36 years later, Boston man’s DNA found on his spit leads to murder charge in 1988 cold case

BOSTON — More than three decades ago, police found 25-year-old Karen Taylor slain in her Roxbury apartment. She had been stabbed 15 times in the chest, head, and neck, prosecutors said in court on Friday.

Officers responding to her home on May 27, 1988 found the young mother lying face down in a pool of blood. Her 3-year-old daughter was also in the apartment. Near Taylor’s body lay a gray sweatshirt and brassiere, also covered in blood, two cigarettes, and a paycheck made out to the man now accused of killing her.

Over the years, the homicide case grew cold. But forensic evidence found on fingernail scrapings from Taylor’s right hand, and evidence found on that sweatshirt and a cigarette, would ultimately lead to the murder indictment this week of James Holloman, who is now charged in her death.

James Holloman, 65, of Dorchester, pleaded not guilty to the charge of first-degree murder during his arraignment in Suffolk Superior Court on Friday. Holloman crouched behind a doorway and court officer to shield himself while entering his plea. He was ordered held without bail without prejudice pending a hearing on Oct. 29.

DNA from Holloman’s saliva matched the full profile from DNA evidence that had been found on Taylor’s right hand, Assistant District Attorney Lynn Feigenbaum said. Detectives got a sample of Holloman’s DNA after seeing him spit on the ground outside his house last year.

“This sample was a match to the profile found underneath her fingernails,” Feigenbaum told the court, adding that Holloman’s DNA was also found on the sleeve of Taylor’s sweatshirt and on a cigarette in her bedroom.

On the afternoon of May 27, 1988, Taylor’s mother called to speak with her daughter, but Taylor’s 3-year-old daughter answered the phone. The little girl told her grandmother that her mother was sleeping and she could not wake her up, prosecutors said.

When the mother later went to Taylor’s apartment on 37 Williams St., she couldn’t get into the building. She went around the back, crawled through a first-floor window, and found her daughter lying face-down in a pool of blood, according to investigators.

When investigators questioned Holloman in June 1988, he told police that he had not seen Taylor in the weeks before her death, Feigenbaum said Friday. She added that near Taylor’s body, officers had also found Holloman’s paycheck, which had been issued the day before she was found dead.

Holloman “recently gave a statement to police that he had seen her the day before her death” but he claimed that he and Taylor did not have any physical altercation, Feigenbaum said.

Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden lauded detectives for their work that led to an arrest for Taylor’s murder.

“This is an example of superb investigative work by detectives and prosecutors using modern criminology science, but most of all it’s an opportunity for Karen Taylor’s loved ones to see someone answer for her death after so many years of unanswered questions,” Hayden said.

Defense Attorney Anthony Robert Ellison appeared in court with his client. Prosecutors said prior to the murder charge, Holloman did not have any criminal record.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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