A 7-year-old boy who authorities say was locked in a closet and starved to death had a number of serious health problems, and defense attorneys hope questions about his health will acquit his guardians of first- degree murder charges.
But those arguments didn’t persuade Denver County Judge Andrew Armatas to drop the charges Thursday. He found probable cause to hold Jon Phillips and Sarah Berry over for trial in the death of Chandler Grafner.
Defense attorneys produced evidence that Chandler was born to a mother who used methamphetamine and suffered nine prior stillbirths. The medical examiner also could not find Chandler’s testicles during the autopsy and his weight remained basically constant for 18 months when he was younger.
But two police officers testified that Chandler was locked in a closet space the size of a computer box, had food regularly withheld and was punished with cold showers. “He looked like a concentration camp prisoner,” testified Denver police Detective Larry Moore, who saw Chandler after he died May 6.
Moore said Chandler’s half brother told investigators about how Chandler, who was the son of Phillips’ ex-girlfriend, was locked in a linen closet “a lot” and often not fed. Police found a closet apparently contaminated with feces and urine that was rigged to be tied shut. Police also uncovered stained carpet and an air mattress in the garbage, which they say Phillips discarded when he called paramedics.
Moore testified Phillips told him Chandler had been sick for a week and a half and lost a lot of weight, but a doctor at Swedish Medical Center told police that Chandler would have been starved for at least a month.
He also said that Chandler had 20 to 25 bruises and abrasions, but defense attorneys had Moore concede that none was bigger than a quarter. Defense attorneys produced records that showed that Chandler, who was not transferred to Phillips’ and Berry’s custody until 2006, remained at 33 or 34 pounds between July 2004 and September 2005. He was 34 pounds when he died.
“I have children, and I’d have them at the hospital if they hadn’t gained weight in two years,” Moore responded.
Phillips defense attorney Darren Cantor argued that Chandler suffered from an undiagnosed illness, grilling Moore and chief medical examiner Robert Whitmore about Chandler’s medical records. He said that police found pizza on a plate in the children’s room and that there was pizza stashed in heating vents.
Whitmore said Cantor’s technical medical questions didn’t change his determination that Chandler died of starvation and dehydration. But he did concede that Chandler’s mother’s nine stillbirths were strange. “It’s pretty unusual,” he testified. “It would require some investigation.”
Armatas said the arguments were best saved for trial.
“It’s hard for me to believe they didn’t know something was wrong,” he said.
After the preliminary hearing, Cantor said Phillips and Berry had no history of abuse or motive to kill a child they had fought to get custody of.
“There are a lot of questions still in this case,” he said.
Staff writer Arthur Kane can be reached at 303-954-1244 or akane@denverpost.com.
