- 21/06/2025
A year after discovering her husband's frozen body in the driveway, Lori Phillips faces charges of 2nd Degree Reckless Homicide for his death. Prosecutors allege she ran over her husband, Mark Phillips, and tried to conceal her actions.
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00:00it's incredibly rare for murder defendants to take the stand it's a risk very few take at stake
00:17their freedom or even their lives this is lori phillips i found my husband dead she's charged
00:24for the death of her husband mark phillips who died after an alleged hit and run did you believe at
00:30that time that you had hit mark no she's decided to take the stand can she convince the jury that
00:37she's innocent i have no idea what happened to my husband or will the prosecution prove that she
00:44knowingly ran over her own husband people just don't find themselves under trucks she was aware
00:50that she just hit her husband there is no way she didn't know take a courtside seat with the
00:57victim's brother there's no other possible way that he died other than her running him over the defense
01:04attorney lori never would have had to come in contact with mark that evening had he not been
01:09violent with her had he not been charging towards her the journalist mark phillips isn't supposed to
01:14be on trial here lori phillips and her actions are and the legal analyst was it intention
01:20was she planning to kill him was it all a cover-up from the beginning i'm dan abrams and this
01:27is taking the stand raise your right do you solemnly swear i'm being honest with everything
01:32i say to you do solemnly swear the whole truth and nothing but the i would like to testify the
01:37testimony you are about the truth and nothing but the truth so how you got
01:42when i first met lori it was apparent she still loved her husband very much she was grieving his
01:52death she was trying to figure out what had happened just as much as the investigators
01:56if this was an accident she would have reached out to us she didn't do any of that
02:09i don't think i've ever seen a homicide case quite like this where we weren't really sure whether or
02:17not she broke the law or this was just a tragic accident lori phillips is accused of killing her
02:24husband after a night out with friends according to police the couple drank and argued before heading
02:30home mark's body was discovered the morning of february 23rd 2019 at mark and lori's home
02:39the night before was frigid with temperatures reaching only three degrees fahrenheit
02:45lori's charge was second degree reckless homicide if found guilty she faces up to 25 years in prison
02:54mr phillips had been found frozen in the driveway it sounded like he'd been hit we just assumed it
03:00was it was a hit and run she hit him
03:02lori and mark met later on in life they met in 2016 they both had been married before they both had
03:12children of their own when they first met i didn't see any problems with their relationship
03:20mark and lori phillips were known to go out have a good time they even had a party bus to go out
03:27bar hopping as it were oh if you're hanging out with mark you're gonna have a fun time
03:31at the beginning of the relationship were uh things pretty good with mark they were awesome
03:40unfortunately what you come to realize is that according to lori it was almost like a dr jekyll
03:47mr hyde situation she said mark could be very jealous a mean drunk what went from a really happy
03:54couple turned into a toxic relationship
03:57we would just be like yelling screaming sometimes becoming physically abusive it was a bit of a surprise
04:07to find out they got married we did not understand it his best friend tried talking about it mark you
04:13need to not do this you guys have been on again off again it was not a happy day they weren't married
04:20very long when this happened they got married i believe in that december and only in february
04:26this incident takes place
04:27on february 22nd 2019 mark and lori go out to dinner with their friends hannah klinski and adam stevens
04:39it's supposed to be a happy time why because lori and mark are going to plan to move to bismark north
04:46dakota he was a very good salesperson and that's what got him to move to bismark it was another big promotion
04:57dinner's great by all accounts no problems there but then they decide let's go out after we're going to go to a local bar
05:06after you got to the bar did anything happen that caused you concern
05:09yes um
05:12i saw mark talking to a guy that we both know
05:17well what about mark's conversation caused you any concern
05:20he said terry lafleur is coming i'm like oh okay
05:24and then he's like well i knew you'd know him
05:28and i was like whoa whoa whoa
05:29what what does that mean because i knew immediately mark was on high alert
05:33who's terry lafleur we used to bartend together so lori were you mr lafleur ever uh romantically involved
05:41no when mr lafleur's name comes up uh mark phillips is very angry very jealous and at this point
05:48uh intoxicated he had been drinking
05:53he started making a scene and calling me names so they decide to leave the bar
