Wilkins murder charge certified

STAUNTON — Thirty-three seconds and a missing key landed Timothy Aaron Wilkins in the hands of Augusta County deputies.

Just before authorities arrested him for the murder of his girlfriend, Wilkins rifled through the front seat of his Toyota 4 Runner, looking for his car keys as the body of his girlfriend lay stashed in the trunk, investigators said in court Wednesday.

Wilkins wasn’t going anywhere.

Now a first-degree murder charge against him goes to grand jury. An Augusta County judge certified the case despite a defense attorney’s efforts to reduce the charge to second-degree murder.

Authorities with the Augusta County Sheriff’s Office charged Wilkins with first-degree murder in June, after they found Misty M. Phillips, 36, of Staunton, strangled and stuffed in the back of his car in the Food Lion parking lot in Verona.

One after another, authorities testified against Wilkins.
Deputy Eddie Carter, who knew Wilkins from their military days, testified first about what he witnessed when he responded to Food Lion:
Knowing Wilkins carried a licensed firearm, Carter asked where he kept the gun in his vehicle. Wilkins didn’t answer.
“He just pointed,” Carter said, describing Wilkins gesturing to the back of the vehicle.

A tuft of hair poked from a large tarp in the cargo area. Carter called for more backup.

What Wilkins lost, deputies found in the keyhole of his trunk. They opened the hatch to discover Phillips’ body.

Investigator A.C. Powers said he spoke at length with Wilkins after the arrest and listened as Wilkins described the murder of his girlfriend.

“He said, ‘I strangled her,’ ” Powers said. “They were mowing the yard and they had gotten into an argument. There was a scuffle that ensued.”

The strangling took approximately 33 seconds, Powers said. Markings on the ground recorded the struggle, he said. Wilkins then loaded the body into the back of his car, the investigator said.

She remained there until police found her days later.

According to a medical examiner’s report, Phillips’ blood-alcohol level measured 0.27 percent. A blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent is considered legally drunk under Virginia driving laws. Police did not test Wilkins’ alcohol level.

“That’s crazy,” a woman in the courtroom said, a single murmur from a Wilkins supporter.

Public defender Peter Boatner asked the judge to reduce Wilkins’ charge from first- to second-degree murder.

“Most of the evidence they have comes from Mr. Wilkins himself, because he cooperated,” Boatner said. “There simply is no evidence of premeditation here.”
But Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Rupen Shah objected, saying the act of strangling a person constitutes premeditation.

Phillips and Wilkins had a six-year relationship, authorities said. It was a pairing marked by tumultuous and drunken nights, according to court records and neighbors.

Wilkins awaits a separate hearing for a charge of destroying a fire system while incarcerated at Middle River Regional Jail. While there, Wilkins was considered a suicide risk, authorities said.

Wilkins previously faced charges of carrying a concealed weapon and drug possession, but was not convicted, according to court records. In a March 2005 incident, he was charged for threatening a pre-teen girl with a laser-sighted .45-caliber gun, according to court records.

Wilkins’ case is scheduled to go before the grand jury Oct. 26.