Doctors have decided Pamela Phillips is now mentally fit to proceed to trial on charges alleging she had her former husband killed 16 years ago.
Phillips, 55, was indicted in 2008 on charges that she orchestrated the Nov. 1, 1996, death of her former husband. Tucson businessman Gary Triano died in a pipe-bomb explosion outside La Paloma Country Club. The man accused of building and detonating the bomb, Ronald Young, is serving two life sentences.
Phillips was declared incompetent to stand trial last December and has spent the last 10 months in a jail restoration-to-competency program.
It was announced on Monday that Phillips is now competent to stand trial, but her attorneys said they may challenge that finding after having their own independent doctors look over Phillips’ existing psychological reports.
Assistant Legal Defender Alicia Cata also told Pima County Superior Court Judge Richard Fields she is considering having additional doctors evaluate Phillips, but Fields immediately rejected that idea.
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Prior to being declared incompetent, Phillips told at least one doctor she believes someone has been watching and listening to her for the past seven to eight years, and she believes she has had tracking devices placed in her neck and passport.
She contends plugs inserted into her brain have allowed people to both track her and control her body.
In addition, Phillips has described feeling as though waves of energy or electricity have flowed through her body at times. At other times, she feels like she's exploding or imploding.
It’s unclear what Phillips’ reaction was to being declared incompetent, but in May she wrote Pima County Superior Court Judge Scott Rash to say she is “fully competent in (her) head.”
Phillips begged Rash to investigate the background in a wrongful death lawsuit, claiming she wasn't notified of a hearing involving the $10 million judgment and believes she is owed $200,000 as a result of a prior decision.
Phillips was brought to Fields’ courtroom after the hearing was over Monday. When the judge advised Phillips her attorneys may challenge the competency ruling, she shook her head, smiled, said, “Competently yours” and left the courtroom with corrections officers.
Contact reporter Kim Smith at 573-4241 or kimsmith@azstarnet.com
