Templeton man accused of murder describes the night his girlfriend died

A Templeton man standing trial in the stabbing death of his girlfriend took the witness stand Thursday and described grappling with the hallucinating victim for the knife and later trying to stop her bleeding.

Philip Thomas Hanes, 58, is accused of murder for allegedly killing Tina Marie Beddow, 32, with a single stab wound to the chest on the night of June 4 at the Templeton home the two shared with Hanes’ then-5-year-old grandson.

Hanes has pleaded not guilty to a single count of murder.

Deputy District Attorney Greg Devitt previously called sheriff’s deputies and emergency medics to testify about finding Beddow lying in a pool of blood in the kitchen and forensic specialists who said some blood had been wiped clean where the stabbing occurred.

On Thursday, defense attorney Ilan Funke-Bilu called Hanes, dressed in a blue and gray suit and glasses, to the stand to give his side of the story.

He told of meeting Beddow in Humboldt County in Northern California through his daughter and eventually moving with her to San Luis Obispo County in June 2013. He knew at the time that she used drugs including methamphetamine and heroin, he said.

Beddow would hide her drug use from him after they moved, Hanes said. He testified about an incident on April 11 when he drove her to Twin Cities Community Hospital after she began hallucinating that people were outside the house watching her.

“I didn’t know what was happening with her, and it was a very scary thing,” Hanes said. “She basically lost her mind.”

At the hospital, Beddow was hostile and combative with staff, Hanes said. Asked by Funke-Bilu if Beddow’s behavior made him angry, Hanes said it disturbed him.

“I just wanted her to get some help,” Hanes said.

Doctors would later diagnose Beddow with methamphetamine-induced psychosis. She never sought psychiatric help or medication afterward, according to previous testimony.

Several similar incidents occurred in the month leading up to June 4, Hanes said, though he didn’t take her back to the hospital because she refused and instead installed black-out curtains in their bedroom.

Days before her death, Beddow revealed she had lost her job and began acting depressed, Hanes said, adding that she stopped sleeping with him in their bedroom and he didn’t know whether she slept at all.

On June 4, Hanes said, the couple had a series of minor arguments that escalated throughout the day. He testified that Beddow took offense to a playful comment about her weight and again talked about people watching her. She grew increasingly hostile, threatening to cut his genitals off and frame him for domestic violence, he said.

“She said, ‘I can get you arrested and thrown in jail whenever I want. I know how to play that game,’” Hanes recalled.

He tried to avoid her, he said, opting to put his grandson to bed, drink a few beers and pop a sleeping pill to fall asleep.

Next, he testified, Beddow was banging on his bedroom door and screaming. He said he left the room to reassure his grandson, use the bathroom and then turned to see Beddow at the end of the hall waving a fillet knife.

He said he grabbed at her knife-wielding hand in an attempt to shake the knife loose. During the struggle the two fell on the floor, he said. Next thing he saw was the blade sticking out of Beddow’s chest, he said, and he immediately pulled it out.

“When she stood up … it was as if somebody had a cup and they were pouring it,” Hanes said. “There was blood running over her clothes and dripping on the floor.”

Hanes said he applied pressure to the wound with bath towels as Beddow lay on the kitchen floor.

He said they shared a brief exchange, with Beddow telling him, “I can’t go to prison.”

In a response he said he regretted, Hanes testified telling her, “You brought this all on yourself, and you’re probably going to die.”

Hanes said he then panicked and picked up the knife from the hallway and placed it in the sink. Asked by Funke-Bilu why, Hanes said he did not want his grandson to step on it.

By that time, minutes had passed since Beddow had placed a 911 call with her cell phone, and Hanes said he ran to a neighbor’s house to again call 911. But before he did, he said he instinctively washed his hands in the sink. Realizing the knife was also in the sink, he placed it back on the floor in the hallway.

When asked why, Hanes responded: “This thing had progressed to the point where I knew the police would be involved, and I didn’t want to disturb the crime scene any more than it was.”

Beddow died as she was being taken to the hospital.

Deputy District Attorney Devitt briefly cross-examined Hanes before the trial recessed for the day, asking again about the struggle for the knife. Hanes again testified he did not see the moment the knife entered Beddow’s chest.

“So you could have murdered her?” Devitt asked.

“I don’t believe that’s how it happened,” Hanes replied.

Hanes is expected to continue testimony Friday in San Luis Obispo Superior Court.

This story was originally published December 18, 2014 at 7:32 PM with the headline "Templeton man accused of murder describes the night his girlfriend died."