Three attorneys have been appointed to defend a Logan man facing a murder charge for the second time in the 1992 stabbing death of a Mormon seminary administrator.
John Caine, Ogden, and Shannon Demler, Logan, were appointed Monday in 1st District Court to represent Michael Wayne Phillips. Also appointed was Cache County public defender David Perry, whose office represented Phillips the first time he was charged in the murder.Because Phillips faces an aggravated murder charge, punishable by death or life in prison, he must have an attorney that meets certain requirements.
Phillips, a diagnosed schizophrenic, was committed to the Utah State Hospital in Provo. He had previously faced a lesser charge of first-degree felony murder in the death of Conrad Harward, 64, a seminary administrator with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The charge was dismissed in 1994 after Phillips was deemed incompetent to stand trial.
The Cache County Attorney's Office recharged Phillips earlier this month after his doctor said he believes medications have rendered the 26-year-old competent.
A hearing was set for Jan. 22.