Orange Taylor III (c. 1986 - ) was arrested on February 23, 2007, and accused of the rape and murder of EMU student Laura Dickinson, who was found dead in her dorm room just before the holiday break in December 2006. His first trial resulted in a hung jury on October 23, 2007 - while there was evidence that Taylor had been in Dickinson's room after her death, two jurors were not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that he was responsible for her death, as the coroner had been unable to rule out a pre-existing heart condition as the cause of death.

Taylor, surprisingly, did not take the stand, nor were any witnesses called by the defense. While Taylor's DNA matched semen found on Dickinson's body, his attorney, Alvin Keel suggested that Taylor had found the partially naked body and masturbated over it. The Ann Arbor News quoted Keel as saying, "It may be somewhat freaky. But does that make it murder? No."

Taylor was retried and found guilty of felony murder in April 2008.

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