A Cottonwood man was arraigned Thursday on charges of murdering his wife. 56-year-old Philip Jacobs has told Shasta County Sheriff’s Detectives in an interview that he dumped his wife’s body in Whiskeytown Lake, but he denies killing her. H claims 38-year-old Bridget Jacobs fell down a flight of stairs at their Westridge Road home on March 15th while they were arguing. That story has evolved. He first claimed he was at the bottom of the stairs when she fell, but in a later account he said he was at the top of the stairs with her and she charged at him, he ducked, and she plummeted down the stairs, possibly suffering a broken neck. A 9-1-1 call was made from the home that night from Phillip’s cell phone and all that was heard was a woman screaming before the call disconnected. When deputies got there nobody appeared to be home. Bridget’s father, Michael Roche of New York, reported her missing on March 20th. During initial questioning Philip Bridget said she had left on foot with her purse, her cell phone, and her little dog. The cell phone was found on the 23rd in a safe inside the house when a search warrant was served. Detectives said they also found items that indicated foul play. On the 19th, Philip Drove his yellow Toyota FJ Cruiser with his small blue sail boat to Whiskeytown Lake. On Tuesday he told detectives that he had gone there to dump his wife’s body. He said after keeping the body for four days, he placed her in the boat, drove to the Brandy Creek Marina at Whiskeytown, rowed the boat out to deep waters and dumped Bridget’s body with a cinder block tied to her. The sheriff’s department and the park service have been searching for the body with divers, ultrasound and cadaver dogs. Philip did not enter a plea during Thursday’s arraignment. He’ll be back in court Monday. He’s being held on 1 Million Dollars bail.