Transient Charged In Beating Death

PORT ORCHARD - A 45-year-old transient who had painted Marge Williams' building killed the former Bainbridge Island city councilwoman at the end of a 10-day, alcohol-fueled crime spree that began the day she paid him, prosecutors allege.

Steven Duane Phillips was charged yesterday with first-degree murder in the beating death and pleaded not guilty in Kitsap County Superior Court. He was held in lieu of $750,000 bail.

Court papers filed yesterday say the crime spree began Aug. 10.

The 77-year-old Williams was found beaten to death Aug. 20 in her apartment on the top floor of a Bainbridge Island building she owned.

Phillips, a Kitsap County resident with no permanent address, knew Williams and had painted the building for her, Police Chief John Sutton said.

Court papers allege forensic evidence, including a reddish-brown stain on a golf club, ties Phillips to the crime.

Phillips was arrested Wednesday in the Kitsap County Jail, where he had been held since Aug. 23 on charges of assault, stalking and telephone harassment.