That argument is consistent with much of what Taylor divulges in his conspiratorial, rambling narratives, recorded nearly 45 minutes after his arrest. In the tape Taylor also revealed he had stopped taking an antipsychotic — prescribed to him for unknown reasons, he said — nearly three months before the killings and that the medication kept him "calm."

Taylor, an East Lansing resident, former street musician and former MSU security guard, is standing trial for the murders of Frandor Rite Aid pharmacist Michael Addo and East Lansing resident Jordan Rogers on May 12 and is facing two counts open murder and multiple gun charges. The hunt for Taylor after the Rite Aid shooting and the standoff at his residence on the 1800 block of Coolidge Rd. prompted a two-hour secure in place at MSU.

Rite Aid Slaying

After leaving the gym and suffering from "burning eyes," Taylor traveled to the Frandor Rite Aid to purchase eyedrops. What happened next is hard to follow but, roughly, Taylor entered the Rite Aid, asked Addo about the eyedrops and was agitated by the interaction, feeling as if Addo was telling him "what (he) wanted to hear."

Taylor said he was further frustrated by Addo's asking him for an ID and social security and insurance cards, so he drove home to get his gun and fatally shoot Addo.

"He may not be important," Taylor said. "But he rubbed me the wrong way."

With a proud manner, and in the style of an action movie one-liner, Taylor said his last words to Addo while pulling his gun on him were "Right here's my authorization." Taylor concluded the sentence with gun noises, exclaiming "pow, pow, pow."

Rogers

He then travelled back home and soon after murdered neighbor Rogers, in part because of a confrontation the night prior in which Rogers allegedly "barked" slurs and insults at Taylor, resulting in Taylor throwing a punch or two and waving the gun at Rogers, he said.

Rogers apologized for the night before and invited Taylor in. Taylor, seeing Rogers' soon-to-be stepdaughter "curled up" on the couch and "scared," said he thought she was being held hostage. Taylor pulled the gun and moved Rogers out the back door and onto the porch, with Rogers alledgely saying, "Not in front of my girls," and Taylor fatally shooting him.

The murder was motivated by want of revenge for the night before and a desire to protect the children living with Rogers in a place that wasn't a "sanitary environment for kids," he said in the tape.

"I was just trying to protect those kids next door," he told the arresting officer, according to the report revealed in court.

Other narratives

Although during the post-arrest interview Taylor made no mention of his being a vampire and the victims morphing into werewolves — a motive for the killings Taylor revealed to a psychiatrist reviewing his mental health, according to the LSJ — Lansing detective Brad St. Aubin said his non-expert opinion after interviewing Taylor was that he suffered from a mental illness other than the ADD that Taylor said he had.

"It was clear that (ADD) was a scratch on the surface, so to speak," St. Aubin said. "He probably had some mental issues."

In the post-arrest interview detectives asked Taylor if he was hearing voices and having other symptoms of schizophrenia, but Taylor denied that, stating only how "people's energies rub (him) the wrong way" and that he had ADD.

Detectives were able to connect Taylor with a scare that happened days earlier in the parking lot of the Burger King on Lake Lansing Rd. in which a man frightened the driver of a Hummer by tapping on the window with a gun.

Taylor said the man in the Hummer — a vehicle which has its origins in military use, Taylor noted — was dressed in a wool coat and hat on a hot day and staring at him. Scaring the man off was a precautionary measure, Taylor said, suspecting that the man was "doing something he shouldn't be doing."

At another point in the tape, without reason Taylor went into a narrative about his theory that the staff of a frequented restaurant were putting poison in his food — a problem he's had in other states, he said. Taylor explained that he confronted the restaurant owner about his, saying to the owner how it would give Taylor "the right to kill (him)."

Taylor's expression of wanton disregard for committing violence on others provoked one of the interviewing detectives to ask, "You know it's wrong to kill people... it's not a video game."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I know," Taylor hastily responded, nearly interrupting the detective.