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McCowan family defends son on 'Dr. Phil,' reiterates plans to appeal guilty decision

July 14, 2014

The family of Connor McCowan appeared on "Dr. Phil" Monday to defend Connor and explain what they think happened the night of Andrew Singler's death. Connor was sentenced to 20 to 60 years in November for the stabbing death of MSU senior Andrew Singler in February of 2013.

Throughout the show, the McCowan family insisted Connor was defending himself and never intended to murder Singler.

Randy McCowan, Connor’s father, said he thinks the sentencing was harsh because the family and the prosecution wanted an "eye for an eye."

Mother Judy McCowan said she felt awful about what happened to Andrew Singler, but her son didn’t do anything illegal that night.

“I understand how it appears, but you can legally put a pocket knife into your pocket in our state,” Judy said. You can open it in our state, so what he did, yes, it doesn’t sound that great, but what he did was legal.

Sister Shay McCowan said whenever she and her boyfriend Singler would argue, she would text her brother and he would come over. She said his presence would mediate the situation.

On the night of the incident, Shay said she didn’t think Connor would go to Singler's apartment and thought he was worked up because he had been woken up.

Phil McGraw, the host of "Dr. Phil," said major points of evidence were Connor not calling 911, running from the scene and throwing away the knife.

Judy said her son was afraid after the incident but didn’t think the wound was something Andrew was die from.

McGraw also said juries generally get it right and if the result is unjust, it’s because of what they were told.

“There were tons they weren’t told,” Randy said.

The McCowan family's segment ended without further explanation of the information not provided to the jury.

Randy said the McCowan family would be pursuing an appeal of the decision.

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