A Murder on Shadow Mountain (true story)

2012-01-17T13:16:00.000-08:00

The movie A Murder on Shadow Mountain is based on the case of Jimmy Dale Taylor.

Jimmy Dale Taylor aka James Taylor

2012-01-17T13:15:00.001-08:00

Extra Tidbits

I am not sure which one of these names is her real name. Perhaps she changed her name after the incident. We'll investigate that at another time.

Jimmy Dale Taylor worked as an exterminator before his arrest. When he was found innocent, his boss stated that he could have his job back.

In 1996, an aspiring writer decided to research the case and to write a book about it. The book is called Mountain Madness.

In 1999 CBS broadcasts the movie based on this case

Cold Case Solved After More Than 20 Years

2008-08-16T16:02:00.000-07:00

Brief Timeline in the Case of James Dale Taylor aka Jimmy Dale Taylor

by Traciy Curry-Reyes

A Little Background on Jimmy and the Night of the Murder

After being discharged from the Navy, Jimmy Taylor drifts around the Haight-Ashbury District of San Francisco. He ends up meeting Glen True Clark and the two hit it off and decide to go on a road trip. He has no idea Glen Clark has a criminal past. While on the road, Glen Clark continues to drink and begins to show Taylor his guns. As they are driving they see a 19 year old girl named Terri Trina Tidwell. So Clark turns the car around and offers Terri a ride which she accepts. They drive onto Logging Road near Howard Prairie Lake in the Mountains of Oregon where Glen True Clark tells Taylor to get lost so he can have some alone time with Terri. At some point Taylor warned Terri that Clark had a gun, but he assured her that he had the other one in his pocket, and that he would not let anything happen to her. So he left for a few minutes to leave them alone. All of sudden he hears Terri scream, and upon returning to the car he sees Glen straddling Terri. (Now here is where it gets tricky there are two versions of what exactly happened here is the first one) When Taylor finds Glen straddling Teri he tells him to get out of the car. Glen then gets out of the car and begs for his life. According to Jimmy Taylor's version, it was self defense, because Clark pulled the gun on him first. (not sure which one is true. In any event Glen True Clark ended up dead, and Terri got her stuff and ran as fast as she could)

After escaping, Terri goes to the police and informs them of the shooting and to lead them to the scene of the crime. The police gather as much evidence as they can including the fingerprints found at the scene. In the meantime, Jimmy Taylor has taken the car back to San Francisco where he ditches it and keeps the matter a secret. The case goes cold for almost 21 years.

The Gig is Up (The Arrest)

In October 1988 James Taylor's finger prints are a match for the case that went unsolved 21 years earlier. James Dale Taylor is arrested at his home in Guthrie, Oklahoma by the Jackson County Deputies. He is married to a woman named Jeanie, and they have 3 children together. Jeanie believes her husband's story and sticks by him. Taylor is jailed until his trial.

At Trial

At trial James Taylor testified as well as the victim Terri Tidwell. At trial she is known as Maxine Maxwell aka Martha Marie Maxwell. She testifies that Glen Clark was trying to rape her when Taylor intervened. She stated that Taylor pulled the gun on Clark, and that while Clark was on his knees begging for his life Taylor shot him. The defense asked her to read from her 1967 statement which read: I'm not sure about the shooting...I'm not sure what I saw." They went on to state that she could not have seen the shooting since she was running away at the time. In March of 1989, the court stated that it was self defense and Jimmy Dale Taylor was found innocent of the murder. He stated: "I'm going home to my wife and kids...I'm breathing fresh air...free air."

You ca see a photo of James Taylor breathing fresh air after the trial here