Philip Stillwater was born to Blake and Eugenia Stillwater in Chicago, Illinois on August 3, 1977. His father's early financial success in criminal law was augmented by the incredible sales of a legal thriller, Courtroom Conspiracy, which was a bestseller in several countries. In 1984, the elder Stillwater decided to move the family to Oxford, Mississippi so that he could devote more time to his literary career.

Although tiny compared to Chicago, Oxford allowed Philip a world of new opportunities. Having grown up in high-rise luxury apartments, the young Philip now had a yard for the first time. He could run through the woods, play in the trees, and comb the grass in search of interesting creatures. Philip displayed a fascination with insects and spiders in particular. He spent countless hours in the Stillwaters' large yard, searching for new specimens.

His father had always shown difficulty remaining faithful to his wife and family. Eugenia learned early on about Blake's wandering ways. In Chicago, there was the wife of an embezzler that Blake was defending. Then, there was the young district attorney. There were several of the predictable flings with young law clerks and paralegals. And these were just the indiscretions of which Eugenia was aware. Certainly there were many more. Blake's infidelities caused Eugenia to draw in Philip. She tried to shield him from his father's poor judgments and tried to make it up to him. In short, anything Philip wanted, Eugenia made sure that he had it. This went so far as for her to set up a laboratory for the budding scientist in the back of their house. She didn't understand all the tools, and was somewhat squeamish of his specimens, but they seemed to mean so much to Philip that Eugenia encouraged this new hobby.

Philip graduated from Oxford High and enrolled at the University of Mississippi. Many people wondered why the wealthy and intelligent young man didn't go away to school, just to experience something different. Eugenia had tried her best to steer Philip away from leaving for some far-off campus. Without him around, she would have no choice but to face up to her husband's indiscretions. And in all honesty, Philip didn't want to be away from his beloved mother either.

As Philip got older, he too became aware of his father's affairs. He knew about the real estate agent in Southaven and the divorced physical therapist in Batesville, as well as many others. Philip tried to help his mother through the difficult times while trying to contain his own increasing anger at his father.

At Ole Miss, Philip was a popular student. Attractive, intelligent, and somewhat flashy of his wealth, Philip had many, if not close and personal, friends. He was often seen speeding up and down University Avenue in his Porsche 911, usually with a young woman in the passenger seat. Philip dated frequently, although he never got involved in any serious relationships. Many girls would be attracted to the good looking boy with the exotic car, but when they went to his home and saw his eyes light up as he played some hairy tarantula from South America, they often became frightened, or at least disconcerted.

In many ways, that sums up the opinion of Philip around Oxford. He was decent looking, wealthy, intelligent, and nice. But the town residents always talked about how something just wasn't right, something you couldn't put your finger on. People were always initially attracted to him, but once they got to know him better, his relationship with his mother and his fascination with spiders tended to chill their affections.

Philip graduated from Ole Miss but continues to live at home. He still takes some classes at the University and continues his research. His tolerance for his father's affairs is reaching an all-time low and he has begun confronting the women in an effort to save his mother some heartache. Last year, he spent several evenings outside an interior design firm in Tupelo, waiting for his father's latest indiscretion to come out. He startled the young blonde as she tried to pull get her keys out of her purse. He yelled at her to stay away from his family. The woman reported that his anger seemed to be almost uncontrollable, that he was shaking and almost manic. After bellowing at the woman for several minutes, he screamed off in his Porsche. The young lady reported the incident to the police but didn't pursue anything because she feared the negative publicity.