05:58so then mark and lori get into the car to go to another bar and on the ride there they're arguing
06:05about terry lafleur and it gets so bad that lori says you know what just drive me back i want to be
06:11with my friends when mark parked the truck in front of the bar that's when he attacked her for the first
06:16time he put me in a choke hold my earring ripped out because he was holding my head down
06:22lori gets out of the truck she goes into the bar i went into the table that adam and and hannah were at
06:29i was in disbelief i didn't understand how we got to that point mark comes in uh kind of walks around
06:39he's agitated but not acting out mark had sent me a text um that said i'm so sorry i love you
06:48i felt that he had calmed down she tells adam and hannah that things are okay but mark and lori get
06:56into it again so i got the crazy idea to just get in the truck and take off on my own according to lori
07:05mark gets out of the bar is furious grabs her pushes her into the truck drags her to the other side to the
07:13passenger side throws her in and then punches the window and proceeds to get into the driver's side
07:19and drives off mark was screaming at lori about how this was all her fault and that she was the one
07:30who caused him to behave that way they get back to the house and holman and lori decides she doesn't
07:37want to stay there she's going to gather some personal items uh get in the truck and leave as
07:43she gets back into the truck mark starts taking things out he came over to the passenger side and
07:49started just rummaging through crap that was in the truck i think that he was trying to delay me from
07:59leaving that's when lori decides she's going to pull out her phone and film mark's behavior problem is
08:05she drops the phone mark noticed i had my phone and he just took off he was coming around the
08:11truck trying to get her never seen mark that out of control in my life did you put the truck in the
08:16drive and hit the accelerator i did i was terrified i was scared out of my mind i was like my heart was
08:24beating out of my chest what were you thinking during that process to get the hell out of there
08:30she takes off i took a right out of the driveway and then i drove down to a subdivision lori says she
08:38attempts to spend the night in a hotel but that there were no rooms available
08:45then she tries to sleep in the truck but can't because of the freezing temperatures outside she says
08:51she decides to return home around 2 a.m just three hours after fleeing from mark he would have been home in
08:58bed passed out by then she ends up driving back to the house in the truck but she doesn't notice her
09:05husband's body just lying there in the driveway she drove right past him
09:14now it was a snowy night it was dark potentially she didn't see him lori goes inside of the house
09:21she went upstairs where she had never slept before and uh decided to sleep up there um so that mark
09:28wouldn't figure out where she was uh if he woke up when he was still drunk
09:34now lori um about what time do you think that you got up that morning
09:39um i want to say it was around 6 30. she's looking for mark she expected him to apologize to her and she
09:45can't find him he's not on the couch he's not on the bed he's nowhere to be found so she thinks maybe
09:51he's in the garage or maybe he left she goes outside looking for mark
09:58and that's when she sees mark's body in the driveway
10:00oh my god i did not know he was out here
10:28okay so we had an argument last night for us he would come around to come and get me
10:34so i took off i didn't know that he was like i didn't i just i don't know what happened i just
10:40know he was there we didn't trust lori's story it was just strange from the beginning you just fled
10:49for your life why would you go back to the house my god i came home last night and i never even saw him
10:55oh my god i came home last night and i never even saw him okay okay got a 48 year old male kind of
11:17found in the snowbank here lasting about midnight last night got in an argument with his wife
11:22the morning of february 23rd 2019 mark phillips is found dead in his driveway by his wife lori phillips
11:32oh my god i did not know he was out here okay lori and mark had been out drinking the night before
11:38when an argument between the couple escalated
11:45according to lori she fled from mark in her truck before returning home at 2am
11:53she says she didn't find mark's body until the next day
12:00lori was not arrested initially the investigator just said we don't know what happened i didn't see
12:06any footprints other than hers around him he kind of tips upside down but he could have easily fell that way
12:12my worst fear is that he chased me down the driveway and slipped and fell and then i just left him there
12:21and i didn't even know he was there at the beginning of the investigation um the officers were open to
12:29innocent explanations at that point there was discussion about the fact that mark was a diabetic that he was a
