Published: June 03, 2009 09:21 am      

Phillips’ murder trial begins

Defendant allegedly killed man in church parking lot claiming self-defense

By Carl Keith Greene / Staff Writer

Phillip Glodo lay dying in the church parking lot while the man who allegedly shot him in self-defense called for an ambulance from his cell phone.

A recording of Johnny Phillips’ call to Laurel Dispatch, made in the waning hours of Thursday, Oct. 18, 2007, was played for the Laurel Circuit Court jury Tuesday during the first day of Phillips’ murder trial.

In the recording, the final presentation of evidence Tuesday, Phillips’ wife is first heard reporting that her husband had called her and asked her to get help for Glodo.

She said she didn’t know the exact location, but her husband had been run off the road and attacked.

Moments later, Phillips’ voice came onto the line, asking for an ambulance and telling the dispatcher that he had been chased down, run off the road and Glodo had attacked him with a knife. Phillips said he had no choice but to shoot his attacker.

He gave the dispatcher his location and an ambulance was sent out KY 363 to Ward Cemetery Road and the parking lot of Star of Bethlehem Church.

By this time, the dispatcher had determined that Phillips had used a 12-gauge shotgun, which Phillips said was in the seat of his vehicle, to shoot Glodo. The dispatcher told him to leave it there.

A few moments later, a Laurel constable reported to dispatch that he had arrived at the scene and found Phillips.

As the trial began Tuesday, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Brandon Jones, in a brief opening statement, told the jury that Phillips “shot Phillip Glodo in the back of the head with a 12-gauge shotgun” and that “the defendant admits he shot Glodo.”

The confrontation began, Jones said, when Phillips accused Glodo of taking $50 from him while they were at the home of Randy Capps, just down the road from Star of Bethlehem.

It was so close that Capps heard the gunshot when Glodo was shot, Jones said.

Jones said Phillips had reported that Glodo, who had reportedly been drinking quite a bit before the incident, had chased him down the road and oncoming traffic had caused them to have to pull to the side of the road at the church. Phillips reportedly said Glodo had come after him with a knife, found at the scene of the shooting, but Glodo’s DNA was not found on the knife.

Hones called the incident murder, but Phillips’ defense attorney, David Hoskins, called it self-defense.

Hoskins said Phillips “had no choice, faced by an angry drunken man who had threatened him during the day.”

Phillips and his wife had been at the Capps’ home earlier in the afternoon on their motorcycle, Hoskins said. Phillips took his wife home and later returned to the Capps’ house.

Glodo, who had been drinking, showed up, “gets out of his truck and gets after Phillips,” Hoskins said.

It got so loud that Phillips told Glodo they should go down the road to get away from the Capps’ home and children, Hoskins said.

As they left, Hoskins said, Phillips heard Glodo say, “I’m going to ram you,” and Glodo started chasing Phillips in his vehicle.

They had to stop and Phillips saw Glodo coming at him with a knife. Phillips, who had planned to go squirrel hunting earlier, had his shotgun in his truck, Hoskins said.

The two struggled, Hoskins said, Phillips tried to push Glodo away with his truck door and then with his shotgun, and “the gun goes off and Phillip Glodo is dead.”

When police arrived, Hoskins said, Phillips, without hesitation, gave them the details of the incident.

“There was no chance to plant the knife,” Hoskins said, “and besides that the only DNA on the knife could not be matched with Phillips, but could not be determined as a match with Glodo, nor could it be determined as a non-match with Glodo.”

The prosecution’s first witness was London Police Detective Russell Baker, who spoke on how the evidence was gathered and preserved. On cross examination, he was asked to describe the knife found at the scene. He said it was a kitchen knife, about the size of a steak knife, and, when asked, replied that it could be deadly.

Next called was a firearms expert from the Kentucky State Police forensics laboratory, who noted that the barrel of the Franchi shotgun found at the scene had been amateurishly sawn off to make it shorter.

He told Jones the examination of the shot found in the victim’s head could not conclusively indicate that it came from the weapon in question.

A KSP lab fingerprint analyst then testified that no usable prints could be found on the shotgun that matched the defendant. Nor did he find any prints on the knife.

A forensic scientist for the KSP lab testified that a small piece of DNA found on the knife was not that of Phillips, but whether is was or was not that of Glodo was inconclusive.

A forensic pathologist for the Kentucky Medical Examiner testified that remains of alcohol, hydrocodone and a trace of marijuana were found in Glodo’s bodily fluid.

She said the level of alcohol in Glodo’s blood was .073 — just beneath the driving under the influence minimum — but, the alcohol in the vitreous humor, the fluid inside the eye, was at a level of .114, indicating that he had taken in a large amount of alcohol, she said.

She testified that the wound on the back of Glodo’s head could not be a contact wound, but could have been made with the shotgun maybe three feet or more from Glodo’s head.

Following that testimony, the Laurel Dispatch recording was played and the court was adjourned until 9 a.m. Wednesday (today).