Boyd Taylor, Lost His Head
Bill Schenley
A tiny rural community was in shock yesterday after the
horrific death of a man who beheaded himself with a
home-made guillotine.
The body of Boyd Taylor, 36, was found by his father after
he returned from work.
Mr Taylor, who worked with his father as a builder, died
early on Monday morning after attaching a timer device to
the guillotine and lying down beneath it.
His father, Robert Taylor, was at home yesterday in the
bungalow he had shared with Boyd in the hamlet of
Milbourne, near Ponteland, but said he was too upset to
talk about the death. It is believed Boyd had spent time
building the 8ft by 3ft guillotine, which had a blade
attached to a network of wooden planks and levers and
weighed down by paving stones.
The mechanism was timed to send the blade crashing down
at 3.30am - as Mr Taylor lay on an airbed underneath the
machine.
Neighbours said yesterday they were stunned by the grisly
death in their tightly-knit community.
"I was shocked to find out," said Martin Hornsby, a tree
surgeon who lives at Smithy Cottages.
"Both the father and the son always kept themselves to
themselves and were very quiet people.
"They did building work for a number of people in the
village and, as far as I know, were well-respected.
"The son could often be seen jogging around the village."
One Milbourne couple who had had work done on their
house by the Taylors, said: "This is awful.
"The father will be devastated because for years it has just
been the two of them living and working together. Their
work was exceptional."
A friend of the family said of Boyd last night: "He was very
hard working, quite shy at first but once you got to know him
he came out of his shell.
"He was also a very intelligent guy, very well educated, and
he could turn his hand to just about anything in the building
game."
Robert Taylor had alerted police on Monday afternoon after
returning from work. He hadn't been able to get an answer
from his son when he set off for work in the morning but
returned to find the body in the bedroom.
Police officers went to Shortridge, the name of the cottage the
pair shared, but said they were not treating the death as
suspicious.
A police spokesman said yesterday: "We are investigating the
circumstances surrounding the death of a 36-year-old man
found at his home on Monday. There are no suspicious
circumstances.
"Further inquiries are being made into the man's background
and events which led up to the death.
"A report is being compiled for the coroner."
It is understood that Mr Taylor's death is being treated as
suicide but police are trying to establish whether the guillotine
blade fell as a result of an accident.
It is believed the dead man's mother, who is separated from
his father and lives in Ponteland, was informed of his death on
Tuesday.
Mack Twamley
"Bill Schenley" <stra...@erie.net> wrote in message
news:v2f5t0a...@corp.supernews.com...
> FROM: http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/
>
> A tiny rural community was in shock yesterday after the
> horrific death of a man who beheaded himself with a
> home-made guillotine.
>
> The body of Boyd Taylor, 36, was found by his father after
> he returned from work.
ah, those fun-loving Brits!
>
> "Both the father and the son always kept themselves to
> themselves and were very quiet people.
and now the son is especially quiet.
Hoodude
<stra...@erie.net> wrote:
>It is believed the dead man's mother, who is separated from
>his father and lives in Ponteland, was informed of his death on
>Tuesday.
A less bloody separation, for sure.
--
If they give you ruled paper, write the other way.
- Juan Ramón Jiménez
The Kentucky Wizard
consultations with my Joint Chiefs of Staff, being briefed by members of my
Cabinet and telephone conversations with various world leaders, I have come
to the following conclusions:
> On Fri, 17 Jan 2003 00:45:49 -0500, "Bill Schenley"
> <stra...@erie.net> wrote:
>
>> It is believed the dead man's mother, who is separated from
>> his father and lives in Ponteland, was informed of his death on
>> Tuesday.
>
> A less bloody separation, for sure.
Now that's an idea, a cauterizing guillotine. I can just see the ads now; "a
clean cut everytime, guaranteed or your head back".
--
The Wiz ....
WarpTwelve
>clean cut everytime, guaranteed or your head back".
Bet you could sell it in Texas ;)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What's so funny about peace, love, and understanding?"
Mcklinton
I have a cousin named Boyd Taylor who is the son of my Uncle Robert Taylor! Of
course they live in the USA, and Boyd one of my more sensible cousins.
Dana Linton
Dana Linton
(Please remove "nospam" from address when replying)
The Kentucky Wizard
consultations with my Joint Chiefs of Staff, being briefed by members of my
Cabinet and telephone conversations with various world leaders, I have come
to the following conclusions:
>> Now that's an idea, a cauterizing guillotine. I can just see the ads
>> now; "a clean cut everytime, guaranteed or your head back".
>
> Bet you could sell it in Texas ;)
>
>
Bet you they'd buy it too. ;-)~
--
The Wiz ....
Caractacus Potts
>
> A tiny rural community was in shock yesterday after the
> horrific death of a man who beheaded himself with a
> home-made guillotine.
I can see Mr. Ronco now! "Tired of not getting ahead in life? Sick
of it all? Get my new machine, it works! Just set it...and BEHEAD
IT!"