Nicole Ellen Taylor has been arrested and charged in connection with a September 2025 house fire in Harpers Ferry that killed her husband, Robert Hayne Taylor III, 56, and daughter, Cynthia Allison Taylor, 21. Nearly a year after the blaze, the charges include first-degree murder, first-degree arson and use or presentment of a firearm during the commission of a felony, according to The Spirit of Jefferson and DC News Now. The charges are allegations, not findings of guilt.
The fire was reported at 21 Blackberry Lane shortly after 9 a.m. on Sept. 30, 2025. Taylor survived with significant burn injuries and was taken by helicopter to a regional burn center, according to The Spirit of Jefferson. Her husband and daughter were found dead inside the home.
Investigators’ reported findings, and what remains undisclosed
DC News Now reported that investigators from West Virginia State Police, the State Fire Marshal’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives concluded the fire was intentionally set and that both victims died before it began. The report also said Robert Taylor III had multiple gunshot wounds. The allegations remain to be tested in court.
Taylor was arrested Tuesday, arraigned and taken to Eastern Regional Jail, where she is being held without bond, according to DC News Now. West Virginia State Police confirmed the charges in connection with the deaths, DC News Now reported.
State figures offer context, not a case-specific explanation
The West Virginia State Fire Marshal’s FY2024 report recorded 64 fatalities in 51 fires statewide; five of those fires were classified as incendiary. In a separate measure, the office said its investigators worked 613 cases that fiscal year, classifying 100 as incendiary and 409 as undetermined. Those figures describe statewide activity in FY2024—not a local trend, the circumstances of the Harpers Ferry fire, or evidence in Taylor’s case.
A separate fatal fire in Wayne County shows that murder and arson charges have also followed a fatal-fire investigation elsewhere in West Virginia: WV News reported that Joshua Russell Morrow was charged after two women—a woman and her mother—were found dead in a fire on Dec. 16, 2024. The cases involve different victims and circumstances. One separate case cannot establish a pattern or explain the evidence in Harpers Ferry.
The central investigative details in the Taylor case remain largely outside the public record described in these reports. The available accounts do not explain what evidence led investigators to their conclusions or how the inquiry proceeded during the months between the fire and the arrest.
