MADERA  -  A Madera County jury this week found defendant Richard "Speedy" Phillips responsible for the robbery and murder of Bruce Bartulis and attempted murder of Ron Rose in 1977.

Phillips lured the unsuspecting Bartulis and Rose to Madera County from southern California for the purpose of robbing them. Once in Madera County, Phillips took them to a deserted area along the 99 freeway where he shot them 6 times, stole their wallets and property, doused them in gasoline, and set them on fire. Rose, who was still alive, was able to get away. Phillips then chased him down with his car and hit him.

Phillips was originally tried in 1980 and found guilty by a Madera County jury. At that trial, Rose, who survived, testified along with Phillips’ girlfriend.

In the 90’s, then District Attorney David Minier retried Phillips for these crimes and Phillips was again convicted by a Madera County Jury. Earlier this month, District Attorney Sally Moreno again retried Phillips and a third Madera County jury found Phillips responsible for these crimes.

Phillips is scheduled to be sentenced on November 7, 2019, in Department 22 of the Madera County Superior Court. He will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

District Attorney Moreno commented, “Cases of this magnitude take dozens of people to successfully prosecute. I would like to thank all those who supported this effort including retired deputies Fred Flores, Henry Saib, and Lieutenant James Hickman who came in and testified about their portions of the original investigation.”