In March 2020, a 911 call brought police officers to a disturbing crime scene in Idaho Falls.
There, they discovered the lifeless body of 51-year-old Hermann Woerrlein, who had been stabbed 17 times.
His killer, Douglass Taylor, had been dealing with mental illness for many years.
He wrongly believed that Woerrlein was starting a New religious cult, and sadly, that false belief led to the loss of an innocent man.
Let's get into the details
Who Was Douglass Taylor Before the Crime?
Douglass Taylor’s life was filled with chaos and untreated mental illness long before the 2020 murder of his roommate.
When he was just 14, his father—who was believed to have bipolar disorder that was never diagnosed—took his own life.
That loss deeply affected Taylor, and he never fully recovered from it, as reported by Idaho State Journal.
By the time he turned 20, Taylor was diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Later, his condition worsened and advanced to schizoaffective disorder—a mental illness that causes hallucinations, false beliefs, and extreme mood changes.
In 2009, his mother became his legal guardian, but his behavior got worse, and he started threatening her.
In 2015, she gave up guardianship because she was afraid of him.
For more than ten years, Taylor went in and out of different hospitals for at least 29 times.
However, most times, he was discharged too early, even when it was clear he was still not stable.
Eventually, Douglass Taylor’s mental health became worse over time.
At one point, he stopped taking his medications and even ran away to Canada looking for "religious sanctuary"
In December 2019, a judge ordered that Taylor be sent to Idaho’s State Hospital South.
But just five weeks later, he was discharged, even though the hospital staff noticed he wasn’t eating, isolating himself, and was acting strangely.
After leaving the hospital, Taylor moved into a sober living home in Idaho Falls.
This place was for people with mental health issues who had just left the hospital and were trying to get their lives back on track.
There, he met 51-year-old Hermann Hans Woerrlein, who became his roommate.
Sadly, just a few weeks after moving in, Taylor brutally killed him.
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| Douglass Taylor |
The Shocking Discovery
According to police reports, he had been stabbed multiple times, and there was a deep cut across his neck.
One of Woerrlein’s roommates, who called 911, told officers he heard a sudden noise coming from the kitchen just before the attack.
He remembered hearing Woerrlein desperately pleading, “No, please stop!” in a desperate voice.
When he ran upstairs to see what was happening, he saw Douglass Taylor standing over Woerrlein’s body, pulling a knife out of his neck.
The witness said Taylor then walked through the living room, dropped the knife, and casually walked out the front door,
according to Law & Crime.
The witness also told police that they usually spent their evenings talking about religion, philosophy, and history.
He said that the conversations could get intense at times, but they had never turned violent before.
During an investigation of the crime scene, police found the murder weapon—a red-handled kitchen knife.
Medical examiners later confirmed that Woerrlein had been stabbed 17 times in his chest and limbs, and had six deep cuts across his neck.
His injuries were so severe but surprisingly, he was still alive when first responders arrived, as seen in this video from Explore With Us.
He was rushed to the hospital, where doctors did their best to save him, but sadly, he passed away shortly after.
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| Douglass Taylor |
Douglass Taylor’s Arrest and The Criminal Investigation That Followed
Just a few hours after the killing, detectives found Taylor sitting behind a nearby Albertsons grocery store.
With his clothes still covered in Woerrlein’s blood, Taylor was taken into custody.
After his arrest, Taylor was taken to the Bonneville County Law Enforcement Building where confessed to the crime.
In a
recorded interview, Taylor admitted stabbing Woerrlein about 15 times and then cutting his throat, saying he did it to make sure Woerrlein was dead.
When criminal investigators asked Taylor why he killed his roommate, he claimed that Woerrlein was trying to start a Nazi cult.
However, detectives found no evidence to support this.
Other people living in the home said they often talked about religion and philosophy, but Woerrlein never shared any extreme or dangerous beliefs.
According to police reports, Taylor was very calm while talking about the killing, and showed no signs of remorse during his interview.
Taylor also told detectives that he had bought the knife earlier with the intention of killing someone, even though he didn’t have a specific person in mind at the time.
After a thorough investigation, Douglass Taylor was charged with First Degree Murder for killing his roommate.
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| Douglass Taylor in court |
Douglass Taylor’s Trial and Sentencing
Douglass Taylor’s court case started on February 9, 2022, almost two years after he killed Hermann Hans Woerrlein.
Back in December 2021, Taylor had pleaded guilty to first-degree murder as part of a plea deal.
Taylor’s lawyer, Jason Gustaves, brought up Taylor’s long history of untreated mental illness as a key factor.
He shared details about Taylor’s worsening mental health in the months before the murder.
This included how he was released from the state hospital just five weeks earlier—even though staff had noticed he wasn’t taking his medication and was acting strangely.
The prosecution admitted that Taylor had mental health issues, but argued that he still knew what he was doing, and that the murder was planned.
Deputy Prosecutor Alex Muir reminded the court that Taylor admitted he bought the knife to kill someone and later chose Woerrlein as his victim.
The judge explained that the harsh sentence was because of how brutal the crime was and because Taylor didn’t try to get help, even though he knew his mental health was getting worse.
Taylor was also ordered to pay $5,000 in fines and $3,155 in restitution to cover Woerrlein's funeral expenses.
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