Rebecca Beard Case: Why Wasn’t Paul Taylor’s Home Investigated After John Cone’s Report?

Reviewed by Investigative Reporter Tammy Rose

Police records raise new questions

Nearly 40 years after Rebecca “Becky” Beard disappeared, police records raise a question that remains unanswered.

If Sheriff Joe King received details of an alleged confession from John Cone shortly after Becky vanished, why don’t the records reviewed by Investigative Reporter Tammy Rose document an immediate search or forensic examination of Paul Taylor’s home?

The question stands out because later investigative summaries describe a series of events that, if accurate, pointed investigators toward Taylor’s residence within days of Becky’s disappearance.

John Cone said Taylor admitted killing Becky

According to a later investigative synopsis, John Cone told investigators that Paul Taylor admitted Becky died inside his Clute home.

Cone’s statement says Taylor claimed he picked Becky up after she left a club, took her to his residence, and that she died after a gun discharged during a struggle.

Taylor allegedly told Cone he cleaned the residence, removed the bed and carpet because they contained blood, and discarded them in dumpsters.

Cone also said he entered Taylor’s home himself and noticed the bed and carpet were gone.

According to the records, Cone then contacted Brazoria County Sheriff Joe King and reported what Taylor allegedly told him.

Cone reportedly offered Sheriff Joe King a key

One detail stands out in Cone’s statement.

Cone said he offered Sheriff Joe King a key to Taylor’s residence.

He also asked the sheriff to keep both the conversation and his identity confidential.

The investigative synopsis later states that King agreed to keep the information confidential.

According to that same synopsis, Sheriff King informed Freeport Police Chief Charles Bankston on March 14, 1986, that Paul Taylor needed to be investigated but did not relate the details Cone had provided.

Taylor was interviewed that day. The synopsis states investigators learned only that Taylor knew Becky.

Where is the documented crime scene investigation?

The records reviewed by Investigative Reporter Tammy Rose do not document that investigators immediately searched Paul Taylor’s residence or processed it as a possible crime scene.

The records also do not document officers collecting physical evidence, photographing the interior, looking for blood evidence, seizing the reportedly missing bed or carpet, or tracing the dumpsters where Taylor allegedly said he discarded evidence.

Those questions remain central to understanding the early investigation. The records reviewed for this report do not document that investigators immediately completed those investigative steps after John Cone reported what Taylor allegedly told him.

Those questions remain central to understanding the early investigation. The records reviewed for this report do not document that investigators immediately completed those investigative steps after John Cone reported what Taylor allegedly told him.

Another report raised similar concerns

The records contain another development one month later.

An April 16, 1986 report states the manager of Excaliber Club told investigators about another conversation involving Taylor.

According to the report, another witness claimed Taylor said he picked up a woman from the club, took her home, shot her, buried her body, cut up the mattress and discarded it in dumpsters.

The same report states Matt Cone checked Taylor’s residence and found the bed no longer had a mattress. Cotton stuffing reportedly remained on the floor.

Even then, the records reviewed by Investigative Reporter Tammy Rose do not document that officers immediately processed the residence as a homicide scene.

Another inconsistency emerges

These records compare early police reports, a later investigative summary, and Rebecca Beard’s personal planner. One report states Beaver (Arch) Aplin last saw Rebecca on February 14, while a later investigative summary lists him among witnesses who reportedly saw her at Excalibur on the night she disappeared. The differing timelines raise questions about how investigators reconciled those statements during the investigation.

While reviewing the early investigation, another issue surfaced.

Police reports appear to contain conflicting information about Beaver (Arch) Aplin’s timeline.

One report says Aplin told investigators he had not seen Becky since February 14, 1986.

A later investigative report identifies Aplin as one of several people reportedly present at Excaliber on the night Becky disappeared.

That apparent inconsistency raises another question.

Did investigators ever reconcile those differing accounts?

That question will be examined in Part 2 of this series.

Questions that remain

The records reviewed for this article leave several unanswered questions:

Why wasn’t Taylor’s residence immediately documented as a potential crime scene after John Cone reported an alleged confession?
Did Sheriff Joe King ever use the key Cone reportedly offered?
Were investigators ever able to locate the missing bed, carpet or mattress?
If those items were never recovered, how much potential evidence may have been lost?

Nearly four decades later, those questions remain central to understanding the early investigation into Rebecca Beard’s disappearance.

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Internal links

Why I Traveled to Arizona to Interview Arch Aplin
Rebecca Beard family meeting with investigators

Amazon recommendations

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Keep detailed notes while following complex investigations. A structured notebook makes it easier to compare timelines, witness statements and evidence.

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