Hi friends, SORRY for the delay in getting this to you. But we are here now and that’s what matters.
In Part 3 – we are going to figure out where this story is going, why we are going down this road, and then we will get back to the investigation in 1986. Note: some names have been changed . If a name has been changed, the last name will be a color.
I don’t know about you, but when I don’t have an idea of where a long story is going, I pull out my phone and start scrolling while pretending to pay attention. I’m not going to do that to you.
Here’s why we are here …
We’re on this trail this because Rebecca’s family learned in 2021 there was more to the story of her murder. If I had written the story the family knew before then, it would have been short, a clear line from the start to the end. I would tell you a quick story about a screw-up named Paul Taylor living in Clute and the plea deal he got for murdering a young Freeport woman named Rebecca Beard. But that’s not the story I’m telling.
In Parts 1 and 2, we talked about the clubs in the1980s, and we laid a foundation about who Becky Beard was and where she went on that fateful night. However, what we haven’t talked about are the reasons the family feels strongly Rebecca’s case needs more attention.
Here is one reason: the way Paul Taylor’s guilty plea was handled.
Back in 1986, Paul Taylor, an alcoholic with a string of felony convictions for driving while intoxicated, and he became a suspect in the case. In 1990, Taylor had received two sentences of 35 years each for two additional felony DWIs to run concurrently, and he was serving a long stint in prison. (And to be honest, the system let him have probation so much that it is hard to tell from available records when he was serving which sentence or if he was in prison or jail.)
In 1994, detectives began to pressure him about the case. How this came about and the details surrounding Paul Taylor being charged will take up a full episode because there is plenty there to talk about. That’s down the road, but for now, I just want to show you why the family was disappointed by Taylor being given the opportunity to plead guilty.
To answer several questions from people who messaged her about her new quest to investigate the case, Carol wrote:
“The Rebecca Beard murder case is not closed or solved, even though there was a life conviction without a body, a weapon, or a written confession.
There was no trial!!!! Taylor pled out on the THIRD attempt. Normally, when a plea is not accepted on the first attempt in front of a judge, the prosecutor proceeds to trial, which is what my mother wanted. She felt there were too many unanswered questions, especially when no weapon or body was produced-which was part of the plea deal…”
I’m pausing here to inject a couple of thoughts. My understanding is the family didn’t approve any plea deal where Rebecca’s body was not recovered. But it happened anyway, and that was very upsetting to the victim’s mother, daughter, and sister. I’m not an attorney, but my perception is that it’s not a requirement for the family of the victims to agree with the decision of prosecutors to go the plea route, but their input is normally a heavy consideration.
Taylor did not present Rebecca’s body to the family. He didn’t produce the weapon he used, and the family has never seen or heard his personal confession or anything about what happened that night, at least not through the court. To be clear, they’ve heard things from other sources to support that Paul Taylor did it all, like an anonymous letter we will discuss in part four.
Here is the other reason. Carol states on Finding Becky Beard:
“New information about Rebecca’s last known location has been confirmed to be a house party in Surfside, Texas. This information totally debunks the story about being taken from the Excalibur Club in Freeport by Paul Taylor. Paul Taylor was not at the party in Surfside.”
Nothing in the investigation notes suggests Paul Taylor was at the Excalibur Club that night.”
I have also read the police notes and I didn’t see one word about Paul Taylor in March 1986. He wasn’t at the Excalibur Club that night. Same for the part about the party in Surfside.
~~~~~
Here’s how this can of worms got opened…
In 2021, by a coincidence, someone overheard a person talking who seemed to know about this case. That someone told the talker that Rebecca’s family would like to hear what was being said. That person was willing to talk to the family and Rebecca’s sister, Carol, thought it over. It wasn’t an easy thing to open such an old wound … one you had done your best to make peace with. She made contact with the individual and found that person to be credible and what she found supported what this person said. (Yeah, I would love to be able to tell you the names of Someone and Credible Person, but Carol didn’t give them to me, and to be honest, I don’t want to know.)
That individual told Carol to look into what happened … to pull records and ask questions, plus a few more startling facts Carol had never heard. She thought it over for a few months before acting on it; finally, she began tentatively gathering documents from the Freeport Police Dept., the Brazoria County Sheriff’s Dept., and the District Clerk’s office.
The police notes discuss a party at Surfside Beach and name some people who were there besides Rebecca. Paul Taylor wasn’t seen there. In the notes it was mentioned that a witness saw someone (more than one) other than Taylor leave with Rebecca.
Little by little, since the Finding Becky Beard page has been up, there have been drips of information from others who will talk a little bit about that night. Those bits of information have added more context about what happened when they left Surfside and suggest Rebecca and Paul Taylor weren’t there alone.
The family wants her body, as they were promised if Taylor was allowed to take a plea deal. Rebecca’s body, if it had been dumped where it could have been found in 1986, might have harbored DNA evidence that would have shown more than one individual made intimate contact with Rebecca, even if the swabs and so forth were not have been processed until years later.
