Phillips sentenced in Pocomoke stabbing

Silence shrouded the courtroom as Judge Thomas C. Groton III read aloud the state medical examiner's report outlining the victim's fatal injuries, including a litany of cuts, bruises and shoe prints on his head and neck, and how the knife was thrust into the victim with enough force to bruise the skin.

"You stabbed, beat and stomped the life out of Mr. Nibblett," Groton told Charles Robert Phillips of Pittsville in Worcester County Circuit Court yesterday. "It was deliberate, it was depraved and it was unbelievable."

Groton sentenced Phil-lips, 29, to life in prison for the first-degree murder of William Nibblett in the victim's home.

Phillips was convicted in April. His sentence also includes a consecutive 20-year term for armed robbery.

Phillips assaulted and stabbed Nibblett on March 5, 2008 -- one day after being released from the Wicomico County jail. He was there for four months awaiting trial on assault charges. When Phillips's accuser didn't show for court, Phillips was released. He also has a history of arrests in Wicomico County.

A well-liked local plumber and handyman, Nibblett was found dead at his Pocomoke-area home -- lying on the floor with a knife sticking out of his chest -- by his two grown daughters. They had come to check on him after he uncharacteristically failed to show for an early-morning job.

Killed two weeks shy of his 78th birthday, the man known as "Nibs" was remembered in court Monday for his extraordinary generosity.

Melinda Bagwell, a friend for 25 years, said he helped hard-up clients by making free repairs and that he'd quit smoking and drinking "to be with his children and grandchildren."

Phillips also stole $400 from his victim. At trial, Deputy State's Attorney Mike Farlow said Phillips sought to rob Nibblett, for whom he'd made home repairs a few months earlier, because he was a feeble old man known to keep lots of cash handy. Phillips later confessed to spending the money on a lavish dinner, Farlow noted Monday, knowing that police would soon track him down.

"I wish I could go back and change the whole day," Phillips told the judge. "I have to live with my mistakes the rest of my life."

"You chose to do this," the judge replied. "Mr. Nibbett did not choose to have this done to him. You've wasted another life. It was a horrendous crime. You have stolen from the Nibblett family the last years of Mr. Nibblett's life."

Defense attorney Arch McFadden said in court that his client's actions were "out of character" and that his reputation was not one of a violent person. Family members spoke on Phillips's behalf, saying the father of eight would be missed by his family.

"Charlie's kids, they're living without a daddy, too," said his uncle, Mike Revel, as his family and friends quietly wept. "I don't think Charlie realizes just how much he's hurt both families. I hope he does."