Taylor Hurst

[Whooter]

And then re-opened under a different name. The exact same shit that goes on today

Vastly different, Anne.  The days of straight are long gone.

Well, when I hear the exact same things happening that happened to me way back then, it seems fairly reasonable to assume that not much, if anything, has changed....except superficially. It's always the "kinder, gentler" version of some other program that got shut down or closed on it's own due to the horrible publicity. Straight was billed as The Seed minus the abuse, but ended up being even more abusive than the Seed. Then when Straight was shut down, suddenly KIDS opened up. Same staff, same techniques, just a different name to avoid the bad publicity of Straight. Then when KIDS was shut down it became Pathways (I think....I'm not up on the chronology of the program names) but every time one closed down, another opened up using the exact same methods but they always swore they took the "good" from the closed down program and left out the "bad". Bull-fucking-shit.

You are living off assumptions and extremely dated information, Anne.   You have no valid foundation on which to base your conclusions.  I have seen them first hand and they are nothing like you describe in your time at Straight.

Why is it never, ever the programs fault with you? When you fuck with someone's psyche.....their very core, especially at an age when they're developing who they are as separate beings from their parents, it causes deep, lasting damage. I don't care how well intentioned it is or isn't.....when you force that kind of "treatment" on a kid, you fuck with their very soul.

Again, most of todays programs are not straight.  They are nothing like straight or the seed etc.
If all the programs today were straight then I might agree with you.



...

[Samara]

Taylor Hurst is an extreme example. But obviously, the program did him no favors.  Especially if the program model uses attack therapy as an interactive model. I see programs as directly contributing to various suicides, as well. One reason is because you are emotionally dislocated. However, you are also indoctrinated, so you can't even address this as a program-related issue. Also, the break down to build up is a false premise. There is no build up. You can't break down an individual and expect them to ever be whole. Individuals can only build from their own strengths and hopefully, recognize areas of weaknesses to either accept or fortify. Becoming a Stepford program kid does not constitute "building up."

DJ is right about one thing. Sick kids - sociopaths and highly intelligent manipulators only honed their skills in this environment. Those kids got a sick sense of pleasure humiliating and attacking others for staff approval. The real feather in their caps occurred when they could degrade rookie staff with the approval of power staff.  This did not often happen, but one of my most disturbing raps featured this scenario. Healthy kids, of course, were traumatized. Sick kids became staff. We had many staff graduates that visited their monstrosity on others. It is very hard for me to see them as "victims."

[Watchful Yeoman]

Exactly how does Whooter become the resident expert about how programs were and are today?  If we are to believe his highly suspect "personal story," Whooter has never seen any program from the inside and has only seen one up close and that was over ten years ago.  What exactly gives Whooter any expertise or experience with programs when he has only seen one over a decade ago?

Now, if you believe as I do that Whooter is intimately involved in the TTI then maybe you can accept that Whooter has insider knowledge and he's just spinning it for profit.  But, if you take him at his word (lol) he knows nothing except what he saw as a parent a decade ago, which is to say, basically nothing.

You have never experienced a program of todays design and therefore have no valid basis for your opinion.

This applies to you, Whooter.  what little experience you have is ten years old already.  You know nothing about what happens in programs today.  Nothing.  Yet you hold yourself out as an expert.  But you know exactly nothing.

[Ursus]

Here's another story that came out that first day of news coverage, the Monday after the murder:

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

7NEWS WHDH-TV
Man accused of murder in death of pregnant girlfriend



Posted:  03/05/07 at 1:39 pm EST

WORCESTER, Mass. -- A Worcester man is charged with the murder of his 23-year-old pregnant girlfriend.

Police discovered Katherine MacDougall's body in an apartment on Elm Street Sunday night.

Taylor Hurst, 24, was arrested a short time later and charged with murder. He was ordered held without bail following his arraignment Monday in Central District Court in Worcester.

An autopsy is being conducted today to determine the cause of death of the victim, who was about three months pregnant.

