Philip D. Fry Found Guilty of Murdering His Employer

Philip Dean Fry, whose tale to police about his employer killing a burglar last year led to his own arrest, was convicted of first-degree murder Thursday in the shooting death of that employer.

The mutilated body of convicted swindler Arthur Lee Evans of Cowan Heights was found July 27, 1985, by hikers near Mount Baldy Road in San Bernardino County--just days before Evans was to be sentenced. The 34-year-old Evans had been shot five times and his head, hands and feet were missing.

Fry, now 35, who worked in Evans’ mortgage and real estate business and also shared his home in the fashionable community north of Tustin, was accused of killing Evans so he could get his hands on some of the money Evans was thought to have possessed. Evans was convicted in 1984 of defrauding dozens of investors of about $2 million in an insurance scheme.

Jurors convicted Fry of first-degree murder and grand theft (for selling Evans’ furniture) after less than two days of deliberation. But several jurors said later they strongly suspect someone else may have been involved.

Another Person Mentioned

“I think it’s possible that Mr. Fry may have been a victim himself, that he may have been duped into participating in this whole thing,” said Mary Frances Utrata, the jury foreman.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard M. King told jurors during the trial that the evidence showed another person could have been involved. The jurors asked him about it later, but King said he could not discuss it because “it’s still an ongoing investigation.”

Fry’s primary defense was that no one had proved Evans was the actual victim. His attorney, Michael T. Wayland, contended to jurors that no one can prove the body found along Mount Baldy Road was that of Evans.

Actually, for two days after the body was found, law-enforcement investigators had no clue to its identity. Nobody, in fact, even knew that Evans was missing until Fry walked into the sheriff’s office and said Evans had killed a burglar in his home and then asked Fry to drive him to the Mexican border. That led investigators to look at whether the Mount Baldy body might be that of Evans.

Jury foreman Utrata said later, however, that the jurors had little trouble deciding the body was that of Evans, based on the evidence presented by prosecutors that matched X-rays, body hair and even a laundry tag on the shirt to Evans. A more difficult issue, Utrata said, was deciding whether Fry’s participation in the crime amounted to first-degree murder or a lesser charge.

‘All So Very Sad’

Several people who had been victimized by Evans in his insurance fraud scheme attended the seven-week trial in Superior Court.

One woman, a widow who had lost all her savings, about $4,000, said after the verdict that “I really did not come here hoping for any particular verdict. I just think it’s all so very sad. Mr. Evans must have been very sick to do what he did.”

Fry was tearful and refused to look at the jurors after the verdict.

Ordinarily, sentencings in murder cases are put off for at least 60 days to give the county Probation Department time to prepare a report for the judge. However, Fry refused to give a time waiver necessary to put off sentencing that long. Superior Judge David G. Sills set sentencing for July 31. Fry faces a minimum of 25 years to life as a result of the verdict.