"The Garrett Phillips case is just full of the appearance of impropriety.". His mother's ex-boyfriend, Nick Hillary, was found not guilty of the murder just over two years ago in a. Phillips refused to make an example out of anyone. The Murder of Garrett Phillips: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. The coachs daughter Shanna-Kay Hillary testified for her father and said he was in their house at the time of Garretts murder. Nick Hillary's defense had elected to waive a jury trial and argue directly to the judge. A deputy sheriff as a suspect who also helps the investigation. ", So far, this new lead doesnt seem to count as "something different. The new documentary Who Killed Garrett Phillips?, airing on HBO July 23 and 24, looks into the unsolved 2011 death of a 12-year-old boy by that name. ", North County Public Radio - NPR for the Adirondack North Country, For years, there were no formal charges in Garrett Phillips' murder. The window is approximately 20 feet above the ground, Murray said. Where was he on the day of the murder? Nicks defense team said right away that the police had tunnel vision and said it was a race issue. The people who lived downstairs didn't report hearing or seeing anything, Murray said. Rain is no longer in office, and the new St. Lawrence County D.A., Gary Pasqua, was reluctant to discuss the tip in an interview with NCPR. He is also a Jamaican immigrant, who was living in a community that was 94 % white a fact crucial to understanding how the justice system failed Garrett, Brooklyn-based director Liz Garbus told the Daily News. Police suspect the killer escaped through this window. Just like his father, spitting image of my brother, a heck of a little athlete. If there's been an acquittal, Trainum said, thats all the more reason for investigators to take a step back and consider how the case unfolded. Garretts mother, Tandy Cyrus, has said that her son was a gregarious boy who had absolutely no fear. Related stories:A phone call from inside the investigationPasqua wouldnt provide any details beyond that, but it appears state troopers passed the new information to Potsdam Village Police, which is still the lead agency in control of the case. Phillips's final hours. In regards to the interesting and sad story about Garrett Phillips the 12- year old CHILD murdered victim. (Courtesy of HBO ). With the case still very much open and unsolved, justice for Phillips has not been achieved. New information has come to light and is being investigated in the 2011 murder of 12-year-old Garrett J. Phillips. People want to be heroes. The sentiment in the town echoes Rains idea that the killer got off, so theres not a lot of public pressure to investigate a killer who might be on the loose, Garbus said. Garrett lived at the apartment at 100 Market St. with his mother, Tandy Cyrus, and younger brother, Aaron. Its so heartbreaking, and I feel bad for his family. Dismiss. "He was a kid he was a 12-year-old kid. It's an unlikely setting for what reporter Jesse McKinley of the New York Times would tell us turned out to be a story about "love triangles and fated love." Soon afterwards, a neighbor in Garretts apartment building heard strange noises and called 911. Before he spoke with NCPR, Trainum reviewed press clippings and media coverage to familiarize himself with the Garrett Phillips case. A new foreign DNA company called Starmix said that Nicks DNA matched the crime scene, however, during the investigation, the police said the DNA mixture was too small. Garrett and Aaron's school schedules were on the fridge and family portraits were on the wall. "Oral Hillary will face that for the rest of his life unless the true perpetrator is found and held accountable," Bastuk said. 24. According to Grantland, Officer Mark Wentworth investigated the apartment at 100 Market Street. His rip stick was neatly propped up against the wall. Criminal justice experts say its not uncommon for an investigation this complicated to have leads that dont really go anywhere but that doesnt mean police should just forget about them. The district attorney, Mary Rain, teared up at a post-verdict press conference, and said Tandy told her, I know you guys tried., But Nicks attorney Earl Ward, speaking to a group of press outside the courthouse, reiterated what the defense team maintained all along: Nick Hillary is an innocent man., Nick spent that afternoon surrounded by a group of family, supporters and former soccer teammates. The night that her son died, she had no idea what had happened. Photo: David Sommerstein, Oral "Nick" Hillary was found not guilty on Wednesday in the 2011 murder of twelve-year-old