LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A man admitted to killing his girlfriend nearly three years ago. Philip O’Reilly, 37, pleaded guilty to murder in Clark County District Court on Wednesday.
O’Reilly disclosed the location of his girlfriend’s remains as a condition of the plea agreement. He admitted to killing Cherllyn Beardall between July 20, 2020, and July 23, 2020. The 8 News Now Investigators have learned that Beardall’s loved ones had been notified about O’Reilly’s disclosure of where her remains are.
Prosecutors were originally seeking the death penalty for O’Reilly. He agreed to a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.
The investigation was initially a missing person case originating in Henderson. Beardall’s last known contact was on July 20, 2020. Her vehicle was located a few months later.
O’Reilly killed the 34-year-old mother by beating her with his hands and a dog leash, according to an indictment.
O’Reilly was also facing charges in connection with sex crimes against children and child abuse. Police said that Beardall’s two children witnessed and heard the beating. Her 14-year-old daughter was forced to babysit children in a room nearby to where her mother was beaten. Beardall’s 11-year-old son was asked to bring O’Reilly the dog leash used to beat his mother. O’Reilly later asked him to take ice packs to his mother after the beating, an indictment stated.
In March, O’Reilly also faced charges in connection with an alleged “murder for hire” plot as first reported by the 8 News Now Investigators. Two of his targets were children.
Metro Police began investigating the alleged plot earlier that month after an inmate at the Clark County Detention Center said that O’Reilly solicited him to kill four people. O’Reilly told him that “he needed the witnesses to disappear to beat his current charges” and provided a hand-drawn map of the home where his targets live, according to the arrest report.
O’Reilly later offered $20,000 for the four killings at $5,000 per “head,” he provided information about where both adults worked and advised to commit the murders at night when all four individuals would be home, detectives wrote.
Police obtained an audio recording of O’Reilly. According to the arrest report, O’Reilly described a timeline of when he wanted the murders done, and he is heard saying that he paid someone else to commit the murders, but they stole his money.
The inmate asked O’Reilly, “Are you sure this is what you want?” O’Reilly is heard on the audio recording replying, “one hundred thousand percent,” according to detectives.
When detectives asked O’Reilly about making threats on March 16, he replied, “No, I don’t wanna say anything without an attorney present, but no I wasn’t making threats to anyone,” according to the arrest report.
That same day, detectives notified the two alleged adult victims that O’Reilly was plotting to kill them and the two children, police said. All four targets are Beardall’s family members.
As a result of O’Reilly pleading guilty to murder, all other charges are expected to be dismissed.
O’Reilly is scheduled to be sentenced on June 7.
