Katherine Phillips--Amber Alert, 4 month infant, Michigan

[Lady Cop]

edit: LUDINGTON, Mich. (WOOD) - A jury has reached a guilty verdict in the trial of Sean Phillips for the unlawful imprisonment of his 4-month-old daughter Katherine who has not been seen in 10 months.


Wood8

LUDINGTON, Mich. (WOOD) - The jury in the case against a man accused in the disappearance of Baby Kate started deliberations late Thursday. Earlier in the day, lawyers made their final arguments.

Sean Phillips faces a possible 15 years in prison if convicted of unlawful imprisonment in the disappearance of his daughter Katherine Phillips, who went missing in the summer of 2011.

The trial stretched nearly two full weeks. The prosecution called witnesses for most of that time, the defense spending only a few hours on Thursday calling its witnesses.

Tempers were hot at times, particularly as Kate's mother Ariel Courtland spent a day and a half on the stand at the beginning of the trial and again when the defense called her back to the witness stand. All the while, the defense tried to discredit her and blame her for the disappearance.

And now, after hours and hours of testimony and months of searching and questions, there may be a verdict in the case as soon as Friday.


complete coverage of case/trial here:
http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/nw_...ome-Friday

[Lady Cop]

Kim and Larry Phillips react to the verdict that their son Sean is guilty of unlawful imprisonment of his daughter Baby Kate. sentencing june 5. HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN CHARGED WITH MURDER.
now she will never be found.




Ariel Courtland, Baby Kate's mother, sits in the courtroom. she should have been charged too!

[Kip]

There's definitely something off about the mother (and her behavior after Baby Kate was missing). But, if she had anything to do with the disappearance, I'm really surprised that Sean hasn't turned on her.

[Jezreel]

I think the mother is a lying BITCH too. This poor baby will probably never be found, and we will never know what happened.

I hope Ariel does get brought up on charges, she has perjured herself on stand. Also did you hear/see her walk right off the witness stand and storm out of the courtroom???? She was handed baby Kate's clothes and asked to identify them, she got a bit emotional (first time I believe) and got up, shoved the clothes back int he evidence bag and stormed right out the doors!!!

[Lady Cop]

i'm following sean's sentencing right now...hope to get photos later.

Unlawful imprisonment was the maximum charge possible at this time. Phillips originally was charged with kidnapping, a potential life felony, but a judge ruled that Michigan law prevents a parent from being charged with that. most he can get is 15 years.

JohnSHausman:
#babykate Prosecutor Paul Spaniola, Baby Kate's mother Ariel Courtland enter. [via Twitter]
3:00

Twitter
JohnSHausman:
#babykate Roughly 30 people in the audience; about a dozen media reps. Sean Phillips enters with attorney Annette Smedley. [via Twitter]

JohnSHausman:
#babykate Spaniola asks judge to depart upward from guidelines.

"She is the most vulnerable victim imaginable." justifies upward departure from senteincing guidelines. "worst case scenario"

Ariel will not speak in court. [via Twitter] BITCH LIAR

Mr. Phillips denies guilt; will appeal. "I believe that he has said from the very beginning... that the last time... [via Twitter]
3:15

Twitter
JohnSHausman:
#babykate "...he saw baby Kate" was with Ariel. Still maintains that

will continue....

[Lady Cop]

#babykate Smedley argues against probation officer's recommendation of no contact of Sean with older daughter, age 4. [via Twitter]

Smedley: "Worst case scenario is the baby is well and doing fine in Germany." Jury didn't find him guilty of murder, manslaughter. [via Twitter]

Judge Cooper: guidelines don't take into account "open ended" disappearance like this -- 341 days so far, still missing.

Cooper: possibility of other crimes is mentioned in the statute. Circumstantial evidence here: baby clothes on Sean...
3:36

#babykate "The circumstantial evidence is dramatic that the defendant had some type of ... activity with baby Kate.

Car seat in Sean's trunk. That and clothes would have remained with Ariel if Sean told truth.

#babykate "I know (from letters) ... there is somewhat a propensity to say we're looking at the wrong person." [via Twitter]
3:39

#babykate But even if other alternatives, does not take away that defendant had baby items, and baby not been found.

BLAH BLAH BLAH

WHAT IS THE SENTENCE??