Police Sergeant Kerry Hazelhurst told the Telegram and Gazette that MacDougall may have been dead for two days before her body was discovered.


(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press.)
Copyright ©2010 Sunbeam Television Corp.

[Ursus]

Here's the second story from the Worcester Telegram & Gazette (and the second link posted in the OP)...

[See also previous article from the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.]

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Tuesday, March 6, 2007

Woman found strangled
Boyfriend charged with murder

By Scott J. Croteau · TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
scroteau@telegram.com


Taylor Hurst is arraigned yesterday in the strangulation death of Katherine MacDougall.
(T&G Staff/MARK C. IDE)

WORCESTER —  A 23-year-old woman authorities believe was three months pregnant was allegedly strangled by her boyfriend in their Elm Street apartment Friday night and left there until police discovered her body Sunday.

Taylor Hurst, 24, of 90 Elm St., Apt. 1, was charged with murder and violation of the open container law yesterday in Central District Court. The Louisiana-born man is accused of strangling Katherine MacDougall about 7 p.m. Friday. Police said Ms. MacDougall might have been Mr. Hurst's fiancée.

Police said Mr. Hurst allegedly stayed in the apartment for a couple of days after the death, and admitted to committing the crime.

"Hurst gave a detailed statement, indicating that he killed the victim by manual strangulation on Friday," according to the police report by Detective Sgt. John W. Towns.

Ms. MacDougall's mother called police to check on her well-being Sunday, police said. The mother called the apartment, but no one answered. The mailbox on the door had the last names of Mr. Hurst and Ms. MacDougall on it.

"Her mother called out of concern," police spokesman Sgt. Kerry F. Hazelhurst said. "When officers got there, the place was in darkness — all locked up."

Detectives learned that the couple had been recently engaged, according to Detective Capt. Edward J. McGinn Jr. Police understand that the child was Mr. Hurst's, he added.

Authorities are still investigating the slaying.

"We don"t know exactly what the motive was," Capt. McGinn said.

When police went to the home, no one responded. They then alerted patrols to be on the lookout for the young woman. A description of her car was also given.

Authorities went back to the apartment about 10 p.m. Sunday and entered the home, after finding someone who had a key.

"Once inside, police immediately became suspicious, and ultimately located the body of the 23-year-old woman within the apartment," police said.

Ms. MacDougall, who worked at Staples headquarters in Framingham, was pronounced dead by paramedics. She was found in the bathroom of the apartment, which was described as well-kept and decorated with several family pictures.

About the time police were entering the apartment, Officer Joseph P. Hearn saw a 2000 green Pontiac Grand Prix, described as the victim's car, near Washington Square.

Mr. Hurst was found inside drinking a Budweiser beer, according to court records. He was arrested for the open container violation, taken to the station and interviewed by police.

The woman's family told authorities that Ms. MacDougall was three months pregnant, but police did not have medical records to confirm it, Sgt. Hazelhurst said.

Mr. Hurst has not been charged with any crimes related to ending the pregnancy.

"The stance being taken right now is, we are not pursuing those charges," the sergeant said.

Capt. McGinn said it is the department's understanding that the fetus would not have been viable outside the uterus.

The exact cause of Ms. MacDougall's death has not been determined, Sgt. Hazelhurst said. An autopsy was scheduled yesterday at the office of the state medical examiner.

There were no records in court or of calls to police regarding any past domestic violence at the apartment the two shared.

"There has been no history of domestic abuse between either parties," Sgt. Hazelhurst said.

The couple moved into the first-floor apartment of the three-story building about two months ago, according to Joel Fisak, who lives with his wife in the apartment directly above.

He described them as quiet loners.

"We rarely saw them," he said, but added that there is little interaction among the tenants at 90 Elm St. "I've never seen the people on the third floor. I just found it strange that she was 23 and never had any friends over. Neither did he."

A couple of weeks ago, Mr. Fisak encountered Mr. Hurst about 2 a.m. pacing back and forth outside the apartment building while a cab waited at the curb.

