On Tuesday, April 25, 2006, Janet Pelasara joined other crime victims at a breakfast to stress the importance of the rights of crime victims. Erin Crabill also attended the breakfast along with her mother and father. Erin Crabill is credited with identifying one of Ben Fawley's numerous digital photographs as being located near her family's Mathews County property. That identification prompted the authorities to immediately begin a search in that area, leading to the discovery of Taylor Behl's remains.

The breakfast and subsequent meeting served a dual purpose on Tuesday as Virginia's Attorney General brought the media spotlight around to Virginia's revamped sex offender registry. Bob McDonnell said that Janet Pelasara has volunteered to help him spread the word about the changes to the program.

Janet Pelasara briefly spoke to those attending the breakfast. She addressed Erin Crabill directly calling her a hero for the role she played in locating Taylor's remains. Ms. Pelasara and the Crabill family have formed a special bond in the aftermath of the tragedy last fall. Crabill, apparently uneasy at being called a hero, told reporters that the true hero in this case is Janet Pelasara. Mr. Crabill told reporters that their family has bonded with Ms. Pelasara offering that you just cannot help but to love her considering all that she is going through.

Ms. Pelasara also thanked the victims' assistance staffers for the support that they provided during the past seven months. Other victims spoke during the emotional program.

After the breakfast, Crabill told reporters, "I really want to be there to support her. Everyone is telling me I'm being brave. I think she's (Ms. Pelasara) being brave as well." Crabill continued by defining bravery, "Bravery is being afraid, but still standing up -- still standing up for what you believe in.”

The trial for Ben Fawley, Taylor Behl's accused murderer, is set to begin on August 17, 2006, in Mathews County, Virginia.

The following article, written by Jim Nolan, appeared in the Richmond Times Dispatch on April 6, 2006:

MATHEWS -- Jailhouse letters written by incarcerated Taylor Behl murder suspect Benjamin Fawley discussing the night Behl died must be turned over to prosecutors, a judge ruled yesterday.

The ruling by Judge William H. Shaw III of Mathews County Circuit Court was one of several developments in the murder case against the 38-year-old amateur photographer and Goth webmaster from Richmond.

Also at yesterday's hearing, the judge:

granted a defense motion for a continuance in the case and set a new trial date for Aug. 17;

granted a defense motion to have Fawley transferred from the Richmond City Jail to the Middle Peninsula Regional Jail in Saluda, which is closer to Mathews; and

delayed a ruling on a prosecution motion to prohibit cameras in the courtroom until media outlets have a chance to respond.

Fawley is charged with murder in the Sept. 6 death of Behl, 17, a Virginia Commonwealth University freshman from Vienna in Fairfax County. Her remains were found a month later in a shallow grave off a dirt road near the public beach in the rural Chesapeake Bay county, about 75 miles east of Richmond.

Some 46 letters written by Fawley were sent to a female friend, Katie Hildebrandt. The letters were then handed over to another friend of Fawley, Maria Serraes, who mailed them to Fawley defense attorney William E. Johnson.

Johnson, who along with Richmond attorney Chris Collins represents Fawley, decided to seek Shaw's ruling on whether the letters are evidence before handing them over to Mathews County prosecutor Jack Gill and his co-counsel, Assistant Richmond Commonwealth's Attorney Christopher Bullard.

In an interview Tuesday, Johnson said 99 percent of the letters contain only Fawley's personal thoughts, while the remainder of the correspondence describes what happened the night Behl died. Johnson said the correspondence mirrors Fawley's jailhouse statement to police last fall.

Fawley, who was jailed at the time on unrelated charges of possession of child pornography, told police Behl died accidentally in her car during a sexual encounter in which he restricted her breathing.

Police and Behl's mother have disputed the story, saying Fawley, who had a prior relationship with Behl, abducted her to Mathews and intended to harm her.

During yesterday's hearing, Shaw ruled that the letters were evidence and ordered them to be turned over to prosecutors. The letters, which were sent to the judge for review under seal, were not disclosed.

Johnson yesterday expanded slightly on his previous characterizations of the letters. He said they all came in ornately, hand-decorated envelopes depicting etchings of trees, beach scenes and even portraits of women. He described the contents of all but one of the Fawley letters he received as a collection of well-crafted musings on a variety of topics, from life, to his cell, to his children.

Johnson said Fawley's other letter dealt with what happened with Behl.

"It just goes right down the line with his statement," Johnson said, saying no more.

Prosecutors want the letters, in part, to see if there are any conflicts between them and Fawley's version of events six months ago.

