Death penalty to be sought against man charged in girlfriend’s death

Prosecutors said they mean to question the decease punishment successful the lawsuit of a antheral accused of sidesplitting his missing woman much than a twelvemonth ago.

Philip O’Reilly, 36, made a little virtual tribunal quality Friday and pleaded not blameworthy to the execution charge. He besides invoked his close to a proceedings wrong 60 days.

“Do you understand, sir, that the authorities is going to record a announcement of intent to question the decease punishment against you?” District Judge Tierra Jones asked.

“Yes, ma’am,” helium said.

O’Reilly’s attorney, David Westbrook, argued during the proceeding that the lawsuit was not due for the decease penalty. He was invited to marque a presumption to the decease punishment committee earlier prosecutors record the notice.

Investigators said they linked O’Reilly to the decease of 34-year-old Cheryl Beardall, a parent of three, through records connected societal media, a rental motortruck institution and the victim’s phone.

As aboriginal arsenic July 2020 — around the aforesaid clip that Beardall was past seen alive — O’Reilly’s adopted sister, Catherine Pickett, told constabulary that helium mightiness person killed his longtime girlfriend, expansive assemblage transcripts show.

Beardall’s assemblage has not been found.

In August 2020, Pickett received a connection from Beardall’s Facebook account, which was linked to an IP code from a location successful North Las Vegas wherever O’Reilly was staying with friends, the documents state.

“Philip ever said helium lone stayed with maine for the kids,” the connection stated. “Now helium has them, and I’m with idiosyncratic who cares astir maine much than helium ever did.”

Pickett grew suspicious, the records showed, and sent her member a substance message.

“You’re a fool,” she wrote. “I cognize that is you. I’m not stupid.”

In a profanity-laced message, helium responded: “Keep your conspiracies to yourself. I person to woody with capable with my kids worrying astir their ma and I can’t adjacent get her to respond for the schoolhouse stuff.”

Beardall’s children testified that she was routinely the unfortunate of carnal maltreatment and had been whipped with a canine leash.

Two of them, 11 and 14 astatine the time, past saw her — beaten and bloody but inactive live — connected a country of a furniture successful the superior chamber of their location successful precocious July, authorities said.

After Beardall’s disappearance, and portion the children were staying with O’Reilly, helium threatened the older child, according to tribunal records.

Around the clip of her disappearance, O’Reilly had searched the web for “torture chamber,” “longest torture sessions,” “CIA torture,” “slowest humanities torture” and “broken ribs,” tribunal records show.

Confronted aboriginal by investigators astir Beardall’s disappearance, O’Reilly said she had near him due to the fact that she “wanted to cognize what it would beryllium similar to beryllium with a antheral that was much endowed.”

In different case, O’Reilly faces 27 counts of lewdness, intersexual battle with a minor, and kid abuse, neglect oregon endangerment successful transportation with maltreatment and intersexual attacks connected 2 children dating backmost a decennary earlier Beardall went missing.

In 2008, O’Reilly was sentenced to 4 to 10 years successful situation for an attempted execution conviction. Prosecutors astatine the clip said helium slammed his Honda Civic into his erstwhile girlfriend’s pickup motortruck aft she broke up with him.

Contact Briana Erickson astatine berickson@reviewjournal.com oregon 702-387-5244. Follow @ByBrianaE connected Twitter.