Thelma Anne Taylor (December 12, 1933 – August 6, 1949) was an American teenager who was abducted and murdered in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

in 1949, after having disappeared on August 5. Her body was discovered the following week, on August 11. Taylor's murder received national attention and became a ''

cause célèbre A cause célèbre (,''Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged'', 12th Edition, 2014. S.v. "cause célèbre". Retrieved November 30, 2018 from https://www.thefreedictionary.com/cause+c%c3%a9l%c3%a8bre ,''Random House Kernerman Webs ...

''. The perpetrator, Morris Leland, was

executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

in 1953. The murder occurred in the St. Johns neighborhood of North Portland near the St. Johns Bridge and land that is now in Cathedral Park.

Disappearance and murder

On August 5, 1949, Thelma Taylor, a 15-year-old sophomore at Roosevelt High School, was waiting for a bus on North Fessenden Street in the St. Johns neighborhood in northern Portland,

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

, intending to travel about 17 miles to the town of Hillsboro to obtain a summer job picking beans. While Taylor was waiting for the bus, she was accosted by Morris Leland, a 22-year-old ex-

convict A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as " prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former conv ...

, who asked her to accompany him to a spot near the

Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward b ...

and the St. Johns Bridge, a short distance from what is now the Cathedral Park neighborhood. Upon arriving at the secluded area, Leland held Taylor captive and attempted to

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

her, but stopped upon discovering that Taylor was a

virgin Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

. The two slept that night in a wooded area near the Willamette River. On the morning of August 6, Taylor began screaming for help after hearing workers switching railroad cars at a nearby train yard. Leland then killed Taylor by bludgeoning her on the head with a steel rebar multiple times, then stabbing her with a

knife A knife ( : knives; from Old Norse 'knife, dirk') is a tool or weapon with a cutting edge or blade, usually attached to a handle or hilt. One of the earliest tools used by humanity, knives appeared at least 2.5 million years ago, as evidence ...

. He then threw the rebar and knife into the river, wiped his fingerprints off of Taylor's

lunch pail A lunch box (alt. spelling lunchbox) refers to a hand-held container used to transport food, usually to work or to school. It is commonly made of metal or plastic, is reasonably airtight and often has a handle for carrying. In the United ...

, and gathered up his cigarette butts. Leland buried Taylor's body in a shallow grave under a pile of rotten logs.

Conviction and execution

In the early morning hours of August 11, 1949, Leland was arrested for

car theft Motor vehicle theft (also known as a car theft and, in the United States, grand theft auto) is the criminal act of stealing or attempting to steal a motor vehicle. Nationwide in the United States in 2020, there were 810,400 vehicles reported ...

by the Portland Police, and subsequently confessed to kidnapping and murdering Taylor, though he wasn't a suspect in the crime.In his confession, Leland claimed Taylor had initially gone with him "willingly." On August 19, he was indicted on charges of first-degree murder. At his trial, Leland pleaded not guilty by reason of

insanity Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors performed by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can be manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or t ...

. His trial began on October 4, 1949, and on November 11, he was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Leland was initially sentenced to be executed on January 20, 1950, but this date was postponed after he petitioned for a new trial; however, his request for a new trial was denied on December 18, 1949. On April 20, 1951, Morris was again sentenced to death; he was executed in the

gas chamber A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or other animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. Poisonous agents used include hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide. History ...

at the

Oregon State Penitentiary Oregon State Penitentiary (OSP), sometimes called Oregon State Prison, is a maximum security prison in the northwest United States in Salem, Oregon. Originally opened in Portland in 1851, it relocated to Salem fifteen years later. The 2, ...

in Salem on January 9, 1953.

Legacy

Taylor was buried in Columbia Cemetery in the Parkrose neighborhood of East Portland. The site near Taylor's murder has since been developed into a

public park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to r ...

, called Cathedral Park, which opened in 1980. The murder of Taylor near the land that became Cathedral Park has led to local

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

that the park is supposedly haunted by Taylor, although her murder didn't actually occur there.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Thelma 1949 in Portland, Oregon 1949 murders in the United States Deaths by beating in the United States Deaths by person in Oregon Deaths by stabbing in Oregon Missing person cases in Oregon Murder in Oregon Capital murder cases Burials in Oregon Willamette River August 1949 events in the United States Scandals in Oregon Violence against women in Oregon Incidents of violence against girls

Disappearance and murder

Conviction and execution

Legacy

See also

References

Sources