By Kimberly Dick
kdick@heraldonline.com
Posted: Wednesday, May. 19, 2010
YORK, S.C. From the moment police set foot on the crime scene where former York Mayor Melvin Roberts was slain, they believed his longtime girlfriend was involved.
Julia Brice Phillips, 66, of Gaffney changed her story about events that transpired outside Roberts' home Feb. 4, but none of it matched the evidence, said York Police Chief Bill Mobley.
On Tuesday morning, York and Gaffney police arrested Phillips near her consignment store on Limestone Street in Gaffney and charged her with murder. The store is in a building she received from Roberts in his will.
Her story about being bound by an intruder on the night of the murder was all a hoax, police say.
"Her statement of events differed from scientific evidence," Mobley said. "DNA and forensic evidence gave us probable cause she had committed the crime of murder."
Police say they are still investigating whether anyone else may have been involved.
Roberts, 79, died from asphyxiation due to strangulation, York County Coroner Sabrina Gast said. The prominent lawyer was strangled, possibly by the plastic tie the police report noted was around his neck. He also suffered a blow to the head and there was a gunshot hole in the collar of his shirt.
Phillips called 911 that night - her birthday - and told police she had been robbed by an unidentified man when she returned from the grocery store. She said the man bound her hands and feet, gagged her and dragged her behind a wall, 60 feet away from where Roberts' body was found. She then heard a gunshot, according to the affidavit for her arrest.
Phillips had duct tape on her - but not on her skin. Mobley called the duct tape job "questionable"
It was raining that day, but Phillips' clothes were dry. Police found gunshot residue on her blouse. That would indicate she was no more than 12 feet from Roberts when a gun was fired. Phillips told police she hadn't fired a gun in years, the arrest warrant said.
Her pocketbook was undisturbed, and nothing was taken to make the incident a robbery, Mobley said.
"Phillips claimed to be a victim," he said.
Phillips said time had passed between when she was attacked and when Roberts came home. She told police she heard a short altercation. By the time she said she had freed herself and called 911, Roberts was dead.
Mobley said evidence suggests Phillips was present at the time of the killing, although police have not said whether they suspect she shot at or strangled Roberts. Police are still actively investigating the case.
Despite her age and 5-foot-3-inch, 117-pound stature, Mobley said police believe Phillips was capable of committing the crime by herself - though she could have had help.
"This case is not closed by any stretch of the imagination," Mobley said. "We will continue to investigate until all leads are covered. We believe Phillips was involved in this crime."
Beneficiary of will
The Gaffney building that Roberts willed to Phillips is valued at less than $150,000 according to Cherokee County records.
In addition to the building, Roberts left his girlfriend of more than 10 years her pick of cars that he owned - with the exception of his 1974 Cadillac convertible.
Phillips was a "person of interest" since the murder, Mobley said, but police had to wait for evidence that supported a charge. In the meantime, Mobley said police investigated other possible leads, but all trails led to Phillips.
No motive for the crime was released. Mobley said there have been some issues between the two in the past.
Phillips was an off-and-on girlfriend to Roberts, his friends said.
Diane Rayfield, whose husband was friends with Roberts for 25 years and with him earlier in the day he was killed, said she was not shocked to hear Phillips was charged with murder.
"The story she told about what happened that night never made any sense," Rayfield said. "Melvin had said they weren't getting along."
'My mother loved Melvin'
Phillips' son Hunter Stephens said Tuesday his mother is innocent, and described her relationship with Roberts as loving and caring.
"My mother loved Melvin more than life itself," Stephens said. "This man was a part of her life for 10 years. My mother worshipped the ground he walked on. I don't think she's physically capable of committing the crime."
Phillips has never been arrested in South Carolina, a records check shows.
York Mayor Eddie Lee said that he was pleased that more than three months of comprehensive police work led to an arrest in the death of Roberts.
"The last hundred days have been difficult for the city and its residents, who expected that this case be solved," Lee said.
Phillips was being held at a detention center in York on Tuesday. She is awaiting a bond hearing.
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