GUILTY OK - Travis Taylor for stalking, threatening woman online, Terlton, 2011

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Salem said:
Actually - I think her roommates are right, unless I'm misunderstanding something here?

She failed to talk to her roommates. She left it up to them to read her blog to figure out what was going on regarding their living arrangements. EH is the one who said she was moving. I understand perfectly why she felt she needed to move. BUT she had a responsibility to DISCUSS this with her roommates. And once Travis was arrested and she changed her mind about moving, AGAIN she had a responsibility to discuss this with her roommates.

We all know it is not easy to move and plans often have to be made weeks, sometimes months, in advance to insure you have somewhere to move to. Because EH failed to discuss the situation with her roommates, they could only interpret her blogging as best they could and they had to interpret it in a way that meant they wouldn't be homeless if she did move. Here, is where it all seems to have fallen apart. Because there was not honest dialouge, feelings were hurt and trusts were broken.

I'm sorry for EH and I understand her preoccupation with more pressing matters, but I don't see this as bad against the roommates. I see it as misunderstandings between the 3 of them. Hopefully they can work it out and salvage their friendship sometime in the future.

Salem
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Seems I may have misunderstood and will go read it more thoroughly--admittedly, I read it quickly and obviously missed some stuff :blush:.

*sheepish smile*

Thanks for the additional insight, Salem:)
 
Hm, well, I've gone back and re-read. EH's explanation at the top indicates she was communicating with house-mates, saying things like:

  • I then expressed my desire to fulfill my lease term simply because I lacked the emotional energy to relocate so suddenly.
  • They went on to say that I shouldn't feel safe continuing to live there and that I could jeopardize the landlords chances at selling the house in the future if anything were to happen. (flourish's note: wow, someone's going to kill and eat me and you're worried about the resale value of the house?)
  • Anyhow...I reluctantly seceded [sic (ceded?)] to moving out.
  • Next thing I know they inform me that they will be changing the locks and that I needed to make arrangements with one of them to access my belongings.
  • I find the roommates have indeed moved, but they took my couches. (did you forget not buying them? what's the background on this story?)
  • The couches have been returned!! (!) However, the roommates refused to leave me the ONLY garage door opener and their copies of the house keys. They stated that they will be returning them to the landlord not to me. So this means that they will have a key to MY house for ten more days while waiting for the landlord to arrive from the east coast to pick up their keys.

However, the former house-mate [allegedly] states:
  • ...and we weren't getting any feedback from you regarding the future and everybody's situation.
  • ...that wasn't our way of dealing with it and felt that we observed the situation enough to know you were safe and sound.
  • We didn't see the benefit to you in reading these messages and helping you get worked up about the situation. We wanted to be supportive in the ways that helped you get past it in terms of safety and future considerations.
    If you expected what we couldn't give you, then our friendship didn't live up to your expectation and for that I'm sorry.

IMO, it does sound like the house-mates went out of their way to not understand what was going on with her. The couch thing is also interesting, as well as the details regarding possible changing of locks/withholding of keys and opener. It reminds me of the way my house-mate acted sophomore year of college, when we were 20...not the way thirtysomething women would handle the situation (however, I'm making an assumption here that EH's house-mates were near her age).

To me, it also seems rather patronizing to tell a grown woman that they didn't read the information regarding the threats because they didn't want to "help her get worked up." ??? I understand the thought that you don't want to re-traumatize someone, but, IMO, she was sincerely asking them to read the threats so they could understand the situation better...why wouldn't they at least want to know what all the hubbub was about? It was directly affecting their lives. I also understand Lexie's implied reluctance to want to re-tell the story and instead preferred her house-mates follow through facebook as that way she only had to write it down once.

Of course, we do not have the luxury of omniscience, only the information provided to us along with the natural bias from the informant. It probably could have been handled in a better way, communication-wise, but, IMO, the situation could have been better for everyone had a heaping cup of compassion been added to the mix. :cow:
 
It appears there was a communication breakdown and that all parties hold some responsibility.

