'I shot him': the 1964 deathbed confession that solved Hollywood's most notorious silent-era murder

Margaret was born in Colorado in 1894, and began working as a stage actress at 12 years old to support her family after her father left. She transitioned to onscreen roles in 1912 and met actor William Desmond Taylor while working at the same film studio. 

The pair went on to make four films together: The Love of Tokiwa, The Riders of Petersham, The Kiss and A Little Madonna. Margaret was embroiled in a major scandal in 1917 when she was arrested for vagrancy and accused of drug dealing. 

Although she was acquitted of the crime, the actress's reputation was tainted, and so she began to make movies under the name Patricia Palmer. Meanwhile, William was born in Ireland in 1872 and moved to the US to kickstart his acting career. 

He married an actress and welcomed a child with her before abandoning them in 1908, and she was granted a divorce four years later. William, who was known to be a heavy drinker and womaniser, acted in 27 films between 1913 and 1915, and directed 59 of his own between 1914 and 1922.

William was found dead inside his home in Los Angeles around 7:30 a.m. on February 2, 1922, by his valet, Henry Peavey, lying in a pool of blood and impeccably dressed. By the time police arrived on the scene, several of his associates were inside, rifling through his belongings and reportedly removing anything incriminating, thus tampering with the crime scene.

Authorities determined that William had died from the gunshot wound in his back the previous night. Robbery was quickly ruled out as a motive, as he was found with several valuables on his person, like his diamond ring, his silver cigarette case and cash.

The only lead that investigators had to go on was that William's neighbour, Faith McLean, claimed to have seen a clean-shaven, medium-build man leaving his home the night of the murder, wearing a cap and dark clothing.

Several suspects were investigated in the wake of William's murder, including his former valet and cook, Edward Sands, who reportedly forged his employer's signature on checks and burgled his home. Henry Peavey, William's valet and the first person to discover his body, also came under suspicion due to his eccentricities and for being arrested for "social vagrancy" a few days before the director's murder.

Another major suspect in the case was actress Mabel Normand, who was thought to have been William's lover at the time of his death. Mabel had asked William for help in ending her cocaine addiction, and according to Robert Giroux's book A Deed of Death, he had met with federal prosecutors to prepare to testify against her drug dealers and help her sever that tie. 

As such, one of the leading theories about his murder was that Mabel's dealers learned of William's intentions to out them and hired a hitman to keep him quiet. The actress was said to be the last person to see William alive, and left his home around 7:45 p.m. on February 1. Ultimately, Mabel was ruled out as a suspect and was reportedly inconsolable at his funeral.

The police's fourth suspect was Mary Miles Minter, a former child star who had worked with William and became infatuated with him, despite their 30-year age gap. It is widely believed that Mary's love was unrequited and that William rebuked her advances, but her mother, Charlotte Shelby, was reportedly overprotective of her and had threatened William in the past.

Charlotte had owned a .38 calibre pistol with a rare type of bullet that perfectly matched the one found in William's back, yet she reportedly threw the weapon into the Louisiana bayou when suspicions arose. Charlotte was also good friends with the LA District Attorney, and investigations into her possible involvement in the crime were dropped.

Although no one was ever arrested in relation to the murder, a detective on the case, William Michael Cahill, later said in a 1968 interview that "we were doing all right, and then about a week later we got the word to lay off the case", pointing to something strange afoot. 

A year after William's death, Margaret was arrested for her alleged involvement in a blackmail and extortion ring, but the charges were soon dropped. Her arrest damaged her career forever, and she worked sporadically in Hollywood before moving to Singapore in 1935 to marry Elbert Lewis.

After Elbert was killed in 1942 when the Japanese army bombed an oil facility he worked at in Malaysia, Margaret returned to the US and eventually settled down in LA in 1949, living on a widow's pension.

It wasn't until October 21, 1964, when Margaret suffered a heart attack inside her home, that she confessed to murdering William back in 1922. The 70-year-old had recently converted to Catholicism and wanted to confess her sins to a priest before she passed away.

Her neighbours found her, and they quickly sent for a priest, but Margaret confessed the murder to them when it became clear that the clergyman wouldn't arrive in time. Margaret had been in LA at the time of the killing, but had never been suspected of any crime in relation to William's death. 

Her neighbour later admitted that they had previously been watching TV together when a program about William's murder case came on the screen, causing Margaret to become hysterical and claim responsibility for his death.

Despite her deathbed confession, the case was never reopened, and William's murder was never solved, making it one of Hollywood's most enduring mysteries.