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Former Army Apache pilot is convicted of murdering neighbor he said ‘was having affair with his bigamist ex-wife’ from testifying, and two others to stop child rape court martial against him going ahead

&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpcnt">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpa">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<span class&equals;"wpa-about">Advertisements<&sol;span>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"u top&lowbar;amp">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<amp-ad width&equals;"300" height&equals;"265"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; type&equals;"pubmine"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-siteid&equals;"109460728"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-section&equals;"1">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;amp-ad>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;373232"><strong>Ex-Army Major<&sol;strong> <strong>Christian Martin&comma; 53&comma; was found guilty Wednesday of the 2015 murders of Calvin Philips&comma; Pamela Phillips and Edward Dansereau in Pembroke&comma; Kentucky <&sol;strong> <&sol;h2>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;373232"><strong>The former Major Apache pilot is convicted of murdering neighbor he claimed &&num;8216&semi;was having affair with his bigamist ex-wife&&num;8217&semi; and two others to stop child rape court martial against him going ahead<&sol;strong> <&sol;h2>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;373232"><strong>Martin was accused of child rape and assault and the case set Martin up for a court-martial<&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;373232"><strong>The allegations were made by Martin&&num;8217&semi;s ex-wife Joan Harmon&comma; who he had recently learned was a bigamist <&sol;strong>&&num;8211&semi; <strong>Martin claimed in 2016 that Calvin was having a long-term affair with Harmon<&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;373232"><strong>Calvin Phillips&comma; 59&comma; was found shot dead in the cellar of his home on Nov 18&comma; 2015 while the charred remains of his wife Pamela Phillips&comma; 58&comma; and neighbor Edward Dansereau&comma; 63&comma; were found in a nearby cornfield inside her burned out car <&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;373232"><strong>The Phillips and their friend were murdered just two weeks before Calvin was due to testify against Martin in a court martial case <&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;373232"><strong>In his court-martial Martin was found guilty of mishandling classified material and child assault in the court martial&comma; was discharged from the military and sentenced to 90 days <&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;373232"><strong>He moved to North Carolina and began a new career as a commercial pilot in 2018&comma; three years after the murders&comma; Martin was about to fly when he was arrested at Louisville Airport in May 2019<&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;373232"><strong>Jury spent just seven and a half hours deliberating before returning their verdict Wednesday evenings<&sol;strong> <&sol;h2>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<h2 class&equals;"has-text-color has-normal-font-size wp-block-heading" style&equals;"color&colon;&num;373232"><strong>He faces 20 years to life without parole in the sentencing phase of his trial&comma; which began Thursday<&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2021&sol;06&sol;Christian-Martin-1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-381794" width&equals;"836" height&equals;"532"&sol;><figcaption><strong>Christian Martin&comma; 53&comma; &lpar;pictured still in his pilot uniform in his 2019 mug&rpar; was found guilty Wednesday of the 2015 murders of Calvin Philips&comma; Pamela Phillips and Edward Dansereau in Pembroke&comma; Kentucky<&sol;strong><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">Christian Martin&comma; 53&comma; was found guilty Wednesday of the 2015 murders of Calvin Philips&comma; Pamela Phillips and Edward Dansereau in Pembroke&comma; Kentucky in 2015&period;<br>The former Army Major killed a neighbor he believed was sleeping with his ex-wife as well as two others to stop a child rape court martial against him&period;<br>59-year-old Calvin Phillip Calvin was found shot dead in the cellar of his home in November 2015&period; The charred remains of his wife Pamela Phillips&comma; 58&comma; and their neighbor Dansereau&comma; 63&comma; were found hours later a few miles away in a