However, I think when there's a crisis of such magnitude, there is more onus on the roommates to reach out to and support E.

A simple "how are you doing?"; or "WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP?"; or "would you like some company at court?"; or "hey, if you need to move, we understand but until then, what can we do to make you feel safer?"

you know, those kinds of things that human beings say to each other when one is hurting and traumatized

there is less of an expectation on the victimized party to communicate properly when their mind is occupied with a crisis

so, after careful consideration, I've decided that the roommates behaviour = epic fail
 
I have been thinking about EH a lot lately and what she has had to endure because of this creep. I previously posted on here how I had people on my fb that I did not know personally. After reading her story I was uneasy over this fact. There was a man who was on my friends list who I never met who actually lives in another country. Although he was on my friends list he never communicated with me at all, not to say hi, not to comment on any of my posts, nothing at all. Then all of a sudden last week he posted obscenities on my wall with a question of what I would do sexually on a first date. I was so pizzed and repulsed by this person. How dare he right something like that on my facebook page?? I immediately deleted his post, and deleted him off my friends list, and then blocked him so he could not contact me again. It was a lesson to me that a woman does not have to do anything to cause some creep to degrade her. I have made a decision not to have anyone on my fb that I do not know in real life. Every time I think about it I feel so violated. I can't even begin to imagine what EH has been through. I have nothing but empathy and utmost respect for her.
 
As of 5/30/11, according to the following site, alleged perp has pleaded not guilty and waived his right to a speedy trial. I'm guessing that means he was found competent to stand trial, no?

05/20/2011 CM-JDS
COMES ON FOR DCA THIS DATE. DEFT ACKNOWLEDGES RECEIPT
OF INFO, WAIVES READING, ENTERS NOT GUILTY PLEA. THIS
MATTER SET FOR NO ISSUE DISP ON 7-15-2011 AT 9:30AM.
DEFT AND STATE WAIVE SPEEDY TRIAL. COPY TO DA, SHF,
OIDS.
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from:
http://www1.odcr.com/detail.php?Case=059-CF++1100024&County=059

There's a little bit of related info on the blog:
http://elexishennigh.blogspot.com/

I hope EH is able to get through this in a timely manner so she can get this incident past her.
 
oh of course he pled not guilty ... he`ll want to drag it out `cause he thinks he`s a celebrity and he`ll want the opportunity to see his victim again and torture her emotionally

it wouldn`t surprise me if he decided to conduct his own defense and cross-examination
 
I appologise i skipped right to the end post kinda to say something but also ask something i dont and never would do the obsession and stalking a girl or a guy but come on have you not ever had anyone on facebook or msn or my space piss you off.. not condoning it but ya i get to that point sometimes .actually its usually with another guy though ,,but havnt we all done that..maybe not say im gonna kill you but at least the F off,,and a few other chosce words.
 
CanManEh said:
I appologise i skipped right to the end post kinda to say something but also ask something i dont and never would do the obsession and stalking a girl or a guy but come on have you not ever had anyone on facebook or msn or my space piss you off.. not condoning it but ya i get to that point sometimes .actually its usually with another guy though ,,but havnt we all done that..maybe not say im gonna kill you but at least the F off,,and a few other chosce words.
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No, I have never done that. Nevertheless, what you're referring to is completely beside the point; Travis is a sick stalker, and I'm extremely thankful that he didn't get the opportunity to escalate his behavior to that of a sick murderer. I have zero sympathy for him.
 
Mouse said:
You know, women can just never win. We're taught from a young age to be "nice" above all. To be caring. To be courteous. Girls are more likely to raise their hands in class and wait to be called on--we're just taught to be nice, and to be polite--to be "ladies." And then when some self-entitled a-hole decides to stalk you, you get slammed for being TOO NICE, and told that because you're too nice, it's somehow all your fault, and that you run "hot" and "cold," and led him on.

