Maggy Bowers

On 3/1/21, I watched the “In the First 48, Off the Tracks” story regarding the murder of Delbert Taylor, a homeless man in Louisville, KY. This was the first episode I watched that really disturbed me. This was the first murder investigation assigned to a rookie police officer, named Collin King. From the very start of the investigation, the rookie officer zeroed in on twin brothers, Terry and Larry Denney. These two brothers were transients in the local area. It was obvious the brothers were chronic alcoholics and as they stated on the show, their daily lives consisted of “bumming around and drinking.” The Denneys hung around the nearby area where Taylor was killed. Being so, they became officer King’s only suspects in the murder. The twin suspects were badgered in their interviews by officer King and his use of false information that insisted witnesses had seen Terry and Larry at the murder. In addition to the false evidence, Larry had blood on his clothes, in which officer King used as main evidence. Later, the blood turned out to be not from Taylor. Offcer King continued to insist that the twin brothers committed the murder. Terry resisted the badgering, but Larry gave in to Collin King’s team. By using this false information, officer King had already convinced his team that Larry was the murderer. Although one of the seasoned officers stated that Larry’s demeanor was not typical with that of a murderer. At that, Colin King laughed and replied “What does a murderer look like?” Colin King badgered Larry so much that Larry said he didn’t remember seeing Taylor that evening, but if all of the witnesses were there, maybe he was there after all. Larry also stated that he was intoxicated, and all that was enough for officer King to convict Larry Denney. Larry was immediately handcuffed and imprisoned for 10 years. Officer King went to the victim’s home and told the family he did as he said he found the murderer. Officer King was overly proud of himself. There was not any physical evidence connecting Larry to the murder, nor any witnesses to the murder. Larry was badgered by officer King into confessing something he did not do. Larry was railroaded and should not have been sentenced to prison.