Judge bars some statements, allows others in 2 upcoming murder trials of Bend man charged in 3 deaths

(Update: Adding judge's opinion)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – A judge has issued a split ruling on statements made to police by a Bend man facing two murder trials in coming months in the deaths of a woman and two brothers-in-law – allowing some statements, but not others, including when he told officers he hit the woman in the head.

Randall Kilby, 38, is scheduled to go on trial Dec. 5 on two counts each of first- and second-degree murder in the March 20, 2021 killing of brothers-in-law Jeffrey Taylor, 66, and Benjamin Taylor, 69. And he’s due to go on trial Jan. 9 on a second-degree murder charge in the Christmas Day 2020 assault and subsequent early 2021 death at St. Charles Bend of Daphne Dawn Banks, 43.

Presiding Crook and Jefferson counties Circuit Judge Annette Hillman issued an Oct. 20 opinion, ruling on statements Kilby made to police that related to both cases.

Kilby was arrested on Dec. 26, 2020, accused of assaulting Banks, a friend, the previous day, but charges were not immediately filed, and he was released two days later.

Before the year ended, Hillman noted, Kilby’s attorney told police he would make no more statements to police about the case without counsel present. Police, meanwhile, “suspended their investigation pending further evidence; however, Mr. Kilby remained a suspect in her death,” she wrote.

In March 2021, police arrested Kilby in the hatchet deaths of the Taylors, whose bodies were found in their home, where Kilby lived in the detached garage. He also was charged in Banks' death at that time.

The parties agreed to have Hillman rule jointly on defense motions to suppress Kilby’s statements in both cases because, the judge wrote, “the arguments and evidence were similar in both cases and defendant’s statements were made during the same interview” with Bend Police Sgts. Whitney Dickson and James Kinsella. Dickson said she had intended to focus the interview on the Taylors’ deaths, but Hillman noted that officers did question Kilby about Banks’ death.

Prosecutors claimed the statements should be allowed in both cases, as there had been no formal charges filed in either case when the five-hour interview was conducted, although Kilby had been arrested as a suspect in the Taylors’ killings and was read his Miranda rights against self-incrimination.

Hillman ruled that neither Dickson nor Kinsella “asked any questions that could objectively be construed as eliciting incriminating evidence about the murder of Daphne Banks prior to the defendant’s statements about what happened to the Taylors.”

The judge said statements Kilby initially made regarding the Taylors is admissible, but not what he said after his rights were violated in regards to the Banks case -- after Kinsella asked, “Are you talking about Daphne?” and then, “Is there anything else that you think that you would need to take ownership for, other than like what we’re talking about with Jeff and Ben?”

“At which point defendant makes statements about hitting Daphne in the head and officers continue with questions directly about the death of Daphne Banks,” Hillman wrote.

After that, the judge ruled, “It was objectively reasonably foreseeable that the questioning will lead to incriminating evidence concerning the offense for which the defendant has obtained counsel.”

Hillman noted an Oregon Supreme Court ruling “set forth that at the earliest, the right to counsel attaches at the time a defendant has been taken into formal custody,” as he had been earlier in the Banks case.

Deschutes County District Attorney Steve Gunnels said last week his office is reviewing the impact of the ruling on the two cases, but that they expect the Dec. 5 murder trial in the Taylors’ deaths will proceed as scheduled.

Here is Judge Hillman's ruling on the evidence motions (warning: graphic language):