"He didn't do any of the things I would have done to get into my apartment like knock on the door or call out my wife's name," Mr. Fisak said. Finally Ms. MacDougall opened the door and said, "Where've you been?"

"My heart goes out to her parents," Mr. Fisak said. "Parents should never have to bury their children."

Mr. Hurst was held without bail in a quick arraignment yesterday. His case was continued to March 30. He wore a white sterile jumpsuit provided by police after they seized his clothing, which will be examined for evidence.

Mark Melady of the Telegram & Gazette staff contributed to this report.


© 2010 Worcester Telegram & Gazette Corp.

[Ursus]

And another article from the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, a coupla days later:

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Thursday, March 8, 2007

Boyfriend seen fleeing slaying site
Victim found in bathtub

By Scott J. Croteau · TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
scroteau@telegram.com

WORCESTER —  The man accused of killing his girlfriend Friday night was seen fleeing the apartment Sunday afternoon when the woman's mother went to the home to check on her daughter, according to court records.

Katherine MacDougall's mother saw Taylor Hurst take off from 90 Elm St., Apt. 1, the apartment the couple shared, when she went there Sunday, a search warrant affidavit on file in Central District Court states.

The mother "called out to Hurst, but he drove away at a high rate of speed" in Ms. MacDougall's green 2000 Pontiac Grand Prix, Detective Sgt. John W. Towns wrote in the affidavit.

The couple, who reportedly had been recently engaged, apparently had a fight Thursday night, police said. A motive for the slaying is still under investigation, Detective Capt. Edward J. McGinn Jr. said yesterday.

Ms. MacDougall's mother called police to check on her daughter's welfare and later that night, once police found someone who had a key to the locked first-floor apartment, they found the young woman dead.

The body of 23-year-old Ms. MacDougall was found face down in the bathtub, records said. She was partially clothed and appeared to have suffered some blunt trauma in the area of her face, the sergeant wrote. She was pronounced dead by paramedics.

Court records said Mr. Hurst admitted to killing the young woman by manually strangling her. The affidavit said police recovered a letter from the apartment describing it as an "apology type, handwritten note." There was no other information about the note contained in the affidavit.

Family told police the couple had been recently engaged and Ms. MacDougall was three months pregnant with Mr. Hurst's child. Mr. Hurst, 24, was charged Monday in Central District Court with murder and violation of the open container law.

The Louisiana-born man is being held without bail and will return to court at the end of the month. Mr. Hurst allegedly strangled Ms. MacDougall about 7 p.m. Friday.

"We have reason to believe there was some discord there the day before (her death)," Capt. McGinn said. An autopsy conducted Monday listed strangulation as the cause of death.

Mr. Hurst allegedly spent all day Saturday and some of Sunday in the apartment while Ms. MacDougall's body was in the bathroom. The affidavit said investigators found a 128 ounce bottle nearly full of urine in the apartment.

Police were looking for the Pontiac Grand Prix Sunday and it was found near Washington Square. Mr. Hurst was inside drinking a beer, records said. Police arrested Mr. Hurst for having the open container of alcohol.

Around the same time, police discovered that Ms. MacDougall was dead in the apartment.

Detectives interviewed Mr. Hurst about 1 a.m. Monday and at that time he allegedly admitted to the crime.

"Hurst gave a detailed statement, indicating that he killed the victim by manual strangulation on Friday," according to the police reports.

Police had not responded to the home for any kind of domestic calls. Neighbors said the couple had only been living in the apartment for a couple of months.


© 2010 Worcester Telegram & Gazette Corp.

[Ursus]

Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Saturday, March 10, 2007

Solemn vigil


(T&G Staff / MARK C. IDE)

WORCESTER —  People gather at Elm and Sever streets yesterday for a vigil for Katherine MacDougall, a 23-year-old pregnant woman and resident of 90 Elm St., Apt. 1, who was found strangled in her apartment Sunday. Her live-in boyfriend, Taylor Hurst, 24, has been charged with murder. Those who attended yesterday’s vigil, sponsored by Women Together, created a memorial at the site.