But if you're not too nice...if you're too busy, or too security-conscious, or just plain uninterested in making cursory polite chit-chat with an old acquaintance on Facebook who starts stalking you anyway...you're likely to be seen as an "Uppity b*tch" who is smug and full of herself, and needs taking down a peg or two--by violence if necessary. Seriously, women CANNOT win. No matter what approach you take, you'll be criticized for bringing it on yourself. And when that criticism comes from other women? It's absolutely heart-breaking. Why aren't we criticizing the perpetrators? It is bad enough that women have to constantly negotiate their own safety--on campus, in parking lots, and now on the Internet--must we defend ourselves from aspersions from other women, too?

Women have to negotiate these situations every day--it's the reason that so many women get creeped out when getting cat-called on the street: you have to worry about what reaction to give, and what response it might get. Do you ignore him and scurry by, head down? Sass back? Make a flirty comment? Yell "eff you!" and flip him the middle finger? Any one of those reactions is equally likely to get the reaction of "Just who do you think you are, b*tch? Who are you to ignore me/act like you didn't hear me/mouth off to me/act like you want it/piss me off?" In the mind of someone who has already decided to treat you like an object who exists only for his amusement, it doesn't matter what your reaction is. He's already decided how he's going to play his little game, regardless.

You know, one of the things about coming over to read WebSleuths is that we're all concerned about victims of crime. And I'm guessing that many of us get frustrated by what feels like the inability to do anything about it, or to help out in the cases here. I know I do--I have a really intensive job, so I don't the time to do a lot of computer sleuthing to try to match up unidentified bodies and unsolved cases. I'm not particularly observant, so I'm unlikely to notice small clues that might help solve a case. And those police artist drawings of suspects, and busts of unidentified victims? They never look like the people they turn out to be, to me. I don't mean that they're poorly done, just that I don't have the imagination and eye to "see" the resemblance unless it's glaringly obvious. I'm not likely to ever run for elected office, so I'm never going to be in a position to write and pass important anti-violence legislation...and while I do sign petitions, I always have the sneaking suspicion that those are kind of a waste of time, because Congress certainly seems to do whatever they want, regardless of how voters feel about it. So it's easy for many of us to get discouraged and wonder what we can possibly do about what seems like an epidemic of crime against women. But there's one easy thing we can all do, every single day: don't add to the "some women have it coming" rhetoric. We already live in a society where women are valued largely for their looks, and objectified in ways that make it easy for some disturbed and criminal people to see them as less than human, as less than "worthy." So we can each make sure we don't add to that climate. Because every single, "Yeah, but she shouldn't have friended him" comment is just one more piece of evidence that misogynist will use to justify his actions, one more piece of evidence that an elected official will use in deciding that he can safely vote "no" on anti-violence against women legislation because hey, there's probably not going to be a massive voter backlash if he does. If even women can't stand in solidarity with each other, how do we expect to make ourselves heard? [/soapbox rant]
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---------------
Oh, dear Lord, this post is one of the best Christmas presents I got, and I know others said they feel the same way. I vote this post to be a Websleuths award of the year. For me, at least, it eclipses any Academy, etc. award. It took courage and conviction to write that, and it is so blindingly honest. Wish some of these millionaire celebrities would put their money to good use and truly help victims of crime. However, I do need to make a shout out to Demi Moore, for doing her various exposes.

This is the best example of writing I have read this year, and should be an article. Thank you.
 
Concentric, ITA! A little O/T but on Black Friday I was taking the long walk back to my car with my purchases when I heard someone with a deep voice exit after me. Mindful of safety warnings I tucked my purse closer and held tightly to my bags. The man started yelling at me that he wasn't going to rob me and that he most likely had more money than I did! I chose not to reply as he and his young son walked past me. But I was saddened when I heard his son ask, " Daddy, what did that white woman do wrong?" The father told him that I thought he would rob me because he was black. I didn't know WHAT color he was, I was just trying to be SAFE!
 
