Look for a verdict Wednesday afternoon in a Jefferson City man’s high-profile bench trial in an involuntary manslaughter case. Cole County prosecutor Locke Thompson tells 939 the Eagle that the verdict will come this afternoon.
25-year-old Joshua Wilbers is charged with involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action in connection with the November 2022 Taos-area death of his live-in girlfriend, Mizzou student Hallie Phillips. A bench trial is a trial by a judge, rather than a trial by jury. Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Edward Beetem is presiding at the bench trial. Judge Beetem heard about five hours of testimony on Tuesday at the Cole County Courthouse, and Wilbers did not take the stand.
The Cole County Sheriff’s probable cause statement quotes Wilbers as telling deputies that he had recently purchased a 22-rifle and planned to go outside to shoot the gun. Court documents quote Wilbers as telling deputies that Phillips asked him about the firing pin. Wilbers says he removed the magazine from the bolt action gun and cycled the bolt back at least twice to ensure there was not a shell in the gun’s chamber. Wilbers says he looked down at the firearm and pulled the trigger and it fired, striking Phillips in the face.
She was flown to Columbia’s University Hospital by helicopter and died about 90 minutes after the shooting, according to court documents.