He has maintained his innocence since day one telling Elizabeth Vargas, I have absolutely nothing to do with what has happened to Garrett. Yet, the suspect was indicted for a second time before he was found innocent by Judge Felix Catena, in 2016. 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. He was just all about control.". Garrett Phillips' mother, Tandy Cyrus. After the trial ended in 2016, Murray told NCPR, were confident we prosecuted the right person.. miaomy 3 yr. ago. (Hillary has denied visiting the apartment without Cyrus' permission. With the case still very much open and unsolved, justice for Phillips has not been achieved. Shanna Hillary is the eldest of Nick Hillary's five children. Around 5:16pm, the police arrived. There were people outside changing a tire, but they only reported hearing the window screen being pushed out, Murray said. Nick said he had nothing against the boy or his mother and that his alibi witnesses, his daughter and an assistant coach, would place him elsewhere at the time of the murder. Tandy also told the police that Nick had a key, and had shown up at their house unannounced one night, and stood over her bed. "But the day of the verdict, something just hit me. The police wanted to locate Garretts family and tell them what had happened. Garrett had been strangled and suffocated. But his involvement with Hillary's case isn't over, even though Hillary was acquitted in 2016, according to The New York Times. The police asked him why he turned the opposite way. Variety and the Flying V logos are trademarks of Variety Media, LLC. However, Postdam is apparently really small, so if you go a different way it doesnt take long to be back where you started. They tried to revive him, but he was pronounced dead at the hospital around 7pm. The people who lived downstairs didn't report hearing or seeing anything, Murray said. Garrett lived at the apartment at 100 Market St. with his mother, Tandy Cyrus, and younger brother, Aaron. "Everybody that knows me knows what goes through my head and who I believe," Phillips said. Garrett and Aaron's school schedules were on the fridge and family portraits were on the wall. The Murder of Garrett Phillips: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. Hillary has adamantly denied the charge, saying from day one he was innocent. Hillary is now a free man, and he cannot be retried. Pictured is the 100 Market St. apartment building in Potsdam, New York. North Country Public Radio has learned that a local source reached out to state troopers last fall with a possible tip. #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. 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. (Courtesy of HBO ). A deputy sheriff as a suspect who also helps the investigation. Garbus says her team did analysis on that tape beyond what the police had done but no new developments came out of it. The only real signs of struggle was his sweatshirt laying in the hallway and his physical body.". His mother was rushed to the hospital. Though the crime happened almost five years ago, the whodunit of it all has consumed this quiet area. Tips come in. As le In 2011, Garrett Phillips, who was just 12-years-old, was killed in his upstate New York home. Rain said she was "100% certain" she'd prosecuted the right person. 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). "It's very frustrating," he told "20/20." After it ended in an acquittal, Phillips said he had to draw back. The first afternoon, of many, spent rebuilding his life. After all, she notes, the Justice for Garrett campaign became Get Nick Hillary. They were always, always intertwined. Starting with talking heads with the neighbors who first called 9-1-1 after hearing a crash and ominous moaning coming from inside the Phillips apartment, Garbus takes her audience back to Phillips last moments and then expands the story to include similar interviews with police and journalists alike who investigated the crime, as well as the former district attorney who pushed for an arrest, Phillips uncle Brian, and the man who stood trial for the crime (Hillary). But going forward, it looks like industry-shifting life sciences 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. 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. "Nothing in the living room area was out of place," Murray said. "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.". Gary Pasqua in his office near the St. Lawrence County courthouse. In their ruling, a state disciplinary panel wrote that Rain's handling of the Garrett Phillips case was one of several ethical issues that contributedto her punishment. Again, I saw an abrasion, but it ankle didnt look swollen to me. The lawn signs of a grinning 12-year-old boy demanding Justice for Garrett remain scattered around the town. Trainum has an extensive background workingon cases himself. ", Shortly after he took office in 2018, the new St. Lawrence County D.A., Gary Pasqua, told NCPR he wanted to conduct his own review. After the schoolboys body was found suffocated and strangled, all fingers pointed to Nick as the murderer. Nick tried to leave for work, and the police blocked the door. Bastuk said local law enforcement is too compromised and an independent prosecutor needs to take over. Director Liz Garbus is pictured in an undated photo. Release Date (Streaming): Whether Phillips mother agrees remains to be seen. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? The case does present a thicket of overlapping roles. New information has come to light and is being investigated in the 2011 murder of 12-year-old Garrett J. Phillips. 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. But Hillary was black and Jones was white, and Hillary was focused on as a suspect with much more intensity. Photo: Julie Grant, St. Lawrence County DA Mary Rain at a press conference after the trial in 2016. They also knocked on the door and said they heard footsteps coming from inside the apartment. According to Grantland, Officer Mark Wentworth investigated the apartment at 100 Market Street. The police soon zeroed in on Nick Hillary, the ex-boyfriend of Tandy. Tonight, ABC News' and Dateline will both. https://www.nny360.com/news/new-leads-surface-in-phillips-murder/article_129462bd-bed2-53ab-b550-39d06dfacc74.html. He talked a lot about accountability, but with guys rarely getting benched, demoted or cut, it was just talk. "We weren't thinking it was a homicide immediately, but something had happened. The lead does not involve Nick Hillary, the person who was found not guilty of Garrett Phillips' murder. A state investigator whos close with the murdered boys family. Cyrus did not want to participate. But Murray said, "even if we had collected hairs and fibers [matching Hillary], he had been in the apartment -- he moved [Garrett's mother] Tandy in, he was in the apartment in the middle of the night on a number of occasions. When a new prosecutor took office, St. Lawrence County district attorney Gary Pasqua, he said the case remains open because no one was convicted. Phillips was the 12-year-old boy who was fatally attacked at his home in Potsdam in 2011. They realized that the killer could have had an injury since the jump was pretty far. The two-part HBO documentary "Who Killed. Police soon said it was a homicide. Garretts family, especially his mom and uncle, Brian Phillips, believe Nick 100% killed Garrett. Two years after the slaying, Garretts mothers ex-boyfriend, Oral Nick Hillary, was arrested, tried for the murder and acquitted. Hammond, Norfolk teens jailed on charges of sex abuse, endangering the welfare of child . Phillips refused to make an example out of anyone. 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. 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. Nick soon asked for a lawyer, food and cigarettes. In the wake of the shocking murder of the boy -- in the very early hours of the investigation -- Tandy and her family believed that Nick Hillary was the likely killer. 24. Dateline's been covering the case of Garrett Phillips for over a year. I needed someone trained to put their emotions to the side., 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. (Jason Hunter/AP). They called 911 around 5:08pm. 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. Director Liz Garbus Writer Karen Sim Stars Oral Hillary Brian Phillips Tyler Rodrigues See production, box office & company info Watch on Prime Video Garbus and her crew interviewed him many times, filmed him with his kids and in his home, and included footage of his 2016 trial. Fast forward to October 24, 2011. Garbus says she would do a follow-up to her doc if need be, but she admits that after her experience getting to know the Potsdam police for the project, she doesnt think its likely. he was with his dad cutting wood (his dad confirmed this), 2.) For years, no one was named in Phillips' death. Garrett was described as always being a happy kid, who always had a smile on his face. Related stories:Nick Hillary's civil rights case, and how it links to a broader moment of reckoningJoining It Could Happen To You, the wrongful convictions groups, were local Black Lives Matter activists. Cyrus says that when she showed up at the hospital, her son had bruises all over his face, and Marks on his neck. Garbus questioned them about their missteps and lack of physical or DNA evidence tying Hillary to the crime. Police collected fingerprints from the window; they are not Hillary's and have never been identified, Murray said. 2023 BDG Media, Inc. All rights reserved. She was raising two boys, he had three kids from a past relationship. The person who brutally murdered Garrett Phillips is still allowed to walk free. aired on HBO on Jul. When it comes to investigating new tips, Trainum said, it matters whos in charge. However, if youre innocent, why would it matter? Director Liz Garbus investigates the 2011 murder of a 12-year-old boy. Oral "Nick" Hillary still coaches soccer. premieres on HBO on Tuesday, July 23 at 8/7c. For more information, please see our On Wednesday morning, Hillary was found not guilty by a judge, after a two-week long trial. We reached out to Murray this winter ask how hes handling the investigation, but he declined to comment. He also said he'd talked with police and met with Garrett Phillips mother but he didn't want to discuss his findings. The police found Garrett laying motionless. Also pictured is his defense team, Norman Siegel, left, Edward Narrow, right center, and Earl Ward, right. On September 21, Hillarys daughter, Shanna-Kay, took the stand to defend her father. A police chief whose brother names his successor