I just want to say to Elexis and other persons who have been stalked, I understand, because it happened to me many years ago. No computer. However, this person lived on the same floor in an apartment building. And, this person was a "stranger."

It went on for a year, and I couldn't get out of my lease, and if I could, I had nowhere to go. I lived alone. This isn't the first time that I was a crime victim (other situations), so I was already traumatized.

Many of things this guy said to her resonated with my experience. In fact, the things he said and did are very similar. However, he is not that person. I won't go into details. Just suffice it to say, the threats he made to her almost match up to a T what this stalker said and did to me. Bizarre and terrifying behavior that few would believe.

And, this is interesting. After it happened to me, and I had access to a computer, I was able to look up stalking. I found out that there were people actually writing an instructional manual on: "How to Stalk Someone"--with subchapters on subjects, such as: "How to Choose a Victim". I am not kidding. With the similarities of the stalking behavior between what I experienced and what Elexis experienced, I have to wonder if there isn't a group of people who share their interests.

Back then, I gave LE all of the evidence, which they may still have. However, at the time, they told me that this person had no priors and had not "attacked" me yet, so there was nothing they could do...

I finally was able to break my lease and plan my move, so that he would not know about it. There is a lot of pain and anger when dealing with this--you are the victim, yet you are the one who accrues the mental anguish, and hardships in order to get away, while the perpetrator suffers nothing.

I find it very sad that the roommates, in effect, seemed to blame her for bringing this into their lives. IMO, they were scared for their own safety. Believe me, she did nothing to elicit this psycho behavior. I understand how people you thought were friends and family either don't understand or believe you, or distance themselves because they don't want to be victimized themselves.

The resources (?) we had/have in place are not adequate to deal with this.
 
flourish said:
From
http://www1.odcr.com/detail.php?Case=059-CF++1100024&County=059

Looks like Travis got a continuance on his sentencing...new sentencing set for Feb. 3, 2012.
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Bumping as sentencing is scheduled for tomorrow morning.
Thought people who aren't familiar with this case might also be interested in checking it out before the sentencing tomorrow.

He's been in jail this entire time...minus the time he spent in a mental facility for evaluation re: ability to stand trial.

I wonder if his friends still consider his crimes to simply be "hard-core trolling."

I'm glad the police took this seriously.
 
flourish said:
Bumping as sentencing is scheduled for tomorrow morning.
Thought people who aren't familiar with this case might also be interested in checking it out before the sentencing tomorrow.

He's been in jail this entire time...minus the time he spent in a mental facility for evaluation re: ability to stand trial.

I wonder if his friends still consider his crimes to simply be "hard-core trolling."

I'm glad the police took this seriously.
Click to expand...



Thanks. I hadn't read this story.
I had a GOOD ... close friend in HS that I went to add on facebook and I got a message back that so bizarre. Basically, he said that myself and a few of my friends had once teased him for his voice changing in HS and that we had ruined his life (he went into a ton of detail about how that started his life long struggle with insecurities and hating himself) and he hoped I was miserable / blah blah blah. I was like whoa. I hung out with this kid all the time. I dated his bestfriend for most of high school and remain close to his bestfriend

... did we tease him about his voice changing? Possibly? Probably? But to take it to that extreme years later? I was relieved he denied my friend request. :crazy:
 
All right, folks. Travis was sentenced this morning, and I'm pleased to announce that this was a win for justice, as he was sentenced for the maximum amount of time allowed for each charge, although he'll be serving them concurrently.

Looks like for Count One, which was a felony charge for "DEVISING A PLAN/ SCHEME TO PERFORM ACT OF VIOLENCE- FELONY," he received 10 years in prison, no part of which is suspended, and he did not receive credit for time served. This time will be served concurrent with the sentence for Count Two, which was "USING A COMPUTER SYSTEM/ NETWORK TO COMMUNICATE A THREAT OF DEATH IN." For that one, he was sentenced to 5 years to be served concurrently with the 10 years of count one, and again had no part suspended and no credit for time served.

