David Taylor

County Durham double murderer David Taylor, 64, will never be released from prison

This is the tale of an "extremely violent" double murderer from the North East who hit the headlines after he was sentenced to a whole life order. Despite hailing from j ust up the road in County Durham, many in our region may not have even heard of David Taylor, or the horrific crimes he carried out.

The 64-year-old, of Oak Avenue, County Durham, will spend the rest of his life behind bars after a judge handed him the most severe penalty in English criminal law last week. This is the full story..

The murder of Alisha Apostoloff-Boyarin

On February 2 2022, Alisha Apostoloff-Boyarin - a vulnerable woman who was in a relationship with Taylor - was reported missing from Ashton-Under-Lyne. Officers became aware of her being missing after Alisha’s grandmother phoned to report no one had seen or heard from her for a couple of weeks.

Initial inquiries found that Alisha appeared to travel from Manchester to Durham and then back to Manchester. She was last seen travelling in a Volkswagen Passat with Taylor. They had been together for a number of days at that point, having first met towards the end of 2021, after being put in contact by a mutual friend.

Alisha was first picked up by Taylor on January 14, 2022, where they travelled to Durham, before heading to Chapel-en-le-frith campsite in Derbyshire and then back to Durham on January 20. Taylor and Alisha travelled back to Chapel-en-le-frith a couple of days later in the same vehicle.

It was during this time police believe Alisha to have been murdered. She has not been seen since and her body has never been found. Officers are continuing to make enquiries to ensure Alisha’s body is recovered. Taylor was later arrested on suspicion of her murder in March 2022.

Taylor initially denied murdering Alisha but went on to plead guilty in February this year. As part of inquiries into Alisha’s murder, two Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officers visited Taylor for a meeting on July 23 2024.

Taylor had requested an interview with the officers while he was in custody at HMP Frankland in County Durham, stating that he had information that would help locate Alisha. But seconds after the officers came back from a break during the interview, Taylor lunged at them with a "makeshift shank".

One officer – DC Bratby – received a serious injury that narrowly missed his heart. Despite receiving the potentially life-threatening injury, the detective and his fellow officer were able to fend off Taylor before he was restrained by prison officers. Both officers have since resumed their duties within GMP’s Major Incident Team.

Taylor was later found guilty of the attempted murder of the detective at Manchester Crown Court in December 2025. Mrs Justice McGowan jailed him for life with a minimum term of 20 years for Ms Apostoloff-Boyarin’s murder and handed him a 30-year sentence for the attempted murder of the officer.

Prison cell murder

While serving his life sentence at the high-security HMP Wakefield in West Yorkshire, Taylor was involved in another murder. Taylor, along with convicted killers Mark Fellows, 45, Lee Newell, 57, stabbed to death child killer Kyle Bevan.

Following the murder, which happened last November, Bevan was tucked up in bed as he was left to bleed out and die. At a sentencing hearing at Leeds Crown Court, a judge imposed a whole life order for the death of Bevan, as it was a second offence of murder.

Taylor boasted about his ability to make makeshift weapons “out of all sorts”, and after Bevan’s death some were found in a bottle of chilli sauce in his cell, although they could not be matched to the fatal attack. When Taylor appeared on video-link for hearings before the jury was sworn in, he was escorted into a room at Full Sutton prison, near York, by a number of officers in full riot gear.

They had to remove two sets of handcuffs from him before he was allowed to sit and listen to lawyers discuss fears over the danger he posed. The judge was told there had been concerns from prison authorities that Taylor had somehow managed to secrete a weapon in his body – for some weeks – but this could not be found.

Something in waistband

The court heard the three defendants had a hostility to people who had committed offences against children and Fellows and Newell had expressed a desire to be transferred away from Wakefield. Bevan “kept himself to himself” and would mainly stay in his cell, often asking to be locked inside, jurors were told.

On the day of his death, he was seen on CCTV walking to his cell, followed by the three defendants, who were just seconds behind. Taylor could be seen taking something from his waistband as he went in.

The court heard it is not known “who did what” inside the cells, but that Bevan was likely held by his arms while being stabbed 25 times with at least two weapons. The court heard the three defendants left the cell less than five minutes later “as if nothing had happened”.

The weapon which caused the fatal injuries has never been found. The trial heard that, as Taylor was being transferred out of Wakefield, he was heard to shout in the vicinity of Newell: “Nice working with you and the Iceman” – a nickname for Fellows.

'Extremely violent'

After being sentenced to a whole life order, Superintendent Chris Smiles, of Durham Constabulary, said: "Taylor is an extremely violent offender and his attack on a police officer who was simply trying to uncover the truth about what happened to Alisha and get justice for her family - was totally unacceptable. It is a testament to the bravery of the officer who despite having been stabbed in the chest was still able to restrain him.

“Officers should be able to serve and protect the public without being attacked. Thankfully, Taylor is now facing the consequences of what he has done. Our thoughts go out to all those affected by his despicable actions.”

Anyone with information can contact the police through 101 or via our LiveChat at gmp.police.uk, quoting log 1689 of 02/02/2022. Alternatively, you can contact the independent charity, Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

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