Killer Dentist Kenneth Taylor

Notes on the Case of Domestic Abuse Victim Teresa Taylor

by Traciy Curry-Reyes 

A brief sketch of Kenneth Z Taylor

Kenneth Z. Taylor,35, was a dentist in Manalapan Township. He had been married 3 times. He abused both of his previous wives. He left the first wife right after she gave birth to their baby. He tried to smother second wife with Chloroform. The third wife was Teresa Taylor who he abused and ultimately killed. Others who knew him described him as a maniac who was completely obsessed with himself. He was a very angry man, who was abusive toward women in general. He also hated people of color, and he hated dealing with them at the clinic.

Murder and Adoption

In November 1984, Taylor bludgeoned his wife Teresa to death with a barbell in their home at 23 Valley road. Their son Philip was then 6 months old. Taylor drove with his infant son in the car with the body of his mother in the trunk of the car. A few days later Taylor disposed of the body in a location that he felt Teresa would've liked. Teresa was only 25 years old at the time. Kenneth Taylor has his trial and is convicted of murder. He is sentenced to 30 years in prison without parole. After Taylor goes to prison a custody battle ensues over the son Philip Taylor.

Teresa’s sister Celeste Benigno White is granted custody, and Ken Taylor’s parents were given visitation rights during certain parts of the year. Ken Taylor’s parents were outraged by the agreement. They secretly adopted the boy in their home town of Indiana, and while the child was visiting his grandparents in 1986, he was not returned to the Whites. The Whites fought back, but the court process was not moving along very quickly.  Peter Maas wrote an article about the case entitled "Legacy of a Mother's Murder.” After the article appeared, an Indiana judge quickly ruled the adoption invalid, and Philip was returned to Celeste White.

Tibits

Peter Maas was working on writing a novel at the time, but he became so intrigued with the case that he dropped everything to pursue writing the book on this case.

While on their honeymoon, Ken Taylor, beat his young wife Teresa so badly that she lost some teeth. Ken was the one who fixed her teeth.

There was a suggestion that it was possible that he may have been a victim of abuse himself as a child.

He cheated on his second wife with Teresa who was working as a hygienist at his clinic according to the second wife.

His case was also featured in Medical Murderers from the Files of True Detective Magazine