DeVINE, Phillip Elliott 1971 - 1993

DEVINE

Posted By: Joey Stark
Date: 5/25/2021 at 20:23:28

"The Fairfield Ledger"
Monday, January 3, 1994
Page 10, Column 4

Phillip E. DeVINE

Phillip E. DeVINE 22, of the Denison community, died Saturday, Jan. 1, 1994 (sic - Dec. 31, 1993), in rural Humboldt, Neb.

Arrangements are pending at Behner Funeral Home.

~~~~

"The Fairfield Ledger"
Monday, January 3, 1994
Front Page and Page 9

FALLS CITY, Neb. -- A Fairfield man was one of three persons found shot to death Friday in a southeast Nebraska farmhouse near Humboldt.

Phillip DeVINE, 22, stepson and son of Roy and Aisha McCAIN of Glasgow, was said to have been visiting friends. He had been expected home Saturday, his stepfather said.

His name was not released until Sunday pending notification of his family.

"He really didn't know the people he was staying with," said his mother, Aisha McCAIN. "He just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time."

McCAIN of Glasgow said her son, who had been attending a Job Corps program in Denison, had been visiting his girlfriend in Nebraska over the Christmas break. The two broke up, McCAIN said, and DeVINE ended up with other acquaintances. He was staying overnight at the farmhouse, with plans to catch a bus in the morning.

"I hold no animosity toward the people who killed him," said McCAIN. "I just hope that at some level they ask for forgiveness from God."

She said DeVINE was "very religious, especially for someone 22 years old," and would share her views about his killers. "He was a very kind, loving, giving person," she said.

DeVINE had lived in the Fairfield area for the past five years.

Two Falls City men were to be arraigned today on charges of kidnapping and first-degree sexual assault in connection with the case. Scheduled to appear in Richardson County Court today were John Lotter, 22, and Marvin Nissen, 21, both of Falls City.

One of the dead was a woman, 21-year-old Teena Brandon, who posed as a man. Brandon allegedly was assaulted by the suspects Christmas Day.

The other victim was Lisa Lambert, who rented the house. Her infant son was found unharmed there.

Two other people who lived in the farmhouse said they were away from the house Friday. Carrie Keeton, 18, and her fiance, Mike Lang, 25, had stayed overnight with Keeton's mother in Humboldt because they had errands there the next day.

Brandon was said to have posed as a man and dated women in the Humboldt area, authorities said. The sister of one of the accused killers, Michelle Lotter, 21, of Falls City said her brother and Nissen were angry after learning about Brandon's deception and seeing her dressing and acting like a man.

Richardson County Attorney Douglas Merz, who had said he did not believe that Brandon's sexual identity was behind the killings, refused to provide any other motive for the slayings.

DeVINE had gone to Nebraska from Denison where he had been attending a Job Corps program to obtain his high school equivalency. His mother said he previously had worked at Hardee's, the Bistro, and Maharishi International University in Fairfield.

The funeral service for DeVINE is pending at Behner Funeral Home. McCAIN invites all of DeVINE's friends to attend the service.

~~~~
Copied with permission from The Fairfield Ledger, Inc. IAGenWeb Bylaws PROHIBIT the COPYING AND RE-POSTING OF THIS MATERIAL IN ANY PUBLIC VENUE such as Ancestry or Find A Grave without WRITTEN permission from the poster ~ copyright restrictions apply.
*Transcribed for genealogy purposes; I have no relation to the person(s) mentioned.

Note: Interment was in Wright Cemetery.