Bishop had made the mistake of introducing her boyfriend to her mother, and for that, Jennifer Villarin, 45, would be killed. Taylor was worried that Villarin knew his home address and about the bank accounts Bishop opened for him, and would identify him as Bishop's killer.

He also knew that Bishop had asked Villarin to housesit for her while they were in Yosemite. In the pre-dawn hours of August 4, Taylor drove to Bishop's studio apartment. But Villarin wasn't alone that night. James Gamble, 54, a patron at the Papermill Creek Saloon, where Villarin worked as a bartender, was there with her. He also would end up a wayward victim of Taylor's lunatic rampage.

chapter continues

advertisement

Taylor let himself into the studio apartment with the key Selina had given him. He crept toward the bed that he'd helped Bishop assemble and where they'd slept together on many occasions.

He stood over Gamble and Villarin - who once remarked that her daughter's boyfriend seemed like a "real nice kid" - raised a Beretta 9-mm and shot them both at point-blank range.

Bishop's upstairs neighbor and landlord, James Soladay, woke to the sound of gunshots. A second later, he heard the footsteps racing outside and the roar of the getaway car. With a pounding heart, he walked downstairs and through the door of Bishop's apartment. Two bloody and unmoving bodies were sprawled over the bed. He placed a panicked 911 call.

"I cannot believe this is happening," he told the operator. "I can't believe this happened in my home."