Les Jones

Johnia Berry > The Taylor Lee Olson Autopsy Could be Interesting

Taylor Lee Olson hung himself yesterday. He was the prime suspect in the Johnia Berry murder. His blood matched blood found in the apartment the night of the murder and his face matched a composite sketch made by Berry's roommate, Jason Amiyami.

There was always a question of how Olson's blood was spilled. The police never said. The knife was from the kitchen, and I had a theory that the killer's hand slipped and sliced the palm side of his fingers. There's another theory, but it's based on hearsay from a drug addict who has since committed suicide:

Court records show that Isaacs' theory of the crime grew out of a statement by Augustine Joseph Leon, 23, a confessed drug addict and friend of Olson and Cox.

Leon has told authorities that Cox admitted killing Berry in the botched burglary that Cox and Olson were carrying out at the Brendon Park apartment complex on Rhodora Road, where Berry lived with a roommate.

According to Leon's statement, Olson broke into what he thought was an unoccupied apartment when Berry armed herself with a knife and wounded Olson.

Cox then ran to Olson's aid and killed Berry as Olson, bleeding, ran from the apartment, according to Leon's account.

It would be interesting to see if the autopsy mentions any scars on the hand or elsewhere. A stab wound would not prove Leon's story true, but the absence of such a wound could prove it obviously false. Hard to say.