Arizona Watcher
A Pima County Superior Court judge denied Pamela Anne Phillips’ petition for post-conviction relief, leaving her convictions in the 1996 murder of Tucson businessman Gary Triano intact.
The petition challenged Phillips’ convictions for first-degree murder and conspiracy; the court disposed of each claim after hearings and additional forensic work, finding no legal grounds to disturb the jury’s verdict.
The Pima County Attorney’s Office said the court rejected every argument in the petition and praised its appellate team for defending the conviction through successive stages of review.
Prosecutors say Triano was killed by a pipe bomb detonated inside his car in 1996 and maintain Phillips hired Ronald Young to place and trigger the device; both defendants were later convicted and received life sentences.
Case timeline: Phillips was indicted in 2008, tried and convicted in 2014, the Arizona Court of Appeals affirmed in 2018, she filed post-conviction relief in 2024, and the Superior Court denied it on July 29, 2026.
Defense-ordered testing in 2023 produced a DNA profile that did not match Ronald Young; defense attorneys pursued genetic genealogy and other steps, but the court concluded the new results did not warrant overturning the convictions.
A Pima County Superior Court judge has denied Pamela Anne Phillips’ petition for post-conviction relief, preserving her convictions in the 1996 murder of Tucson businessman Gary Triano. The court found no grounds to overturn the jury’s verdict after years of hearings,…