12:35heavy drinker um that they were certainly tripping and fall hazards on that driveway
12:42it just took so long so the first couple weeks and months you're just waiting for something to happen
12:48that's right was seized and we were to look at the underside of that for any possible evidence
12:58crime scene analysts investigate the truck they find forensic evidence including fibers on the drive
13:05shaft that indicate mark may have been run over by the vehicle over a year after mark phillips death
13:14lori phillips is charged on june 8 2020 with second degree reckless homicide for allegedly hitting mark
13:21with a truck in wisconsin that means that she had to have been aware of creating a substantial and unjustifiable risk that
13:30someone would be killed or severely injured and she knew about that risk and basically disregarded it
13:38thanks in part to court delays associated with the covid pandemic it took three years from the time
13:44lori was charged for the trial to finally begin
13:47lori from the date that mark died to the actual trial was over four and a half years ladies and
13:57gentlemen of the jury oftentimes the simplest explanation is the best explanation and here it is
14:03that trunk it was what crushed mr phillips causing his death miss phillips and her husband went over him
14:10and she knew right then and there and everything that happens after that
14:14that is a narrative that is inconsistent with the evidence the state's case was was fairly uh
14:22straightforward that she hit him she knew she hit him and she left him to die
14:29sergeant michael valencia was the responding officer to that scene is the uh body of mr phillips in
14:36this photo yes it is you point out anything about his clothing uh his clothing has several rips in it
14:43of his pants when you look at the forensics of this case it tells a story there were multiple fibers
14:51from beneath the uh undercarriage of the truck that lori had been driving sent to the state crime laboratory
14:56in comparing that to fibers taken from mr phillips gene uh what findings did you make the blue cotton
15:07fiber that i examined the question fiber was consistent with the blue gene fiber there's fibers of his pants
15:15that are torn are underneath the truck gene fibers just don't find themselves on drive shafts you add
15:23everything up you don't need a smoking gun because it's obvious she ran him over
15:30mr knowledge is a crime scene processor and works as a dna analyst at the wisconsin state crime lab
15:36when he was called out to do a forensic view of this truck did you take the vehicle anywhere to examine
15:42it yes the vehicle was brought to d's auto carriers and how was this vehicle transported there it was
15:51driven over what we found out was that the investigators simply drove this truck in march
15:57through the slush and the snow to a local body shop it doesn't take much to contaminate a piece of
16:05evidence is that accurate yes and ultimately the decision was made to just drive us knowing that
16:10there's a risk of contaminating or deteriorating the evidence on the underside of that truck
16:15correct right away the defense says well that evidence is no good that evidence is tainted reasonable
16:23doubt crept in
16:27what is your occupation i'm a forensic pathologist in a case like this where we're not entirely sure
16:34what happened to mark phillips we all wanted to hear from the forensic pathologist did you determine
16:39a cause of death mark phillips yes and what was that cause of death multiple one force injuries
16:46is something that would be consistent with like crushing type of injury
16:51he didn't just fall down he didn't have a heart attack he got run over by something big and heavy
16:58such as a pickup truck
17:00miss phillips she was mad because of the way mr phillips was treating her that's what caused her to
17:08hit the gas and she did that knowing he was there for the defense it was all about changing the narrative
17:18this is the story of an ordinary woman in an impossible situation i have no doubt that in his life
17:24mark was a good dad a loving brother the life of the party but you know what else i don't doubt
17:31that when mark was drunk he was an abuser and that was the mark phillips that confronted lori
17:37on the last night of his life domestic abuse was a very important part of this case you have somebody
17:43who's the victim of this perpetual ongoing domestic abuse forced into a decision that she has to make in
17:51two three seconds as to whether or not her safety is more important than that of her abusers
17:56lori phillips isn't perfect but lori phillips isn't a murderer
18:03i know there's no smoking gun but there's a truck there's a woman and there's a dead man
18:18lori phillips is on trial for second degree reckless homicide to the death of her husband
18:26mark phillips the prosecution is alleged that she knowingly ran over mark with a truck after an
18:33argument between the couple the defense claims that she was fleeing from a violent man with a history of
18:39domestic abuse of domestic abuse towards her the central question of the trial
18:44was lori aware that she'd put mark in harm's way she's not charged with murder she's charged
