American Airlines pilot arrested at airport minutes before flight charged with cold case triple murder

AN airline pilot was arrested at an airport as he prepared to fly a plane and charged with murdering three people.

Christian Richard Martin, 51, of Apex, North Carolina, who reportedly flies for an American Airlines subsidiary company, was taken into custody at Louisville International Airport.

Martin is accused of shooting 59-year-old Calvin Phillips to death in the cellar of his home in Pembroke, Kentucky, in November 2015.

Calvin’s wife, Pamela Phillips, 58, and their neighbour, Edward Dansereau, 63, were found in a nearby cornfield inside her burned out car.

The Kentucky attorney general’s office took over the case in 2017 after the Phillips’ son contacted Mr Beshear saying he feared the murder investigation had stalled.

In a statement, relatives said they were “haunted by what was done to them and haunted further that someone was still free to do as they wish, beyond the civility of mankind or laws of our nation”.

They added: “We look forward to a verdict to bring an end to this terror, and a fresh start at healing.”

Martin was a pilot at PSA Airlines – a subsidiary of American Airlines – for just over a year and was arrested just as he was about to fly as first officer on a flight from Louisville to Charlotte, North Carolina.

The airline said it would provide help to the investigation if needed.

Since the alleged murders, Martin moved from Christian County, Kentucky, and was recently living in North Carolina.

Martin, whose police mugshot shows him wearing his pilot’s uniform, will be held at the Christian County detention centre as he waits to go on trial.

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