Arrest made in Kalispell truck driver's murder

Two years after he was murdered in Memphis, a Kalispell man's alleged killer has been arrested.

Paul F. Taylor was 53 when he was shot to death as he was driving an 18-wheel truck through the Tennessee city.

The Memphis Police Department's Homicide Cold Case Squad and its Project Safe Neighborhoods Unit began working on the December 2002 murder case in January.

On March 15, a man named Riaco Leverston, 36, was arrested by the Metro Gang Unit in Memphis, after an anonymous tip to the Shelby County Sheriff's Department's fugitive squad.

Leverson is charged with first degree murder and especially aggravated robbery, according to Lt. Jeff Clark with the Memphis Police Department's Project Safe Neighborhoods Unit. Those crimes carry a penalty of up to life in prison or death, Clark said.

Leverson was also arrested on a warrant for possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, manufacture, or sell, and failure to appear for a felony case. Another warrant comes from Gulfport, Miss., where Leverson is reportedly wanted for larceny from a building.

Before his arrest, investigators tracked leads all over the country, including in Chicago, Mississippi, and Las Vegas, Clark said.

Taylor's body was found at the back of a Citgo Flash Market convenience store in Memphis on Dec. 9, 2002. He had apparently just dropped off the load he delivered and was waiting to speak to a truck-company dispatcher. Robbery reportedly appeared to be the motive.

Taylor was born in Whitefish and lived in Colorado Springs, Colo., from 1955 to 1972. He returned to Montana and worked for 22 years for the U.S. Forest Service, retiring on July 31, 2001.

He drove for Sammons Trucking Company in Missoula at the time of his death.