A man involved in a Ware County murder investigation in 2017 has been charged with the murder of a New York woman, authorities in that state said last week.
Robert Taplin, 35, was charged Tuesday, August 4, with the stabbing death of Kristen Parker, 37, of Watertown, N.Y., police there said. Taplin, who police said admitted to the crime, was charged with multiple felonies resulting from the investigation of the murder of Margaret Steverson in January, 2017, Ware County Sheriff’s Office Major Neil Skerratt said last week.
Taplin was convicted on those charges, which included first degree arson, bringing stolen property (a vehicle) into the state, and sentenced to 10 years in prison. According to the Georgia Department of Corrections offender search, Taplin was released from the system July 15 of this year.
Parker was found stabbed to death at a Watertown apartment after police responded to the scene at 1:34 p.m. August 4, they said. Taplin’s listed address was the apartment next to the unit where the stabbing occurred, authorities said.
Taplin was arrested around 3 p.m. in Watertown, police said. They said he admitted to the crime when questioned.
Taplin was charged with second-degree murder and arraigned in Jefferson County CAP Court. He’s being held in the county jail without bail.
Police declined to say whether Taplin and Parker knew each other. They said the investigation is ongoing.
According to the New York State Sex Offender Registry, Taplin also is a convicted sex offender. The registry shows he was convicted in 2013 on a third-degree rape charge for having sex with a 14year-old girl and was sentenced to 18 months to three years in prison.
In 2017, Taplin and another North Country, N.Y., man, later identified as Caleb John Brow, were arrested in connection with Steverson’s murder. According to the WCSO report, the 72-year-old woman was found stabbed in her home January 21, 2017 in the 1500 block of Gorman Road following a home invasion, the report said.
Steverson was alive when authorities arrived, the report said, but later died from the wounds after being transported to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla.
A call at 2:25 a.m. for a vehicle fire on Red King Road near the Ware County Saddle Club. The vehicle was a 2013 Subaru Legacy registered to a person in Watertown, N.Y., the report said.
The incident led to another call about 2:37 for a home invasion on Gorman Road. The events were within about a half-mile of each other.
Taplin, 25 at the time, was later found with the help of a K-9 patrol hiding in a doghouse after being spotted fleeing on foot. Waycross Police later found Brow on Albany Avenue after discovering an abandoned vehicle along nearby railroad tracks.
Taplin was not charged in the murder. Brow, who was 20 at the time, was charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, home invasion, first degree burglary, attempted armed robbery, possession of a knife in the commission of a felony, elder abuse, and entering an auto.
According to GDC records, Brow was convicted for Steverson’s murder and received life in prison. He entered the correctional system in April, 2018.
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