Young Widow Stabs Ex-Father-In-Law To Death, Then Posts Selfie With Body On Social Media

Friends of Amanda Taylor were shocked to the core when they
read her graphic Instagram post in April 2015. They knew Amanda, 24, had been
going through a tough time since the tragic death of her estranged husband Rex,
but her chilling words were truly disturbing.

“Everything I did was for the right reasons. I stabbed
my father-in-law to death because he destroyed my husband…” she wrote.
“I wasn’t the perfect wife but this was one last good thing I could
do.”

It seemed unbelievable that someone would confess to a
brutal murder on social media, especially as Amanda was a mum to two young
children. But the widow followed it up with a post on her Facebook page saying,
“I proudly did this for Rex.”

When police discovered Amanda’s father-in-law Charles
Taylor, 59, stabbed to death, a massive manhunt began. Amanda was on the run
and threatening to end her life to be with Rex. Through social media, Amanda
was about to show the world just how dark she really was.

Amanda, from Virginia, met Rex at school. She dropped out
when she fell pregnant, the couple married and had a son, followed by a
daughter. But their relationship was far from conventional. Both had a
fascination with violence and wrote to serial killers behind bars.

Despite their devotion to each other, Rex was battling with
addictions and depression. Amanda blamed Rex’s dad Charles for introducing his
son to prescription drugs when he was just 15.

As Rex’s addictions got worse, Amanda told him she didn’t
want drugs around her children and the pair separated in April 2014. Rex moved
back in with his dad – by the August he was dead. He’d hanged himself in a shed
on his son’s seventh birthday.

Amanda was devastated. She’d had a tough upbringing; both
her parents had spent time in prison, but the suicide pushed her to the edge
and she decided Charles was to blame for Rex’s suicide.

Amanda and Rex were born on the same day, March 27, and on
their joint birthday in 2015, Amanda went to Rex’s graveside and tried to take
her life. She survived and checked herself into hospital to get help – but
despite her own protests, and objection from her mum, Amanda was released on
April 1.

Three days later, Amanda went to the home of Charles with
her friend Sean Ball. Charles was due to give her money for the kids for Easter
but instead, Amanda stabbed her former father-in-law to death as he sat on the
sofa. She made sure it happened at exactly 3.27pm to symbolise the birthday
she’d shared with Rex – 3/27.

Amanda and Sean fled the scene with money from Charles’
wallet. Charles was a carer for his elderly father who was left vulnerable
upstairs in bed. After the killing, Amanda posted a status on Instagram under
her username brunette_bomber alongside a picture of a news report alerting
members of the public that she was on the run with Sean, 32.

She wrote, “I stabbed my father-in-law to death because
he destroyed my husband…”

She even phoned a local reporter and gave an interview
comparing the thrill of stabbing to the first time she rode a rollercoaster.
The social media updates continued.

On Facebook, Amanda said, ‘I proudly did this for Rex. I
love my children but Charlie killed my husband.”

It was clear Amanda intended to take her own life and she
wrote that Sean was now dead.

She posted a goodbye message on Instagram next to a picture
of a silver revolver on her lap. “Alright… it’s about that time. I’m going
to go find my husband in Hell & finally be at peace,” she wrote.
“I love you mom & my beautiful crazies, I know you’ll give them the
life I just couldn’t after everything… I can’t apologise ’cause I’m finally
going to be free.”

Sean was found by the side of a road with life-threatening
injuries. It’s alleged Amanda turned on her partner in crime, shot him and left
him for dead. As he was rushed to hospital, police were able to throw spikes
across the road in front of Amanda’s moving car. It punctured her tyres and she
was arrested in North Carolina.

As Sean recovered in hospital, he was charged with
second-degree murder. Amanda told investigators she’d used a knife because she
wanted Charles to see who had killed him. She was charged with first-degree
murder. Despite multiple confessions, Amanda chose to plead not guilty.

At the trial in November 2015, the jury heard that Amanda
had stabbed Charles 31 times with a bayonet-style knife and had aimed for his
face and chest. The medical examiner said 11 of the stab wounds had the
potential to be lethal on their own.

It was revealed Amanda had taken a selfie at the scene with
the bloody knife and the body of Charles behind her. It was never released to
the public.

Amanda smirked through the trial, even as the interview
she’d given to a reporter was played admitting she’d “wanted to watch him
die.” “I was excited,” she was heard saying. “I know it
sounds bad, but I was really excited.”

The prosecution said Amanda was proud of what she’d done and
had used social media because she wanted the world to know she was a killer.

The defence didn’t deny that Amanda was the killer but said
she’d believed the act was justified and that love is a “powerful and
overwhelming motivator”.

It took less than an hour for the jury to find Amanda
guilty.

Amanda’s mum took the stand and claimed her daughter was
‘always angry’ growing up and that after Rex died “her eyes just went
empty”. Amanda was emotionless as she received life in prison. Sean Ball
awaits his own trial for murder.

Amanda’s confession by social media confirmed her guilty
status to the world.