Two eyewitnesses said they saw a third man at the crime scene where Maurice Taggart was shot to death. But the man’s possible existence was dismissed by Prosecuting Attorney Kyle Hunter in his review of the case, leading a criminologist to suggest that the disparity created a gap in the investigation that called for more information.
The comments from Matthew Pate, a lecturer in the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Albany who has 25 years in law enforcement and is an expert in digital forensics and general police practices, are part of a wide-ranging two-hour taped interview with Pine Bluff Commercial editor Byron Tate. The question-and-answer session is the newest segment of “The Newsroom,” the Pine Bluff Commercial’s focus on news and newsmakers, with this most recent installment devoted to Hunter’s decision not to file charges in Taggart’s death, which occurred Aug. 30, 2023.
When the case was under investigation, the information being gathered by law enforcement was not available to the public. But that changed on July 1 when Hunter released his findings, thereby closing the case and making the information available. The Commercial requested the investigation material recently and received it on a flash drive several days later.
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Pate, who is from Pine Bluff and was a member of the Pine Bluff Police Department, was largely supportive of the work the police and prosecution did on the case. He said he had the utmost confidence in the detectives that investigated the Taggart killing, and he expressed respect for both Hunter and Police Chief Denise Richardson, even as the chief has been criticized for making a statement just hours after the incident that Taggart’s son, Justice Taggart, would not be arrested in connection with the death despite the crime scene narrative that Justice Taggart had shot and killed his father.
Pate, however, who holds a doctorate in criminology and owns P8 Analytics, a consulting firm for criminal justice policy and practices, said he was puzzled by differences between the crime narrative, which states that the father and son were said to be fighting over a gun, while the state Crime Laboratory results state that the bullets that struck Taggart hit him in the back area and likely were fired from several feet away since there was no evidence of gunshot residue or other indicators of a close-fired weapon on Taggart’s skin or clothing. In addition, the eyewitness said they never saw anyone with a gun and didn’t know where the shots came from.
That same eyewitness said they saw three men fighting — Justice and Maurice Taggart and another man — and that the man took his shirt off and gave it to Justice Taggart. One other witness in another nearby house said they saw a shirtless man standing on the side of the Taggart house away from the crime scene, giving credence to what the other eyewitness claims to have seen.
To watch this newest segment of “The Newsroom,” click the link under the photo of Matthew Pate. Also, the conversation deals with subject matter that may not be suitable for all viewers.