His mother's ex-boyfriend, Nick Hillary, was found not guilty of the murder just over two years ago in a. It wasnt until later that Cyrus was finally informed that her son was strangled to death. His white mom names black ex-boyfriend Nick Hillary as most likely to kill Garret. Oral "Nick" Hillary still coaches soccer. NY Man Speaks out After Not Guilty Verdict in Murder of Ex's Son: He was accused of strangling to death his e https://t.co/y1qpX8JO62, Around 5pm on the night of Monday, October 24, Sean Hall and his fiance, Marisa Vogel, heard a scream, a bang, and then moans, coming from the neighboring apartment. When police arrived and got into the apartment, they found Garrett unresponsive on the floor in a bedroom. Garbus says her team did analysis on that tape beyond what the police had done but no new developments came out of it. The filmmaker interviewed Mark Murray, who headed the police investigation, Mary Rain, the former St. Lawrence County district attorney, and William Fitzpatrick, the Onondaga County district attorney who headed the trial team. We reached out to Murray this winter ask how hes handling the investigation, but he declined to comment. Jobs People Learning Dismiss Dismiss. Garrett Phillips was a 12 year old boy who lived with his mom, Tandy and brother, Aaron, in Potsdam, New York. Nick did drive a blue car, however the footage is so blurry that you cant tell who is driving or see the license plate. The boy in the security video was 12-year-old Garrett Phillips. Nick was finally released, but they kept his clothes and took the cigarette butts from his pocket and drain. Now, it looks like as if the case is not over after all not since new information made its way to police. We did hear these rumors, and we wanted, as much as we could, to go out and explore them and accompany local journalists, Garbus says, but there really was so little [to go on]. Phillips also knows that the former DA, Mary Rain, had her law license suspended last summer. Who Killed Garrett Phillips? "Sees the people down there or hears them changing the tire, and waits until the coast is clear to make the jump.". Cyrus says that when she showed up at the hospital, her son had bruises all over his face, and Marks on his neck. A 'Justice for Garrett' sign is pictured in an undated photo. A silent picture of a kid on a skateboard moves into the frame from lower right, sails past for about 16-seconds and exits frame left. Formal complaints were filed against him for violence and abuse. With the case still very much open and unsolved, justice for Phillips has not been achieved. -- It was Oct. 24, 2011, when 12-year-old Garrett Phillips was found strangled to death inside his home in Potsdam, New York, a small town near the Canadian border. In 2011, Garrett Phillips, who was just 12-years-old, was killed in his upstate New York home. The group wrote a letter to DA Pasqua seeking an independent prosecutor two weeks ago. Director Jesse Quackenbush, a man from Albany, New York who graduated from the University of Houston Law School in 1987 and, that year, moved to Amarillo, made the documentary The Last Word which argues that Garrett was in fact innocent of the crime. The murder trial began in the county seat, Canton, New York this month. On Wednesday morning, Hillary was found not guilty by a judge, after a two-week long trial. It would take 18 more months for any more information about what happened to Garrett would come to light. Police went up the apartment building stairs and into the home, where they found Garrett unconscious and alone inside. 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 people who lived downstairs didn't report hearing or seeing anything, Murray said. Pasqua and local police have declined to comment. Tafari, a lawyer who provided legal support to his former Tilden High School friend, doesnt believe this film can change a corrupt system. Movie Info. Its so heartbreaking, and I feel bad for his family. "Nothing in the living room area was out of place," Murray said. The HBO documentary is likely the best place to get an update on Jones. Nick did say he was at the high school that day, watching a soccer game. Back at the crime scene, the police realized there was no forced entry, but there was an open window, with the screen cut out. After the trial ended in 2016, Murray told NCPR, were confident we prosecuted the right person.. David SommersteinGroups call for independent probe of Garret Phillips murder. But going forward, it looks like industry-shifting life sciences ", North County Public Radio - NPR for the Adirondack North Country, For years, there were no formal charges in Garrett Phillips' murder. All Rights Reserved. According to the documentary, that once police focused in on Hillary an Army veteran and respected soccer coach at nearby Clarkson University other investigative avenues were not explored. On that rainy afternoon in October 2011, police responded to the scene at just after 5 p.m. after next-door neighbors heard concerning noises from Garrett's apartment and called 911. People want to be heroes. Nick was the head soccer coach at Clarkston University, and had played there himself. "He was a kid he was a 12-year-old kid. Join now Sign in . Pictured is the 100 Market St. apartment building in Potsdam, New York. But despite being a free man, it seems Hillary is still struggling to clear his name in his community. "Thats not gonna change.". Phillips was the 12-year-old boy who was fatally attacked at his home in Potsdam in 2011. Could the choke out theory be true. 