Woman Tells of Threat to Kill Infant : Tujunga Man Guilty in Stabbings, Rape

A San Fernando Superior Court jury Friday convicted a Tujunga man who had terrorized a couple by breaking into their home, raping the woman at knifepoint, stabbing her boyfriend and threatening to kill their 8-month-old son.

Donald Garrett Taylor, 36, who represented himself during the trial, was found guilty on eight counts of sexual assault, two counts of attempted murder and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon.

Taylor face a maximum of 111 years in state prison when he is sentenced on April 4, Deputy Dist. Atty. John Spillane said.

During the six-day trial, Rebecca Delaney testified that she and her boyfriend, Stephen Hinson, were awakened the night of Sept. 3, 1984, by an intruder who crawled into their one-bedroom Tujunga apartment.

The intruder, whom she identified in court as Taylor, ordered her boyfriend to roll over on his stomach and put a pillow over his head while he pressed a kitchen knife against her and raped her repeatedly, Delaney testified.

Stabbed in Hip

When the intruder threatened to cut her, Delaney fought back by kicking him in the stomach, she testified. The intruder then stabbed her in the left hip, walked toward the baby’s crib and raised his knife to stab the baby, Delaney told the court.

Hinson got up to protect his son but when he struggled for the knife, he was stabbed in the chest, Delaney testified. Delaney said that she grabbed a radio and repeatedly hit the intruder. The injured couple continued the struggle until the intruder begged them to let him go, Delaney testified.

Police detectives arrested Taylor at 6:30 that morning by tracing a wallet found in a truck parked outside the couple’s apartment to Taylor’s residence less than a mile away.

During the trial, Taylor told the jury that police arrested the wrong man. He said that he never left his house the morning of the crime and that, contrary to what police said, fingerprints found inside the victims’ apartment were not his.

Taylor’s potential prison sentence includes 15 years because of five earlier convictions, including rape and burglary.

After the verdict, Taylor was returned to County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail.