Prosecutor Discounts Evans Case Suspect’s Story of Burglar Death

Prosecutors say they believe Philip Dean Fry fabricated a story about a slain burglar to help cover up the murder of his roommate, convicted insurance swindler Arthur Lee Evans.

Fry, 34, is scheduled to be arraigned today on murder charges in Evans’ death. However, that arraignment is expected to be postponed until the court can appoint an attorney to represent Fry.

Evans’ mutilated body was found by hikers near the Los Angeles-San Bernardino counties line along Mount Baldy Road on July 27. But it wasn’t until Fry requested a meeting with sheriff’s investigators on July 29 that officials had any idea that the unidentified dead man might have been Evans.

In an interview Monday, Deputy Dist. Atty. Tom Goethals said the case is “highly unusual” because it was Fry’s own unsolicited statements to police which led to his arrest.

“Usually, a murder investigation begins with the discovery of a body,” Goethals said. “This one began with a tale about a body, which we don’t believe ever existed, which led us to the body of someone Mr. Fry knew.”

Fry had told sheriff’s investigators that Evans had killed a burglar at his Cowan Heights home and that he had helped Evans load the body into the back of a car.

“We consider his story . . . absurd,” Goethals said. “But if Mr. Fry had not come forward, it’s hard telling how long it would have been before we would have known anything about Evans.”

Blood was found in the garage at Evans’ home, in the kitchen and in the trunk of Evans’ car. Goethals said he believes Fry fabricated the burglar-slaying story to explain any blood that police might have found at Evans’ home. Goethals said investigators are still checking, adding that his office has no doubt that the blood is Evans’ and not that of the so-called burglar victim.

Prosecutors have filed murder and robbery charges against Fry. But Goethals said it’s not known yet whether they will also seek the death penalty. In California, prosecutors can seek the death penalty if a killing takes place during the commission of a robbery. But if the robbery is committed as an afterthought following the murder, a death penalty is not permitted.

Evans was shot several times and was already dead when his head, hands and feet were severed, Goethals said. The severed body parts have not been found. Goethals said the mutilation of Evans’ body did not appear to be sadistic, but simply a matter of a killer trying to conceal the victim’s identity.

Evans was identified by comparing X-rays of the body with those in his medical files, Goethals said.

Evans was convicted last year of grand theft in connection with the disappearance of about $2 million from the now bankrupt Republic Insurance Brokers Inc., at one time the largest brokerage in Orange County. He was sentenced to one year in the Orange County Jail after numerous creditors to whom he owed money asked that he not be sent to prison. Their argument was he would not be able to earn any money to pay them back if he were in prison. Evans ended up serving just two months in jail.

But during that time, prosecutors believe, he met Fry, who has a record of minor offenses and one arrest for suspicion of robbery.

After both were released from jail, Fry went to live with Evans. Goethals said it is unclear what kind of work either of them was doing. Their relationship is also unclear, Goethals said, but he added that it appears they were just friends and that Fry was paying rent to Evans.

The first police investigators knew about any foul play at Evans’ home came on July 29, when Floyd Brown, an attorney who did business with Evans, called investigators to say that Fry had told him about something unusual happening at the house.

Fry, Brown and a third man, whom Goethals would not identify, met with investigators for several hours. Brown told them Fry had come to him and said that Evans had killed a burglar at the home and that he had helped Evans load the body into the back of a car, Goethals said. Then Fry said he dropped Evans off near the Mexican border later that day and had not seen him since.

Goethals said Fry was arrested immediately after the interview because of various discrepancies in his story.

Since Fry’s arrest, Goethals said, investigators have found evidence to charge Fry with possession of some of the items known to be missing from Evans’ home, including furniture, stereo speakers and more than one television set.

Brown and the unidentified man will be witnesses against Fry, Goethals said.