Escapee Who Was Caught in S. Dakota Found Guilty of Kidnaping, Robbery

A suspected jewel thief accused of masterminding one of Orange County’s largest jailbreaks was convicted Thursday of kidnaping, robbery and auto theft.

Michael Taylor, 37, who was featured three times on “America’s Most Wanted” television program, could face life in prison as a result of the verdict, though he would be eligible for parole, authorities said.

Taylor has also been charged with a slew of other crimes, including the murder of a Burbank jeweler, the rape of a robbery victim, seven counts of armed robbery, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, as well as the 1988 escape from Orange County Jail.

When he was captured in South Dakota last May, police said they found in his van enough diamonds and gold jewelry to fill an ice chest.

The jury of six men and six women deliberated for a total of about six hours before returning the guilty verdicts Thursday afternoon.

The kidnaping charges stemmed from events that occurred in the hours after Taylor and four other inmates allegedly cut a hole in a fence on the roof of the Orange County Jail and rappelled down the four-story building with a makeshift rope made of bed sheets. He still faces trial on escape charges.

One inmate broke his leg during the escape, and another was captured immediately. Taylor and fellow inmates Richard L. Fluharty and Steven Wilson stripped to their shorts and tried to convince a bystander to drive them to the hospital.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Ron Cafferty alleged that the inmates, using a jail-made knife, forced the car owner, Donald Lamb, to drive to Garden Grove, where they kicked him in the head and drove off with his car.

However, Taylor, who took the stand in his own defense, testified that they did not have a weapon and that Lamb drove them willingly. The car was later recovered in Denver.

“Mr. Taylor feels Mr. Lamb went along of his own free will,” said Larry Crandall, a private investigator for Taylor’s defense. “There was never a kidnap in Mr. Taylor’s mind at all, and there certainly wasn’t a kidnap with the intent to commit robbery.”

Crandall described Taylor as “upset and angry” at the verdict.

On July 19, Superior Court Judge Manuel Ramirez will try Taylor to determine whether his prior offenses will be used against him in sentencing. Taylor has five prior robbery convictions in Illinois and California. If the judge affirms the prior convictions, 25 years could be added to Taylor’s sentence.

Taylor has pleaded not guilty to the escape charges and is scheduled to stand trial for those offenses July 23.

In a jailhouse interview in South Dakota following his capture last year, Taylor said he broke out of the jail because conditions there had made him ill and caused him to lose more than 40 pounds.

“I was dying there; I was sick all the time,” Taylor said at the time. “The food is nasty in there, and the hypes are always bringing in germs. . . . I’m really susceptible. . . . And the guards kicked your ass for nothing.”

During that interview, Taylor admitted to a number of robberies since his escape, but he denied masterminding the breakout. He also denied the rape charge.

The other charges against Taylor are still on hold, but a number of other jurisdictions are expected to wait in line to try him. At the top of the list is Burbank, where Taylor and two accomplices are accused of gunning down jewelry store owner T.W. Hamilton, 50, during a botched robbery attempt in 1987.

Taylor has not yet been arraigned in that case.