.
October 21 - Crawley makes an internet search on ‘Memento Mori - Latin for ‘remember you must die.’
October 26 - A second missing person appeal on what would have been Paul Taylor’s birthday.
November 15 - Crawley is arrested for murder. Police find one of the three bottles bought by Paul Taylor hidden under decking in Crawley’s back garden. A ‘murder kit’ of rope, duct tape, cable ties and masks was found in his bedroom.
2024
January 1 - Crawley ignores bail by getting on a train to Glasgow.
January 2-4 - The killer spends nights in Aberdeen and Edinburgh before arriving in York. He later buys a hammer from Toolstation.
January 5 - Crawley attempts to kill another man near York with a hammer after luring him to a remote spot using Grindr.
February - He is charged with murder and attempted murder.
May 1 - Crawley admits killing Paul Taylor and reveals where remains are.
October 1 - Trial starts in Carlisle.
October 21 - Crawley is convicted of murder of Paul Taylor and attempted murder of the second man in York.
In cross examination by prosecutor David McLachlan KC, Crawley denied having a fascination with serial killers including gay murderer Dahmer.
He agreed that he had seen the Netflix show on Dahmer but, when asked if he liked it, he said: "It's disgusting what he did."
Mr McLachlan said: "That's what you did.
"That's what you do, the sort of thing Jeffrey Dahmer does.
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"Kill or try to kill gay people."
A second man, 20-year-old Marcus Goodfellow, from Carlisle, was acquitted of helping Crawley get rid of Mr Taylor's Vauxhall Corsa.
Chilling moment killer grins as he's charged with murder
Crawley denied attempting to murder that man but was convicted, unanimously, on that charge by jurors.
As the verdicts were announced, Crawley showed no emotion in the court dock.
Mr Justice Goose told jurors he agreed with their verdicts, and said he would sentence Crawley later this week.
“You have now been convicted of the counts as the jury have found, and you are to be sentenced on Wednesday at 11 o’clock. You will be brought to court for that purpose.”
Crawley remains remanded in custody.
The court heard that Mr Taylor, a catering manager at Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle, had been in contact with Crawley as far back as December 2022 using apps like Grindr and Fabguys.
On the night the Afghanistan and Falklands vet went missing, he’d gone to bed as normal before sneaking out of the family home in Annan and driving across the border for a midnight meet with Crawley.
At the same time, prosecutor David McLachlan KC said the killer had ‘murder on his mind’ and listened to a song called ‘Romantic Homicide’ in the hours before the death.
Mr McLachlan said: “The lyrics to this song include: “In the back of my mind I killed you, and I didn’t even regret it, I can’t believe I said it, but it’s true, I hate you”
Mr Taylor suffered an explosion of violence from the psycho before he was put in the boot of his own Vauxhall Corsa and driven a few miles west to Finglandrigg Wood, a childhood haunt for the killer.
MY VIEW FROM THE COURT
By Gordon Tait
CHALK white Jack Crawley had to take a vomit break as the gruesome details of his mindless slaughter were laid out in brutal detail at Carlisle Crown Court.
He wasn’t the only one who felt sick.
As Paul Taylor’s family looked on, the actual pictures taken from the shallow grave that showed his mutilated skeleton and destroyed skull - in 265 separate pieces - were revealed to us all.
His elbow bone had been smashed off during a futile attempt to defend himself and, to top it off, we saw the actual charred remains of the bones too.
Rarely can such examples of extreme violence, pre and post mortem, have been shown in such a graphic way.
It left one juror in tears, cops and court staff watching on open mouthed in revulsion - and pathetic Crawley wretching with disgust.
The eruption of bloodthirsty violence visited upon Paul Taylor can’t be fathomed.
The desecration of his corpse by sticking it in the boot of his car and taking it to a remote wood for further mutilation and flame was a further level of depravity.
But just two months later, he tried to kill another man in a carbon copy way.
Killing didn’t seem to matter to Crawley under the cover of darkness. But now, in the cold light of day, maybe the realisation of his horrors are too much to stomach.
Graphic images of the scene were shown to the jury revealing Mr Taylor’s wrecked skull in 35 separate pieces, with a further 230 pieces also discovered in the immediate area. Some of the skull has never been recovered.
Crawley set a fire with charcoal he had bought earlier but was only able to burn small portions of Mr Taylor’s leg and arm before the smell became too much and he gave up.
He dragged the body into a hollow and covered it with sticks and branches.
The following day, he took the car to Appleby, Cumbria to try and sell it.
But he crashed the motor in nearby Langwathby and had to get a pal to take him back to Carlisle.
On the journey back, Crawley seemed ‘giddy and excited’ and he spoke about Jeffrey Dahmer and ‘a man dying tonight.’
Meanwhile, police on both sides of the border began to look for Mr Taylor after wife Maria reported him missing - while his daughter Bethany texted her father saying ‘Please come home dad.’
Cops feared the worst after the discovered the boot of the Corsa was heavily bloodstained with evidence that more blood had been wiped clean from the driver’s door.
A month later, Crawley was arrested and a search of his home found a ‘murder kit’ with rope, duct tape and cable ties - along with a bottle of poppers hidden under decking with Paul Taylor’s DNA on it.
Despite bail conditions to stay in Carlisle, Crawley got a train to Glasgow on New Year’s Day this year and then went to Aberdeen and Edinburgh.
By January 4, he was seen at a Toolstation in York buying a hammer and had hooked up with another middle-aged gay man on Grindr.
The pair met at a remote spot where Crawley tried to murder the male with the weapon, before the victim was able to overpower him and grab the hammer off him.
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Crawley fled again but was eventually arrested by Avon and Somerset Police in Bath, Somerset in February.
In May, he told his legal team where Mr Taylor’s body was and offered to plead to manslaughter - but that was rejected by the Crown.
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