Abductor dad admits that baby dead, but not that he killed her (Ludington, Michigan)

We've posted on dad SEAN PHILLIPS before. I think we knew that this father probably killed the baby, and now he has seemingly confirmed it. I have read elsewhere that Mom is not marrying this dude because she wuvs him, but because it's the only way she can get him to communicate further. What a horror.

http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2012/09/report_baby_kate_died_accordin.html

Report: Baby Kate died, according to dad's prison letter

Published: Wednesday, September 12, 2012, 8:44 AM
Updated: Wednesday, September 12, 2012, 8:44 AM

By John S. Hausman The Muskegon Chronicle

LUDINGTON, MI -- Missing Baby Kate's father Sean Phillips apparently wrote a letter from prison to Ariel Courtland describing in detail the baby's death, a Grand Rapids TV station reports.

WOOD TV-8 reported on a letter, apparently from Phillips, the station said it obtained Tuesday that explains how Phillips believes the 4 1/2-month-old baby Katherine Phillips died.

In the letter, apparently written to the baby's mother, Courtland, Phillips says he drove off from Courtland's Ludington apartment mistakenly believing she still had the baby with her but had left the car seat in his car in order to "control" him by forcing him to return the seat to her, TV 8 reported.

In the letter Phillips claimed that, still believing the car seat was empty, near the Ludington Burger King he ripped the seat in frustration from its position jammed between the back car seats, intending to ditch it. He claimed "She was thrown from it. I didn't know."

The writer of the letter claimed he held the baby for a long time and cried, then later set her down somewhere in a "peaceful place" after driving around for a long time. The writer then claimed he walked around aimlessly and got lost, never finding the baby again and never intending to just abandon the body, TV 8 reported.

Near the end of the letter the writer said "Things spouses tell each other in confidence can't be made to testify. But we aren't married yet in the eyes of the government," TV 8 reported.

On Monday, Courtland applied in Ionia County for a marriage license that will be issued Thursday. The couple will then have 30 days in which to marry.

Under Michigan law, an important exception to the spousal privilege means it can't be used in criminal cases where a child has been harmed.