Naturally, all the new details that emerged reframed EVERYTHING and the family had to rethink every single thing, especially after Carol reviewed the records.
These are serious allegations, so as the teller of this story, I can’t let you lose sight of the fact that only Paul Taylor has been charged or convicted of a crime … Taylor’s involvement is the only official story. However, there may be enough smoke to this that there could be a dumpster fire somewhere. This story, once read on Finding Becky Beard, struck a nerve with more than one woman who lived in Southern Brazoria County during those years because it wasn’t the first time they had heard of such a thing happening … not a murder, but an alleged assault involving more than one male and a lone young woman.
–> More than one person has shared something like, “After I read about this, I realized I was around those friends of Paul Taylor’s… I might have come close to something similar.” <–
So where am I going with this? I just want to give a voice to the verifiable facts in Rebecca’s story, even if it is as vague as I am making it (because I have to right now). It is wrong for this sister, daughter, and mother that a false story is told about that night. (If you don’t know that story, it’s coming in Part 4.)
Maybe the circumstances described sounds familiar to someone else who heard about that party at Surfside that night … and how Becky was allegedly handled roughly that night. (For now, that’s all I can say.) If you do, message the page on Finding Becky Beard.
And now you know why this story moves slowly. It’s a hard subject, and there are two stories—the first one is the story the family knew in the 1980s and 1990s. The second story, the story Rebecca’s family didn’t know about until 2021, and that’s actually part of the story.
My hope is that someone with a much larger audience and more resources than I have will think this is an interesting project to look into and will pick it up because someone knows more. Here are a few facts that stared me in the face when I started reading the documents on Finding Becky Beard …
Fact – The family didn’t know about the Surfside party or the other men Rebecca was seen with at the club that night. They didn’t know about the man she was seen with leaving the parking lot at closing time.
Fact – No eyewitness at Excalibur Club put Paul Taylor with Rebecca that night. She was seen, but not with Paul Taylor.
Fact – No eyewitness at the Surfside party put Taylor at the party.
Fact – These aren’t all the discrepancies, but enough for now.
~~~~
Now, let’s go back to the day the family reported Rebecca missing.
Tuesday, March 4, 1986
Carol writes:
“I got up on the morning of March 4 and went to school.
I went early so I could hang my sister’s missing posters in the hallways. Around second period, a Clute Police Officer pulled me out of class and explained one of my classmates had seen Becky at a party in the wee morning hours of Sunday. Later, we would learn the details and names in the witness’ statement were left out of the police report.
These details and names would have solved the case. We were told later It was a mistake … a case of mistaken identity.”
In her narrative, Carol lets this incident slip away like it’s nothing, keeping in perfect harmony with the unfolding of events in 1986, but keep that bit of information in mind. Thirty-five years later, Carol had not forgotten it. It supported information that came to light in 2021.
Next, Carol tells about making the official report of her sister’s disappearance,
“We were finally allowed to make an official report on March 4 that Becky was missing, but not before 7:30 p.m., 72 hours after we last saw her.”
6:30 p.m. Freeport Police Station
Carol:
“My mother, Linda Barnes, my grandfather, Leon Buchanan, and my oldest sister Teresa went to the police department. They met with Det. Sgt. Gonzales (first name not given in my sources).
My mother started with Becky being at the Houston rodeo the week before. She gave a description of Becky along with what she was wearing, her date of birth, Social Security number, and so forth.
She told how, while passing out fliers the evening before, she had talked to a few people and found out Becky had been seen with two of her friends, Misty and Sonya. Our mother gave Officer Gonzales their names and phone numbers and told him about Aaron White, who had dropped her at Excalibur. She also gave his phone number to Det. Sgt. Gonzales. Additionally, she told them about a girl named Tonya that Becky was seen with, Linda was told she danced with someone named Calvin or Kevin from Houston.
My mother also turned in nine handwritten pages of names and numbers of people Becky was in contact with regularly, a copy of the flier we had posted several places, an 8” x 10” photo, and some business cards belonging to other people found recently in Becky’s room.
The late Larry Bullard, Freeport Police Detective, told my mother not to worry, that my sister “was probably shacked up with someone considering her age.” After that, Det. Sgt. Gonzales officially entered Rebecca Jean Beard into the missing persons database.”
~~~~~
Next is a list of what Linda provided to the police as taken from the actual Freeport Police Department missing person’s report.
Linda had gone to the Excalibur Club on Monday and talked to the people who were there while she put up Rebecca’s missing person fliers.
You’ll notice there is no mention of Paul Taylor.
- Linda told police Rebecca had left the house around 12:30 a.m. on Sunday, March 2 with her friend, Aaron White who works for Dow. White told Linda he dropped Rebecca off at Excalibur Club at the corner of North Avenue I and Brazosport Blvd; after that, he left.