18:53with recklessly driving him over did she know about it did she know what she did or not
18:58call your next witness call investigator fritz leinfelder fritz leinfelder is a detective with
19:10the lacrosse county sheriff's department did you personally interview lori doves yes i did
19:17well i think i wanted you to think he's a bad person though but he wasn't he just had a jealous
19:22reaction during that interrogation she was able to talk at length about what the events were
19:28from her point of view that evening and he gets around in front of the vehicle and he's coming
19:33towards the yeah to my door and then i was like that then i forgot okay um she was right at your door
19:43but at one point i yelled at him i hope the cameras are on what i don't know if they were not i hope they
19:48were okay well they had the their home security camera system that we ended up doing a search warrant
19:54on that to retrieve any information that might be on that the evidence that we got was that the
20:00cameras had been turned off by mark a couple of days earlier because a lot of people have been coming
20:06back and forth to the house those cameras are motion activated every time that a vehicle drives by or a
20:12person walks by the cameras it would buzz and send an audible alert to both of their cell phones it could be
20:19turned on or off with a smartphone the victim in this case turned off the very cameras that could
20:24have captured what happened to him one thing i forgot about when i was talking about that i actually
20:32pulled into a subdivision to see if like what's following me okay after and she leaves mark behind
20:37she finds a subdivision where she can pull over she is already in the subdivision that subdivision is two
20:43miles down the road when those cameras are rearmed at 1108 and then she begins checking them with her
20:49phone the prosecution showed that she was continually checking the home surveillance system throughout the
20:56whole night what laurie was looking for was just signs of what did mark do did he take the other car
21:02the subaru to go to a bar to go look for her in my opinion she wasn't checking the cameras to see
21:10if he was chasing her she was checking the cameras to see if he was getting up because she knew she ran him
21:15over at some point i think you told him that you turned the cameras off because you didn't want to
21:23wake up mark i didn't do that
21:28she drives back home and arrives i believe around 2am and creeps into her house doesn't see mark
21:37and i believe she fell asleep the next morning laurie wakes up she turns the camera systems back on
21:46is it just coincidence that when she discovers mark in the driveway
21:50as if for the first time her reaction is captured on film
21:57it does seem a bit contrived and the prosecution seemed to want us to think that it was
22:05all this elaborate setup after the fact
22:12the video footage from when she discovered mark was crystal clear that she was seeing him for the
22:17first time at at that point in time
22:21you want to get the the text messages and stuff um off of your phone another big part of this case
22:28was the cell phone extraction she sent mark a text from maybe a mile and a half down the road right
22:35after she drives away and what she says was a panic she texts him that she's not going with him anymore
22:42to bismarck she's not moving with him and good luck and it just seems you're poking the bear what what
22:47was the purpose of that why would you do that the cell phone in this case was laurie's best friend
22:56on that night mr phillips strangled her we know this because of her text messages to hannah
23:02she's not sending these text messages ladies and gentlemen if she has any reason to believe that
23:09her husband is on the side of the driveway dying her google searches also tell us a great deal about
23:15what happened aside from looking for a hotel what is laurie googling physical abuse
23:23she wasn't googling i just hit my husband what i do or how to cover up a crime scene
23:29she was googling physical abuse she's googling that ladies and gentlemen because she was trying to
23:34figure out exactly what happened to her when laurie came to me um initially i told her she's the only one
23:42who can connect the dots between the physical evidence what happened to that evening and what
23:48was going through her mind at the time mr zachary have you talked to miss phillips about testifying or
23:55not testifying i have your honor i honestly did not think she would take the stand have you made a
24:02decision yes what is that decision i will testify
24:13miss phillips are you the widow of mark phillips i am laurie phillips is charged for the death of her
24:19husband in an alleged hit and run the autopsy showed that mark died from blunt force injuries
24:26consistent with being crushed by a truck will laurie be able to convince the jury that she didn't
24:33knowingly cause mark's death
24:39if mark was jealous he's very angry did his behavior ever reach the point where you were scared
24:45of him yeah yes absolutely he's pushed me before he's choked me numerous times