Garrett Phillips. Despite having only circumstantial evidence, the D.A. Phillips also knows that the former DA, Mary Rain, had her law license suspended last summer. Join now Sign in . And that's an important part of the lawsuit Hillary has since filed against many individuals involved in his case. However, Postdam is apparently really small, so if you go a different way it doesnt take long to be back where you started. On the last day of his life, he went home after school and was home alone where he should have been safe, but apparently wasnt. His mother's ex-boyfriend, Nick Hillary, was found not guilty of the murder just over two years ago in a. He talked a lot about accountability, but with guys rarely getting benched, demoted or cut, it was just talk. But you cant take race out of the picture the way in which white Americans are just more likely to look at Black people as capable of committing crimes. Back in the hospital, Garrett Phillips was pronounced dead at 7:18pm. A 'Justice for Garrett' sign is pictured in an undated photo. Who Killed Garrett Phillips? 3. Oral "Nick" Hillary still coaches soccer. But he said Hillarys situation fits in with nationwide protests over racism in policing a Black man associated with a crime even after a not guilty verdict. All Rights Reserved. Nick was interviewed for 9 hours that day. Potsdam's chief of police is now Mark Murray, who was lead detective on the Garrett Phillips investigation. When he entered, he found an adolescent boy, just around the corner, lying on his back in the master bedroom, with his head facing the door. 2023 Variety Media, LLC. Per The Daily Beast, Jones was involved in the immediate aftermath of Phillips' death; he went with Phillips' mother to police interviews and called dispatchers to get information on what was going on. North County Public Radio - NPR for the Adirondack North Country, Jennifer Baxtron (front center) of Black Lives Matter in Potsdam and William Bastuk (front right) of It Could Happen To You called on the state Attorney General's office to launch a special investigation into the unsolved Garret Phillips murder from 2011. But hes also said recent new leads have gone nowhere. But I hope Im wrong about that, Garbus tells Variety. 2. Her father said Ill be right back through the door, and when she got out of the shower 20 minutes later, her father was home. After Nick was done smoking, he kept the butts in his pocket and even put one in the drain. ", 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. He had minutes left to live. After being found not guilty of murder, former college soccer coach Nick Hillary opened up to ABC News' Elizabeth Vargas for his first post-verdict interview. The group wrote a letter to DA Pasqua seeking an independent prosecutor two weeks ago. He said: Its important to note I think that the cops may have been somewhat intellectually challenged, but the district attorney that prosecuted this case has been a district attorney for three decades, thats thirty years in New York. Today, Garrett's mother's ex-boyfriend, Nick Hillary, was found not guilty in the boy's murder. It's about the unsolved October 2011 murder of a 12-year-old boy, Garrett Phillips, who was strangled by an intruder while he was home alone in the Potsdam, N.Y., apartment he shared with his . Original Language: English. Also the Mom of Brandon's girlfriend also overheard Brandon talking about this unidentified male. North Country Public Radio has learned that a local source reached out to state troopers last fall with a possible tip. 2023 BDG Media, Inc. All rights reserved. When the police arrived on the scene, Phillips was still breathing. No, the police did. Over four hours, Garbuss Who Killed Garrett Phillips? painstakingly covers the surprising murder that rocked the small town in Northern New York in 2011. He was read his rights. The police also noticed Nicks ankle was swollen and he had an abrasion on his ankle. "The district attorneys office, the police, and the sheriffs department refuse to get to the bottom of things and basically have swept this investigation under the rug.". Yard signs like this were planted across St. Lawrence County to keep the case in the public eye. I was in complete shock, she told ABC News. Aug 17, 2020 Advocates for the wrongfully accused are trying to draw new attention to the murder of Garrett Phillips in Potsdam nine years ago. Edward F. Narrow, the Canton attorney who represented Oral "Nick" Hillary, the former Clarkson University men's soccer coach acquitted of the boy's murder, said that leads involving inconsistent statements . The accused was Nick Hillary, 37 years old at the time