© 2010 Worcester Telegram & Gazette Corp.

[Ursus]

Apparently, after having allegedly murdered Katherine MacDougall, Taylor Hurst may traded in the ring he had given her ... in order to obtain some crack:

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

7NEWS WHDH.com
Police locate diamond ring belonging to murdered woman

Posted:  03/12/07 at 9:13 am EDT

WORCESTER, Mass. -- Police in Worcester say a diamond engagement ring belonging to a pregnant woman who was found murdered earlier this month has been found at a house in the city known for drug activity.

Police had been looking for the ring since 23-year-old Katherine MacDougall was found strangled in the apartment she shared with her boyfriend, Taylor Hurst.

Hurst has been charged with the killing and is being held without bail.

Detective Captain Edward McGinn says investigators believe Hurst may have traded the ring -- valued at several thousand dollars -- for drugs.

McGinn tells the Telegram and Gazette of Worcester that there is evidence Hurst used crack cocaine sometime after MacDougall's death.


(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press.)

[Ursus]

Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Monday, March 12, 2007

Ring was traded for drugs
Diamonds scored fiancé's cocaine

By Scott J. Croteau · TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
http://www.antsmarching.org, Ms. MacDougall described a ring given to her by Mr. Hurst during a dinner out. The site allows fans of the band to converse about a range of subjects.

"We both ordered martinis and we start to chat. He pulled out a little wrapped box from his pocket and hands it to me, I love you, Merry x-mas," Ms. MacDougall wrote on Oct. 26. "I opened the box and it is the most beautiful ring. A big pink sapphaire (sic) surrounded by 10 diamonds, so sparkly."

She said Mr. Hurst didn't ask her to marry her at the time. "No he didnt (sic) ask me to marry him (thank god!!)," she wrote. The story said the two shared a romantic kiss only to have Ms. MacDougall's hair catch fire from the candle on the table.

"Everytime (sic) I show someone my ring, I have to bring up that story," she said under the name NewEnglandCutie. "Everytime (sic) I go to dinner with him, we always make sure that if theres (sic) a candle, we blow it out."

The young woman who grew up in Randolph and Dedham and attended Salem State College for a couple of years allegedly fought with Mr. Hurst sometime before her death, police said.

Records on file in Central District Court said Mr. Hurst admitted to manually strangling Ms. MacDougall sometime in the evening on March 2. Ms. MacDougall's mother, concerned about her daughter, went to the home March 4, but no one answered the door.

The mother told police she saw Mr. Hurst drive away in her daughter's car. Police were then called to the home and around 10 that night they found Ms. MacDougall's body and an "apology-type" letter inside, court records said.

Police were looking for the Pontiac Grand Prix Sunday and found it near Washington Square with Mr. Hurst inside drinking a beer, records said. Police arrested Mr. Hurst for having the open container of alcohol. They later interviewed him about Ms. MacDougall's death.

"Hurst gave a detailed statement, indicating that he killed the victim by manual strangulation on Friday," according to the police reports.

More postings on the Dave Matthews Band fan Web site show that on Jan. 18 Ms. MacDougall and Mr. Hurst had found out they were having a baby. She said Mr. Hurst, who was born in Louisiana, was thinking about rejoining the military. In previous posts, Ms. MacDougall said Mr. Hurst was in the Navy before they met in Massachusetts.

"He thinks he can join the military and they will take care of me, him and the baby," she wrote. "He thinks this is the best option, instead of working 2 $10/hr jobs. I told him its (sic) not that easy, and I would prefer to struggle to make ends meet together, than be alone raising a baby, while he's off in the military."

Mr. Hurst allegedly said if the two were married the military would pay for housing and living expenses. She asked for advice from others on the Web site.

Ms. MacDougall, who worked for Staples at their corporate office in Framingham, also was looking for a Web site where she could use pictures of Mr. Hurst and herself to see what the baby might look like.

After her death, friends posted messages on Ms. MacDougall's myspace.com Web site, referring to her as Katie, and said their goodbyes to the avid Red Sox fan who one friend said had a "contagious smile."

