On the morning of February 2, 1922 Los Angeles police were called to the Alvarado Street bungalow of well-known Hollywood director William Desmond Taylor. What they found there would set off an investigation that is still unclosed and reveal several—albeit indirect-- ties to Sullivan County.

When the police arrived on the scene in response to what had originally been reported as a natural death, there were hordes of Hollywood types—actors, actresses, film executives—rummaging around the bungalow. There was also Taylor's body, lying on the floor with a bullet in the back of his neck. It appeared he had been dead for at least several hours.

The ensuing investigation revealed many more questions than answers, and through twists and turns uncovered a number of plausible suspects. Despite an exhaustive inquiry, Taylor's murder remains unsolved to this day.

By 1922, the 50-year old film director's popularity had been on the rise in the movie industry, as had his reputation as a ladies' man. Two of the screen stars with whom he was romantically linked were considered prime suspects in the murder, as was the mother of one of them, and both had ties to Sullivan County.

Mabel Normand, one of the early stars of the motion picture industry, had apparently been the woman Taylor was seeing at the time of his death. She had begun her career making films with D.W. Griffith in Cuddebackville and Oakland Valley before becoming the movie industry's premier comedienne.

Griffith had made a number of films in this area in 1909, 1910, and 1911, and only the short filming season caused him to abandon it and head to California. It was here that he discovered the special summer evening's light that became known as Magic Hour or Golden Hour, or “the light Mr. Griffith waited for.”

Before Mary Pickford and even Florence Lawrence, Mabel Normand had been his female star.

Normand, police discovered, had a nasty cocaine habit, and Taylor had previously gone to authorities in an unsuccessful attempt to have her suppliers arrested. It was also revealed that she had been at his bungalow on the night of the murder, a fact she later admitted, claiming she had stopped by to pick up a couple of books.

An even more interesting suspect was the young starlet, Mary Miles Minter, who was not yet 20-years old in February of 1922. Taylor and Minter had first met on the set of the 1919 movie, Anne of Green Gables, some of which was filmed at the Mongaup Falls in the town of Forestburgh.

The young actress had soon fallen in love with the considerably older director, and she apparently began to pursue him, a development that outraged her mother, Charlotte Shelby. According to many accounts of the investigation, police uncovered Mary Miles Minter's nightgown in Taylor's bedroom, along with a love letter she had written him. Police also discovered that Minter owned a gun of the same caliber used in the murder.

The murder of William Desmond Taylor came at a time when Hollywood was reeling from the Fatty Arbuckle scandal, and the press had a field day with the story, some media outlets even resorting to fabricating stories to further sensationalize a sensational case.

A particularly interesting article appeared on the front page of the February 17, 1922 edition of the Republican Watchman, one of Sullivan County's most respected newspapers.

“Collins Wanted In Taylor Murder,” the top-of-the-fold headline announced. “Dapper Don was once in Monticello Jail for impersonating government agent.”

The story went on to reveal that “‘Dapper Don' Collins is still adding to his fame as an all-round crook. Collins is now wanted by the authorities who desire to question him in connection with the mysterious killing of William Desmond Taylor, the motion picture director at Los Angeles, Cal., several days ago. Collins is also wanted in New York City in connection with the murder of John R. Ried, a wealthy manufacturer, who was shot and killed several months ago.

“‘Dapper Don,' is well known in Monticello and Sullivan County, where he was under indictment for posing as a Department of Justice agent. Collins, under the alias of Tourbillion, with three companions, posing as a department of justice agent, entered the restaurant of Julius Hohenstein at White Lake two or three years ago, and pretending to search the place, secured a sum of money from Hohenstein.”

There is no indication whether Dapper Don Collins was ever considered a serious suspect in the Taylor case, and it has not been recorded if he was eventually questioned in the matter. But the strange twists and turns of the murder case kept coming.

Reports were that Charlotte Shelby enjoyed a close relationship with the Los Angeles District Attorney, and was able to use that to avoid any serious scrutiny. Once her “protector” had left office, she left the country, and spent a considerable part of the rest of her life abroad.

Despite the L.A. police's assurances that the investigation would remain open, by 1940, all of the case files had disappeared. To further complicate matters, the History Channel reported that “many years later, in Minter's unpublished autobiography, she admitted that she and her mother were at Taylor's bungalow on the night of the killing. Famous director King Vidor told people that Minter had ambiguously admitted that her mother had killed Taylor after finding her daughter at Taylor's home.”

Equally perplexing was the deathbed confession of the actress Margaret Gibson. After suffering a serious heart attack in 1964, and believing she was dying, Gibson confessed to neighbors that she had killed Taylor. Following her death, several friends said she had made a similar confession a few years before, but had become hysterical and they had dismissed it. Curiously, Gibson had never been a suspect.

John Conway is the Sullivan County Historian. Email him at jconway52@hotmail.com. His latest book, “In Further Retrospect,” is now available for purchase.