Templeton stabbing victim had been hallucinating, attorney says

The attorney for a Templeton man accused of murdering his girlfriend with a stab wound to the chest said the alleged victim was acting paranoid and hallucinating on the night of her death.

Philip Thomas Hanes, 58, has pleaded not guilty to a single count of murder in the death of Tina Marie Beddow, 32.

Police officers and medics found Beddow lying in a pool of blood on the evening of June 4 at the home she shared with Hanes in the 400 block of Eric Lane.

Hanes’ 6-year-old grandson, who was at the home at the time of the incident, testified in San Luis Obispo Superior Court on Monday that he heard Beddow scream.

Since the trial began Dec. 4, Deputy District Attorney Greg Devitt has called numerous witnesses to testify, including sheriff’s deputies, a coroner detective, forensic specialists and pathologists.

But Hanes’ defense attorney, Ilan Funke-Bilu, waited until Monday to present his opening arguments.

Funke-Bilu told jurors that Beddow was a frequent user of drugs, namely methamphetamine and heroin, and said in April 2014 that Hanes took her to Twin Cities Community Hospital in Templeton after she suffered a methamphetamine-induced psychotic episode, hallucinating that people were watching her.

During that incident, Beddow allegedly acted hostile toward emergency room staff before being given sedatives. Funke-Bilu said Beddow was discharged without a prescription for more medication and never followed up with a psychiatrist, though doctors knew she had been diagnosed with the autoimmune disease lupus, which can cause psychotic episodes.

Funke-Bilu also told jurors that Beddow had two criminal convictions in 2010 for heroin possession.

The attorney said Hanes’ daughter — Andrea Hanes, who is scheduled to testify later in the trial — will tell jurors of consuming drugs with Beddow in the months leading up to her death. Hanes’ daughter placed her son in Hanes’ care while she struggled with substance abuse; she is now reportedly clean and sober, Funke-Bilu said.

According to the defense attorney, the following occurred on June 4:

Hanes and Beddow were at the home when Beddow took offense to a comment by Hanes about her body. After a brief argument, Hanes drank a few beers, took a sleeping pill and put his then-5-year-old grandson to bed before retiring to his own bedroom.

Shortly afterward, he was woken by Beddow banging on his door and yelling. When his grandson began crying, Hanes went to the child’s room and told him to go back to sleep.

“What happened next was a nightmare,” Funke-Bilu said.

Hanes allegedly turned to see Beddow lunging down the hallway toward him with an 11½-inch-long fillet knife in her hand and tried to take the knife away from her.

“His right hand grabbed her left hand, and they did a tug-of-war,” Funke-Bilu said.

What happened next is not clear, Funke-Bilu said, but Hanes remembers sliding in the hallway with Beddow and falling on top of her, then pulling the blade from her body.

Funke-Bilu said Hanes, panicking, attempted to stop the bleeding with a pair of towels before rinsing the knife in the kitchen sink and placing it momentarily in the dishwasher before returning it to where it originally fell.

“(He) thought, ‘This is foolish,’ then placed the knife back in the hallway,” Funke-Bilu said, adding that Hanes later said he did not want his grandson to see the knife.

Hanes was unable to find his cell phone, Funk-Bilu said, and ran to a neighbor’s home to call for help.

When police arrived moments later, Hanes was immediately detained. He later told detectives that Beddow was ranting about people on the roof and deck of the home watching her.

Funke-Bilu said Beddow’s blood alcohol content was later measured at 0.20, more than twice the legal driving limit. He noted, however, that the coroner did not report any methamphetamine in her system.

Following Funke-Bilu’s version of events, he called Hanes’ grandson to testify.

The boy, whom The Tribune is not naming because of his age, was asked by Funke-Bilu if he remembered something unusual happening at the house on June 4. The boy said he did, and when asked what happened, he answered, “Papa stabbed Tina.”

The boy said he did not see the altercation between Hanes and Beddow but heard her scream, “Get off of me.”

Asked by Funke-Bilu why he was crying when deputies took him from the home that night, the boy said, “Because I didn’t want Papa to go to jail.”

Hanes, who has sat mostly motionless throughout the trial, covered his eyes and appeared to choke back tears during his grandson’s testimony.

The defense will continue to present its case Tuesday.

Devitt, the deputy district attorney, is awaiting one last witness, delayed due to a scheduling conflict, before he rests the prosecution’s case.

This story was originally published December 15, 2014 at 7:10 PM with the headline "Templeton stabbing victim had been hallucinating, attorney says."