Charges: McKinley Phillips fatally stabbed his wife in basement of home while children watched TV upstairs

By WCCO Staff

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    MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A 39-year-old Woodbury man is accused of fatally stabbing his wife in the basement of their home while six children were watching television upstairs.

Charges filed in Washington County show McKinley Phillips faces second-degree murder with intent, but without premeditation, in connection to the death of his wife.

On the afternoon of June 25, police were called to the home on the 7500 block of Steepleview Road in Woodbury for a welfare check. A caller reported that their son, Phillips, had called them and said that he killed his wife and her body was in the basement of their home.

When police arrived, a female victim was found in the basement dead with multiple stab wounds.

The complaint says Phillips was located the following day at 3 a.m. on an eastbound Greyhound bus traveling through Monroe County, Wisconsin. He was arrested and is awaiting extradition to Minnesota at the Monroe County Jail.

In an interview with Woodbury detectives, Phillips allegedly admitted to punching and fatally stabbing his wife because he suspected that she was cheating on him. He said the stabbing took place around 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. in the morning, and that all the children were watching television upstairs at the time and didn’t know what happened.

Phillips said he then told his son goodbye and that he wouldn’t be seeing him again. He left in his vehicle in the late morning and abandoned his vehicle in the Sun Ray shopping center parking lot. He then took a bus to Minneapolis where he boarded a Greyhound bus to Chicago. He said he planned on going to New York City after arriving in Chicago.

When he was arrested, Phillips was wearing the same clothing he had on during the fatal stabbing, and detectives saw that the clothing appeared to be covered in blood splatter.

The Ramsey County Medical Examiner determined the victim died of multiple stab wounds to her chest, back and neck. She also had blunt force trauma to her brain.

According to the complaint, officers had been called to the home in the past two months for domestic-related incidents. The responding officers noted that during these previous contacts, Phillips appeared to be intoxicated and was hostile to the officers.

If convicted, Phillips could face up to 40 years in prison.

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