Templeton man sentenced for girlfriend’s murder

December 10, 2015

A San Luis Obispo judge sentenced Philip Thomas Hanes 0f Templeton to 16 years to life in prison on Wednesday. A jury convicted Hanes, 59, of second-degree murder in January for the fatal stabbing of his girlfriend.

On June 4, 2014, Tina Marie Beddow, 32, suffered a single stab wound to the chest. The stabbing occurred at the home Beddow shared with Hanes and his 5-year-old grandson.

During the trial, Hanes testified that Beddow came at him with a knife while she was in a drug induced psychosis and had been hallucinating. Beddow was stabbed in the chest during an ensuing struggle, Hanes said.

However, prosecutors played recordings of Beddow speaking to 911 dispatcher and a police officer while she was bleeding to death. Beddow said Hanes stabbed her after an argument, according to the recordings.

Deputy District Attorney Greg Devitt described Hanes as a controlling man who became angry when he discovered Beddow planned to leave him. Devitt said some of Beddow’s last words were “I was trying to leave him.”

Devitt also said Hanes stabbed Beddow so hard the knife nicked her spine.

Hanes requested a new trial, but Judge Jacquelyn Duffy denied the request.

During sentencing, Beddow’s sister, Sabrina Garcia, said the murder caused her to become suicidal, rely on pills and push away from her own husband. Both her mother and she have had difficulty using knives, Garcia said.