One friend noted that Ms. MacDougall mentioned being excited about getting married and having a baby.

Ms. MacDougall and Mr. Hurst had a long-distance relationship during some of their time together. She said Mr. Hurst was in Louisiana at some point during their relationship. She posted on the band fan Web site that they could move to Louisiana, where Mr. Hurst's parents live and own a cattle company.

"He can raise cows and I can raise a baby," she said in a Jan. 18 posting.


© 2010 Worcester Telegram & Gazette Corp.

[Ursus]

A little over a year later, as his trial is approaching its inevitable conclusion, Mr. Hurst is given a gift of extraordinary mercy:

"Yes, what Taylor did was horrible and inexcusable. But was it unforgivable?"

-- Damien MacDougall, VICTIM'S BROTHER

[/list]

-------------- • -------------- • --------------

Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Friday, May 9, 2008

Mercy out of tragedy
Slain woman’s kin urges reduced charge

By Gary V. Murray · TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
gmurray@telegram.com


Taylor Hurst and the late Katherine MacDougall, as seen in 2007 on the Web site myspace.com.

WORCESTER —  In an unusual display of forgiveness and compassion seldom seen in a courtroom, Katherine MacDougall's family urged a judge yesterday to allow the man accused of her murder to plead guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter.

Ms. MacDougall was 23 years old and three months pregnant when she was found strangled last March in the apartment at 90 Elm St. that she shared with her fiancé, Taylor Hurst. Mr. Hurst, born and raised in Louisiana, later admitted to police that he killed Ms. MacDougall on the night of March 2, 2007, by choking the life out of her with his own hands. He also acknowledged to investigators that he had been smoking crack cocaine on a regular basis.

After her death, police say, Mr. Hurst traded a diamond ring he had given Ms. MacDougall for more drugs.

Investigators learned from the victim's mother, Sheila Jewell of Randolph, that Ms. MacDougall and Mr. Hurst got into an argument on the night of the slaying. Ms. MacDougall told her mother Mr. Hurst left the apartment, but later returned and everything was all right. It was the last time Mrs. Jewell spoke with her daughter.

Mr. Hurst, 25, who was charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of Ms. MacDougall, was sentenced to 18 to 20 years in state prison yesterday after pleading guilty in Worcester Superior Court to voluntary manslaughter. The charge concession and the term of imprisonment imposed by Judge John S. McCann were jointly recommended by Assistant District Attorney Maura K. McCarthy and Mr. Hurst's lawyer, Christopher P. LoConto.

While the prosecution had planned to seek a murder conviction in the case, Ms. MacDougall's family asked that Mr. Hurst be allowed to plead guilty to manslaughter, according to Ms. McCarthy. Mr. LoConto said members of the victim's family recently met with his client at their request and extended Mr. Hurst an "expression of forgiveness" that has helped him deal with his guilt and grief.

Mr. Hurst had been held at Bridgewater State Hospital while awaiting trial. Mr. LoConto said he is suffering from depression and has been suicidal at times.

"In the course of trying to make sense of all of this, from blaming ourselves to anger with Taylor, to a sense of hopelessness that things would never be OK again, we have had to ask ourselves some difficult and important questions," Ms. MacDougall's brother, Damien MacDougall, said in an impact statement read in court yesterday.

"The biggest of these were about love, about Katie's love for Taylor and about Taylor's love for Katie.

In exploring the depths of these issues, we have come to an amazing conclusion," Mr. MacDougall wrote.

Under the circumstances, he said, the family naturally had to question whether Mr. Hurst's professed love for his fiancée was real.

"But we also realize that Taylor was under the influence of very powerful drugs," the victim's brother said.

"Yes, what Taylor did was horrible and inexcusable. But was it unforgivable? We all know what it means to need forgiveness and have chosen not to withhold such from anyone. God implores us to forgive as we have been forgiven," Mr. MacDougall said on behalf of his family.

"So, in questioning whether or not Taylor could love Katie and still do something so horrible, we believe that he could, and did, and still does."

