A Tucson man who shot his mother in the head and repeatedly stabbed her with a marijuana pipe was sentenced to 25 years to life in the Arizona State Hospital Monday.
Wayne Charles Phifer, 31, pleaded guilty except insane to first-degree murder in last year’s death of Edna “Sue” Phifer, 61.
Pima County sheriff’s deputies found Phifer’s body on a bedroom floor on May 1, 2008, after her brother asked them to check on her.
The woman’s brother told deputies that when speaking to his sister the previous night she’d told him Wayne was highly agitated and she feared for her safety if her son found out she was on the phone with him, according to court documents.
When Sue Phifer didn’t answer the phone the next morning or show up to work, her brother asked deputies to visit her home in the 8100 block of South Placito Gijon, near Old Spanish Trail and South Camino Loma Alta.
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Neighbors told deputies Wayne Phifer had left 10 minutes before their arrival.
The victim’s ATM and credit cards show someone used it at a gas station and a North Fourth Avenue shop following her death. Wayne Phifer was arrested near Los Angeles the following day; blood-stained sheets were found in his car.
Wayne Phifer, who had assaulted his mother in the past, suffers from bi-polar disorder. Doctors determined he didn’t know the difference between right and wrong at the time of the incident and therefore was legally insane.
Resolving the case through a “guilty except insane” plea agreement was the appropriate thing to do, Assistant Pima County Public Defender John O’Brien said.
“Wayne is not a bad person who struggles to be good. He’s a sick person who was unable to sustain the ability to struggle to remain well,” O’Brien said.
His client will always struggle to understand why he did what he did, O’Brien said. He’ll also have to live with the fact he’s caused his family so much sorrow.
Phifer told family members and Pima County Superior Court Judge Clark Munger he loved his mother “very much” and he’s “very sorry” for he’s done.
Doctors at the state hospital can release Phifer before the end of his sentence if they determine he is no longer a danger to himself or others. However, Phifer would remain under the supervision of the Psychiatric Security Review Board, which can hospitalize him again at any time without a hearing.
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