24:51laurie would talk about these prior instances of alleged abuse that she suffered at the hands of
24:57mark there was a particular incident where mark broke into your apartment in onalaska is that correct
25:03yes i heard a big crash and then i just heard somebody run through my apartment and run into the
25:09bedroom and jump on top of me it was mark and what was mark doing when he jumped on top of you
25:15choking me it was terrifying it was scary you don't expect to be assaulted in your own bedroom
25:24by somebody you love she didn't mention any of that to the investigator
25:30the times that he would get in arguments with you was there other times he got physical with you
25:37i mean like pushing he never like punched me or anything and he's never done that just like
25:43pushing he just gets so angry he gets so angry she had to explain why she didn't tell the lead
25:50investigator in this case about all those prior instances of alleged abuse that she suffered at
25:56the hands of mark why didn't you bring up uh the prior acts of domestic abuse at that time
26:02as i stated to mr leinfelder immediately he was a good man and i didn't want to tarnish what his
26:09thought process would have been of my husband she's talking about the man that she had just lost
26:13hours earlier and the last thing that she wanted to do was paint them as a bad man so laurie i gotta
26:19ask you after all of these uh red flags and warning signs why did you keep coming back to mark
26:27because i love them for the defense to bring up these domestic abuse issues in this trial
26:33they're hoping this jury can understand it and relate to it because it is a real thing
26:37a lot of times victims of domestic abuse they stay with the people who abuse them
26:44i want to talk a little bit about um february 22nd of 2019.
26:49now laurie you said that mark grabbed you by the arm and walked you around
26:53the truck his hand was right underneath my arm
26:58dragging me along i mean taking me along forcefully they backed up laurie's claims that she was attacked
27:04through physical evidence there was actual photographs it looks like there's some bruising
27:08along your bicep in the middle of your arm correct that approximately where mark was grabbing you and
27:13dragging you yes it was scary and i knew that there was nothing i could do about it i knew that i was
27:20stuck going home with a very very angry mark laurie never would have had to come in contact with mark
27:27that evening um had he not been violent with her had he not put her in that position where she was
27:32scared of him so when you got back home what did you do mark went in the house right away and i went
27:40to the bathroom and grabbed my contacts and contact case and my glasses because i was going to leave and
27:46stay somewhere else so where did you go once you grabbed your contact lenses and your glasses back to
27:51the truck as she sees mark coming out of the house he tells her um you're not allowed to leave until i
27:58grab every piece of property out of this truck that belongs to me so mark goes along to the passenger side
28:04i grabbed my phone um because i wanted to record how he was treating me how he was talking to me
28:11so that he could hear it the next day she actually drops the phone after it dropped i looked at him
28:17immediately and i literally he was furious it's like i i looked at somebody that i didn't recognize
28:26at all and he just took off and came around to come get me in the truck were you scared of mark at
28:33that point very scared he just kept getting more and more furious i wanted to get to safety
28:39this wasn't conscious decision making this was instinct this was reflex fight or flight did you
28:49see mark clear the front of the truck and reach towards the side of the driver's side yes well i
28:54know he wasn't in front of the truck because that's the only thing i could see was the front of the truck
28:59i would say he was right at my door did you put the truck in the drive and hit the accelerator i did
29:05laurie hits that accelerator right at the moment when she believes mark was able to get that door
29:11open and pull her out of the vehicle were you thinking about anything other than getting yourself
29:17to safety at that moment no my best guess of what happened based on viewing all the evidence is that
29:24when mark charged around the vehicle um he was close enough to be able to grab the door handle
29:31and uh that's the point where laurie accelerated now market installed these aftermarket steps running
29:39boards that would have been an immediate tripping hazard as soon as laurie started to accelerate he
29:44was likely caught and dragged whatever happened happened outside of miss philip's field division
29:50if you run over a squirrel you'd know it he was 220 230 pounds she left here she drug him down ran him
29:58over he ends up in a snowbank down the way it's impossible for you not to know that one of the
30:05big issues was um how could she not have known you mentioned that you'd only driven this truck
30:10a few times before maybe i wasn't familiar with the truck she's driving this huge lifted truck
