Document text
Suspect in unsolved murder found By JILL BRISKEY CENTRAL POINT � For more than two years, investigators have struggled to piece together the unsolved murder of Russell Slack. On Friday, Central Point police traveled to California and found a missing piece of the puzzle: their suspect. According to police Chief Mike Sweeny, 55-year-old San Rafael resident Daniel Taylor Jr. was arrested early Friday morning on a felony Jackson County warrant charging him with willful murder. Central Point Sgt. Tony McPherson and Detective Michael Wojack located Taylor at a homeless shelter in Marin County with assistance from various California law enforcement officials. Taylor, who also uses the name Ron Wesley, was lodged in the Marin County Jail without bail where he will remain until extradition proceedings begin. "It was a real fortunate string of events that led to his arrest," Sweeny said, adding that police feared Taylor would take flight when he learned about the warrant. "We�re very lucky." Also facing a drug-related charge in Marin County, Taylor was scheduled for arraignment Friday, but the hearing was postponed until Monday for unspecified medical reasons, according to a story in today�s edition of the Marin Independent Journal. Several months ago, Sweeny said police interviewed a local woman about Slack�s murder. Information taken from that conversation led police to investigate Taylor�s involvement in the crime, he said. "We have confirmed with four or five different sources that this individual was here at that time," Sweeny said of Taylor. "He may still have the weapon, he may still have some piece of evidence that will tie him to Central Point." Last month Wojack � who has actively investigated the case since Slack�s death � said Taylor led a "transient existence" and wasn�t a local man. "We�re not sure what exactly the relation was," Wojack said of Slack and Taylor. During the early morning hours of Jan. 3, 1999, inside his Freeman Road home, 50-year-old Slack was shot once in the chest. His dog Bowser � a Rottwieler who took a bullet in the head while trying to protect his master � survived the attack. Slack did not. He died two weeks later at Rogue Valley Medical Center. By blinking his eyes, Slack was able to communicate with officers while he drifted in and out of consciousness. He communicated to police he was in bed at the time of the shooting and did not know his attacker. But police weren�t sure if Slack was telling the truth, Sweeny said. "I don�t think he really believed he was going to die," he added. "I don�t think he realized what his dying declaration would be." Police later determined the bullet that killed Slack came from a .22-caliber handgun. Slack, whom police said was a suspected drug user, was a man with many enemies. His lifestyle left open a wide range of possibilities to investigate, Sweeny said � robbery, revenge or a drug deal gone bad. Slack was engaged in several property disputes at the time of his death, Sweeny said. Slack also was a landlord suspected of illegally evicting his tenants. In 1999, police suspected Medford resident Ted Walton, Slack�s former tenant, was involved in the slaying. While facing an unrelated drug charge, Walton admitted in court to spray-painting homophobic graffiti on the exterior of Slack�s home and vandalizing the interior prior to Slack�s death. Walton, who passed a lie-detector test, was later cleared of Slack�s murder. Sweeny said Slack made enemies from acquaintances of both sexes. "He was into drugs. He was actively and aggressively involved in an alternative lifestyle. He was not well liked as a landlord," Sweeny said. "He had a lot of character traits people didn�t like." Both Wojack and Sweeny never gave up hope of catching Slack�s killer. "If you sit back and you wait long enough, eventually time passes," Sweeny said. "People begin to feel like we�re never going to solve it. Then they aren�t reluctant to speak about it to a group of friends." Reach reporter Jill Briskey at 776-4485, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.