Gruesome details surrounding the killing and dismemberment of a Chicago man were revealed in court Tuesday as a 56-year-old man confessed to the murder of his longtime acquaintance.
Austin resident Judson Taylor is being held without bail days after waiving his Miranda rights and vividly confessing to the killing and days-long dismemberment of Kelvin Perry, a 37-year-old Chicago man.
Taylor admitted to killing Perry in his Austin apartment in the early morning hours of Oct. 23, and said he was upset over drug prices and a previous altercation he had with Perry several months prior.
Taylor said he had known Perry for years and claimed that Perry was his longtime drug dealer.
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In a recorded video statement after waiving his Miranda rights, Taylor said he had wanted to kill Perry ever since their physical altercation, adding that the two had fought multiple times leading up to the murder.
Taylor said he invited Perry to his apartment in the 5000 block of West Washington Boulevard at approximately 1:30 a.m. on Oct. 23. Perry calmly told his girlfriend, who he was living with, that would be back shortly after going to meet a friend, according to the bond court proffer.
When Perry arrived at Taylor's apartment, Taylor was concealing a knife from him at the door and a verbal altercation surrounding drug prices ensued once Perry stepped inside.
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Taylor said unveiled his knife shortly thereafter and began stabbing Perry multiple times throughout the body and neck in the living room.
As Perry got up and frantically tried to escape from the apartment through the backdoor, Taylor knew that Perry couldn't leave due to a padlock on the security gate outside. Taylor then calmly walked to the back of his apartment and continued to stab Perry, according to the court document.
Perry attempted to fight back and was unsuccessful at wielding the knife away from Taylor. While being stabbed, Perry called Taylor by his nickname and begged him not to kill him, the document said.
In a recorded video statement, Taylor admitted to first stabbing Perry in the stomach in the living room before stabbing him multiple times in the head, neck and stomach.
Perry was stabbed at least 10 times and died from his wounds on the kitchen floor, according to the proffer.
At around 3 a.m., Perry's girlfriend said she woke up and tried to call Perry, but her calls went straight to voicemail with no subsequent calls or text messages sent back.
She filed a missing person's report on Oct. 28 when she continued to not receive any calls or texts back from Perry and he hadn't returned home.
After killing Perry, Taylor said folded his body and stuffed it into his deep freezer. Over the course of the next few days, Taylor removed Perry's body from the freezer and used various instruments to cut it into multiple pieces.
Taylor said he used a heavy pruning tooth saw to cut most of Perry's body and head, a tool typically used to cut trees. A hatchet was used for the arms, hitting the body with a hammer until the hatchet broke.
Taylor then cut a piece out of the saw he used and stored it in a mayonnaise jar in his bedroom, and further admitted he used wire cutters to sever Perry's fingers.
In his video statement, Taylor said that dead people didn't bleed like he thought they would, because Perry's blood didn't flow when he removed it from the freezer. He further said he was impressed it only took him five minutes to sever Perry's arms with a saw.
On Nov. 2, Perry's severed lower body was discovered beneath a garbage bag by Streets and Sanitation workers within one block of Taylor's home.
On Nov. 5, Taylor called 911 and complained of breathing problems while reporting that he found two severed arms, leading police to his apartment.
Instead of discovering Perry's arms, officers found half of Perry's severed torso in a dumpster behind Taylor's apartment building.
Later, in the same alley that Perry's torso was discovered, police found his severed arms. Perry's head, fingers and left portion of the torso have yet to be discovered.
Based on a birthmark and tattoos, Perry's family positively identified his remains on the same day, according to the proffer.
The next day, Taylor waived his Miranda rights and confessed to killing and dismembering Perry over the course of several days, the proffer said.
Taylor described the tools he used to dismember Perry in detail and gloated in his statement at how easy it was to sever Perry's limbs, according to the proffer.
Search warrants were then executed at Taylor's apartment where two phones and a wallet containing Perry's credit cards were discovered. Perry's temporary ID was also found on Taylor's nightstand.
Officers located many cleaning products and also recovered the broken saw blade inside the mayonnaise jar in Taylor's bedroom.
Due to the severity of Perry's injuries, an official cause of death from the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office is still pending.
Taylor is being held without bail and will be due in court again on Nov. 16.
