By Al Camp
The Chronicle
     
     OKANOGAN - Brent "Hollywood" Lane Phillips, who's admitted to killing a Tonasket woman in March of last year, took the stand Monday, April 12, against two others joined for trial and charged with the woman's death.
     Phillips pleaded guilty March 29 to the reduced charges of first-degree murder-premeditated murder, first-degree manslaughter of an unborn child, tampering with evidence and first-degree kidnapping in exchange for his testifying in the joined trial of Tansy Fay-Arwen Mathis, 30, and David Eugene Richards, 34.
     Mathis and Richards, who entered the second week of their trial, are each charged with aggravated first-degree murder or, in the alternative, first-degree murder with premeditation, first-degree manslaughter of an unborn child and first-degree kidnapping.
     Phillips, Mathis and Richards are from Spokane.
     Michelle Kitterman, 25, was about 11 weeks pregnant when found dead March 1, 2009, on remote Stalder Road about 14.5 miles southwest of Tonasket.
     A fourth defendant, Lacey Kae Hirst-Pavek, 34, Crumbacher, is charged with first-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter. Hirst-Pavek, who is out of custody on $250,000 bail, has a trial date of May 4.
     Hirst-Pavek's husband, Daniel Pavek, allegedly was the father of Kitterman's unborn child. A material witness warrant was issued March 23 for his arrest after law officials were unable to locate him. Bail was set at $25,000.
     County prosecutor Karl Sloan said in opening arguments April 9 that Hirst-Pavek hired Mathis to find people to rough up Kitterman and cause her to abort.
     Steve Graham, who represented Mathis, said in opening statements that Phillips killed Kitterman in a rage after she spurned his advances.
     Tony Frey, who with Sunshine Poliquin represents Richards, said the only connection with Phillips was that Richards bought his drugs from Mathis and often sold methamphetamine to Richards.
     Phillips said he was hired by Mathis to be a "taxman" on a trip Feb. 28 last year to Okanogan County that involved the beating up a snitch. He expected to be paid with methamphetamine.
     Phillips said he acted as a "taxman" for Richards, roughing up people when they owed money. Richards, who allegedly suggest Phillips to Mathis, paid Phillips with methamphetamine, court testimony said.
     After arriving in Tonasket, Phillips said he, Mathis and Kitterman smoked methamphetamine before Mathis and Phillips asked Kitterman if she wanted to go to the casino in Okanogan.
     Kitterman nearly did not go on the trip with Mathis and Phillips, Phillips said. She told them no, they left and then she changed her mind about five minutes later, calling them back sometime after 2 a.m.
     When they headed south, Mathis was driving a vehicle rented by Hirst-Pavek and Kitterman was giving directions, Phillips said.
     The group stopped on Stalder Road, where Phillips said he and Kitterman got out of the SUV to smoke more methamphetamine after Mathis said the drug could not be smoked inside. Phillips said Mathis then told him that Kitterman was the snitch.
     In a voice showing little emotion, Phillips described how he tossed Kitterman against the vehicle and started choking her. Several relatives of Kitterman cried in the gallery during Phillips’ testimony.
     "I got out and grabbed her by the neck, slammed her against the vehicle," Phillips said. "Tansy said to get her off the vehicle."
     Phillips said he told Kitterman she should not be a snitch before grabbing her clothing and slamming her to the ground, where he landed on top of her and started choking her again.
     "Tansy runs up and gets on the ground next to me," Phillips said. He said it appeared she was punching Kitterman but then he saw she had a three-sided file. "She had the ice pick and stabbed her in the stomach."
     As Kitterman started screaming, Phillips testified that Mathis handed him the file with a handle and said, "Finish it."
     Phillips said he stabbed Kitterman several times, including in her neck, head and back.
     “I stabbed her in the head and in the back. At one point she went kind of limp," he said.
     A coroner's report, referred to during opening arguments Friday, said Kitterman was stabbed 39 times all over her body.
     Phillips said he and Mathis picked up Kitterman from the road and tossed her onto the shoulder.
     Phillips admitted he changed his story four times in the past year, starting with an alleged confession March 30, 2009, in which he said he'd testify that Richards was present and stabbed Kitterman.
     Graham read from a 66-page transcript of Phillips' confession, saying, "I'm going to tell you guys the truth. I ain't going to go down for something somebody else did."
     "The truth is, you wanted to go to a certain location for sexual intercourse," Graham said.
     "No sir," Phillips said.
     Phillips admitted he'd lied about Richards' involvement that night because Phillips was upset with Richards.
     The defense attorneys outlined many instances in which Phillips had lied to law enforcement about what occurred.
     Phillips said he was high and confused when giving some statements to police.
     "Now that I am sober it's coming together," Phillips said.