Murder charges were filed Wednesday against a Grovetown man in the bizarre butcher-knife stabbing of his wife on June 14, authorities said.
“Philip West was released from GRU this afternoon and transported to the Columbia County Detention Center where he has been charged with murder,” sheriff’s Capt. Steve Morris said in a press release.
(For more crime news, pick up this week’s edition of The Jail Report, in stores now. Cover: http://bit.ly/1S8Q4MM)
West, a Columbia County Water Works employee, allegedly stabbed his wife to death on the evening of Sunday, June 14. Capt. Morris said the stabbing followed an argument between the couple.
The dramatic death followed a 911 call from 2006 Shoreline Drive in which wife Sherri West could be heard screaming in the background. When the call got disconnected and the 911 operator called the number back, a male answered and said he would open the door for deputies and that everything was fine.
But in less than three minutes, deputies arrived and Phillip West answered the door with a large butcher knife embedded in his chest and numerous lacerations on his arms and wrists. Sherri West, 47 was found on the kitchen floor, unresponsive with a stab wound to the chest. She later died.
The husband had been hospitalized since the event and was interviewed several times. Capt. Morris said the evidence shows this was a murder and suicide attempt.
West is being held without bond.
