Man sentenced to 2 phrases of life in jail after DNA linked him to 1982 killings of Colorado girls

A man convicted of killing two girls who disappeared close to a Colorado ski resort city almost 40 years in the past after DNA testing recognized him as a suspect was sentenced on Monday to 2 phrases of life in jail after the ladies’s kin referred to as for the utmost punishment for the slayings that ceaselessly modified their households.

Alan Lee Phillips, 71, was convicted in September of two counts of first-degree homicide and different fees within the killings of Annette Schnee, 21, and Barbara “Bobbi Jo” Oberholtzer, 29. Authorities stated the 2 girls, whose our bodies had been discovered within the snow in separate places, had no connection. Each had been believed to have been killed whereas hitchhiking exterior Breckenridge, about 60 miles southwest of Denver, after they disappeared on Jan. 6, 1982.

Family and friends found Oberholtzer’s physique the subsequent day in a snow drift on the summit of 11,542-foot Hoosier Cross, close to Breckenridge. Schnee’s physique was found six months later, absolutely clothed, by a boy fishing in a creek in rural Park County. Each girls had been shot.

Investigators stated Phillips was rescued the night time that the ladies disappeared from the highest of close by Guanella Cross when his truck bought caught throughout a snowstorm, KUSA-TV reported.

The case bought a giant break from forensic genetic family tree investigators in 2020 when Phillips was recognized as a possible suspect within the case, CBS Colorado reported.

Phillips, a miner and car mechanic, was arrested final year in Dumont, a small mountain city about an hour’s drive away from Breckenridge, after residing within the space for the previous 4 many years.

Park County Sheriff Tom McGraw referred to as the arrest “a fruits of know-how, extraordinary police work, and an unwavering dedication to justice for Bobbie Jo, Annette and their households.”

Phillips plans to enchantment his conviction, claiming the DNA proof used towards him was contaminated and mishandled.

Schnee’s sister Cindy French was 11 when her older sister, who needed to be a flight attendant, disappeared. In a press release to Decide Stephen Broome learn by Deputy District Lawyer Mark Hurlbert, she stated she remembers her mom breaking down and crying over the six months Schnee remained lacking. French named her eldest daughter after her sister. She stated that whereas her sister was not alive to create a household, Phillips was in a position to stay free for many years and have wives and youngsters.

Oberholtzer’s daughter, Jackie Vukos-Walker, was about the identical age when her mom was killed. Her childhood was marked by disappointment, despair and nervousness, she stated in a press release learn by Deputy District Lawyer Stephanie Miller. She couldn’t relate to different youngsters and cried so many tears right into a pillow embellished with a horse that it was not possible to differentiate the place the drops fell, she stated. Vukos-Walker stated she was a relentless reminder of her mom, whom she resembled, and avoided speaking about her loss as a result of it upset different folks.

“I felt like I made everybody unhappy,” Vukos-Walker stated.

She additionally stated mentions of serial killers within the abundance of crime reveals on tv nonetheless trigger her to nicely up with emotion whether or not she is in public or non-public.

Phillips didn’t tackle the court docket however his daughter, Andrea Shelton, did, the one one that spoke on his behalf. She expressed sympathy for the households of Schnee and Oberholtzer however stated she believed in forgiveness and redemption. She instructed Broome that Phillips had taught her and her siblings honesty and ethics as they had been rising up.

“He is an effective man and I assumed somebody ought to say one thing,” Shelton stated.

Broome stated he would impose a life sentence with out the potential for parole for every of the 2 girls, ordering them to be technically served one after the opposite, somewhat than on the identical time, to permit the utmost penalty beneath the legislation. Prosecutors had requested for that to permit the lack of every girl’s life to be acknowledged.

“I hope the therapeutic begins at the moment and God be with you,” he stated to their households.