30:16of these three-foot snow banks on either side even if she did feel some lift to one side or another
30:22that could very likely be running over the snow bank in the process of escaping from mr phillips
30:30was this a position laurie that you ever asked to be in no if the jury concludes that
30:35um mark's behavior is what caused this uh reckless situation and not laurie's then that's
30:42the very definition of reasonable doubt do you have any reason to believe that mark was injured
30:47or dying back at the home none none whatsoever all the stuff that you heard is 100 her side of
30:55the story i don't find any of it to be legitimate to be honest with you
31:07ross this is a make or break moment in a jury trial
31:13miss phillips you sent that text to mr phillips within five minutes of leaving your driveway does
31:22that sound fair potentially you never know whether or not somebody's going to self-destruct on the
31:29stand were you trying to upset him were you trying to why would i ever want to upset my husband
31:34i'm not answering the questions here laurie phillips is on trial for the death of her husband mark phillips
31:43she claims that she was scared for her life and fled from an abusive man now on cross-examination
31:50the prosecution has a chance to try to prove that she recklessly killed her own husband
31:56if the prosecution can establish that she knew that she hit him and then tried to cover it up
32:02that's really bad for her case it was i think somewhere around midnight you send him the physical
32:09abuse quote you're still worried about upsetting him at this point of course okay
32:15and that physical abuse quote wouldn't have made him mad no okay their narrative was to suggest
32:24that she had to figure out how to cover her tracks she figured to create a record of text messages
32:29if laurie were uh clever enough to cover our tracks in this manner quite frankly she would have been
32:35able to do it better this crazy person this version of mr phillips you thought he was going to self-reflect
32:41mark used to send me daily quotes so i mean he would understand me sending him a quote it it's something
32:48we did daily i don't believe it would have upset him otherwise i wouldn't have sent it laurie phillips
32:55did an outstanding job she never gets tripped up she doesn't stumble about anything you just took the
33:02truck mm-hmm his truck my truck your truck it's my truck okay so you pull up the camera at 1108 is that correct
33:12okay i mean that's what the reports say sure correct yes and you wanted the camera on to make sure that no one was coming or going
33:21that is correct okay these are the moments that they should have pressed her harder upon about the
33:29things that didn't quite make sense but miss phillips once you get inside and you i guess you're the
33:35dining room lights on it's unusual what happens next i lock the door and turn the light off okay he didn't
33:43ask well why would you go into a house that the lights on that you just fled for your life
33:51there's so many questions if he needed to have one more question i'm asking an open-ended question
33:57that i don't remember where we are and i'm giving you an opportunity to fill in the blanks if i miss
34:01something i thought that uh the prosecutor mr burdick was trying to um give her enough rope to uh hang
34:07herself so to speak i'm going to object as to the the form and vagueness and just ask that the the
34:12state focus on an individual topic across yeah let's move on council okay by making inconsistent
34:18statements that they could impeach after the fact but uh laurie um by and large didn't give them that
34:24no further questions
34:30ladies and gentlemen of the jury congratulations we have made it
34:33uh to the end of the presentation the state's closing arguments were maybe the best part of it
34:41so what is the cause of death here the 2019 dodge ram that miss phillips had driven the night of
34:47february 22nd dr reicher testified that his injuries are consistent with being crushed by something a very
34:53large heavy object that truck went over mr phillips body they compressed him in the pavement and it crushed
34:59him they said this wasn't a case of him just dying from natural causes he was hit by a truck and laurie
35:06was driving that truck miss phillips wasn't covering up what happened after because she is a expert in
35:12criminal recklessness but she did cover it up because she was in afraid of getting in trouble
35:17the checking the cameras the text she's creating a record all that shows that miss phillips knows
35:25maybe she knew she killed him right then and there maybe she just thought she hit him but she knew
35:32i asked that you find the defendant laurie phillips killed they really tried to highlight all the things
35:37that she said and did were a way to cover up what she knew she did effectively what they're relying on
35:44is this assumption that she must be in the wrong without feeling the need to prove exactly why that is
35:50the case just because somebody's dead doesn't mean that somebody's guilty of homicide there was nothing
