Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of assault and murder. Reader discretion is advised.
Dateline NBC will take a look at the triple murders of Pamela and Calvin Phillips and their neighbor Edward Dansereau. The episode titled “The Evil That Watches” will air on the network this Sunday, February 4, 2024, at 9 p.m. ET.
The official synopsis states, “A triple murder sends shockwaves through a small Kentucky town. As secrets come tumbling out, residents begin to wonder: how well do we really know our neighbors? Keith Morrison reports.”
According to NBC News, on November 18, 2015, Calvin Phillips was found fatally shot in his home in Pembroke, Kentucky. The bodies of his wife, Pamela Phillips, and neighbor Edward Dansereau were then found in a cornfield inside a burned car. In 2019, police arrested Christian Martin, a pilot of PSA Airlines, which is a subsidiary of American Airlines, in connection with the murders.
Martin stood trial in 2021 when a jury convicted him on three counts of first-degree murder, among other charges. Prosecutors had argued that he murdered Calvin as he was going to testify in Christian Martin’s military court-martial trial. They further alleged that first, the defendant fatally shot Calvin, per Law & Crime. He then killed Pamela and Dansereau after they arrived at the crime scene at the wrong time.
Who killed Pamela and Calvin Phillips & neighbor Edward Dansereau?
Authorities arrested PSA Airlines pilot Christian Martin in connection with the 2015 Pembroke triple murders in May 2019. His arrest took place at the Louisville International Airport on a plane loaded with passengers preparing for takeoff, per the New York Post. He was accused of fatally shooting Calvin and then murdering Pamela and Dansereau.
Law & Crime said that a Hardin County jury convicted Christian Martin on multiple counts of murder, arson, attempted arson, burglary, and tampering with physical evidence. His conviction came years later, in June 2021. Prosecutors had argued that Martin initially intended to kill Calvin Phillips as the latter was going to testify in Martin’s court-martial trial.
ABC reported that Christian Martin’s indictment had previously alleged he broke into Pamela and Calvin’s home on November 18, 2015. Martin fatally shot Calvin Phillips with a .45 caliber pistol. That same day, he shot and killed Pamela Phillips and their neighbor Edward Dansereau with a .22 caliber firearm. Martin then put Pamela and Dansereau’s bodies in a car, drove into a cornfield several miles away, and set it on fire.
Prosecutors believed that he murdered the latter two because they stumbled upon the crime scene at the wrong time. The killings occurred days before Martin’s military court-martial in which Calvin was going to testify. Authorities believed he committed the crimes to prevent the victim from giving testimony.
NBC News reported that Christian Martin’s court-martial revolved around his ex-wife, Joan Harmon. She had accused him of physical and sexual abuse and mishandling classified military materials. He was also facing charges of abuse of a child under the age of 16 and conduct unbecoming an officer. A military tribunal found him guilty on lesser charges of mishandling classified information and assault on a child.
However, Martin claimed he had no motive to commit the murders of Pamela and Calvin Phillips and Edward Dansereau as he believed Calvin was going to be his “star witness” in the court-martial. After Christian Martin’s conviction in the triple murders, he received life in prison without the possibility of parole. Additional prison terms included 20 years for burglary and five years for tampering with physical evidence, as per prison records.
Assistant Attorney General Barbara Whaley described the murders as “a cold-blooded, calculated, military-style operation.” Whaley claimed that only Martin had the means and motive to carry out the murders. She also said that forensic investigators had matched a bullet casing from the crime scene to a .45-caliber firearm police found in a safe in Martin’s home.
Dateline NBC’s episode on the triple murders of Pamela and Calvin Phillips and Edward Dansereau airs on February 4, 2024.
