People v. Phillips CA2/1

BACKGROUND

1. The crime scene All the doors and windows in the Darrows’ house were closed and locked, and there was no evidence of forced entry. George was found in a bedroom and Edna in the living room. George had five stab wounds to the head and neck and several defensive wounds to his hands. Edna had six stab wounds on her back and three on her head, including two that went through her brain and dented the inside of her skull on the side opposite the entry wound. A deputy medical examiner testified this would require a heavy knife with a blade length of at least four and seven-eighths inches (the width of her skull). She had no defensive wounds and a tissue clutched tightly in one hand, suggesting she was unaware of the attack. The Darrows had been dead two to five days before police found them. All of the kitchen cleaning products were on the kitchen counter, and the cabinet below the sink was empty. The “trap” pipe under the kitchen sink appeared to be new. A criminalist collected the trap pipe as evidence. One of the fingerprints lifted from it matched defendant. Police found two documents in the house that mentioned defendant. One of these was a receipt for advance…