Who is Von Lester Taylor & Where Is He Now? 2025 Update & Background
Von Lester Taylor was born on March 26, 1965, in Utah. By his mid-20s, he had already accumulated a criminal record that included aggravated burglary. At the time of the Tiede cabin murders, Taylor was on parole and residing in a Salt Lake City halfway house. His criminal history and status as a parolee would later become a point of public outrage after the violent events of December 1990.
Taylor, along with fellow parolee Edward Steven Deli, walked away from the halfway house in violation of his release conditions. The two men traveled into the mountainous Oakley region of Utah with the intent to commit burglary. Armed with a .44 Magnum revolver and a .38 Special, they targeted remote cabins during the holiday season, looking for valuables and supplies.
- “Live to Tell: Three Days Before Christmas”: 48 Hours Revisits Tiede Cabin Homicides December 20 2025
- Who is Edward Steven Deli & Where Is He Now? 2025 Update & Background
Crimes Committed
On December 22, 1990, Taylor and Deli broke into the Tiede family’s cabin in Oakley. When Kaye Tiede, her mother Beth Potts, and daughter Linae arrived, Taylor held them at gunpoint. Shortly after, he fatally shot both Kaye and Beth. Later that day, when Rolf Tiede and 16-year-old Tricia arrived, Taylor shot Rolf in the face with birdshot. Believing Rolf was dead, the men set the cabin on fire and kidnapped the two daughters, forcing them to flee on snowmobiles.
Taylor and Deli were captured after a police chase that ended with gunfire. Investigators later found the family’s camcorder, which had been used by Taylor and Deli to film themselves opening the Tiede family’s Christmas presents inside the ransacked cabin.
Trial and Conviction
Taylor pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated murder in May 1991. In return, lesser charges were dropped, though the prosecution still pursued the death penalty. After a short deliberation, the jury unanimously recommended a death sentence. Taylor opted for lethal injection as his preferred method of execution.
Over the years, Taylor filed numerous appeals, including claims of ineffective counsel and newly discovered evidence related to potential brain damage. In 2020, a federal judge briefly overturned his conviction and death sentence. However, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals later reinstated both, citing Utah’s legal standard that holds accomplices equally liable. In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a further appeal.
Where Is He Now?
As of 2025, Von Lester Taylor remains on death row at the Utah State Correctional Facility. He continues to file post-conviction appeals, with a fifth appeal submitted to a Utah state court in 2023. His execution has not yet been scheduled. Taylor’s case remains one of the most widely cited examples in Utah of the state’s application of the death penalty and its treatment of accomplice liability in capital cases.
More “Live to Tell: Three Days Before Christmas”
- “Live to Tell: Three Days Before Christmas”: 48 Hours Revisits Tiede Cabin Homicides December 20 2025
- Who is Von Lester Taylor & Where Is He Now? 2025 Update & Background
- Who is Edward Steven Deli & Where Is He Now? 2025 Update & Background
