Ralph "Bucky" Phillips admitted to authorities that he shot two New York State troopers in Chautauqua County, killing one and critically wounding the other, reliable law enforcement officials told The Buffalo News on Friday.
Phillips, now being held in a jail in Elmira, told federal marshals and the State Police that he thought the men he was shooting were bounty hunters and he was not trying to kill them.
Phillips made the statements shortly after he surrendered Sept. 8. The admission was confirmed by five reliable sources with knowledge of the case.
A prosecutor and a State Police spokeswoman both declined Friday to comment on the confession. But State Police have repeatedly called Phillips the prime suspect in the Aug. 31 ambush shootings of Trooper Joseph A. Longobardo, who died, and Trooper Donald H. Baker Jr., who is still fighting for his life.
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"[Phillips] said he shot the troopers, but said he was not aware they were troopers . . . He said he thought they were bounty hunters," said one source familiar with the statement. "He also said that he was shooting for their legs [and] was not trying to kill them."
Another source said Phillips, 44, claimed that he was hiding out in the woods by the Stockton home of Kasey Crowe, a former girlfriend who is the mother of Phillips' daughter, to protect Crowe from bounty hunters.
"He thought the state troopers were bounty hunters. They were dressed in camouflage and did not have anything identifying them as New York State Police," the source said.
Phillips, the source explained, had been catching snippets of media reports regarding the escalating reward money for his capture since his April 2 escape from the Erie County Correctional Facility in Alden. The reward money was eventually raised to $450,000.
"He's out in the woods and figures that [the troopers] are bounty hunters. He wanted to scare them away [from Crowe's home] by wounding them," the source said.
Not everyone was buying Phillips' claim he thought the troopers were bounty hunters, pointing out he allegedly shot another state trooper who was in full uniform in June.
A State Police investigator said Phillips shot and wounded Trooper Sean Brown in Chemung County on June 10 when Brown pulled Phillips over for a traffic stop. Brown has since been released from the hospital.
"Believe me, he knew he was being pulled over by a state trooper," the investigator said. "This [bounty hunter account] is what we believe will be his defense."
In further making a case that the former fugitive had no hesitation about shooting troopers, the investigator said Phillips left notes all over the investigative trail stating there would be trouble for State Police if they pursued him.
"It was basically his bravado. He wasn't going to be taken alive," the investigator said.
Days before the shooting of Longobardo and Baker, Phillips had spent a weekend visiting Crowe, their daughter, Petrina Wright, and grandchildren. Crowe, Wright and her boyfriend, Richard Catanese, were later charged with providing Phillips shelter and clothing.
Preliminary discussions about a possible plea deal that would involve Phillips' pleading guilty to the shootings and escape charges are under way, sources said. Phillips, the sources added, is asking that the charges against his family members be dropped.
But it will be awhile before the judicial system is finished with him.
A Chautauqua County grand jury still has to hear evidence on the shootings of Longobardo and Baker. Authorities want Phillips convicted of first-degree murder, which carries a life sentence.
Another delay in proceedings involves Phillips' court-appointed lawyer, Richard W. Rich Jr. of Elmira, who is currently involved in a trial.
State Supreme Court Justice Richard C. Kloch Sr. scheduled a Nov. 20 video conference for further proceedings against Phillips.
Rebecca Gibbons, a State Police spokeswoman, said she could not comment on the confession reports. She referred a reporter to Chautauqua County District Attorney David Foley, who will head the prosecution in the ambush shootings.
Foley said he would not confirm or deny that Phillips made such a statement.
But according to several law enforcement officials, while he was being transported from northern Pennsylvania to Buffalo's federal courthouse on the night of his arrest Phillips admitted shooting Longobardo and Baker.
U.S. deputy marshals and a State Police investigator were present in the car when Phillips made the statements, authorities said.
e-mail: dherbeck@buffnews.com and lmichel@buffnews.com