Cooper: defendant has right to silence, but after conviction, opportunity explain why baby clothes etc. with him. Sean didn't. [via Twitter]

Cooper: If in swamp or river or lake, "the body would decompose fairly quickly," or animals could readily take remains

Cooper: Maximum 15 years; highest possible minimum is 10 (parole board makes decision between). So: 10 to 15, highest possible. [via Twitter]

Smedley shakes head. Sean looks solemn, no visible reaction from here. His parents look sad. Ariel's mom weeping. Ariel attentive [via Twitter]

Sean led from courtroom.
Sean's mom dabs tears from her eyes. His dad has chin in hand, now face to cheek, looking down. They hold hands.

[Lady Cop]

[Jezreel]

I just heard via FB that this is now turning into a homicide investigation and found this update...

FOX 17 - a news release from the Ludington Police Department says that authorities are now transitioning the case to a homicide investigation, as they believe Sean Phillips "knows the location of Katherine's body." No Shit

Investigators say that involvement by Baby Kate's mom, Ariel Courtland, and initial speculation that she was given away to another family, is not supported by the evidence uncovered over the past 10 months of investigations.

[Lady Cop]

what a lying sack of shit this female is. i hope she & he don't think being married will protect them from testifying against each other if baby is ever found. the marital privlege does not extend to abuse of children.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

IONIA, Mich. (WOOD) - The mother of missing Baby Kate Phillips has filed paperwork to marry the man suspected of killing their infant daughter last year.

Sean Phillips has been imprisoned since he was convicted of unlawful imprisonment of the Ludington child earlier this year. The day Phillips was sentenced to at least 10 years in prison, police named him a suspect in what they now consider to be a homicide investigation.

Ariel Courtland filed paperwork Monday to marry Phillips while he is in an Ionia County prison, Ionia County clerk's records show. The marriage must be confirmed within 30 days for it to be legal.

Courtland says the marriage is not an indication that she is in love with Phillips, but part of her ongoing effort to get answers about what happened to her daughter who disappeared when she was 4 months old and still hasn't been found.

"I need to have answers," Courtland told 24 Hour News 8 Tuesday. "I've taken all the steps to try to avoid this."

Those steps included appealing the decision that she says barred her from visiting Phillips in prison because she is considered to be a victim in the case, Courtland said.

"I tried appealing it with a lawyer. I tried appealing it with the state in Lansing -- to the appellate people in Lansing," she said.

After trying "everything I can possibly think of," Courtland acted on the belief that she could visit Phillips if she was a part of his immediate family. She plans to make that happen by marrying him.

"It has nothing to do with Kate," Courtland said. "The prison told us that we were never allowed to see each other or talk... We weren't able to have any contact whatsoever... unless we were immediate family."

"I still have a billion...questions for him."

During the April trial, Phillips' defense attorney claimed Courtland is the person who knows were Baby Kate is -- not Sean Phillips. On the witness stand Courtland was pressed about her involvement in a plan to put Kate up for adoption.

While police have repeatedly said the evidence indicates that Courtland is not a suspect in the baby's disappearance or suspected murder, Courtland says she is aware that some of the public's perception of her is negative.

She now fears that news of her plans to marry Phillips will make that worse.

"Every single thing that I do is still being watched," she said. ""My life is gonna be flipped upside down once again for something that I was almost forced to do."

"I'm sick of being followed. I'm sick of being harassed."

Courtland said she went against the advice of others in making the decision to file for the marriage license. She says Phillips has asked several times to marry her in the past and says that she's discussed her plans with Phillips' parents who she says "understand" why she decided to go through with the marriage.

After checking with prosecutors and investigators, Courtland says she was assured the marriage would not harm the criminal investigation.

The marriage is simply a means to an end, Courtland insists, an opportunity for her to meet with Phillips and try to get the answers to questions so many still have about what happened to Baby Kate.

"A marriage license is a paper... It's not saying that I'm gonna spend the rest of my life with him," she said. "It's saying that I want to marry him for a... month or however long it takes for me to sit down with him and say, 'Hey, what the f--- happened?' That's all it's meant to be. That's it."

In response to an email from 24 Hour News 8, John Cordell of the Michigan Department of Corrections said Phillips has had two visitors since his conviction, but declined to provide any visitor information.

But he did add, "The Warden denied the mother of the child's visitation request (Ariel Courtland) on the grounds of order and security and an inability to positively influence the prisoner's rehabilitation. The warden maintains the authority to deny the visit even if the person is married to the prisoner."

[Jezreel]

This girl truly makes me sick, you're spot ont here LC, she is a lying sack of shit!

On another note, after reading about the marriage license, I found that a letter has been released, apprently written by Sean where he writes what happened the day Baby Kate went missing:

Excerpt from Letter

This is what you want, ok. I always felt that I needed to do this in person. That you deserved that, and that we would both need each other for that.

Also didn't feel safe writing these things anyways. Still dont, but this can't wait any longer.