of the boy's death. Mar 8, 2019. Now, she hopes her doc will put similar pressure on the story so that maybe her titular question can finally be answered. Nick and Tandy met while Tandy was working part time as a bartender. The window is how it is believed that the killer escaped. The duo were joined by lawyer Mani Tafari, who also shared his view on the case. We were fascinated by the legal intricacies, the nuances of the case, and picturesque Potsdam, a river town so far upstate New York the closest big city is in Canada. Nick Hillary is the ex-boyfriend of Tandy Cyrus. There is only one door to the apartment. POTSDAM Nearly nine years after Garrett J. Phillips was strangled to death in his Potsdam home, the case remains open and no one has been convicted in connection to the 12-year-old's murder. When 12-year-old Garrett Phillips was murdered in 2011, suspicion turned to soccer coach Oral "Nick" Hillary. A 'Justice for Garrett' sign is pictured in an undated photo. When 12-year-old Garrett Phillips was murdered in 2011 . Vogel called the police to tell them what shed heard, and police arrived at the apartment less than ten minutes later. It's simple.. The police soon zeroed in on Nick Hillary, the ex-boyfriend of Tandy. He said he had gotten it a week ago from moving furniture. Garrett didnt ever want to be alone with Nick, even though Nick said he never had any problems with Garrett. Potsdam, NY, interim police chief takes ABC News through the crime scene. On September 21, Hillarys daughter, Shanna-Kay, took the stand to defend her father. Its no secret how police usually do their work. And we talked of his passion: Soccer. When he arrived back home to the second-floor apartment he shared with his mother and younger brother , someone would strangle and suffocate the life out of the boy. They moved in just months before Garrett died, after Cyrus and Hillary broke up. It would take 18 more months for any more information about what happened to Garrett would come to light. About his hitch in the U.S. Army. Oral "Nick" Hillary, center, hugs defense attorney Edward Narrow after being found not guilty in the murder of Garrett Phillips on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2016, in Canton, N.Y. Even more interesting is that Brandon has a cousin who was 15 at the time named Amos who is black and Hillary's lawyer believes they have information that puts Amos and Brandon at the scene and may have information regarding the murder. Residents of upstate New York, where Phillips was killed, are reportedly split between those who believe in Hillarys guilt and those who believe in his innocence. When expanded it provides a list of search options that will switch the search inputs to match the current selection. He would be both judge and jury in what's called a bench trial. The police photographed the window, took fingerprints and took the blinds as evidence. In March 2019, North Country Public Radio reported that Hillary had filed a lawsuit against the New York State Police, St. Lawrence prosecutors, local police, St. Lawrence County District Attorney Mary Rain, and Jones, who was a Sheriff's Deputy in St. Lawrence County. His career, its Nick interrupted: Its gone., Continuing her spiel, Liz said: His family have suffered great trauma and Nicks financial situation is not what it was before its not a happy ending.. "Ideally, it should be used as a learning experience, where all the parties go back and theyre open with each other and honest with each other," Trainum said. The latest events in the case come as Oral "Nick" Hillary, who was found not guilty of the murder, is suing Potsdam and St. Lawrence County police, claiming he was unfairly accused because he is Black. Garbus credits the dogged local reporters who wouldnt let up on the case for bringing it to the larger attention, including her own. She added Nick warned her, "If I didn't get Garrett under control or get him on a more strict schedule, then when he got older I wasn't gonna be able to control him. It's going on four years since . Phillips was the 12-year-old boy who was fatally attacked at his home in Potsdam in 2011. "Sees the people down there or hears them changing the tire, and waits until the coast is clear to make the jump.". On the same courthouse steps in Canton where Hillary walked away a free man after being cleared in Garrett Phillips death almost four years ago, a couple dozen people held a press conference Friday afternoon. Meanwhile Garretts autopsy was done. Advocates say raise it first, DEC says 2022 tied for the safest hunting season on record, Governor Kathy Hochul Releases New York State Budget, New York redistricting