Bail for a man accused of child rape and witness tampering was increased significantly this week after prosecutors got evidence that the suspect allegedly was seeking a hit man to kill the teenage victim and a witness.
Christopher Michael Taylor, 24, of Gold Bar is being held on $250,000 bail after Snohomish County Jail officers found a five-page letter in the jail requesting someone’s help with the murders, deputy prosecutor Matt Baldock said.
Taylor’s bail had been $75,000 after witness-tampering charges were filed in January.
In the letter, Taylor said he wanted the two teenagers killed because they cooperated with the prosecution in the rape and witness-tampering cases, Baldock said in court documents.
He went to court Wednesday asking for higher bail. Superior Court Judge Gerald Knight agreed. Knight also restricted Taylor’s use of the telephone and mail.
On Tuesday, a jail captain saw Taylor attempting to conceal papers in his pocket. When confronted, Taylor crumpled the papers, threw them on the floor and assumed a fighting stance, Baldock said.
Jailers found a handwritten letter asking an unknown person to help kill the two, Baldock said.
Both intended victims were identified by name, and the author said he was willing to pay $50,000 to have them killed. The letter said he could produce the money through an illegal marijuana-growing operation, Baldock said.
The unsigned letter suggested scenarios for abducting the teens near a U.S. Forest Service road. It also stressed the importance of secrecy because the author knew law enforcement would be looking at jail telephone and visitor logs.
Detectives were looking for the intended recipient of the letter, Baldock said. He said he doesn’t know if the letter will result in additional charges.
Taylor was charged in August with two counts of child rape for allegedly having sex with a 15-year-old girl.
The witness-tampering charge came after Baldock received evidence that Taylor had been calling a cousin of the rape victim, asking her to convince the 15-year-old not to cooperate in the prosecution.
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.
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