Aryan Nations white supremacist couple guilty of bludgeoning man to death in insurance plot

Updated

The president of a WA white supremacist group known as the Aryan Nations and his female lover have been found guilty of murdering her partner so they could access his life insurance.

Robert Edhouse and Melony Attwood had been on trial for the past month accused of murdering Alan Taylor at his home in the northern Perth suburb of Girrawheen in April, 2016.

Edhouse, 22 was the president of a Neo-Nazi group called Aryan Nations, while Attwood, 37, ran an affiliated group called Aryan Girls.

The sergeant-at-arms of the group, Corey Dymock, 21, also stood trial accused of murdering Mr Taylor, but he was instead found guilty of being an accessory to the murder.

There were angry scenes in court in the wake of the verdict as Edhouse lunged at Dymock, shouting: "I'll kill you".

Edhouse was pulled to the ground by courtroom security officers, while one of his relatives tried to get to the dock.

He was restrained by security guards and one of the detectives who had investigated the murder.

All three offenders were eventually taken separately into the cells.

The relative who tried to reach Edhouse in the dock was allowed to leave the building.

'Death squad' had insurance payout motive

Mr Taylor, a fly-in fly-out worker, was bludgeoned to death with a hammer in what prosecutors said was a plan to kill him, because Attwood had tired of him and wanted to get access to his life insurance.

Edhouse had been staying at Mr Taylor's house and had begun a sexual relationship with Attwood.

A fourth person, an associate of the Aryan Nations group who could not be identified, pleaded guilty to the murder and was given a reduced sentence for testifying at the trial.

The man said he, Edhouse and Dymock had taken it in turns to hit Mr Taylor with the hammer.

Prosecutors told the trial the four had gone to see the film The Jungle Book after the crime to try to create a false alibi.

"Forty-two minutes is all it took from the time this death squad arrived at the house until time they left … to execute their plan to kill Alan Taylor," prosecutor Justin Whalley said.

Giving evidence at the trial, Edhouse said it was the associate who had killed Mr Taylor in what he described as an "animal-like" attack.

But the Supreme Court jury, which deliberated for almost four days before delivering its verdicts, disagreed.

Attwood, who had a young son with Mr Taylor, as well as Edhouse and Dymock will face a sentencing hearing in May.

They were remanded in custody.

Edhouse is the son of Andrew Edhouse, who was found not guilty in 2001 of murdering Marc Chabriere, a bikie who was shot dead in his car in Welshpool.

The killing was part of the so-called bikie wars in Perth in the 1990s — Andrew Edhouse was associated with the Club Deroes, while Chabrieire was a member of the Coffin Cheaters.

He was not in court to see his son convicted of murder.

The man who tried to reach the dock during the chaos is believed to be Andrew Edhouse's brother.

Nothing will bring Alan back, victim's parents say

Speaking outside court after the verdict, and wearing badges which read 'Justice for Alan', Mr Taylor's parents thanked the jury and WA Police.

"We'll never get our son back, never, but it might keep them off the street," father Robert Taylor said.

"And hopefully this will never happen to anybody else through that gang."

They thanked everyone who had helped them over the past two years.

"At times like this, family and friends gather to help in any way they can and it really has helped us get through this terrible time," a statement read by a family spokesman said.

Rosemary Taylor said the verdict would provide justice for Alan Taylor's "little boy".

Prosecutors told the trial the Aryan Nations group claimed to strive for equality in Australia "but in reality was just an affiliation of like-minded racists and white supremacists with an affinity for Hitler Nazism and the Third Reich".

Topics: murder-and-manslaughter, law-crime-and-justice, courts-and-trials, girrawheen-6064, perth-6000, wa

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