commission to hold final public hearings this week, New York unlikely to have a new chief judge until later this spring, Adirondack Council leader to step down later this year, Stefanik opens district office in Rensselaer County Government building, Budget watchdog says NY should plan for an upcoming "fiscal cliff", Community Advisory Board (NCPR Executive Council). The boy in the security video was 12-year-old Garrett Phillips. On Wednesday morning, Hillary was found not guilty by a judge, after a two-week long trial. Garrett was described as always being a happy kid, who always had a smile on his face. On Oct. 24, 2011, a dispatcher in Potsdam, N.Y., got a 911 call from a person reporting suspicious sounds in a neighboring apartment. Jennifer Baxtron, organizer of many demonstrations in Potsdam and across St. Lawrence County, has collected 1,650 signatures on a petition calling for an independent investigation. I have so many questions about the ex-boyfriend, John Jones. They immediately called an ambulance. Though the crime happened almost five years ago, the whodunit of it all has consumed this quiet area. I did everything I could. Nick also denied this ever happened. As of this week, the source who originally contributed the new lead said that they have not been contacted by Potsdam investigators roughly six months since this person first attempted to share information with law enforcement. But Hillary was black and Jones was white, and Hillary was focused on as a suspect with much more intensity. After 22 witnesses testified and after a two week trial, Nick was found not guilty. Tandy Cyrus, Garretts mom, was at her other sons basketball practice. For years, no one was named in Phillips' death. "When someone is wrongfully convicted or wrongfully prosecuted, the true perpetrator remains on the streets to commit another crime," Bastuk said, referring to the Phillips case, which remains unsolved. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. Dismiss. But no one would see his killer leap out of the back window. Rain, who was elected on her promise to crack Garretts case, saw her law license suspended for two years for misconduct, which included hiding potentially exculpatory evidence from the coachs defense team. Privacy Policy. Nick soon asked for a lawyer, food and cigarettes. "It was over five years whether it was selling stickers, selling T-shirts, [raising money for] the reward, " Brian Phillips said in an interview with NCPR last week. Tonight, ABC News' and Dateline will both. Police collected fingerprints from the window; they are not Hillary's and have never been identified, Murray said. July 24, 2019. Phillips was the 12-year-old boy who was fatally attacked at his home in Potsdam in 2011. After the trial ended in 2016, Murray told NCPR, were confident we prosecuted the right person.. Text. In 2011, Garrett Phillips, who was just 12-years-old, was killed in his upstate New York home. By the time Liz Garbuss two-part documentary Who Killed Garrett Phillips? debuts on HBO, there could be a new public lead in the case of the murdered titular 12-year-old. There are no clues as to who killed Garrett. Years ago, Nick patronized a bar on Potsdam's main drag where the bartender was a single mother. He thought Nick [Hillary] was the guy, so I think the likelihood of this being pursued by the police and the DA needs the police to do the pursuing is pretty low. For five years my family and I have been livin underneath this cloud, said Nick. (Hillary has denied visiting the apartment without Cyrus' permission. Hillary has adamantly denied the charge, saying from day one he was innocent. Despite housing crisis, there's pushback against development, Rochester man dies in snowmobile crash on the Tug Hill, Hochul wants to tie the minimum wage to inflation. The lawn signs of a grinning 12-year-old boy demanding Justice for Garrett remain scattered around the town. Advocates say raise it first, DEC says 2022 tied for the safest hunting season on record, Governor Kathy Hochul Releases New York State Budget, New York redistricting commission to hold final public hearings this week, New York unlikely to have a new chief judge until later this spring, Adirondack Council leader to step down later this year, Stefanik opens district office in Rensselaer County Government building, Budget watchdog says NY should plan for an upcoming "fiscal cliff", Community Advisory Board (NCPR Executive Council). Of a little athlete Hillary, the whodunit of it All has consumed this quiet area was in... Testified for her father and said he was a 12-year-old kid one the... 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