JONESTOWN, Pa. -- Kenneth Alan White, the man charged in November in the slaying of an Ellicott City woman 13 years ago, says he's not surprised the state dropped its case against him.
But he is angry.
"I'm so angry. My life is hell -- I can't pay my bills. I have no money," White, 47, said yesterday at his nephew's home here. "I was convicted without even having a hearing."
This month, Howard County prosecutors -- after a grand jury decision not to indict White -- quietly dropped a first-degree murder charge against him. They had accused him of killing Sandra Lee Taylor, 31, mother of two young children.
White came home to the Lebanon Valley area Feb. 6.
Since then, he has been turned down for several jobs after potential employers learned he had been charged with murder.
White vigorously denies killing Taylor, whose remains were found in August 1995 in a shallow stream off Route 99 in Woodstock.
Police long suspected him in connection with Taylor's slaying, saying he was seen kissing her at an Oella bar early on New Year's Day 1985. Police said White was seen leaving the bar with Taylor and that Taylor's brother saw her entering a car that matched the description of White's.
But yesterday White denied ever meeting Taylor and said he has evidence to prove it.
White said that on the advice of his public defender, he won't reveal that evidence.
"I never saw her. I don't remember seeing her," White said. "I didn't kill her. I don't know why the [police] are coming after me."
After screaming that police and newspapers ruined his life, White answered questions in a calm voice.
He sat talking at his nephew's home at a table cluttered with magazines, dishes, an ashtray and papers. He is staying with the nephew because he says there is nowhere else for him to go.
White said police never looked for another suspect and he doesn't understand why they arrested him 13 years after Taylor's disappearance.
L "They focused on me and didn't look anywhere else," he said.
He said he always cooperated with investigators, despite friends' warnings that they had been questioned about him.
White said people are still asking him about the crime.
He claims police left his apartment doors unlocked after searching it in November, allowing thieves to steal his valuables.
A typical day, White said, begins at 7 a.m., when he starts looking for work. Sometimes, he helps his nephew at odd jobs.
Yesterday, he visited the state unemployment office, but officials there said he would probably not find work because of his arrest.
"I've been to churches looking for money to run my truck to look for jobs," he said.
But he said the worst thing about his ordeal was that he was in jail over Thanksgiving, Christmas and his daughter's 10th birthday.
Howard County detectives said yesterday they are optimistic that a break in the case will surface and said they will keep their attention focused on White.
But White said they're looking in the wrong direction.
"I never killed anybody," he said. "All my rights were violated."
Pub Date: 2/25/98