Mr. MacDougall said his family believed Ms. MacDougall was aware of Mr. Hurst's drug problem, but "chose not to abandon the man she loved despite the obvious challenges she would face.

"In the end, she paid with her life, but she never gave up on Taylor. We have decided to honor her by continuing what she has begun as well as we can, beginning with choosing forgiveness and mercy for Taylor and, in the end, choosing to love him," Mr. MacDougall wrote.

The slain woman's sibling urged Judge McCann to adopt the disposition of the case proposed by the lawyers, saying it would "satisfy the needs of the commonwealth for justice" and the family's desire for "mercy" for Mr. Hurst.

"As we have mentioned before, we have had to ask ourselves how we can ever go on with life and we have found that answer — love expressed through mercy," Mr. MacDougall said.


© 2010 Worcester Telegram & Gazette Corp.

[along comes mary]

I knew Taylor.

He was pretty much par for the course, as HLA detainees went. He was pretty much par for the course as OVERALL American high school boys in 1999 went.
He wanted to be liked and admired.. he wanted girls to want to have sex with him.. he was constantly trying balance his own personality with that of his peers, and although he was often callous as a part of this face management strategy, I wouldn't say he was without compassion or empathy.


There was a back and forth here over Taylor's crime and whether it was related to HLA, so, to wit:


1.) First, let me point out that a person's high school experience often informs their self-concept well into adulthood. The average male brain isn't fully developed until age 24.
Taylor was 15 when I met him.

These are formative years, critical for identity development and acquisition of personal morals, and I think we may all do well to pause and consider what effect it may have to spend formative years in an institution such as Hidden Lake Academy, where trust is impossible with peers, the idealized role-models (counselors) abuse power and display dispassion towards their wards, and other examples of adult behavior (restriction staff for example) are people who consistently model sadism.

(Social Learning Theory, anyone??)



2.) A second assertion: Children WERE traumatized at Hidden Lake Academy .

I know of many students with PTSD diagnoses, made by licensed professionals in full accordance with DSM-IV, and explicitly linked to his or her experiences at HLA (myself included).

I won't bother with the defense of this assertion here, as it is well documented under other topics for anyone with opposable thumbs to find.



3.) I would now ask you to consider what you know about PTSD and violence.

Perhaps you recall hearing news coverage of cases wherein soldiers returned home from deployment, only to "snap?"
That is PTSD in action.

Numerous cases exist of these men suddenly murdering their family members. (P.T.S.D.)

If you can't use a search engine, this link is a start:
http://http://ptsdcombat.blogspot.com/2006/12/ptsd-timeline-latest-incidents.html

 

4.) Taylor Hurst is being tried for his fiancee's murder, and will likely be found quilty. (We all agree on that much, right?)

Right.

...
...

* * * * * * * * * * *

So, to reverse engineer a summation:

* Taylor Hurst murdered his fiancee and unborn son.

* There are numerous cases of uxoricide and filicide being committed by individuals with Post-Traumatic Stress.

* Professionals have determined cases of Post-Traumatic Stress to have a causative relationship with internment at Hidden Lake Academy.
 
* Taylor Hurst was interred at Hidden Lake Academy for at least two of his formative teenage years.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Correlation is not the same as causation, and so I am not stating that Taylor committed murder as a result of his time at HLA.

I would, HOWEVER, love to see HLA participate in study examining PTSD and the prevalence of violent behavior among its former detainees.

If you are an advocate of Hidden Lake Academy, and keen to challenge any of these assertions, I would first challenge you to lobby for just such research to be conducted (lest you come across as either a pawn of HLA or, worse, a person who would put more effort into protecting an ethically and legally questionable institution than into protecting the children who have been kept there... and those they may grow up to slaughter...).

[Oscar]

Has anyone written to his defense laywer about the possibility that he would suffer from PTSD as result of his stay at HLA?

Not that I in any way can accept his actions, but the possibility of letting the trial being an eye-opener for the problems residential treatment can bring along should not be untried.