- Linda had also received information Rebecca was possibly with a white female, Misty W. of Lake Jackson and employed by Chevy’s in Lake Jackson, or possibly with someone named Sonya A. of Richwood employed by the Texas Tumbleweed.
- Rebecca probably had $5.00 when she left her residence.
- Description: 120 lbs., 5’6”, hazel eyes, blond hair with a scar on the left side of her face. She was wearing blue stirrup pants with a long white silk blouse with red triangle or triangles on it. She carried a small yellow shoulder purse and wore rings, earrings, and spike heels.
- Subject has left home for a couple of days in the past, but she always took extra close and would contact her if she had done this.
- Linda said she was told that Rebecca had been observed at the Excalibur Club drinking heavily and dancing with a black male by the name of Keven or Calvin with an unknown last name, possibly from the Houston area.
- Rebecca was last seen at the club when she picked up her purse and left and never returned.
- Linda left an 8”x10” photo of Rebecca, a “missing” flier made by the family, five business cards with different names and PD#s on them, a blue loose-leaf notebook containing nine pages of names and addresses, PS#s. (Author’s note: Does PD#s and/or PS#s mean phone numbers?)
- Rebecca Jean Beard was entered into the computer as a missing person by the intake officer, who was Det. Sgt. Gonzales. (No first name provided; however, it was probably Det. Sgt. Ruben Gonzales.)
~~~~~
After the missing person’s report was filed, Det. Lt. Larry Bullard and Det. Sgt. Ruben Gonzales were assigned to Rebecca’s case as lead investigators. I thought it could be assumed that most of the police notes came from one of them, but I also find that some notes were initialed by another person, so they may have had help from other officers covering the leads.
As mentioned earlier, the family didn’t see these notes until retrieved by Carol in 2021-2022.
~~~~~
On March 6, 1986, one or more of the investigators interviewed Misty W. who worked at Chevy’s. The notes on Misty’s interview were:
“Last seen by Misty W. on February 26, 1986, as Rebecca was leaving to work as a volunteer for the Houston rodeo. On February 27, 1986, Rebecca called Misty and said she was having a good time. Misty said Aaron White lies a lot, and he has a crush on Rebecca. Aaron was always bugging Rebecca. She has observed Aaron and Becky fighting and yelling at each other. On February 15, 1986, Becky and Eric had it out; they were at Rebecca’s house when it happened.”
{{Take note that Linda Barnes had been told on March 4, when she went to the Excalibur Club with missing person posters, that Rebecca had been seen with Misty W. and another girl, Sonya, at the Excalibur Club the night she disappeared. Why would Misty W. tell police she had not see Rebecca since February 27? }}
The investigators’ notes also mention one of Carol’s friends, a girl named Paula, saying she saw Rebecca in Surfside with two males on that Saturday night / early Sunday morning. They were in a brown car.
Finally, the investigators visited two nightclubs, Riptide and Castaway, on Surfside with no results. There are other random entries indicating cases of mistaken identity. One came from a woman working at the Seaview Hotel; she said she had seen Rebecca that morning at 9:00 a.m. There was also a white male at Freeport’s Kroger store who told a police officer he had seen Rebecca leave Kroger with her arm around a male on Wednesday, March 5.
~~~~~
Hector Green, owner of the Excalibur bar, was interviewed on March 7, 1986, at 9:00 p.m. by Freeport police investigators. From their notes:
“Contacted Hector Green at Excalibur Club and he stated he saw Rebecca in his club last Saturday night but that she was at the bar and was not with anyone. Did not see her leave. He also stated that Conrad V. was not in the club that evening and had not been for a couple of weeks. (Context: Conrad was someone Rebecca had supposedly been seen dancing with.)
Talked with Danny M. employee at Excalibur, and he stated Rebecca had come into the club between 10:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. but he didn’t see her with anyone and didn’t see her leave.”
Hector Green’s statement is another item to keep in mind as the investigation progresses.
On March 13, 1986, the investigators interviewed Kevin K., presumably a regular or an employee at Excalibur. The notes stated:
“He knows Rebecca … but he knows her as ‘Becky.’ He danced with her around closing time and remembers seeing her around then—2:00 a.m. Kevin K. said he saw her walking with a group toward Skinner St., and she appeared to be with a tall, slender M/M (Hispanic male) with short hair. He couldn’t see anything else descriptive about him.”
Around the same time, the investigators reached out to a male dancer named Mel S. who came to clubs to do a dance routine. From the notes collected from Mel. S:
“She was with a man who was about six feet tall and slender. He was possibly driving a car like a Z-28 that was gold or silver.”
That’s two sightings that described Rebecca being with a slender, tall man at closing time. Paul Taylor was not tall and slender. He was only 5’7” tall, and he was slightly overweight at 175 lbs.
Also in the police report from that day, there was a note that Tucker Black had called and wanted to offer a reward.
In Part 4, we will talk about the anonymous letter and Paul Taylor who was charged and convicted of the crime.
Thank you. I’ll be back next week with Part 4.