By SANDRA K. REABUCK
EBENSBURG — Prosecutors want a jury in an upcoming murder trial to hear about the suspect’s arrest in West Virginia after he allegedly killed his mother in Upper Yoder Township and left the state.
District Attorney Patrick Kiniry has filed a motion asking Judge Norman Krumenacker to rule on the admissibility of evidence in the murder trial of Fred Phillips.
Kiniry wants Phillips’ parole officer in an unrelated case to testify about meetings with the suspect and his mother at her Upper Yoder home. The district attorney also wants the jury to hear statements Phillips allegedly made after his arrest.
Phillips, 51, is charged with first-degree murder in the beating and strangulation death of 85-year-old Anna Phillips at her home on Oct. 8.
Her body was found Oct. 19, partially hidden under some brush in state gamelands not far from her home.
Jury selection is set for Sept. 2, with trial testimony to begin Sept. 8. Krumenacker has indicated that jury selection is expected to take a couple of days, with prospective jurors being questioned individually.
Patricia Moore, an assistant public defender who represents Phillips, declined to comment Thursday on Kiniry’s motion.
Authorities eventually tracked Phillips to a West Virginia hospital, where he had been admitted after a traffic accident there Oct. 16. Police said that more than $15,000 cash – which allegedly belonged to Phillips’ mother – was found scattered in or near his wrecked pickup truck.
Prosecutors want to call Officer Matthew McCabe of the Morgantown, W.Va., police department.
McCabe took Phillips into custody at Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown on a Pennsylvania parole detainer and on an Upper Yoder arrest warrant for the murder.
Upper Yoder Chief Walt Howell, if permitted, would tell the jury that he learned of Phillips’ truck accident and traveled to the Morgantown hospital with a county detective to interview Phillips.
Phillips allegedly gave a statement on his involvement in the woman’s death and where her body could be found, Kiniry said in the motion.
Prosecutors also want to call Lori Reeshorst, a state parole officer, to testify about meeting with Phillips and his mother to advise him of parole rules. Phillips had been living with his mother after being paroled from state prison.
One of the rules of his parole prohibited Phillips from leaving the state.
Reeshorst also would testify about another meeting with Phillips on Oct. 9 at the Upper Yoder house, Kiniry indicated.
That would be a day after police believe the murder occurred.
The parole officer also would testify about statements Phillips made after his arrest, Kiniry said in the motion.