as mayor. When the former live-in boyfriend of the mother, a black Jamaican-born soccer coach, became an almost immediate suspect in the murder, a cry went out from his camp that he was being railroaded. Tandy and Nick had moved in together for a brief time, but according to family of Garretts, Nick and Garrett didnt get along. After Nick was done smoking, he kept the butts in his pocket and even put one in the drain. A few other people who were interviewed in this episode also said they didnt see a limp and it could have been the recording and camera. The accused was Nick Hillary, 37 years old at the time of the boy's death. Rain ran for district attorney of Potsdam in 2013 with a platform that specifically singled out Tandy Phillips, promising to prosecute someone for the murder of Garrett. Related: Nick Hillary Found Not Guilty in Murder of 12-Year-Old Garrett Phillips. 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. Director: Liz Garbus. Today, Garrett's mother's ex-boyfriend, Nick Hillary, was found not guilty in the boy's murder. It doesnt say what his relationship was like. On October 24, 2011, the neighbors of Garretts heard noises coming from next door. They said that he had a limp in his right leg, however, the video is grainy and I didnt see any limp. He argued that Garrett was the victim of overzealous prosecutors and poor defense attorneys. About his hitch in the U.S. Army. Nicks defense team said right away that the police had tunnel vision and said it was a race issue. 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. Nick Hillary's defense had elected to waive a jury trial and argue directly to the judge. 23, with Part 2 following the next night on Jul. And we talked of his passion: Soccer. Part 2 premieres on HBO on . The window is approximately 20 feet above the ground, Murray said. Prosecutors also referenced two interviews Shanna-Kay gave in 2014 and 2015 in both interviews, she said she ate dinner at 6pm. Hillary does not shy away from the scrutiny the film will bring, saying his ordeal will have had purpose if it saves others from similar mistreatment by law enforcement. But who's looking, you know, 40 yards off, 50 yards off the street on a dark, rainy night for someone jumping out a window?". 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. That there'd been a rush to judgment. The judge took it all in and after about a week of both sides summing up their arguments, he came back with a verdict. 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. All of other window screens in the home were intact, Murray said. 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. In 2006, Hillary was acquitted of murder after a trial before a judge without a jury, The jury pool came from the same individuals who had elected the district attorney, Hillary, 45, told The News. Jones said he had had a "civil" conversation with Hillary in front of Hillary's home, but Hillary did not categorize it that way. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Garrett didnt ever want to be alone with Nick, even though Nick said he never had any problems with Garrett. For years, no one was named in Phillips death. No prints or hairs from the scene matched the police's suspect, Hillary. The duo were joined by lawyer Mani Tafari, who also shared his view on the case. Nick Hillary, Tandy Cyrus Collins, lawyer who questioned Hillary in civil suit to be featured on NBC https://t.co/EkWKVOTN1o #lawyer. Hillary has since moved back to the city, where he coaches soccer and wishes the film will put pressure on cops to solve the murder. 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? Before he spoke with NCPR, Trainum reviewed press clippings and media coverage to familiarize himself with the Garrett Phillips case. Director of the documentary Liz Garbus, added: And what you dont know if you havent seen the documentary yet is Nick was an all American soccer champion and a graduate from Saint Lawrence University and became a coach at Clarkson, coaching a great soccer team and a military veteran. I was in complete shock, she told ABC News. It was a dramatic tableau in an ornate courtroom. IE 11 is not supported. They couldnt break down the door, so they got the manager to unlock the door, which was locked from the inside. Phillips's final hours. Advocates for the wrongfully accused are trying to draw new attention to the murder of Garrett Phillips in Potsdam nine years ago. 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. When the police arrived on the scene, Phillips was still breathing. When expanded it provides a list of search options that will switch the search inputs to match the current selection. Again, this doesnt really prove anything. In regards to the interesting and sad story about Garrett Phillips the 12- year old CHILD murdered victim. We need to start a true dialogue about how can we bring forth changes, he explained. What 12-year-old kid just isnt right full of life? The DA says an investigation is ongoing, but its hard to know if police are taking the new information seriously. 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. HBO. After 22 witnesses testified and after a two week trial, Nick was found not guilty. "Theyre able to benefit from the mistakes that they learned. 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