‘He’s not welcome in St. Catharines’
Cara Taylor’s killer Elio Caputo wants freedom from Gravenhurst to visit family in Niagara
Steve Taylor has taken his sons to his sister’s gravesite, but he can’t answer their questions. They’re too young to know what happened.
“I think about my sister every day,” he said Wednesday, sitting in a St. Catharines coffee shop before work as a city bus driver.
“I have two young boys who ask how Aunt Cara passed away. It’s not something you can explain to them.”
Cara Taylor was 17 when she was murdered by her obsessed ex-boyfriend Elio Caputo in her home in 1993. The judge called it a “cold and brutal killing ” in a 1998 sentencing.
The idea that Taylor could bump into his sister’s killer in St. Catharines in the near future makes him sick to his stomach.
But he and his family were advised by authorities last week that Caputo has applied to be considered for an escorted temporary absence from his Gravenhurst jail to the St. Catharines area. The request is for “family contact” purposes.
The decision will not come from a hearing but will be made by the warden of the institution who will review information the parole officer submits.
Taylor is vehemently opposed to the idea and worries about his children’s safety. He sent a letter to Correctional Service Canada Tuesday urging it not to allow Caputo anywhere near the Niagara region.
“He changed the lives of my whole family and caused pain to all that knew her,” he wrote them.
He also posted the news on Facebook, asking anyone who has concerns about Caputo visiting the community to contact the warden at Beaver Creek Institution, correctional services or a victim services officer.
The post had 240 shares by Wednesday morning and was up to 280 a few hours later.
“A lot of people say they sent emails themselves,” Taylor said. “I’m hoping it brings awareness, that the people that make decisions are aware he’s not welcome in St. Catharines.”
Taylor said it may be inconvenient, but if Caputo wants to see his family, they should visit him in Gravenhurst, not the other way around.
“It doesn’t compare to the inconvenience to our family not having Cara.”
Cara was a student at St. Catharines Collegiate in 1993, having transferred from Merritton High School. Her brother said she was good with kids and did a co-op placement at Applewood Public School in Merritton. She was involved in a lot of activities, including drama, field hockey and figure skating. The Cara Taylor Memorial Competition continues to be held by Merritton Figure Skating Club each year in her honour.
“She had a lot of friends from all those aspects,” Taylor said.
On Feb. 2, 1993, Cara was at home in Merritton when Caputo, then 18 and obsessed with her, came over with a BB gun and threatened her. Court heard Caputo tied her wrists and mouth with duct tape and sexually assaulted her. She died of asphyxia.
Once dead, Caputo removed the tape, dressed her, carried her to her bedroom and laid her in a sleeping position.
She was found by her mother. Betty Ann Taylor told court in 1998 that it was hard to erase the image of Cara’s lifeless body from her mind. “All I could see was Cara’s face the way I had found her — distorted and anguished. What terror had she suffered at the end of her short life?”
Steve Taylor was 19 at the time of the murder and away at Sir Sandford Fleming College in Peterborough. He dropped out and came home.
Caputo initially pleaded not guilty and was found guilty of firstdegree murder by a jury in 1994. That trial was appealed and the conviction was set aside.
A second trial was set but halted so Caputo could get psychiatric treatment. He pleaded guilty in November 1998 to the reduced charge of second-degree murder. He received life in prison with no chance of parole for 18 years. The sentence began in December 1998.
Taylor said Caputo hasn’t applied for parole.
There was a hearing at the institution in October 2015 when Caputo applied for unescorted temporary absences, but he was denied.
Taylor said he was there in person with his mom, aunt and a friend of his sister to read victim impact statements. They sat behind Caputo, who wasn’t allowed to turn around.
“It still wasn’t a good feeling being in the same room with him,” Taylor said.
The Parole Board of Canada decision said Caputo at that time had “limited insight” into his offending and had yet to develop a “thorough understanding” of his “risk factors.”
A psychiatric report done at that time did not support unescorted temporary absences and a psychological report indicated prognosis was “guarded.”
The Parole Board of Canada document said Caputo has participated in escorted temporary absences for personal development and community services under escort of correctional staff or citizen volunteers without issue. He’s also participated in work release.
Taylor said those have all happened in the Gravenhurst area, not in Niagara.
A parole board spokesperson Wednesday said she couldn’t talk about the specific case.
But a letter to Taylor from Correctional Service Canada said escorted temporary absences are, in general, the first type of release an inmate may be granted and the duration is limited.
They are granted when authorities believe the inmate will not present an “undue risk to society during the absence” and their behaviour while under sentence doesn’t preclude allowing the absence. As well, it said the absences are granted if it is desirable for the inmate to be away from their institution for a reason and if there is a structured plan in place for the absence, including a specific objective to be achieved by the inmate.