Badowski Says Killed Parents Because "God Told Me To"

Said He had Conflict With Them The Night Before

  • Friday, December 10, 2004
Philip Badowski is brought into court. Click to enlarge.
Philip Badowski is brought into court. Click to enlarge.
photo by John Wilson

Philip Badowski told police he killed his parents because "God told me to," according to testimony at his preliminary hearing in General Sessions Court Friday morning.

The 22-year-old Hixson man calmly told of shooting his parents with a 30-30 Winchester rifle, then dismembering them. He said he shot his father first as he lay in bed, then shot his mother after she screamed and struggled with him.

He became emotional near the end, saying, "That's the story. I'm not dreaming this, am I?"

He asked officers on the night after the bodies were discovered, "You're not going to tell my sister and brother about this, are you?"

The sister, 19-year-old Jennifer, and brother, 24-year-old Russell, sat on the front row of the courtroom.

Judge Bob Moon bound the case to the Grand Jury on no bond.

Chattanooga Police Officer Johnny Rogers said he was called to 6409 Fox Den Lane on Big Ridge late on the morning of Dec. 2 after co-workers of Chet and Christine Badowski became concerned that they had not shown up for work and had not called in. Mr. Badowski was an engineer for Alstom Power, and Mrs. Badowski was a nurse at Memorial Hospital.

He said two co-workers of the couple flagged him down at the upscale home off Riverchase Road. He said they told him they had been unable to get anyone to the door.

The officer said a neighbor supplied a key, and he and Officer Michael Hart went inside after peering in all the windows and knocking for about two minutes.

He said Philip Badowski came halfway down the stairs and said, "Hey, what's going on?"

The officer said Badowski said his grandmother had died, and he had taken his parents to the airport earlier that morning.

Officer Rogers said they asked if they could look around, and Badowski told them, "Go ahead." He said they found that a bedroom door was locked upstairs and a garage door was locked.

He said Badowski told them his parents kept their door locked because he had a drug problem and they did not want him in the room.

The officer said he checked with neighbors and asked if it was unusual for the couple to lock their bedroom door. He said Officer Hart then went into the bedroom, then came down and took Badowski into custody.

Officer Rogers said he went up to the bedroom and saw the father's body on the bed next to a chainsaw. He also said, "I saw body parts in the bathroom. It was very gruesome. We backed out."

He said they did a check through the rest of the house to look for other victims after seeing large pictures of the brother and sister in the living room.

Officer Rogers said he then got inside the locked garage door and spotted a large metal container in the floor. He said it was a beer keg.

The officer said he shined a flashlight inside to see what the object inside was. He said, "It was a head." He said it was the head of Mrs. Badowski.

Officer Hart said he became suspicious of Badowski's story about the grandmother dying after spotting the father's cellphone at the house. He said he believed he would have taken that with him if he had left town.

He said he also saw a spot of blood near the jaw of Badowski.

He said the co-workers and neighbors had told him and Officer Rogers, "You need to go look inside that room."

He said as he went toward the bedroom he smelled an odor like a burnt motor.

Officer Hart told of finding the father's body with a towel over the face and apparent saw marks above the knee.

He said the rifle was not found, but he found two spent shells along with some marijuana under a blue chair. He said he had seen Badowski put something under the chair.

A tape was played of the statement made by Badowski to officers. He had first denied his involvement, but gave a confession starting at 8:41 p.m. that night.

At first he chatted with the officers, telling them he has only one 'l' in his name. He said at one point, "It's all good."

When he was given his Miranda rights, he said, "I understand it. I'm not retarded. I'm not crazy."

At the start of the interview he said, "You guys are not going to tell my family about all this, are you? It's kind of emotional."

He also said, "I don't need a lawyer. ---- a lawyer."

Asked how they died, he said, "Honestly, you really want to know? I shot 'em. God told me to. About 10:45 p.m., I was reading the Bible. God told me he needed me to do it."

He said he thought about it as he was using the bathroom. He said, "I knew the rifle was in the closet."

Badowski said he "was going to do it downstairs," but he said his father went to bed early. Then his mother went to bed. He said he went into the bedroom, saying he needed to get some Advil.

He said, "My heart was beating so fast. Hope was lost."

He said he then shot his father. He said he cocked the gun and fired at his mother, but missed.

He said his mother "jumped up out of bed. She started yelling. She was calling my father's name."

He said his mother started fighting him, and he hit her with the butt of the rifle. He said she fell down, then got back up. He said he then shot her in the head. He said he told her "it was time for her to go to sleep."

He said, "I pulled the trigger, and the brains splattered out on the wall."

Badowski said, "We had no hope. They took our hope away. They wanted us to be submissive and them be dominating. Basically they were never good to me."

He said he locked the bedroom, called a girlfriend, and drove his mother's car over to her place. He said he then returned and "smoked a few joints."

Badowski said he then "tried to get away with it. I tried to dispose of the bodies."

He said he had trouble starting the chainsaw, but finally got it going. He said he planned to put the body parts in the keg and burn them.

He described the mutilation, saying he was fearful neighbors were hearing the noise of the chainsaw.

He said he stopped to watch TV and get some sleep and planned to finish in the morning.

He said the chainsaw rope finally broke, and he tried to use a hacksaw, "but it didn't work well."

He told officers, "I figured my fingerprints were all over the place. Did you guys get those?"

He said he had planned to tell everyone to stay away for several days and that he was going to put in new carpet and repaint the bedroom.

Badowski told of the co-worker coming to the door. He said, "She wouldn't go away."

He told officers the killings were "spur of the moment."

He said, "I was pretty mad the night before when they were cussing at me and calling me bad names. I had had some friends over while they were away, and some of their stuff got wrecked."

At the close of the interview, Badowski said, "Everything comes to an end. That's the way life is. You win some, and you lose some."

He smiled at his sister and brother as he got up to leave the courtroom. He said, "I love you guys. See you around. Y'all look good, by the way."

Judge Moon noted Badowski had been in his court before, then got in trouble again. He said he signed an arrest warrant for him on July 20, but it never got served.

He said, "He was about the 16,000th case waiting to be arrested by the sheriff, and understandably he was not arrested until this event occurred."

Judge Moon said, "I can see a man's face, but not his heart. This job comes with a gavel. It doesn't come with a crystal ball."



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