I think I could even make it though talking about that day here now.

I cry trying to talk about much less. I just wanted to leave that day Ariel. I was surprised when you opened my door and that you could have even made it down there fast enough to catch me. That and almost everything I don't think I need to say or do you actually believe the shit you told them?

When I brought you back I didn't park, so that you would just get out and not pull any more shit to try to keep me there longer. Even when you sat there with the door open and foot out and I had to interrupt you three times with "I don't care" before you got out. You said something like "whatever fuck you" and "I'm gonna ruin your life" then walked around and spent a minute getting Kate out.

I was pretending to be busy why my phone or something so you would hopefully just leave me alone. Heard the door shut, saw you walk off. Your hands in front of you not on your sides. Like you were holding Kate. I drove away. A blonde lady by the office and I looked at each other as I passed.

There was some stuff I wanted to get done in town but I was tired and hung over and trying to decide whether to put it off till another time. Stopped at Wendy's to get something to eat and for time to make up my mind, but mostly to piss.

The phone kept ringing there. I went back to the car and ate. The whole time that fucking phone wouldn't stop ringing. I could feel through my shorts to hit the volume button to silence a call, but the seat was too far up for me to get it out of my pocket to make it stop ringing because the car seat was in the way. It was driving me crazy and I was so mad at you. For that day for everything lately, for everything ever maybe ever.

When I tried to move the seat back to get the phone it was blocked by that car seat and I was pissed that you left it in there just to try to make me bring it back later. So pissed that I got out and was going to just throw it out into that area between Burger King.

I pulled but it was jammed between the seats. That just made it worse. I grabbed it at the top and ripped it out as hard as I could. She was thrown from it. I didn't know. I'm so sorry.

Held her for a long time. Seemed like forever. Maybe an hour, maybe a minute. Might not have been long. I can't explain a lot. Some things can only be lived. In a way I couldn't understand it. It didn't seem real. I didn't want it to be. It felt like falling, and like my head would explode. Couldn't think. Couldn't do anything. It eventually sunk in or something. I started crying. Couldn't stop. I've never cried that hard, seemed like my throat was closing. Mind was racing, yet I couldn't think. I guess I was in shock. I never even tried to help her. Never even thought to. Just sat there, holding her. I don't think anything could have been done.

Still I used to hate myself for not trying. Think I was there an hour and that after like a half hour and that it wasn't till right before I left that I realized calling 911. It was to late. I wouldn't be able to talk. I wouldn't know what to say anyways. I couldn't bring myself to pick up that phone. Scared of it and of the world. In a way I felt like it had killed her. You and it. I needed to believe I didn't hurt her that it was all your fault.

That sounds wrong, but I can't explain it right. A part of me knew I was losing Haley too. When I realized how long I must have been there seemed like even less of an option. I never decided to leave or anything. There was this urge or something I can't explain. Needed to get away from there or just do something, anything.

I drove, not to anywhere or for any reason. Just drove. A few things I suddenly realized I was driving, but couldn't remember how I came to be or where I was. Almost crashed twice. The second time I stopped and pulled off the road. I needed out of that car, and I just walked off. After a while I stopped.

For the first time I could think some. Thought about Kate. Her smile, the way she looks around. Everything, what should have been. Id held her all this time, couldn't bring myself to really look at her though I did now. I wanted to kill you. I cried.


Remainder of the letter here: http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/target_8/...-Baby-Kate

[ramseycat]

Wow. I don't even know what to say about that. Is this guy trying to say he didn't know the baby was in the car seat when he ripped it out of his car and threw it? Even if that is true, would the baby have died from that????

[Lady Cop]

this at the end is the real reason for the cocksucker's letter:

Both of us fucked up some. Id give anything to go back. To that day, January, the summer I went to Georgia.

I want my parents to know. Things spouses tell each other is confidence cant be made to testify. But we aren't married yet in the eyes of the government. Then hearsay cant be used, so if you told then it would be hearsay as it didnt come from me. But Grand Jury can sometimes allow hearsay. Could you ask your attorney about that stuff? If you want to ask me things try to do it all at once. So we arent hearing incriminating stuff more than we need to.
------------------------------------

and this is what i said yesterday post 49 ^ :

i hope she & he don't think being married will protect them from testifying against each other if baby is ever found. the marital privlege does not extend to abuse of children.

they both deserve prison for the wanton disregard of that baby's life.

carseat

[Lady Cop]

their little game may be thwarted by this cool warden.