cornfield inside her burned out car&period; Both been shot in the head&period; <br>The murders took place just two weeks before Calvin Phillips was due to testify against Martin in a court martial case where the 30-year military veteran was accused of child rape and assault of his stepson&period; Investigators said the other victims were shot for being in the wrong place at the wrong time&period; <br>Martin later moved to North Carolina&comma; and began a career working for American Airlines subsidiary PSA in 2018&comma; after being discharged from the military&period;  <br>The allegations were first made by Martin&&num;8217&semi;s ex-wife Joan Harmon&comma; who he had recently learned was a bigamist&period;<br>Martin claimed in a 2016 interview that Calvin Phillips was also having a long-term affair with his wife&comma; Joan Harmon&comma; while they were married&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2021&sol;06&sol;Calvin-Phillips-and-Pamela-Phillips-1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-381795" width&equals;"830" height&equals;"936"&sol;><figcaption><strong>Victims&colon; Calvin Philips and Pamela Phillips&period; Calvin&comma; 59&comma; was found shot dead in the cellar of his home in November 2015<&sol;strong><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">With the witness unavailable to testify in the court martial case&comma; Martin was found guilty on charges of two counts of mishandling of classified material and two counts of assault of a child&comma; but was found not guilty on both charges of rape of a child and communicating a threat&period;<br>Still&comma; he was discharged from the military and sentenced to 90 days in jail&comma; before later moving out-of-state to begin a new career as a commercial pilot&period;  <br>The gruesome triple murders went unsolved for more than three years until Martin was dramatically arrested at Louisville International Airport in May 2019 &&num;8211&semi; just minutes before he was about to fly a plane for American Airlines&&num;8217&semi; subsidiary PSA Airlines&period;  <br>The jury spent just seven and a half hours deliberating before returning their verdict Wednesday evening&period; <br>Martin was convicted of all charges in the triple murder case in Hardin Circuit Court Wednesday&comma; including three counts of murder&comma; one count of arson in the first degree&comma; one count of attempted arson&comma; two counts of burglary in the first degree&comma; and three counts of tampering with physical evidence&period; <br>He faces 20 years to life without parole in the sentencing phase of his trial&comma; which began Thursday&period;   <br>During the two-week trial&comma; Special prosecutor Barbara Whaley said Martin had the motive to kill neighbor Calvin because he was set to testify in the court-martial that could have ended Martin&&num;8217&semi;s Army career&period;  <br>A military witness testified at the trial that Calvin was the reason for the court martial being brought in the first place&period; <br>Meanwhile&comma; Calvin&&num;8217&semi;s wife Pamela and Dansereau were in the wrong place at the wrong time&comma; said prosecutors&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2021&sol;06&sol;Edward-Dansereau-1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-381796" width&equals;"827" height&equals;"801"&sol;><figcaption><strong>Victim&colon; Edward Dansereau&period; The charred remains of Pamela&comma; 58&comma; and Dansereau&comma; 63&comma; were found in a cornfield inside her burned out car<&sol;strong><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2021&sol;06&sol;Joan-Harmon-and-her-husband-Christian-Martin-1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"This image has an empty alt attribute&semi; its file name is Joan-Harmon-and-her-husband-Christian-Martin-1&period;jpg" width&equals;"837" height&equals;"475"&sol;><figcaption><strong>Army Maj&period; Christian Martin and his wife Joan Harmon&period; Harmon his now ex-wife exposed the abuse and rape&period; Martin claimed in a 2016 interview that Calvin Phillips was also having a long-term affair with his then wife <&sol;strong><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">Martin was accused of shooting Calvin dead in his home on the morning of November 18&period;<br>He then allegedly moved the body to the cellar and tried unsuccessfully to burn it&period;<br>Martin then returned to the home later that day&comma; bumping into Pamela and Dansereau&comma; who he then also shot and killed&period;<br>He then set an alarm for 1&period;10am the following morning and got up and drove the two bodies a few miles away in Pamela&&num;8217&semi;s car&comma; before