'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wAARCAAGAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFgABAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUH/8QAIRAAAQIGAgMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAgERAAMEEhMhBVEGBxX/xAAVAQEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACBP/EABwRAQABBAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEAAgMEESFBwf/aAAwDAQACEQMRAD8Ahl5d9MD5OlkEGSjqquccxsgyxIbRHSo6K3TtGcD7LO1L+IlEbbLOW17hCDb4NkoyXaU9B5P/2Q=='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Dateline Season 23, Episode 10, titled Death in the Driveway followed the case of former York Mayor, Melvin Roberts, who was found dead on his driveway. The official synopsis of the episode reads,
“In a quiet Southern town, police find a prominent lawyer brutally murdered and his girlfriend bound in duct tape. Investigators pursue a long list of leads, until they zero in on a surprising suspect.”
While initially the police suspected attempts at robbery as claimed by Melvin’s girlfriend of 10 long years, Julia Phillips, eventually a different angle appeared as Julia turned out to be the key suspect.
Let us now explore Melvin’s case in detail and how Julia was convicted of his murder.
Melvin Roberts was shot and hit on his head as shown in Dateline
A resident of York, South Carolina, Melvin Roberts was an extremely successful lawyer who eventually became the Mayor of York. He was a dedicated judiciary professional who worked honestly to help more and more people. His being elected as the Mayor was a natural turn of events given how he cared for the judicial system and held his faith in it.
While things were going quite well for him both professionally and personally, it all came to a tragic end on February 4, 2010, when he was brutally murdered. On that evening, Melvin was shot as his head also bore injuries.
However, what caused his death was strangulation by a zip tie, which was made evident from the autopsy report that highlighted the fact that the man died in his driveway as he did his best to breathe, while no one took notice.
It was Julia Phillips, Melvin's long-term girlfriend, who informed the police. When they finally arrived at the scene, they found that Julia’s head and wrists were also tied with duct tape. She told the authorities that all of this was a result of an attempted robbery, which she said was done by someone Hispanic or black.
Julia Phillips was convicted of the murder of Melvin Roberts
While the police initially believed Julia’s account, as nothing was hinting at anything being wrong, they kept looking for the robber who caused this. However, after one point, it became evident that Julia was constantly emerging as the key suspect in this case.
Upon further investigation, the police found out that while Melvin and Julia were together for almost 10 years and he provided for her well, in 2010, he was thinking of ending the relationship. This would have been bad for Julia as she needed to maintain her lifestyle, and without Melvin, that seemed a difficult task.
Moreover, she was also fighting with some addiction issues during that time, and the whole prospect of a breakup seemed very grim for her. This led to her hiring a hitman to kill Melvin. After the police collected sufficient evidence against her, almost three months after the murder, she was taken into custody.
However, she never once accepted the charges and kept saying that she was innocent. The police suspected that someone else was also involved with her and helped her to carry out these plans, but Julia did not take anyone else’s name. Her stance did not change throughout her trial, and ultimately, she was given a life sentence in 2013. While serving her sentence, Julia passed away in 2016.
Dateline can be streamed on Peacock.
Trending
Stay tuned to SoapCentral for more updates on shows!
Your perspective matters!
Start the conversation
