Jefferson City stabbing marks third such murder in four months

Michael Phillips is in the Cole County jail accused of stabbing his acquaintance Michael Taylor in the neck.

Taylor died from that injury and Phillips has been charged with second degree murder and armed criminal action.

This crime comes four months after another Jefferson City man allegedly stabbed two people to death.

Brandon Rapier is charged with two counts of first degree murder for the killings of Ciera Kolb, a 27-year-old Cole County female and Micah Hall, a 27 year-old Jefferson City male.

In both of these cases, the suspect knew the victims.

Dr. Charles Lake is a professor emeritus of psychiatry at the University of Kansas, School of Medicine.

“The first things to consider in a murder like this is ‘is the perpetrator psychotic?’ said Lake. “If they’re psychotic then you must figure out what what disease they’ve got.”

So far, no claim of mental disturbance has been entered on the part of either suspect.