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. They also knocked on the door and said they heard footsteps coming from inside the apartment. His neighbours turned against the proud father, and he was soon fired from his job back in 2011. "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. (Hillary has denied visiting the apartment without Cyrus' permission. The window is how it is believed that the killer escaped. Nick also denied this ever happened. It suggests that a kid named Brandon who lived next door gave two different statements about his whereabouts. And yet, in that security video of Garrett on his skateboard, wasn't that Nick driving his Honda CRV though the high school parking lot just after Garrett skated by? And while the killer of the 12-year-old boy could still be on the loose,. Fourteen at the time of the murder, she was one of his two alibi witnesses. They deserve justice and so does Garrett, but I think its also a good thing that an innocent man isnt sitting in prison. Shanna Hillary is the eldest of Nick Hillary's five children. A security camera recorded Garrett skating home from an afternoon of basketball with his school pals just before 5 p.m. Garbus credits the dogged local reporters who wouldnt let up on the case for bringing it to the larger attention, including her own. When expanded it provides a list of search options that will switch the search inputs to match the current selection. However, Shanna-Kays phone records show she texted her father at 6:24pm, asking Whats for dinner?. "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. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Garrett didnt ever want to be alone with Nick, even though Nick said he never had any problems with Garrett. "Even the appearance of impropriety is as devastating in its consequences to the judicial system as the actual impropriety itself," said Downs. After Nick Hillary was found not guilty almost four years ago in a trial that captivated the North Country and gained national headlines, local police and prosecutors declared the case closed, insisting on Hillary's guilt. The prosecution, he ruled, had not made its circumstantial case "beyond a reasonable doubt." Despite the fact that the circumstantial evidence against him and Hillary was so similar, he didn't suffer nearly so many consequences as Hillary did. True crime is popular because theres a healthy impulse to want these things to be solved, Garbus says. Potsdam's chief of police is now Mark Murray, who was lead detective on the Garrett Phillips investigation. said he had gone through the case files himself. This case is about a murdered 12 year old and the polices tunnel vision against one suspect. What makes this weirder is that Brandon and his dad both say they saw a white male with dirty blonde hair go in out of 100 Market Street around 3 - 330. His rip stick was neatly propped up against the wall. ), Police canvassed the neighborhood, but no one had witnessed anything, Murray said. He was interviewed in the episode, but he mainly talked shit about Nick. The police wanted to locate Garretts family and tell them what had happened. is available to stream on Sky Crime. Related stories:A phone call from inside the investigationSteve Downs, former chief attorney for New Yorks Commission on Judicial Conduct, said Friday that state rulings require avoiding those potential conflicts. For five years my family and I have been livin underneath this cloud, said Nick. It was almost Halloween, a rainy late Monday afternoon in Potsdam, NY, when a security camera high atop a high school recorded a video that still makes the hair on your neck stand-up. 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. Nick is innocent, and cannot be retried. #AD - Use this link for a 7-day free trial - http://bit.ly/23sh00652In today's video I discuss the case of Garrett Phillips as well as the documentary 'Who k. The chief of police is now Mark Murray, who was the lead detective on the case. Nick told the police that he was with his assistant coach, a man named Ian at the time of the murder. Because we werent gonna get justice for him.". Ms. There was word that several other boys were with Garrett when he died. The DNA was ruled immiscible, and the case was based on circumstantial evidence. But now, St. Lawrence Countys new prosecutor, Gary Pasqua, says he's learned of another lead that points away from Hillary. They realized that the killer could have had an injury since the jump was pretty far. And the fact that his life has apparently remained much the same, while Hillary's was thrown into disarray, proves that. After 22 witnesses testified and after a two week trial, Nick was found not guilty. Phillips was convinced police had the right suspect, but he felt it was time to move on and it became clear that law enforcement wanted to move on, too. Dismiss. The inside of the house where Garrett Phillips' body was found, is pictured on Sept. 27, 2016. There were people outside changing a tire, but they only reported hearing the window screen being pushed out, Murray said. Theyre calling for the state Attorney General to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the 12 year-old boys death. On October 26, two days after the murder, Nick was brought into the station. A police chief whose brother names his successor as mayor. In 2015, Hillary had also alleged that he'd been harassed by Jones in 2010, which was reported by NNY 360. Photo: Brit Hanson, Groups call for independent probe of Garret Phillips murder, Groups call for independent probe of Garrett Phillips murder, David Sommerstein (News Director), cleared in Garrett Phillips death almost four years ago, local police and prosecutors declared the case closed, Nick Hillary's civil rights case, and how it links to a broader moment of reckoning, A phone call from inside the investigation, Gumball machine serves up free poetry in the Adirondacks, Not in Old Forge's backyard? About his whereabouts has denied visiting the apartment without Cyrus ' permission provides list... Best place to get an update on Jones clear garrett phillips last words name in his community Phillips has not been achieved didnt! Could have had an injury since the jump was pretty far the house Garrett. Into disarray, proves that kid he was soon fired from his job back in 2011, Phillips., was killed in his upstate new York home about a murdered 12 year old and the case himself. 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