MLive

IONIA, MI – Baby Kate’s mother, Ariel Courtland, probably won’t be allowed to visit Sean Phillips in prison even after they marry, although that’s the reason she’s reportedly been giving for their planned marriage.

After Courtland gets a valid marriage license, the warden of the Michigan Reformatory in Ionia, where Phillips is lodged, is required to allow the marriage, according to John Cordell, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Corrections.

But that doesn’t give Courtland a right to visit Phillips, Cordell said. In fact, he said, the warden “likely will” continue to forbid visits between the two.

“Her visiting application was restricted by the warden on the grounds of order and security and the likelihood that any visitation by this woman would not assist in the positive rehabilitation of the prisoner,” Cordell said Wednesday.
Phillips is serving a sentence of 10 to 15 years in prison after a jury convicted him of unlawfully imprisoning the couple’s then 4 ½-month-old baby, Katherine Phillips. The baby disappeared June 29, 2011, after Phillips drove away from Courtland’s Ludington home with Baby Kate in his car. The child has never been found.

Cordell said Courtland being a victim in the Baby Kate case has nothing to do with the warden’s refusal to let her visit Phillips. Victims are allowed to visit prisoners all the time, he said.

“But people who may assault the prisoner, or the prisoner may assault them, or we think there may be some emergent issues as a result of the meeting, visitation may be denied because of good order and security,” Cordell said. “We need to maintain safety in our visiting room.

“Beyond that, we do take the rehabiltation into account,” Cordell said. “Being married or having a license issued by the state of Michigan isn’t going to change those conditions.”

Cordell said the prison warden can’t forbid a marriage between an inmate and an outsider, but wardens can determine the schedule and conditions. Typically marriages take place in a prison’s visiting room and are conducted by the prison chaplain, sometimes with outside witnesses allowed, Cordell said.

The Ionia County Clerk's office confirmed Tuesday that Courtland applied on Monday for a license to marry Phillips. The license will be issued Thursday and the couple then has 30 days in which to marry.

On another issue, Cordell said the corrections department has no information on whether a letter reported by news media appearing to be from Phillips, in which Phillips apparently confessed to killing Baby Kate, actually was from the inmate.

“We can’t and we don’t on a regular basis check outgoing mail,” Cordell said.


MOOOOOOOOO

[Jezreel]

Her plan backfired and now the fat cow is backing out...

LUDINGTON, Mich. (WOOD) - After plans to marry the man suspected of killing her daughter went public, Ariel Courtland says she has decided to cancel the marriage.

Courtland would not discuss publicly specifics about the sudden change but says she decided it "wasn't the right thing to do."

Monday, Courtland took out a marriage license from the Ionia County clerks office and said she planned to make the marriage official at the prison where Kate's father Sean Phillips was incarcerated.

Courtland contended that she made the move to force prison officials to allow her a private visit with Phillips so she could get more information about what happened to Baby Kate. She says she has been denied the opportunity to see Phillips because she is a victim in his criminal case.

http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/local/nw_...ont-happen

[Jezreel]

The stupid cow of a mother appeared on Dr Phil which aired yesterday.

The show website titles Tuesday’s episode “Missing: The Mystery of Baby Kate.” The episode preview gave the following description:

"It’s a mystery that has captured the nation’s attention: Four-month-old Baby Kate vanished in June 2011 and has yet to be found. The baby’s mother, Ariel, sits down with Dr. Phil to 'set the record straight' and attempt to clear any lingering cloud of suspicion that she says surrounds her. Does she know more than she’s revealing?"

"Dr. Phil" appears at 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays on CBS. That would be channel 3 for most Muskegon-area viewers.

In September Courtland filed to marry Sean Phillips, the baby’s father, who was convicted of unlawful imprisonment in Kate’s disappearance. He is serving a sentence of 10 to 15 years.

Courtland said she hoped if they were married she could visit Phillips in prison and find out what happened to the baby, but then said she changed her mind about marrying him. The two have an older child together.

Soon after the announcement they would wed, a letter surfaced, which appeared to be from Phillips to Courtland, with an explanation that he accidentally killed Baby Kate after driving off with her, left the body in a quiet place and was unable to retrace his steps to find her again.

Here's a FB page dedicated to Baby Kate and also is of course full of gossip and all kinds of insults but they do post some good information:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Let-the-Tr...9235076560

[HairOfTheDog]

I just heard via FB that this is now turning into a homicide investigation and found this update...

FOX 17 - a news release from the Ludington Police Department says that authorities are now transitioning the case to a homicide investigation, as they believe Sean Phillips "knows the location of Katherine's body." No Shit

Investigators say that involvement by Baby Kate's mom, Ariel Courtland, and initial speculation that she was given away to another family, is not supported by the evidence uncovered over the past 10 months of investigations.

