Food, clothing, banking fees and large cash withdrawals: How Richard Taylor spent his money

Shopping sprees at Nike; food from McDonalds; hundreds of dollars spent at Shoppers Drug Mart and Walmart; and large cash withdrawals, sometimes more than once a day: Richard Taylor was spending money he didn't have.

In the year and a half leading up to the fire that killed his mom and stepdad, the 46-year-old father and former schoolteacher was spending $10,900 a month on average - about $2,000 more than he and his wife were making monthly, court heard Wednesday.

Banking records show no single, significant purchases, but rather a pattern of overspending on household items, including clothing and food, interest payments and banking fees, and unexplained cash withdrawals of more than $3,000 a month.

Taylor, who is known as Rich, is accused of two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his mom, Carla Rutherford, 64, and her husband, Alan Rutherford, 63. The retired couple were killed in a fire deliberately set in their bedroom at 8 Greening Crt. in Dundas early on the morning of July 9, 2018. Court has heard that, with his dying words, Alan told several people Rich was responsible and he did it for money.

At the trial Wednesday, forensic accountant Aaron Chan walked the court through an analysis he did of the six accounts tied to Rich and his then-wife, Evangelia Taylor, at the time of the fire. He also looked at Rich's finances in the six months after the murders, where overspending continued.

Over two years in 2017 and 2018, approximately $86,000 in cash was withdrawn, court heard. Chan said there was no way to know what that cash was spent on, or even if it was spent at all.

Evangelia previously testified that Rich handled the finances and she had no idea they were in debt until after his arrest. For two years, she didn't have a credit card or debit card and relied on her husband giving her cash.

When police searched the couple's Oakville home they found banking records that showed more than $100,000 in savings. These are records Evangelia said Rich gave her. Police also found faked bank records in a bag taken from Rich's office at Hess Street School, where he worked until his arrest.

Chan compared the records found in the Taylors' home to the real banking records and found huge differences. For instance, one report found in the home showed $131,261 in a savings account. In reality, that account was negative $172.

On the afternoon of July 8, 2018, hours before her death, Carla transferred her oldest son $500.

On the day of the fire, Chan said, the Taylors owed more than $105,000 to various accounts. That's on top of the $130,000 owing on their mortgage.

Court has already heard that Rich's dad and Rich's friend loaned him money for a side business he launched working with reclaimed barnwood. It was one of several woodworking businesses Rich had. But it appears very little of the tens of thousands loaned went to the business.

Chan said there was a pattern in the accounts that showed purchases on the same day that loan money appeared in Rich's accounts. For instance, on the same day as one of the loans from his friend Jeremy Paikin, there were seven transactions, including a $2,000 cash withdrawal.

In 2017, Paikin loaned Rich just over $13,000, yet just $3,000 was spent on wood products, court heard.

The banking records showed the accounts bouncing between negative and positive. One of his accounts charged him $48 every time there were insufficient funds.

On one occasion, the bank records show Rich tried to write a $2,000 cheque from one account to the other, but the cheque bounced, he was charged a fee and it triggered a cascade" that led to his and Evangelia's wages being garnished.

After the fire, the spending continued.

On Aug. 18, 2018, a cheque for $17,693 from Carla's life insurance company was deposited into Rich's account. That same day, there was a $4,000 cash withdrawal. Within eight days - during which time he also received a paycheque - the account was already down to $10,000. By October, the account was once again in the negative.

In addition to the life insurance money, Rich received at least $21,723 transferred from a joint account with his brother that was created to disburse money from their mom's tax-free savings account. Court heard there were unexplained withdrawals from that account.

The trial continues Thursday.

Nicole O'Reilly is a crime and justice reporter at The Spectator. noreilly@thespec.com