Law enforcement continue to search for a murder suspect who is now charged with carrying out the violent death of Philip Charles Borer Nelson, who was shot multiple times and found dead Thursday inside an apartment building in Columbia Heights.
Using statements from a woman who lived in the unit at the LaBelle Park Condos where Nelson was shot, surveillance videos and evidence collected at the scene, authorities identified the gunman as Phillip Leron Miller, 41, of Brooklyn Park, and charged him with second-degree murder. A warrant for Miller's arrest accompanied the complaint, which was filed Tuesday in Anoka County District Court.
Borer Nelson, 31, had arrived at his ex-girlfriend's apartment around 3:30 a.m. to "take care of a few things," his mother, Bridget Borer, said Friday. About 15 minutes later, the woman thought Borer Nelson had left and called a male friend she claimed to know only as "Ox." While he was there, the woman said she noticed a dark figure hiding behind her couch in the living room. She told "Ox" what she had seen and retreated to the bedroom. Shortly after, she said he heard two male voices screaming and what appeared to be multiple gunshots, the complaint said.
The woman went to a neighbor to call 911 and Ox fled the scene in a newer 4-door passenger vehicle with Illinois plates. Police arrived about 4:34 a.m. on a call of a possible burglary and found Borer Nelson behind the couch covered in blood with multiple gunshot wounds. Detectives at the scene found six .40 caliber cartridges, including one recovered from the victim, the complaint states.
Though the woman claims she did not know the shooter's real name and only knew him by his nickname, Ox, investigators found that she had bought a phone for Miller and that his number was in her phone log identified by multiple heart graphics. Police were able to obtain data from the phone before it was turned off hours after the shooting, the complaint said.
Also according to the complaint:
On Friday, the day after the shooting that authorities called "a violent death," the woman took police to an apartment in Brooklyn Park where they found a vehicle with Illinois plates matching the description of one seen by witnesses leaving the scene. The woman confirmed that the vehicle was the same car she had seen Ox driving two days before the killing.
When Miller entered the LaBelle Park Condos, he was holding a soda bottle, the building's surveillance footage showed. Police recovered a soda bottle at the crime scene and laboratory tests matched finger prints found on the bottle with those of Miller, who has a criminal history in Illinois. Police showed one of Ox's old booking photos to the woman, who identified him as the suspect.
A LaBelle Park Condo video showed Ox arrive at the apartment about an hour before the shooting. About 20 minutes after the shooting, GPS data showed Miller in the vicinity of his apartment on Oak Grove Parkway. At 4:52 a.m., video shows him entering the building. A shot from three minutes later shows him wearing the same clothes he was wearing when the killing took place.
At 5:04 a.m., video shows Miller leaving the building with another woman in yellow Chevy Camaro convertible.
Police also got a call from employees at a Holiday gas station about ½-mile from Miller's apartment after they had found a black handgun in one their outdoor trash cans. Surveillance video shows somebody placing an object in the can about 4:50 a.m. Thursday. Miller was shown arriving home two minutes later.
Borer Nelson's mother, Bridget, said last week that her son received text messages from his ex-girlfriend the morning that he was killed. Borer was not sure about the nature of the messages, but said "she had been bothering him for a while." Her son went "to take care of a few things" and didn't come back, leaving his four children ages 3 to 13 without a father.
In the complaint, his fiancé corroborated that account and told authorities that he had previous concerns that his ex-girlfriend would set him up. She also claimed that Borer Nelson once helped the woman with a 'sensual massage' business, but the woman now had a new business partner.
Borer Nelson was a student adviser for the past three years at his alma mater, the High School for the Recording Arts in St. Paul. He had started a company called 11 Entertainment and was working on creating videos and becoming a hip-hop producer, his mother said.
In response to the killing, First Lutheran Church of Columbia Heights has organized a peace vigil for 6 p.m. Thursday at LaBelle Park "as a sign of hope and solidarity with the people of Columbia Heights, the residents of LaBelle Park Condos, and the grieving family of Philip Charles Borer Nelson who was murdered. Help us show that Columbia Heights is a city of peace," the church's invitation says.
Meanwhile, police are hoping a tip will lead them to Miller. He is considered armed and dangerous, said Cmdr. Paul Sommer. Anybody with information can call police at (763) 427-1212 or dial 911.
Tim Harlow • 612-673-7768