Prosecutors finally have enough evidence to charge Sean Phillips with murder, Jez.

The 4-month-old girl was reported missing on June 29, 2011, when her father allegedly drove away from her mother’s Ludington, Michigan, apartment with her in the car after an argument. Phillips was arrested at his parents’ house three hours later, but Katherine was gone and the clothes she was last seen wearing were found in his pocket, according to police.

“More than two years ago on June 29, 2011, Baby Kate was murdered,” Attorney General Bill Schuette said at the press conference. “Unfortunately, we will never be able to bring Baby Kate back. She was an innocent victim of a terrible crime at the hands of her own father, no less. This is a tragic case. It just makes you sick. There will be no first birthday party for Baby Kate. No first day of kindergarten. No first Christmas.”

Schuette said officials discovered new evidence in the case that supports the murder charge, but he declined to elaborate on what authorities have found.

http://www.hlntv.com/article/2013/10/07/...ged-murder

Really wanna hear more about this new evidence and still hoping that little Kate's body is found so she can be laid to rest properly (and so that the case against her POS father will be even stronger).

[HairOfTheDog]

Murder Charge Dropped

A judge has dismissed a murder charge against a Michigan man accused of killing his missing daughter, who was 4 months old when she disappeared.

Mason County District Judge Peter Wadel in Ludington threw out the open murder charge Monday against 24-year-old Sean Phillips. Katherine Phillips disappeared in 2011 in the Ludington area, about 80 miles northwest of Grand Rapids.

CBS Detroit reports Phillips already is serving 10 to 15 years in prison for unlawful imprisonment for failing to return the girl widely known as "Baby Kate" to her mother, Ariel Courtland.

The girl's body remains missing, and the judge says there isn't enough evidence to prove she's dead.

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette and county Prosecutor Paul Spaniola say they'll appeal the decision. Schuette says "Baby Kate deserves full justice."

Wadel presided over a probable cause hearing for the father that ended July 31.

Courtland has said Phillips told her that the child is still alive, but extensive searches have shown no sign of her, according to CBS Detroit. Prosecutors said the suspect took the baby from Courtland because he feared a court-ordered paternity test would show he was the father. Courtland said Phillips wanted to put Katherine up for adoption, but she refused.

CBS Detroit reports Phillips was arrested shortly after the baby went missing in 2011 after police found the little girl's baby clothing in his shorts pocket, according to court documents.
-------------------------------------------------

LE needs a body. I hope they find it. I hope Baby Kate's alive, but I think that she was dead the day she was reported abducted.

[IroningBroad]

That poor baby and her poor mother not being able to at least have some closure in all of this.
::

[HairOfTheDog]

That poor baby and her poor mother not being able to at least have some closure in all of this.
::

The prosecution tried again to get a first-degree murder conviction against the father, but the judge issued a direct acquittal at trial today due to lack of evidence.

However, Mason County Judge Peter Wadel said he will allow the jury to consider a second-degree murder charge that doesn’t include premeditation and allows for parole.

Judge Wadel said there’s not enough evidence to support a first-degree murder charge in the disappearance of his 4-month-old daughter, Katherine Phillips, known as “Baby Kate.” She disappeared in 2011 in the Ludington area, about 80 miles northwest of Grand Rapids, and her body has never been found.

The baby's father, Sean Phillips - 26, is already serving a 10-year prison sentence for unlawful imprisonment in the disappearance.

[HairOfTheDog]

Sean Phillips -- Guilty of Second Degree Murder


Last night, after two days of deliberation following a three week trial, the jury found Baby Kate's father, Sean Phillips (pictured center), guilty of the highest count legally available to them.

Phillips was convicted of second degree murder. He will be sentenced at a later date to anywhere between 10 years and life with the possibility of parole, on top of the 10 years he's already serving for abducting the baby.

Phillips and Ariel Courtland (pictured right) were in a volatile relationship when he drove off angrily with his infant daughter in June, 2011. He had denied that the baby (who was the second child for the young couple) was fathered by him to his family. DNA later confirmed he was the father.

He turned off his phone for 2 hours after that and baby Kate was never seen again. When Philips was arrested, he had the baby girl's clothes in his pocket.

The prosecution wanted first degree murder, but since the baby has never been found and there was evidence that the couple was considering giving her up for adoption (Phillips first said he gave the baby away) or that the baby was killed without premeditation (Phillips later claimed he accidentally killed the baby), the judge narrowed the jury's options to second degree murder or manslaughter.