HE WAS ARRESTED FOR HIS EX-LOVER’S MURDER AND RELEASED. THREE MONTHS LATER, HE BRUTALLY KILLED HIS TWO ROOMMATES WITH A HATCHET.

An Oregon man killed his roommates three months after he was arrested for another homicide. Now, he will never walk free again.

Deschutes County Circuit Court Judge Annette Hillman handed Randall Kilby, 38, two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole for the hatchet death of Jeffrey Taylor, 66, and Benjamin Taylor, 69. After six hours of deliberation, Kilby was found guilty and convicted by a jury of first and second-degree murder.

On March 20, 2021, officers responded to the 6000 block of Granite Drive in southwest Bend after reports of a violent assault. Upon their arrival, they found a gruesome crime scene with the bodies of the Taylor half-brothers.

Two months earlier, on Christmas Day in 2020, authorities responded to the same address after Daphne Banks, 42, was found unconscious in the garage with a head injury. At the time, Kilby, who had been in a romantic relationship with the victim, told investigators she had fallen and hit her head. However, medical experts told investigators the headwound was not consistent with a fall. Later, Banks succumbed to her injuries after she was taken off a life support machine. As a result, the defendant was arrested but was later released due to lack of evidence.

“We have never held back on filing homicide charges. ‘I’m confident that if we charged Mr. Kilby in January, he would have been found not guilty,” said Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel, according to OPB.

During the trial, prosecutors witnessed testimonies, including the defendant's mother, Darlene Allen, who witnessed the fatal incident. Furthermore, prosecutors argued Kilby was a danger to the community who has had issues being a lawful resident with a string of 32 convictions.

On the other hand, Kilby’s defense lawyers argued for leniency due to the defendant’s disadvantaged upbringing and his repeated use of methamphetamine.

The judge disagreed!

“We face a review of the criminal history with no indication of rehabilitation, a showing of ongoing force of criminal conduct despite supervision, a repeated decline to engage in any treatment and a threat to public safety. The court is going to make a finding of life in prison without the possibility of parole,” said Hillman during the sentencing hearing, reported Blue Mountain Eagle.

There is no fixed date for the Bank’s trial, but her daughters, Rio and Laci Killian, who were present during Kilby’s sentencing hearing, await justice for their mother.