Murphy Home Battle Ends With Arrest
MURPHY (CBSDFW.COM) – A Collin County woman's attempt to regain possession of her home and yard ended today in the arrest of a man who's been living there.
It's the bizarre outcome of a woman who hired a company to help stage her home to help it sell. When asked what happened, Aji Phillip said, "Why do they do anything? They're just evil, malicious people and they're bent on my destruction."
Philip says she can't fathom why people who were once helping her sell her home would turn on her. The family was formally evicted Wednesday night, but instead of gathering their belongings and leaving, the family patriarch, Nathan Burgess, reportedly left his possessions in the yard and moved into his car.
When a city deadline to clean up his stuff came and went Friday morning, Burgess was cited for illegal dumping, then finally arrested for disorderly conduct, according to the city. Philip is still angry.
"He (Burgess) threw glass all over my property, he defecated on my property, he brought his family, they brought their friends in. All trespassing," she said.
Burgess' son, Drew Burgess, declined to talk to CBS 11 News as he gathered his daughter and left the residence. Drew Burgess was reportedly hired to help to stage the home for Philip.
There's a small cottage industry of people who live in other peoples' homes while they're for sale, called staging. Prospective buyers look more favorably on a home that's lived-in as opposed to one that's empty.
But Burgess' employer, Castle Keepers, say when Nathan Burgess also moved in, the relationship went south.
Castle Keepers says Burgess not only brought an unwanted dog and lots of wooden crosses onto the property, he also illegally rewrote the staging contract, which is what got him and the family evicted.
But Philip claims the city has been of little help to her, the legitimate homeowner.
"It's just been a continuous nightmare," she said. "It's not ending for me. The more steps we do legally the more they push the envelope." CBS 11 News has not been able to contact Nathan Burgess, he's yet to be booked into the Collin County Jail.
Castle Keepers says it will meet with Ms. Philip Monday to fix damage and get her some new castle keepers.
