Man accused of stabbing wife asks judge to throw out confession

STILLWATER, Minn. (AP) – A Minnesota man accused of stabbing his wife to death while six children were upstairs watching TV is asking a judge to throw out a confession he made after his arrest in Wisconsin. Forty-year-old McKinley Phillips is charged with first-degree murder for allegedly stabbing his 42-year-old wife multiple times in the basement of their Woodbury home in June 2021.

On the way to jail, Phillips allegedly told Woodbury police detectives he had gotten into an argument with his wife after he found a letter to her from an old boyfriend who was currently in jail. He went on to describe the stabbing. A defense attorney says Phillips should have been told before the interview that he could have a Minnesota lawyer.