Cop killer serving life sentence faces death sentence while free on parole

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A cop killer sentenced to life in prison recently had her day parole extended as she battles a death sentence following a cancer diagnosis.

Barbara Taylor – referred to as Mary Barbara Anne Taylor in Parole Board of Canada documents – and her then-lover Elaine Rose Cece (now Smith) were convicted for the 1998 slaying of Toronto Police Det.-Const. Bill Hancox.

Taylor, who urged Cece to prove her love by plunging a knife into the undercover officer in a Scarborough parking lot, has been living in a halfway house since she was granted day parole in November 2024.

And when the Parole Board of Canada (PBC) rendered its decision on April 28 to continue her day parole for another six months, Taylor’s dire health condition was among the factors that were considered.

“You have been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and are receiving care,” the PBC states in documents outlining the decision.

Taylor and Cece were homeless crack addicts when they tried to check themselves into Scarborough Centenary Hospital on Aug. 4, 1998, only to walk away after being told they couldn’t be booked into a psychiatric facility as a couple.

One of the women shouted at the nurses, “You f—ing bitches, you’ll read about us on the front pages of the newspapers tomorrow,” before they left the hospital and decided to steal a vehicle.

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That’s when they encountered Hancox across the street in the Centenary Plaza at Ellesmere and Neilson Rds.

Hancox, 32, had been on a stakeout near the home of the suspected leader of an organized burglary ring when he radioed his partners at 9:53 p.m. that he was heading to a Becker’s store to buy a pop and a chocolate bar.

Minutes later, the nine-year veteran officer was outside of his unmarked minivan telling Taylor and Cece to move along when the situation suddenly turned deadly.

Without warning, Cece plunged a large butcher knife into the heart of the married father of a two-year-old girl whose wife was due to give birth to their second child in less than a month.

At their trial, court would later hear how Taylor encouraged Cece to stab the unsuspecting officer.

“I told Rosie she’s a pussy. If she loved me, she’d do it … Use the knife,” Taylor told her mom just hours after the deadly ambush.

Taylor and Cece, both whom were on probation when they killed Hancox, were convicted of second-degree murder in November 1999 and handed life sentences.

Cece, who is 10 years older, was eligible for parole earlier than Taylor because she had a shorter criminal record and wasn’t the leader of the attack. She has been free on day parole since 2021.

The PBC points out that Taylor, now 57, was mostly raised by her grandparents where she was exposed to alcoholism and violence that led to her own substance abuse.

She spent time in foster homes and a juvenile detention centre before ending up on the street, supporting herself financially “through social assistance and prostitution,” and also engaging in “problematic relationships.”

“You have an extensive criminal history dating back to 1986, age 18,” the PBC stated in documents, adding her record “consists of over 70 criminal convictions.”

“File information notes that the majority of your prior offences were prostitution-related and that you have a history of non-compliance, including six convictions for being unlawfully at large,” the PBC stated, explaining Taylor was on probation for two separate robberies when she and Cece killed Hancox.

On Oct. 9, 1998, while locked up at the Toronto West Detention Centre, Taylor and Cece were among six inmates who attacked Marcia Dooley, who would later be convicted – along with her husband Tony – of killing her seven-year-old stepson Randal.

Taylor and Cece later pleaded guilty to assault.

Taylor was actually first granted day parole on May 27, 2022, but it was suspended 64 days later, noted the PBC, without providing a reason.

“Your criminal history is diverse and violent, combined with your poor record of community supervision, these are considered aggravating (factors),” the PBC stated, before explaining its decision was made after placing “more weight” on “mitigating (positive) factors such as Taylor having “almost completed” the Indigenous Self Management Program and her current health woes.

The PBC stated a psychologist evaluated Taylor’s “risk of violent recidivism to be globally low-moderate.”

“Should you re-offend, it would likely be in the context of a substance relapse and of association with criminalized individuals or users,” the PBC says. “The psychologist is of the opinion that you could commit robberies to support your substance use.”

Accordingly, Taylor’s parole conditions include steering clear of drugs and alcohol, “criminally-minded individuals,” members of the victim’s family and the GTA.

“At this stage of your sentence and given your state of health and life expectancy, all your energies are spent on daily activities, rest, medical follow-ups, and support from counsellors,” the PBC states. “According to your case management team, you keep a positive attitude and are at peace with the fact that you will die in a near/medium future.”

cdoucette@postmedia.com

@sundoucette