Mississippi pastor James Eric Crisp might not bear the charge of conscience and confessed that he killed a man in 2019.
Photo: Monroe County Jail/Courtesy
A pastor in Mississippi voluntarily went to the police confess that he had killed a man regarding three years ago.
“James Eric Crisp came to my office, of his own accord, and confessed to killing Mr. Taylor,” Monroe County Sheriff Kevin Crook said this week.
Crisp told authorities that he murdered Roger Loyd Taylor48, on March 10, 2019, and subsequently disposed of the victim’s body.
The confession occurred on Tuesday. Crisp, 37, did not bear the charge of conscience and chose to divulge his involvement in the crime.
The priest was charged with one count of murder. and remains in custody on $150,000 bond.
“He made the decision to risking your physical freedom to regain your spiritual freedom, and we hope that this will help close this case for the benefit of him and the Taylor family,” Crook added.
“We are glad that Mr. Crisp was able to get that off his chest so that he can continue with his ministry wherever God has planned for him, but this does not close the case for us,” the sheriff said.
Taylor, originally from Sulligent, Alabama, he had argued with his wife the night he disappeared, so he decided to drive from that state to Mississippi to look for her. However, she got lost on the way.
It was then that he ran into the confessed murderer and a fight broke out that ended in his death.
Crisp’s drug addiction led to the altercation. The specific way Crisp killed Taylor is unclear.
Taylor was identified as a missing person following his car was found abandoned on Blair Cemetery Road of Monroe County. His remains were never recovered.
Crisp, who served jail time for a drug case in 2019, entered a rehabilitation program at the “God’s House of Hope” church, which transformed his life.
He was a preacher and a teacher in the rehabilitation program.
