Stephen Craig Phillips stabs & beats ex Montana girlfriend, Jennifer McCollum to death w/ baseball bat in front of 3 kids after leaving him to date new man.
A Montana man has been charged with murder after allegedly stabbing his ex-girlfriend to death and beating her with a baseball bat in front of her kids.
Stephen Craig Phillips, 37, is alleged to have so severely beaten Jennifer McCollum, 34, that the woman’s three children are said to have ended up with blood on their faces.
The former girlfriend according to a police report was repeatedly stabbed while she was with her three children at their trailer home in Ballantine, Montana.
By the time police arrived on the scene, McCollum was already dead and lying in a pool of her own blood.
The affidavit as seen by NBC8 details how the three children aged nine months, four and nine, all had dried blood on their hands, faces and feet.
‘Hello, my mom has been killed. Steven killed my mom.’
When investigators arrived, one of the children is alleged to have said ‘Hello, my mom has been killed. Steven killed my mom.’
A large kitchen knife was found on the floor with blood on it.
Phillips, who faces homicide charges, pleaded not guilty in Yellowstone County District Court.
Phillips’ mother who lives next door to the victim also told police that her son was in an on-off relationship with McCollum and came home on May 15th covered in blood saying ‘I’m sorry…’ and ‘I handled it,’ KTVQ reports.
An autopsy on McCollum revealed she had stab wounds over most of her body, multiple blunt force trauma injuries, skull lacerations, and broken wrists – injuries to which she ultimately succumbed. Her hair also had blood and glass in it.
Investigators ended up finding blood stained clothing in McCollum’s home.
Deputies also got to hear from McCollum’s current boyfriend who revealed that Phillips had been harassing them in the weeks before his girlfriend’s death.