35:58to indicate that the truck had been involved in an accident meaning that we can rule out a scenario
36:03where miss phillips um sees her husband in front of her sees red and then guns the engine and runs him
36:08down if the state can't disprove an innocent version of events then it can't prove its case at all
36:14the biggest thing the defense did well in their closing argument was say jury if you believe
36:21there's an alternative explanation for what happened here then this is reasonable doubt the state's
36:27obligation to prove to you beyond a reasonable doubt that she's not right you have the power to say that
36:32what happened to mark was awful it was tragic but it wasn't a homicide laurie phillips is not a murderer
36:41the only proper verdict in this case is not guilty any lawyer that tells you that they're confident
36:48when that jury goes out to deliberate is lying to you we're wondering if the jury had enough to
36:57you know prove that that she knew she did this
36:59we're hoping it was good enough
37:14has the jury reached a bird
37:15we're trying to be optimistic but it was extremely difficult state of wisconsin versus laurie phillips
37:33you're on pins and needles you're terrified it could go either way we never know verdict
37:38that's why justice wears the blindfold laurie phillips is about to find out whether she will be found
37:46guilty of second degree reckless homicide the death of her husband mark phillips if convicted she faces
37:53up to 25 years in prison will the jury believe her story that she was fleeing from an abusive man in
38:00the moments leading up to mark's death or will they decide that she recklessly caused him to die leave
38:08the jury find the defendant laurie phillips
38:10not guilty
38:18the jury found miss phillips not guilty two sweetest words in the english language
38:22i just felt this deep wave of relief
38:26miss phillips is acquitted at this point the case is now concluded
38:37as soon as i hugged my first son like i just broke down like it was just
38:41awesome because then we knew that you know this nightmare was over
38:50i know there's a large part of the family for uh mr phillips here why don't we have you go out first
38:57it was it was just unbelievably disappointing
39:01i still don't really understand um i guess there's a reasonable doubt
39:14it was hard to see all of mark's family there it was hard to see you know them suffering as well
39:21that part was hard having to face all of them with them really disliking me as much as they do
39:27at this point we have not spoken at all with lori
39:36i think there's absolutely no chance if i saw her today
39:42i would hope that i would just turn and walk the other way
39:49i mean obviously i feel for them because they lost a loved one i mean we all did
39:54so i will always feel for them mark and i we had a lot of fun together and um oh you sure miss him
40:08i think that they had in their mind that they thought that i ran over my husband that's not the
40:15fact but unfortunately i still feel people believe that i did not kill my husband the state didn't give
40:23mark a chance the prosecution never quite got that across of how she knew if she hit him or not it
40:31was never quite made clear it's unclear to me what is the theory of the accident by the state our theory
40:37is that miss phillips went over mr phillips in the truck okay you're not understanding my question
40:44what's the inference that he got run over directly got run over from the side
40:49what's what's the mechanics of of the accident that's not normal for a judge to start questioning
40:57the prosecutor on what actually is your theory your honor i will concede that in terms of whether it
41:02was the front or back tire i cannot answer that okay it seemed to me that the prosecution's theory
41:08of what happened was all over the place and that was exploited by the defense we reached out to the
41:14prosecution and they declined to comment i didn't want to make my husband out to be a bad person by
41:21any means because 99 of the time mark was amazing i loved him so much i love him to this day i will
41:29always love mark but mark was a different person when he was drinking members of the jury you are now
41:36completed your service for me to have 12 people who don't know me who don't know my husband my future
41:47was fully in their hands i was terrified at first but i had nothing to hide that story she told me on day
41:56one i was the same story that she told the jury this is very difficult now it's a time to heal to try to
42:02figure out how we heal it's definitely difficult moving on but so so is life you have to keep moving
42:10forward and keep uh keep doing the best we can do i still have people look at me as though they feel i'm
42:21guilty so you know i just i want this nightmare behind me i i don't want the stigma looming over me
42:30for the rest of my life it's time that i get to enjoy life again i hope defendants are never
42:39forced to take the stand but that decision is likely the biggest one they'll ever make
42:45for taking the stand i'm dan abrams
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