He also has a lot of fees/fines to pay, ~4000 as of today. So if he actually serves his entire sentence, and doesn't get time off for "good behavior" or whatever, then he will be imprisoned for the next decade. That is assuming he doesn't commit any additional crimes while in prison.

I hope EH is doing well and feeling relieved today.

Link to court docket records:

http://www1.odcr.com/detail.php?Case=059-CF++1100024&County=059

ETA: I misread the court records earlier and thought he got 1-10 years for count one, but he actually got 10 years. It's confusing b/c the court docket states "Count 1-10 years," indicating that for count one he received 10 years, but when I first read it, I thought 1-10 was amount of time, not that it actually meant "Count 1: 10 years." Hope that makes sense.

Also eta: I was looking back over his facebook page last night, and noted a couple of interesting things. Several of his FB friends wished him a happy birthday on his birthday, and a couple of people posted random wall posts with general "how you been doing" type of stuff...so obviously these folks don't know him that well since they didn't know he's been imprisoned since last February.

Additionally, one of his friends who was actively supporting him posted something about how she wondered how they got him to confess, indicating that she doesn't believe he made a confession sincerely and without duress. Funny, though, she hasn't posted a thing since he changed his plea to "no contest" instead of "not guilty." Hm.
 
Yet another reason I should stop WSing at work.

On the drive home, it occurred to me that I'd said the sentences were concurrent, as in going on at the same time. However, the court records actually say the sentences are to be served consecutively, meaning he does ten years for count one, then five more for count two, with a total years sentenced being 15 years.

Whew, I went from a sentence of 5-10 as I thought this morning, to 15 by quitting time. I need to get some dang sleep :crazy:

Anyway, to confirm,

Travis has been sentenced to 10 years for count one and 5 years for count two, for a total of 15 years.

Now I know E.H. is feeling much better tonight. :rocker:
 
flourish said:
All right, folks. Travis was sentenced this morning, and I'm pleased to announce that this was a win for justice, as he was sentenced for the maximum amount of time allowed for each charge, although he'll be serving them concurrently.

Looks like for Count One, which was a felony charge for "DEVISING A PLAN/ SCHEME TO PERFORM ACT OF VIOLENCE- FELONY," he received 10 years in prison, no part of which is suspended, and he did not receive credit for time served. This time will be served concurrent with the sentence for Count Two, which was "USING A COMPUTER SYSTEM/ NETWORK TO COMMUNICATE A THREAT OF DEATH IN." For that one, he was sentenced to 5 years to be served concurrently with the 10 years of count one, and again had no part suspended and no credit for time served.

He also has a lot of fees/fines to pay, ~4000 as of today. So if he actually serves his entire sentence, and doesn't get time off for "good behavior" or whatever, then he will be imprisoned for the next decade. That is assuming he doesn't commit any additional crimes while in prison.

I hope EH is doing well and feeling relieved today.

Link to court docket records:

http://www1.odcr.com/detail.php?Case=059-CF++1100024&County=059

ETA: I misread the court records earlier and thought he got 1-10 years for count one, but he actually got 10 years. It's confusing b/c the court docket states "Count 1-10 years," indicating that for count one he received 10 years, but when I first read it, I thought 1-10 was amount of time, not that it actually meant "Count 1: 10 years." Hope that makes sense.

Also eta: I was looking back over his facebook page last night, and noted a couple of interesting things. Several of his FB friends wished him a happy birthday on his birthday, and a couple of people posted random wall posts with general "how you been doing" type of stuff...so obviously these folks don't know him that well since they didn't know he's been imprisoned since last February.

Additionally, one of his friends who was actively supporting him posted something about how she wondered how they got him to confess, indicating that she doesn't believe he made a confession sincerely and without duress. Funny, though, she hasn't posted a thing since he changed his plea to "no contest" instead of "not guilty." Hm.
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Correction: They are NOT concurrent. :) Great news!

Doh! Just noticed the above post...took me too long to find my login info for this forum. :(
 
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