Pam Phillips’ Letter to Her Lover before Arrest for the Murder of Gary Triano

NEW evidence and a request for another trial has sparked renewed interest in the nearly 30-year-old murder case of a millionaire.

Carried out by his ex-wife and an accomplice, the murder of real estate developer Gary Triano gained national attention in 1996.

Triano had just sat down in his Lincoln Town Car at the La Paloma Country Club in Tucson, Arizona when the car erupted into a ball of flames on November 1, 1996.

He hadn’t even turned on the car’s ignition when it exploded.

The blast was so powerful that the windshield of his car landed in a nearby swimming pool.

An autopsy by the Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office listed Triano’s cause of death as a blast-related concussion and fragmentation.

After a years-long investigation, Triano’s ex-wife Pam Phillips and her business partner Ron Young were arrested and charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

Phillips and Young are serving life sentences after they were convicted and sentenced in 2014 and 2010, respectively.

But new evidence uncovered by 20/20 reveals more about the relationship between the ex-wife and her associate.

Phillips met Young after her divorce from Triano and the two reportedly began a relationship. But when she later turned on Young, accusing him of fraud and alerting cops of the situation, he disappeared.

After Triano’s murder, when Phillips was questioned by cops, she downplayed her relationship with Young, saying “he’s somebody who did some financial work for me,” according to CBS News.

However, a letter shown in a preview for the 20/20 the episode revealed Phillips and Young remained in communication all while he was on the run from police.

“I think the apparent connection between us is best kept at a minimum,” Phillips wrote to Young in a letter seized by cops.

“I don’t want to appear as too much of a helper, though you know I am.

“I love you and count on you,” Phillips ended the letter with her signature.

That letter was found when detectives searched Young’s properties and recovered spreadsheets, Fed-Ex receipts, thousands of printed emails, and written letters between him and Phillips.

The investigation also uncovered that a van rented by Young contained Triano’s and Phillips’ divorce papers, a list of people who were close to Triano, and receipts placing Young in Tucson just before the murder.

The evidence found in the van was instrumental in convicting Phillips and Young.

TARGETED FOR FORTUNE?

Triano had amassed a fortune in the 1980s and 90s through real estate ventures and casino gaming investments.

But in 1994, Triano filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, citing debts of up to $40 million.

Phillips’ attorneys argued that Triano’s debts made him a target.

They claimed that one of the people Triano owed money to, Neil McNeice, had both the motive and the means to commit the elaborate murder.

McNeice died in 2002, and a doctor who treated him alleged that he kept a “to kill” list that included Triano’s name, CBS News reported.

Still, investigators believed Phillips may have been motivated by Triano’s $2 million life insurance policy.

Just weeks after Triano’s death, Phillips – being the only trustee on the policy – filed a claim.

Prosecutors during the trial alleged that Phillips paid Young $400,000 to construct and plant the bomb that killed Triano.

Among the evidence in Young’s possession was a spreadsheet tracking Phillips’ payments to young, with interest.

Plus, a recorded phone message previews in the new 20/20 episode shows that Phillips was more involved than she had initially let on.

“I am not going to keep sending you more, and more, and more money, unless I know that you can honor our agreement,” Phillips can be heard saying on tape.

FIGHT FOR A NEW TRIAL

Now, Phillips’ attorney Stephanie Bond is fighting for a new trial for her client.

“I believe two innocent people are in jail,” Bond told 20/20.

Crime scene evidence submitted by Phillips’ defense uncovered DNA on the pipe bomb that did not belong to Young.

Phillips filed a petition to challenge her conviction on August 15, 2024.

A response from the Pima County Attorney’s Office rejected Phillips’ claims that she was innocent, and that the evidence submitted would change the outcome of the trial.

Bond hopes that the additional DNA found at the crime scene will link McNeice to the crime, using genetic genealogy.

McNeice’s family issued a statement claiming that he was not involved in the murder.

20/20 airs January 24 at 9 pm EST on ABC.