Phillips note: 'I gave her to a guy'

LUDINGTON, Mich. (WOOD) - A note found on Sean Phillips claims he gave Baby Kate to a guy who would find a family for her, testimony revealed Friday afternoon.

The note was found by a Mason County Corrections Department worker while doing Phillips' laundry days after he was arrested in the disappearance of his 4-month-old daughter on June 29, 2011.

Employee John Long testified that he "began to read it, the first few words. Folded it up and I took it to Detective Kinney."

The note said:

"I gave her to a guy along with a list of families that are adopting (addresses.) He was to take her to one and they would report that the baby was left on their doorstep, but that they would try to keep it. Go to parentprofiles.com and get contact info for families in the region."

But there is no word if the alleged baby broker was ever located.

Target 8 investigators looked into parentprofiles.com and the site does not include specific information such as names and hometowns of prospective adoptive parents.

Judge Richard Cooper then adjourned for the day, with more testimony expected to begin again Monday.

Earlier Friday, Ariel Courtland was recalled to the witness stand by prosecutors in the trial against Sean Phillips, then ran out of the court when she was shown Baby Kate's clothes. That prompted the defense to consider asking for a mistrial.

Prosecutor Paul Spaniola said she knew about the evidence and did not expect her to react that way. Defense attorney Annette Smedley said the reaction was staged for the jury. She wanted to ask for a mistrial, but Phillips told her not to do that.

Even before she took the stand, Smedley objected to Courtland's return to the witness chair. But Judge Cooper overruled the objection.

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Phillips, 22, is facing 15 years in prison on charges he unlawfully imprisoned the girl who came to be known as Baby Kate. She has not been seen since the afternoon of June 29, 2011 in Ludington.

A flurry of witnesses took the stand Thursday as the prosecution tried to lay out the places Phillips was in the hours after Baby Kate was last seen around 1:15 p.m.

Phillips was spotted at a Wendy's restaurant and bought some fireworks from a stand around 3 p.m., witnesses said.

Other witnesses said he had changed after his military training and told one man "he could hide a body that nobody could find ... No person was referenced."

The mother of Ariel Courtland - Baby Kate's mother - also testified.

April Lange said she thought it was odd Courtland preferred to search for Kate at night and avoided taking part in searches that were conducted during the day.

She had speculated to authorities that Courtland may have thrown Baby Kate into the river; however, Lange reaffirmed this was pure speculation before getting off the stand.

Mason County Judge Richard Cooper is presiding. Jurors will be allowed to ask the witnesses questions that have been screened by the judge during the trial.

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