American sociopath, a woman who left a tornado of destruction in her lifetime of lies, concealment, conniving, stealing, manipulation, seduction and betrayal. A Southern belle from the day of her birth, Pat was high strung and delicate, given to fainting fits and hysterics when she did not get what she wanted.
She was her grandma’s girl up to the age of five until her mom remarried and was able to take care of her. Pretty as a little doll, she was doted on by her family, and if she would eat nothing but pancakes, she was given pancakes; if she wanted only this one toy, she was given that one toy. No limits were ever put on her behavior and she learned early the right combination of sweetness and charm, manipulation and stubborn tyranny to control her environment. When her mom married on 1/08/1942, she took the family to Texas, Patricia and her deaf brother, Kent. Pat hated Kent as he took attention away from her and she was ruthless in seeing that he was blamed or ignored.
Pat never had an awkward period of adolescence but bloomed early and sweetly with the promise of her childhood beauty. At 15, she got pregnant and her 18-year-old beau, Gilbert Taylor, was happy to marry his tiny doll-bride on 9/06/1952. Their daughter Susan was born 3/04/1953, and two years later, Deborah was born, 6/14/1955. After a couple miscarriages, Ronnie was born in November 1958. Gil had entered a military career and they moved to the Philippines on assignment in 1957. Pat settled into a matronly life style, making clothes for her little girls and showing off her handsome family. If things did not go as she wanted, she was able to pitch a fit until everyone around her fell into line. She was given to scenes that spilled over into fights with the neighbors and when Gil was posted states-side, fights with Gil’s folks. The kids received their share of screaming and her son had convulsions up to the age of 12. Somehow, Pat’s environment was always one of upheaval, emotional fireworks and confrontations.
In 1963, they were posted in Germany. Pat began to complain that soldiers were making passes at her or that they were attempting to rape her. She was once seen hitting herself with heavy pans and later turned up with bruises that she claimed were from molestation, claiming that a salesman had attacked her in her own home.
The moved to Fort Bragg, NC in 1965, back near to her family. The family always backed Pat up, believed her and believed in her, protecting her when she was in the midst of mood swings and chaos. She did not have girl friends but she had her family. Other than her emotional instability, Pat was a good mother to her kids, serving in Brownie activities, giving kid’s parties, making their clothes.
All of her life, Pat had undermined her brother Kent, her competitor for family attention. She told him that his beloved was a lesbian and instead of the marriage he looked forward to, Kent shot himself to death on 2/01/1966.
When Gil drew duty in Vietnam, Pat stayed with her folks. She saw that the girls had riding lessons and Pat dreamed of having a southern mansion, her “Tara” where she would be “Scarlett.” When Gil came home in 1969, he began to work two jobs outside of his army schedule, in order to buy the property that Pat wanted, land with a big house and a riding ring. Her folks sold their home to put money into the property.
The girls were now teenagers and it was time to get them out of the nest. At Susan’s wedding on 3/27/1971, Pat was not able to relinquish the spotlight to her daughter but made an announcement that she was leaving Gil. Two days later, her other daughter, unmarried, had a baby.
Pat began to wear younger and sexier styles. No bra, mini-skirts. She liked sex and began to have affairs whenever she chose. In 1972, she had an accident in April that required surgery, being stomped by a horse, and in August, the girls were in a bad car accident. In late 1972, she met a politician, married and older, and began an affair with him that led to being put on his government payroll. When she began jockeying for marriage, he withdrew and that game was over by 1973.
Pat was 36 when she met Tom Allanson, 30 (born 4/22/1943), he was a college grad who worked as a blacksmith, a strong, calm man, 6′ 4″. They began a great romance in the fall of 1973 and married on 5/09/1974 costumed as Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler. Tom’s folks never liked Pat from the beginning, finding her flashy and crude. Family fights began to escalate, rows and gossip: Pat told everyone that Tom’s dad had exposed himself to her. On 7/03/1974, Tom’s parents were shot to death in their home.
Tom was the main suspect. He had been married 54 days. At his trial, Tom was convicted of murder in a moment of passion.
Pat saw herself as the victim. She said she’d been abused all of her life and now her husband was in jail. She said she’d been raped as a child and men were always after her and that she had nothing but bad luck. In April 1975, she cut her wrists, a superficial wound. Taken to a psychiatric clinic, she was diagnosed as Borderline Psychotic and given Thorazine.
More angry and confrontational, Pat began to plan on how she could get money. Even in jail and even with his obsession for her, Tom was feeling the effects of Pat’s machinations. She tried to convince him that their love was so profound that they should make a suicide pact. She kept the prison in an uproar, appearing with her panty-hose around her ankles and hysterically accusing the guards of attempted rape.
Pat tricked Tom’s grandfather into signing a document and began to feed him arsenic. When he collapsed on 6/10/1976, it looked like a stroke. On 8/06/1976, Pat was arrested for attempted murder, as both Paw and Nona Allanson were desperately ill and were both found to have arsenic in their systems. Her trial started on 5/02/1977 and four days later, the jury found her guilty of attempted murder. In the three years since her marriage to Tom, she had decimated his family. His parents were dead and he was in jail for their murder and his grandparents would be ill for the rest of their lives with arsenic in their bones. Pat’s own family stuck by her and still adored her. They traveled 210 miles every weekend to take her food because she hated the prison fare.
On the whole, Pat did well in prison. She got off drugs, gained 50 lbs., sewed and did craft work. The family, without her, regained some semblance of normalcy. She and Tom divorced and she took the name Pat Taylor.
After seven years, Pat was released to a halfway house in November 1984. She worked in a Pizza Hut for a while, then started her own business, “Patty’s Play Pals,” handling antique dolls and hand-made doll clothes. To supplement her income, she worked for a wealthy old couple, James and Betty Crist. When James died at Christmas 1988, he was found to have arsenic in his system and both he and his wife had been overmedicated. Jewelry was missing. On 4/17/1991, Pat was charged with assault and murder. She made a plea bargain on 6/12/1991 to go to prison on a lesser charge.
In 1997, Pat was released from prison, age 60 and 250 lbs. As much as she had tried, she had never gotten what she wanted, a southern mansion where she could live a story-book life as a beautiful belle. Instead, Pat had left a swath of chaos and loss.