San Bernardino Deputies Continue Search For Man They Say Killed 3 In Hesperia
HESPERIA (CBSLA) — Deputies continued the search Wednesday for a man they say went on a dangerous and deadly crime spree last month that involved three high desert crime scenes and three mysterious murders in San Bernardino County.
According to the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department, 37-year-old Phillip Williamson stands accused of killing three people and setting a home on fire. He's been on the run for nearly two weeks and is described as armed and dangerous.
"I was like, there's no way these things can't be connected," Mahagony Francis, Brandi Jones's cousin, said. "This man is a monster."
Detectives said 35-year-old Jones, who is survived by her 15-year-old daughter, was the first person Williamson killed. Detectives found the woman's body in the back of a car that was abandoned down a dirt road near Wisconsin Street on Aug. 30 — the same night and location where an elderly man was robbed inside his home.
According to detectives, Williamson went back to the home where he robbed the man on Monday and set it on fire.
"He has no regard for human life, and I feel like no on in the high desert is safe," Francis said.
Four days after Jones was killed, detectives found a young couple — 37-year-old Melissa Graetz and 43-year-old Jason Culberson — dead inside a shop on C Avenue. Detectives believe Williamson is responsible.
According to officials, Williamson was acquainted with all of the victims, but their families said they have never heard of him and don't know why he would want them dead.
"Brandi was so loving, happy and bubbly and always speaking positive," Francis said.
Loved ones for Graetz and Culberson said they were too scared to speak on camera — afraid that Williamson might retaliate against them after hearing he went back to the home to set it on fire.
"And I'm scared too," Francis said. "But my (fear) does not supersede whatever pain my cousin went through before he killed her.
The San Bernardino Sheriff's Department asked that anyone with information about Williamson or his whereabouts to call them.
