What happened?

On September 3, 2013, public defender Pam Lipscomb announced that new evidence will clear her client, Benito Flores, of any involvement in the murder of Philip Fontaine and implicate one of the other original suspects.

Lipscomb said they will reveal their findings at Flores' trial, which is scheduled to begin October 1.

In the meantime, the Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Department is reviewing the Fontaine case file to try to determine what the defense team has up its sleeve.

The Fontaine case

Oxford real estate developer Philip Fontaine was found dead in his home in the early morning hours of Saturday, January 14, 2012.

Philip Fontaine's body was in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor, and the house was a wreck. There was evidence the victim put up a fight, and it's possible he interrupted a burglary.

Fontaine's young wife Ashley discovered the grisly scene in their kitchen around 1:00 a.m. Both Mrs. Fontaine and her stepson Grant reportedly arrived home minutes before the 911 call was made.

How to get started

The case is organized into categories of Interviews, Evidence, Biographies, and Press. Links to each category are provided on every case page, to help you move between categories and review the different pieces of evidence.

Visit the Latest Info section to find the newest case documents.

Use the Case Timeline to view all the case documents in chronological order.

If this is your first look at the investigation, you may want to start with one of these case documents:

• Oxford Eagle article on the defense claims
• YCSD incident report
• Oxford Eagle article on the death
• Biography of victim Philip Fontaine