Taylor guilty in Sodus double-murder case

LYONS — Dante Taylor was convicted of several charges Wednesday following his trial in Wayne County Court, but he was only around to hear the first one.

Shortly after the jury foreperson announced he was guilty of first-degree murder, the Rochester man unleashed an expletive-laced tirade before being taken out of the courtroom by several deputies.

“I didn’t do this [expletive],” Taylor yelled at the jury before Judge Daniel Barrett ordered him out of the courtroom. “You racist [expletive] are sending me to prison for [expletive] I didn’t do.”

After Taylor was out of the room, the foreperson — visibly shaken — announced guilty verdicts on charges of murder, arson and burglary in the July 14, 2013, stabbing deaths of 54-year-old Terri Moulton and her 30-year-old daughter, Stacey. The jury deliberated for an hour Tuesday afternoon and about four hours Wednesday before reaching the verdict.

The Moultons’ bodies were found in the Route 14 home of Shawn Yager, who had asked Stacy Moulton to feed his cat while he was on vacation. The jury found Taylor, 33, guilty of burglarizing the home and killing the Moultons — who lived nearby on Champlin Road — after they happened upon him.

Taylor was acquitted of another burglary charge. He was accused of breaking into a home on Champlin Road and stealing items about a week before the murders.

Several members of the Moulton family attended the two-week trial, including Chuck Moulton and his son Jason, both of whom testified. Chuck Moulton discovered the bodies of his wife and daughter at Yager’s home several hours after police believe they were killed.

Also attending the trial were about 20 friends of the Moultons. Terri Moulton’s cousin, Scott Briggs, spoke to the media after the verdicts.

“The family is happy with the verdict. We feel he got what he deserved,” Briggs said. “You can’t bring Terri and Stacey back, but this gives us some closure here.”

Taylor is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 20. District Attorney Rick Healy said he will ask Barrett to sentence Taylor to life without parole.

“The jury got it right,” Healy said. “He is a cold-blooded killer and is getting what he deserves.”

The jury asked to see a number of exhibits before reaching its verdict. Among them were pictures of the inside of Taylor’s vehicle, which police said had blood stains matching the DNA of Stacey Moulton.

The jury also reviewed pictures of a laundry basket police said Taylor stole from Yager’s home to carry other stolen items in, including liquor bottles. In the basket were blood stains that matched the DNA of Terri Moulton.

The jury also asked to see evidence of cell phone data along the Route 104 corridor from Rochester to Wayne County. Police said on the day of the murders, Taylor’s cell phone was tracked going from his home to Sodus and back.

The jury also heard a readback of testimony from two prosecution witnesses, Larry Dennis and Leonard Martin. Dennis testified that on the day of the murders, he saw a vehicle matching the description of Taylor’s on Champlin Road.

Martin, a co-worker of Taylor’s, testified that on the day after the murders Taylor asked him if fire destroys DNA evidence. Police said after killing the Moultons, Taylor set a number of fires — which burned themselves out — in an attempt to cover up the deaths.

Taylor’s attorney, Joseph Damelio, wasn’t available for comment after the verdict. He called no witnesses, and Taylor did not testify in his own defense.

A male juror declined to speak to the Finger Lakes Times after the verdict. The jury comprised six men and six women.

Briggs said several members of the family will likely attend the sentencing, and some may speak.

“There has been a lot of crying and sleepless nights since last year,” he said. “Finally, it has come to an end and we really want to move on.”

Healy said he wasn’t surprised by Taylor’s outburst in court. Extra court security was brought in for the trial.

“He just showed us who he really is,” he said. “We considered him dangerous from the beginning.”

While Healy admitted his case was circumstantial, it included testimony from people seeing a vehicle matching the description of Taylor’s at Yager’s house on the day of the murders, cell phone evidence and video from surveillance cameras of the vehicle going to and from Sodus.

Police linked Taylor to the murders after finding the victims’ cell phones, which police believe Taylor took after killing them, in a vacant lot in Rochester. Also in the bag, according to police, was a receipt from a Rochester store.

Police determined it was from a May 14, 2013, transaction made by Taylor’s then live-in girlfriend — and now his wife — with a public assistance electronic benefits card. Police then got a search warrant for their home and Taylor’s vehicle.

Police said they found the liquor bottles reported stolen by Yager as well as the laundry basket.

Healy, who called about 50 witnesses and presented about 170 exhibits, added that Taylor has a long criminal record including robbery convictions.

“He is a violent, dangerous person,” he said. “Thank God justice was done in this case.”

Healy has previously said while first-degree murder is usually associated with a premeditated act, it can be charged when someone intentionally causes a death while committing another felony, in this case the alleged burglary of Yager’s home.