torching the vehicle&period; <br>Furthermore&comma; a shell casing at the scene was shown to have been fired from a &period;45-caliber handgun found in a safe in Martin&&num;8217&semi;s home across the street&comma; Whaley said&period;<br>Martin&&num;8217&semi;s dog tags were also found in the Philips&&num;8217&semi; home&period;<br>Prosecutors also pointed to Martin&&num;8217&semi;s cell phone tower records which showed he was inactive at three points during November 18 2015&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2021&sol;06&sol;Christian-Martin-in-court-1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-381800" width&equals;"844" height&equals;"469"&sol;><figcaption><strong>Martin is seen on CourtTV the jury returned their verdict Wednesday &&num;8211&semi; finding him guilty on all charges<&sol;strong><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2021&sol;06&sol;Christian-Martin-in-court-2&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-381801" width&equals;"839" height&equals;"469"&sol;><figcaption>An unrepentant <strong>Martin continued to protest his innocence throughout his trial&comma; taking the stand Tuesday to slam the charges against him as &&num;8216&semi;stupid&&num;8217&semi;&period; He faces 20 years to life in prison&comma; without the possibility of parole at sentencing<&sol;strong><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<iframe width&equals;"560" height&equals;"315" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;youtube&period;com&sol;embed&sol;CTn8Vf-DNEQ" title&equals;"YouTube video player" frameborder&equals;"0" allow&equals;"accelerometer&semi; autoplay&semi; clipboard-write&semi; encrypted-media&semi; gyroscope&semi; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen><&sol;iframe>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph"><strong>The jury spend just seven and a half hours in deliberations before returning their verdict in the Christian Martin triple-murder case on Wednesday evening&period; <&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">They said the murders were committed and the bodies moved and burned during those inactive periods&period;   <br>The records&comma; prosecutors said&comma; also disproved his alibi that he was at home at the time of the killings&period; <br>But&comma; Martin continued to protest his innocence throughout his trial&comma; taking the stand Tuesday to slam the charges against him as &&num;8216&semi;stupid&period;&&num;8217&semi; <br>&&num;8216&semi;Stupid&period; I didn&&num;8217&semi;t do it and the evidence shows I didn&&num;8217&semi;t do it&comma;&&num;8217&semi; Martin <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;wsmv&period;com&sol;news&sol;investigations&sol;accused-triple-murder-suspect-stupid-that-i-m-even-charged-with-crimes&sol;article&lowbar;ff1c6de4-ce26-11eb-becb-779332ca45b5&period;html">testified<&sol;a>&period;<br>&&num;8216&semi;I didn&&num;8217&semi;t do anything like that at all&period; Like I said&comma; all the evidence shows I didn&&num;8217&semi;t do anything with this&period; I&&num;8217&semi;m not involved in this&period;&&num;8217&semi; <br>Martin also claimed that Calvin was actually going to testify in support of him at the court martial&period; <br>He said Calvin had admitted to his private investigators that he had never heard Harmon accuse Martin of assaulting her or her children&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2021&sol;06&sol;Christian-Martin-in-court-3&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-381806" width&equals;"834" height&equals;"939"&sol;><figcaption><strong>Martin in court in 2019&period; The murders took place just two weeks before Calvin was due to testify against Martin in a court martial case&period; The 30-year military veteran was accused of child rape and assault<&sol;strong><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2021&sol;06&sol;Christian-Martin-in-court-5&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-381803" width&equals;"839" height&equals;"628"&sol;><figcaption><strong>Martin was arrested at Louisville Airport in May 2019 &&num;8211&semi; 3 years on from the murders &&num;8211&semi; just as he was about to fly a commercial plane <&sol;strong><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">&&num;8216&semi;My private investigators had interviewed Calvin&comma; and we have his audio&comma; and it was played on Channel 4 Nashville&comma; and he denied all of that&comma;&&num;8217&semi; Martin testified&period;<br>His defense attorney Tom Griffiths argued there was forensic proof that the bullets that killed the victims did not come from his client&&num;8217&semi;s gun&period; <br>He