They are just a small piece of what lawyers on both sides concede is a great deal of evidence in the case, the reason Johnson moved for a continuance.

The judge agreed with a defense motion that the volume of case files and computer information handed over in the discovery process required more time to prepare the case, which was to have started May 30.

There was also no objection to Fawley's transfer to the jail in Saluda.

Defense lawyers requested the move from Richmond's city jail so it would be easier for Fawley to prepare for trial with Johnson, who practices in Mathews.

The following article, written by Jim Nolan, appeared in the Richmond Times Dispatch on April 5, 2006:

Taylor Behl murder suspect Benjamin Fawley has written dozens of letters from his jail cell in Richmond to a female friend. At least one of the letters discusses what happened the night the Fairfax County teenager died at his hands.

A defense motion asking a judge to determine if the letters should be turned over to prosecutors as evidence, or kept by Fawley's lawyers under the attorney-client privilege, will be argued during a hearing today in Mathews County Circuit Court.

Fawley's defense team, which requested the evidentiary ruling on the letters, is also asking the court to put off the trial of the 38-year-old amateur photographer and Goth webmaster, charged with killing Behl in Mathews County on Sept. 6.

The 17-year-old Virginia Commonwealth University freshman's remains were found a month later in a shallow grave off a rural dirt road near the public beach in coastal Mathews County, about a 75-mile drive east from Richmond.

In a jailhouse statement to police last October, Fawley told authorities that Behl died accidentally during a sexual encounter in her car during which he restricted her breathing. Behl's mother and prosecutors dispute that version of events, saying Fawley abducted Behl and caused her death by intending to harm her.

Authorities have acknowledged that forensic evidence from the crime scene is scant and inconclusive as to how she died.

Fawley has not spoken to police since his statement last fall. But he has put pen to paper quite a bit, writing at least 46 letters, according to the defense motion filed Monday by lawyer William E. Johnson for an evidentiary ruling on the matter.

According to the motion, the letters were provided by an unidentified female friend of Fawley to an unidentified "third party," who subsequently sent them to Johnson.

The defense motion also states that Richmond police investigators contacted the third party just hours after the person had sent the letters to Johnson. And it acknowledges that "an issue exists as to counsel's obligation to turn these letters over to law enforcement for investigatory purposes."

Contacted last night, Johnson said "99 percent" of the letters Fawley wrote to the female friend contain personal thoughts.

Asked to characterize the contents of the remainder of the correspondence, Johnson would only say that it mirrors the statement he had previously given to law enforcement.

A response to Johnson's motion filed yesterday by Mathews Commonwealth's Attorney Jack Gill contends that the letters are evidence, not subject to attorney-client privilege, and should be turned over to authorities immediately or be subject to seizure.

Gill's response identifies Fawley's female friend as Katie Hildebrandt and the third party as Maria Serraes.

Johnson said he has sent the letters to the court under seal to be reviewed by Judge William H. Shaw III of Mathews Circuit Court.

In addition to the motion on the letters, both sides are expected to set a new trial date for the case, perhaps in August or September. (WRIC reports that the new trial date is set for August 17, 2006.)

Fawley's trial was originally scheduled for May 30. But lawyers on both sides acknowledge that the volume of discovery in the case -- said to be a 3-foot-high stack of documents, plus computer material -- will take more time to review.

The defense is also asking for Fawley to be transferred from the Richmond City Jail to the Middle Peninsula Regional Jail in Saluda, to be closer to Mathews.

NBC 4 News
Hampton Roads Daily Press
Richmond Times-Dispatch
WTOP Radio News
WRIC
WJLA ABC7
Fairfax Times
WRIC
Hampton Roads Daily Press
WAVY TV-10
Richmond Times-Dispatch

The links below are to the major network news and the stations in the area providing full coverage of Taylor's Case. These are the major source of the information provided on this site. Also included are links to the various Weblogs and other sites of interest.

The information on this page was obtained through public and private sources. The images may be updated, changed, corrected, or deleted by E-mailing me at: willnotagz@aol.com. You may also view an updated version of this webpage at: http://taylorbehl.notagz.com/. You may use the pictures and host them on official or other private sites. Where possible give collage credit to E-mail me at willnotagz@aol.com. I also welcome messages regarding broken links, continuity, grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc.

---

Permissions: Anyone may quote from, reprint, repost, or otherwise transmit the article above provided they give credit to the writer, William Drummond, and reference the website http://taylorbehl.notagz.com.

---