Chandler Grafner’s life took a dreadful turn for the worse during the last five months he was alive, according to testimony this past week in the first-degree-murder trial of his guardian, Jon Phillips.
Chandler went from a happy, gregarious 7-year-old in the fall of 2006 to a bruised and withdrawn child in January 2007, to nearly a social recluse when he was pulled from school in April, to an emaciated “walking skeleton” who died on May 6, 2007.
Deputy District Attorneys Verna Carpenter and David Lamb paraded 15 witnesses to the stand during the first week of an estimated three-week-long trial in Denver District Court.
On Friday, Chandler’s younger half brother, Dominick Phillips, now 6, testified against his father.
He said that his playmate now “is in heaven” after “an ambulance took him to the hospital.” He said his favorite game with Chandler was “cars” and “video games” and playing hide-and-seek on the patio or in their bedroom.
But he also spoke of timeouts “in the corner near the bathroom,” later described as the bottom of a linen closet, of being forced when they were bad to eat “yucky food” (fish) that made him “puke.” He said they were forced to eat the fish and the vomit.
He finally talked about Chandler being forced to “poo-poo” and “pee-pee” in the closet.
Police Officer Carrie Maestas performed a welfare check on the boys on Jan. 20, 2007, after Chandler came to Holm Elementary School with scratches on his face and a darkly bruised right ear.
She said the boys were in their bedroom watching television when she arrived, apparently healthy, in a clean apartment with plenty of food.
She said Dominick was cheery when she questioned them individually. He wanted to touch her badge and asked about the items on her belt.
“Chandler didn’t really want to talk to me,” she said. “He was sad, looking down. He told me, ‘If I’m not good, I don’t get food.’ ”
She said because he hadn’t been taken to see a doctor about his bruised ear, she decided to take them to Denver Social Services counselors, a trip they made in her police car.
“Chandler was very quiet, and Dominick was kind of a chatterbox,” she said.
In earlier testimony, Chandler’s teachers had described him as very gregarious, caring and eager to make friends before he showed up with the bruised ear.
Former Denver Medical Examiner Dr. Robert Whitmore testified Friday morning that a variety of tests he performed in Chandler’s autopsy convinced him Chandler had died of dehydration and starvation — not diabetes, as argued by defense attorneys.
He stated Chandler’s pancreas had been functioning normally, producing insulin. He said a vitreous test of Chandler’s eye fluids showed abnormal amounts of sodium chloride or salt, consistent with dehydration, that his eyes were sunken from the loss of subcutaneous fat around, them consistent with starvation.
He had a higher than normal concentration of glucose, at 198. But people who die of diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis, have glucose levels five times that, up to 1,200, he said.
Prosecutors said late Friday that they expect to question another 20 witnesses next week before turning the trial over to the defense.
Phillips’ girlfriend, Sarah Berry, who lived with him and the two boys, also is charged with first-degree murder. Her trial is to begin later this month.
Mike McPhee: 303-954-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com
