Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 13, 2006 16:50:19 GMT -5
Suspect named, charges added
Ellis County sheriff's investigators have filed 2 more charges against the
man they say is their suspect in the death of 81-year-old Doris Phillips.
Phillips disappeared from her Reagor Springs home July 25. Her body was
found Sept. 8 in an abandoned house off of Farm-to-Market 984, about
1/2-mile north of the Bardwell city limits. The location is about 7 miles
from her residence on Old Church Road.
Miguel Arciba, 49, who was taken into custody on a related charge Sept. 3,
led authorities to the body, which was sent to the Dallas County medical
examiner's office for an autopsy. A cause of death remained pending as of
this morning.
"The investigation is continuing," sheriff's Lt. Clint Tims said Monday
afternoon, saying he anticipates filing a capital murder charge once the
investigation is complete.
Tims said Arciba had come to investigators' attention early on after
Phillips' disappearance. He said Arciba had been interviewed and
investigators were looking to bring him in for a second interview and
polygraph when an item that had gone missing from the house turned up.
"He (Arciba) sold an item that was taken from the house. That item was
taken by the purchaser to Canton to be sold there," Tims said. "A Phillips
family member happened to be at Canton and saw it."
The family member called the sheriff's office and an investigator spoke
with the vendor, who identified Arciba as the seller, Tims said.
With the item recovered, an arrest warrant was obtained and Arciba was
taken into custody on a burglary of a habitation charge.
Tims acknowledged that Arciba has been given a polygraph examination but
declined to release any results.
"We use it (a polygraph) as an investigative tool," Tims said. "They're
inadmissible in court."
Arciba had known Phillips since his childhood, when his family lived and
worked on the Phillips' farm, Tims said, saying that Arciba, who was
living in Duncanville at the time of his arrest, had intermittent contact
with Phillips through the years.
Following a press conference at the sheriff's office Saturday, Phillips'
son and daughter-in-law, John and Carla Phillips, spoke with reporters.
"It's a relief, it's a great relief (that the waiting is over)," John
Phillips said. "There's joy mixed with the sadness. The joy is that we can
begin the grieving process and that we're not still in the lurch with no
information. We can now look for closure.
"The sad part is that this confirms our suspicions that she was murdered.
That's hard to handle, because we can't imagine someone treating someone
that way," he said. "When that happens and it's close, and ugly and
personal, it's beyond belief."
The Phillipses said in hindsight they feel Doris Phillips had a sense of
something amiss for the last several weeks before she disappeared. It was
"just little things," they said, indicating that she "felt like she was
being watched."
John Phillips said he wants to see justice done in the case.
"Whoever did this, I would hope the full penalty of the law comes upon
him," he said.
' Although Arciba took authorities to where Phillips' body was, Tims said
the 49-year-old has been otherwise uncooperative, only answering a few
questions and none relating to the offense.
"He has not confessed to the actual killing," Tims said, saying that
investigators are seeking additional evidence.
Available records indicate Arciba has a criminal history that includes 5
convictions for driving while intoxicated and convictions for assault,
child endangerment and criminal trespass.
Special agents with the U.S. Secret Service and Texas Rangers have been
assisting the sheriff's office with the investigation.
(source: The Waxahachie Daily Light)
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Ellis County sheriff's investigators have filed 2 more charges against the
man they say is their suspect in the death of 81-year-old Doris Phillips.
Phillips disappeared from her Reagor Springs home July 25. Her body was
found Sept. 8 in an abandoned house off of Farm-to-Market 984, about
1/2-mile north of the Bardwell city limits. The location is about 7 miles
from her residence on Old Church Road.
Miguel Arciba, 49, who was taken into custody on a related charge Sept. 3,
led authorities to the body, which was sent to the Dallas County medical
examiner's office for an autopsy. A cause of death remained pending as of
this morning.
"The investigation is continuing," sheriff's Lt. Clint Tims said Monday
afternoon, saying he anticipates filing a capital murder charge once the
investigation is complete.
Tims said Arciba had come to investigators' attention early on after
Phillips' disappearance. He said Arciba had been interviewed and
investigators were looking to bring him in for a second interview and
polygraph when an item that had gone missing from the house turned up.
"He (Arciba) sold an item that was taken from the house. That item was
taken by the purchaser to Canton to be sold there," Tims said. "A Phillips
family member happened to be at Canton and saw it."
The family member called the sheriff's office and an investigator spoke
with the vendor, who identified Arciba as the seller, Tims said.
With the item recovered, an arrest warrant was obtained and Arciba was
taken into custody on a burglary of a habitation charge.
Tims acknowledged that Arciba has been given a polygraph examination but
declined to release any results.
"We use it (a polygraph) as an investigative tool," Tims said. "They're
inadmissible in court."
Arciba had known Phillips since his childhood, when his family lived and
worked on the Phillips' farm, Tims said, saying that Arciba, who was
living in Duncanville at the time of his arrest, had intermittent contact
with Phillips through the years.
Following a press conference at the sheriff's office Saturday, Phillips'
son and daughter-in-law, John and Carla Phillips, spoke with reporters.
"It's a relief, it's a great relief (that the waiting is over)," John
Phillips said. "There's joy mixed with the sadness. The joy is that we can
begin the grieving process and that we're not still in the lurch with no
information. We can now look for closure.
"The sad part is that this confirms our suspicions that she was murdered.
That's hard to handle, because we can't imagine someone treating someone
that way," he said. "When that happens and it's close, and ugly and
personal, it's beyond belief."
The Phillipses said in hindsight they feel Doris Phillips had a sense of
something amiss for the last several weeks before she disappeared. It was
"just little things," they said, indicating that she "felt like she was
being watched."
John Phillips said he wants to see justice done in the case.
"Whoever did this, I would hope the full penalty of the law comes upon
him," he said.
' Although Arciba took authorities to where Phillips' body was, Tims said
the 49-year-old has been otherwise uncooperative, only answering a few
questions and none relating to the offense.
"He has not confessed to the actual killing," Tims said, saying that
investigators are seeking additional evidence.
Available records indicate Arciba has a criminal history that includes 5
convictions for driving while intoxicated and convictions for assault,
child endangerment and criminal trespass.
Special agents with the U.S. Secret Service and Texas Rangers have been
assisting the sheriff's office with the investigation.
(source: The Waxahachie Daily Light)
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