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Police say the victim was killed in a dispute over clothing. The suspect was arrested in North Florida.
By JANE MEINHARDT
© St. Petersburg Times, published May 12, 2000
CLEARWATER -- Mark A. Taylor apparently died over the theft of another man's clothing.
Police announced Thursday that the owner of the clothing was arrested in North Florida and accused of using a board to fatally beat Taylor in Clearwater on April 29.
Thomas James Rudy, 33, was being held in Suwannee County Jail in Live Oak on a charge of first-degree murder.
Clearwater police Sgt. Doug Griffith said detectives investigating Taylor's death traced Rudy to Suwannee County, where deputies arrested him about noon Wednesday as he drove north on Interstate 75, north of Interstate 10.
Rudy was held on driver's license violations until a Pinellas County circuit judge signed a first-degree-murder warrant at 2 a.m. Thursday.
He is accused of forcing his way into Taylor's apartment at 10071/2 Osceola Ave. about 3 a.m. Saturday. Armed with a board, he hit Taylor several times in the upper body, police say. Taylor, 39, died from the blows.
Taylor's 35-year-old girlfriend, Veronica Weaver, was hit on the head during the attack, suffering minor injuries. Weaver could not be reached Thursday.
Rudy, who is from Michigan, was living in North Carolina until recently.
"He was just moving down here," Griffith said. "That was a couple of weeks before this happened."
Sometime last week, Rudy left clothing in a suitcase on the porch of a friend in Taylor's neighborhood. Taylor took some of the clothing, he said.
The attack on Taylor, who worked for a landscape maintenance company, was in retaliation for the theft, police say.
Griffith said another person was with Rudy during the attack. He refused to identify the person, who is considered a witness until the Pinellas-Pasco state attorney's office decides if charges are warranted.
Taylor's slaying was the second in as many days. On April 28, Marion "Missy" Cato, 31, was found dead near the Rio Motel at 1488 Gulf-to-Bay Blvd.
Police say she died from upper-body trauma. The Tennessee woman had lived at several addresses after moving to Pinellas about eight months ago.