Boston Sci Exec Murderer Gets a Prison Sentence, on His Birthday

Lyle "Ty" Hoffman was a former business and romantic partner of Boston Scientific executive Kelly L. Phillips.

Chris Newmarker

Lyle "Ty" Hoffman on Tuesday received the expected 25 ½-year prison sentence for murdering Kelly L. Phillips, 48, a general counsel and vice president for Worldwide Businesses at Boston Scientific in Minneapolis.

It happened to be Hoffman's 45^th birthday. "He's not worth your time," Ramsey County District Judge George Stephenson told Phillips' family and supporters at the hearing, according to the Star Tribune of Minneapolis.

Hoffman in January pleaded guilty to second-degree intentional murder, admitting that he shot Phillips multiple times--once at close range--after a heated argument and struggle at a suburban Twin Cities gas station.

Hoffman was a fugitive for about a month after the August 11 shooting, and is also suspected of robbing a bank while he was on the run.

Shakopee, MN police announced in early September that Hoffman had been arrested without incident after they responded to reported of a suspicious-looking man in a shopping center near an Arby's.

Phillips' office was just a few miles from the suburban gas station where he pleaded for his life while being shot.

Phillips and Hoffman, 44, founded a Minneapolis a gay bar together in 2009, and Hoffman had lived in a building Phillips owned across the street from the bar, but both relationships soured and Phillips evicted Hoffman.

Phillips was active in Boston Scientific employees' group that promoted equality. He had fought for marriage equality for gays, and was to wed another man on August 30. Instead, that day was marked by a memorial service for Phillips.

Chris Newmarker is senior editor of Qmed and MPMN. Follow him on Twitter at @newmarker.

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