Letters Reveal Killer’s Kidnap-Escape Plot : Courts: Robert (T-Bone) Taylor allegedly gave a fellow inmate detailed instructions that included forcing an attorney to bring a gun to the jail.

Just before a Superior Court jury was to begin hearing testimony last year on whether to send him to the gas chamber, murderer Robert (T-Bone) Taylor allegedly hatched a plot to kidnap his two lawyers and shoot his way out of Orange County Jail.

Taylor, 39, apparently passed two letters to a fellow inmate, who presumably was to be released. According to the plan outlined in the letters, that friend would kidnap attorneys Edward W. Hall of Santa Ana and Gary M. Pohlson of Laguna Hills and would force Hall to take a concealed gun to Taylor in jail. Pohlson would be held at a nearby hotel to ensure that Hall delivered the gun.

The plan failed immediately because the inmate gave the letters to an attorney, who, in turn, handed them over to Superior Court Judge John J. Ryan.

The two letters were subsequently filed in court and released this month by a defense attorney involved in the case.

Taylor, of Sunset Beach, and two accomplices had been convicted of shooting Kazumi Hanano, then 62, and Ryoko Hanano, 60, in June, 1988, in their Anaheim home. The three attackers had gone to the house to answer an advertisement for a $20,000 Corvette.

When Hall and Pohlson learned of the plot six days before the penalty phase of the trial, they withdrew from the case, declaring a conflict of interest.

Sentencing was delayed for eight months while new attorneys were appointed and the judge decided what to do. The matter never became public, and the jury reconvened Nov. 6. On Dec. 12, the jury recommended the death penalty for Taylor. Judge Francisco P. Briseno will consider this finding on Jan. 31.

A second letter allegedly penned by Taylor was to be read to Hall and Pohlson after they were kidnaped. It assured them that they would not be harmed if they did what they were told. Hall was to go to the jail with the concealed pistol, and Pohlson was to be held in a nearby hotel room to ensure that Hall followed instructions.

But in the letter to his friend, Taylor talked of killing Hall, Pohlson and the desk clerk at the hotel.

Taylor’s attorney, Michael A. Horan of Irvine, said Monday that he thought Taylor wrote the letters to buy time and attempt to force the court to appoint a new jury.

“It was his way of getting a continuance,” Horan said, adding that Taylor couldn’t possibly shoot his way out of the jail, and he knew it.

“You would need a bazooka to get out of there,” Horan said. “Just read the letters, they read like an espionage novel. That’s what he does all the time; he reads espionage novels.”

Meticulously printed, the eight-page letter with instructions outlined step by step what was to be done to lure the two attorneys to a nearby hotel, the type of gun to be used, and details on how to convince them that Taylor, a bodybuilder who sports a Fu Manchu mustache, meant business.

Taylor told his friend, referred to only as Donnie, to work over Hall “so he understands that this (is) really happening. Pain and fear are the key in this situation just like most other situations. I don’t have to tell you, but I will, I’ve been doing this a long part of my life since Vietnam . . . a person must be in control of the whole situation, it shows . . . that you’re well planned and on a pro-level . . . “

According to the letter, Taylor’s friend was to call Hall and Pohlson and tell them that he had a videotape of Taylor and an accomplice, Norman James DeWitt, 34, of Cypress, planning the robbery. He was to tell them that the tape would be helpful for Taylor’s defense.

Taylor and DeWitt handcuffed the Hananos together in their Anaheim home and marched them into their bedroom where Taylor shot them in the head as they knelt by their bed. Ryoko Hanano died, but her husband survived two bullet wounds to the head and, although paralyzed, testified against Taylor and DeWitt. DeWitt was given life in prison without parole. The third accomplice, Nanette Scheid, 29, of Newport Beach, who left the house before the shootings, was given 25 years to life.

Pohlson said Monday that he was “angry and disappointed” when he learned of the plot because he had worked hard to defend Taylor.

Pohlson said he never felt threatened because “when I learned about it, it was over. I never was in danger.” But attorney George Peters, who represents DeWitt, said reading such a calculated plan to kill someone made his “blood run cold.”