also noted there were no eyewitnesses&comma; no DNA and no fingerprints&period; <br>The defense claimed evidence pointing to Martin could have been planted &&num;8211&semi; possibly by his ex-wife who had access to his firearms&period;  <br>Both the shell casing and the dog tags were found by family members of Calvin several months after the murders&period;   <&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2021&sol;06&sol;Calvin-Phillips-home-1-1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-381823" width&equals;"838" height&equals;"781"&sol;><figcaption><strong>Calvin Phillip&&num;8217&semi;s was shot dead by the neighbor living opposite his home &lbrack;photo&rsqb; on Nov 18&comma; 2015<&sol;strong><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2021&sol;06&sol;Pamela-Phillips-car-1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-381825" width&equals;"837" height&equals;"467"&sol;><figcaption><strong>The bodies of Pamela Phillips and Edward Dansereau were found in her completely burnt out car miles away from him&period; Both had been shot dead before the vehicle was torched <&sol;strong><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2021&sol;06&sol;Joan-Harmon-2&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-381821" width&equals;"833" height&equals;"473"&sol;><figcaption><strong>Martin claimed in a 2016 interview&comma; that Calvin was having a long-term affair with his then wife Joan Harmon &lbrack;photo&rsqb;<&sol;strong>&period; <strong>Their marriage was voided around three years prior to the murders&comma; after Martin discovered Harmon had already been married to another man before they wed&period;  <&sol;strong><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">Harmon and her son both invoked the Fifth Amendment to avoid testifying in the trial&period;<br>In a 2016 interview with WSMV&comma; Martin said he believed Harmon had been having a long-running affair with Calvin&period;<br>&&num;8216&semi;Everyone in town knew what was going on while I was at work every day&comma;&&num;8217&semi; Martin said&period; <br>&&num;8216&semi;They were together all day long&comma; and they didn&&num;8217&semi;t really try to hide it or anything like that&period;&&num;8217&semi; <br>But he said he was grateful to his neighbor as it helped him get out of his bigamist marriage&period; <br>Martin and Harmon&&num;8217&semi;s marriage was annulled around three years prior to the murders&comma; after he discovered she had already been married to another man before they wed&period;  Martin claimed his ex-wide warned him &&num;8216&semi;I will ruin your life&&num;8217&semi; when they split&period; <br><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<figure class&equals;"wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2021&sol;06&sol;Christian-Martin-3&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" class&equals;"wp-image-381799" width&equals;"837" height&equals;"740"&sol;><figcaption><strong>Martin &lbrack;photo&comma; in military uniform&rsqb;&comma; in the court martial&comma; he was found guilty of mishandling classified material and child assault&comma; and was discharged from the military&comma; going on to serve to 90 days in jail&period; With the federal witness gone&comma; Martin was cleared of the rape charge<&sol;strong><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph">Martin was named a person of interest in the murders almost immediately after the bodies were discovered and his house was raided by a SWAT team at the time&period;  However it was three years before he was indicted on May 10 2019&period; <br>He was then handcuffed and arrested the following day at the airline gate at Louisville airport as he was about to pilot a commercial plane&period;<br>He was still wearing his pilot uniform when he was photographed in his mugshot&period; <br>Due to the high-profile nature of the case&comma; the trial was moved from Christian County to Hardin County&period; <br>In the court-martial&comma; the trial was pushed back to the following May&period;<br>Martin was convicted by the military court of mishandling classified information and assault on a child&period; <br>He was discharged from the military and sentenced to 90 days in jail&period;  He was on active duty again from 2005 serving as a Fort Campbell Major when he was dismissed in 2016&period;<br>He was hired as a Bombardier CRJ First Officer for PSA Airlines in January 2018&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph"><br><&sol;p>&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;&NewLine;<p class&equals;"wp-block-paragraph"><&sol;p>&NewLine;

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