Involuntary manslaughter trial wraps Tuesday for man accused of killing his girlfriend; verdict expected Wednesday

COLE COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Cole County man who is accused of killing his girlfriend two years ago appeared in court on Tuesday.

Joshua Wilbers, of Jefferson City, is accused of shooting and killing Hallie Phillips, 20. He is charged with first-degree manslaughter and armed criminal action. Wilbers waived his right to a jury trial on July 11. His bench trial began at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the Cole County courthouse.

In November 2022, Wilbers is accused of shooting his girlfriend. Phillips was a junior studying animal sciences in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources at the University of Missouri.

Wilbers allegedly told investigators that he was going outside to shoot his new .22-caliber rifle when it went off inside the house, hitting Phillips in the face, according to court documents in previous reporting. Wilbers carried her outside, meaning to load her in a car and drive to the hospital but decided to call 911 instead, the probable statement says.

Evidence at the scene and home security video corroborates his story, according to the statement. Phillips died of her injuries at University Hospital a few days after the shooting.

State prosecuting attorneys called five witnesses to the stand including Cole County Sheriff's Cpl. Dylan Reudeger, Cole County Deputy Brian Day, Cole County Sheriff's Office Capt. Davey Marsey, Callaway County Medical Examiner Keith Norton and Jason Crafton, of the Missouri State Highway Patrol crime lab,

Some of the most notable statements out of the state's five witnesses came from Day, Crafton, and Marsey.

Day was one of the last few responders to arrive on scene and spoke to Wilbers as EMS performed life saving measures on Phillips. Day was instructed to secure the rifle as he arrived on scene, before going to speak to Wilbers, he said. Day said he found the gun was laying outside in the grass in front of the trailer. He explained how he cleared the gun and found a “spent” .22 casing inside.

Day was one of the first to hear Wilbers' account of the events. Day also said on the stand that he was told by Wilbers that he didn't think the gun was loaded, as the ammunition clip had been removed from the rifle at the time the gun went off. Day claimed Wilbers also said he had cycled the gun many times before that same day.

Crafton said he received the rifle, ammunition, expended cartridge case and expended bullet for analysis.

Crafton did six malfunction tests on the rifle with the original ammunition provided. Testing was done to determine if there were extraction issues with the gun. 

Crafton's findings showed the rifle used with provided ammunition, saw malfunctions with extraction. There was a 33% failure rate overall with original ammunition. The failure rate means the gun's failed to extract the shell casing.

Marsey said he interviewed Wilbers on the scene in the back of Reudeger's patrol car. This was seen on Reugeder's dash cam footage that was shown in court.

Wilbers was heard telling Marsey in the dash cam footage that he typically kept the clip out of his guns and admitted that he did not check the rifle's chamber. Wilbers also said that he had fired the gun eight times the night before.

Wilbers' lawyer called two witnesses to the stand: Brad Kleffner and Cole County Sheriff's Sgt. Dave McCurley.

Brad Kleffner used to own the gun that was used that day and said he sold it to Bogg’s Creek -- a gun store -- in fall of 2022. Prosecutors said Wilbers bought it on Nov. 26, 2022, and later shot Phillips with on Nov. 27, 2022.

In his testimony Kleffner said he originally bought the gun from Bogg's Creek and owned the gun for two years before selling it back.

Kleffner said he used a supressor, or silencer, on the gun which he said can "dirty it up" quicker and cause issues with extraction. He admitted to having similar problems when he owned the gun and that he did not clean the gun before selling it back to Bogg's Creek.

McCurley said on the stand that his role was to bag evidence and speak with nurses at the University Hospital in Columbia. McCurley packaged the rifle, shell casing and unspent ammunition.

McCurley said when he was attempting to clear the rifle, he also experienced extraction issues.

During closing statements, the prosecution asked the judge to consider second-degree involuntary manslaughter, if he is unable to find Wilbers guilty of first-degree beyond a reasonable doubt.

Court will resume at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday where the judge will present his verdict and sentencing.