Famous OC Surf Family Arrested in Murder for Hire Plot

A father and two sons known in Huntington Beach for ties to surfing and a fourth man were accused today of participating in a conspiracy to kill a woman, Huntington Beach police said.

So far, Joseph Jordan Taylor, 29, of Huntington Beach, has been charged in the alleged conspiracy. Taylor, who was being held in lieu of $1 million bail, was charged with solicitation to commit murder and attempted murder. He also faces a sentencing enhancement for premeditation and deliberation.

Taylor was caught up in an undercover sting set up by Huntington Beach police acting as hitmen, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

Taylor also has five prior strike convictions for kidnapping and carjacking in 2009, DUI causing injury and hit and run with great bodily injury in 2007, and making criminal threats in 2007, prosecutors said.

John Reid Taylor, 67, of Huntington Beach, was part of the 2011 Surfing Walk of Fame inductees as one of the legendary Hole in the Wall Gang surfers, a group of amateurs who got the nickname for favoring a part of the beach where there was a large drain pipe in a retaining wall.

He was arrested along with his sons Matthew Austin Taylor, 27, of Long Beach, and Joseph Taylor, police said. They were booked on suspicion of solicitation to commit murder, as was Travis James Sprague, 36, of Long Beach, Huntington Beach police Officer Jennifer Marlatt said.

The youngest brother was additionally booked on suspicion of obstructing or resisting a peace officer and failing to provide a DNA sample as required by law, Marlatt said.

Prosecutors declined to file charges so far on the other three men, Marlatt said. The investigation, however, is ongoing, she added.

Investigators were not releasing much information about the case, according to Marlatt, who said the FBI tipped Huntington Beach police about the alleged conspiracy. Investigators working undercover met with one of the suspects to set a price to have a woman they knew well killed, Marlatt alleged.

Joseph Taylor was arrested soon after he handed money over to the undercover officers, prosecutors allege.

The Taylors all listed occupations in the surf industry: Matthew Taylor as a surfboard representative, Joseph Taylor as a board shaper and their father as a surfboard maker, according to Orange County Jail records. Sprague’s listed occupation was diesel mechanic.

Matthew Taylor was arrested Tuesday night in Long Beach, his brother was arrested Tuesday afternoon in Westminster and their father was taken into custody that night in Huntington Beach. Sprague was arrested Wednesday afternoon in Huntington Beach, Marlatt said.

John Taylor grew up in the Balboa Peninsula and Long Beach area, according to the Surfing Walk of Fame. He made his first balsa wood surfboard when he was in the eighth grade, according to his biography in the Walk of Fame in 2011. For 15 straight years he won first place in Western Surfing Association and the U.S. Championships, according to the Walk of Fame.

“He was on the ‘Wild World of Sports’ for three straight years, winning fourth, third, and second,” according to his Wall of Fame induction.Sprague, said a spokeswoman for the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. All three were released from jail by Thursday afternoon.

The youngest brother was additionally booked on suspicion of obstructing or resisting a peace officer and failing to provide a DNA sample as required by law, Marlatt said.

Investigators were not releasing much information about the case, according to Marlatt, who said the FBI tipped Huntington Beach police about the alleged conspiracy. Investigators working undercover met with one of the suspects to set a price to have someone they knew well killed, Marlatt alleged.

The Taylors all listed occupations in the surf industry: Matthew Taylor as a surfboard representative, Joseph Taylor as a board shaper and their father as a surfboard maker, according to Orange County Jail records. Sprague’s listed occupation was diesel mechanic.

Matthew Taylor was arrested Tuesday night in Long Beach, his brother was arrested Tuesday afternoon in Westminster, and their father was taken into custody that night in Huntington Beach. Sprague was arrested Wednesday afternoon in Huntington Beach, Marlatt said.

All four were being held in Orange County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail.

According to his bio on the Surfing Walk of Fame,

“John started making fiber glass molds and surfing for the Hole in the Wall surf team in WSA Men’s division in 1967.

At age 23, John opened the The Little Shop of Repairs and John Taylor Surfboards under Gordie’s tutelage. Shortly after that John started tandem surfing and held first place in WSA and the United States Championships for 15 straight years. He was on The Wild World of Sports for three straight years winning fourth, third, and second. In the Hawaiian United States Championships, John won first place in 1978...After the Hole in the Wall team disbanded in 1985, John worked for Infinity Surfboards for 32 years.”

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City News Service