They realized that the killer could have had an injury since the jump was pretty far. 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). When Hillary was acquitted this week, the judge said that his case was mostly circumstantial and didnt prove he was guilty without a doubt. From Emmy (R) winner Liz Garbus comes this riveting documentary that examines the 2011 murder of 12-year-old Garrett Phillips and the subsequent trial of Clarkson University soccer coach Oral "Nick" Hillary. Hillary, after years in the bulls-eye of public opinion, also broke down in tears, a free man once more. Variety and the Flying V logos are trademarks of Variety Media, LLC. 0. 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. "Sees the people down there or hears them changing the tire, and waits until the coast is clear to make the jump.". Variety is a part of Penske Media Corporation. His mother's ex-boyfriend, Nick Hillary, was found not guilty of the murder just over two years ago in a. The original DA did not feel that she could mount a case, and Mary Rain mounting the case put them through an enormous amount of hope, and then disappointment.. Chronicling the five years after the murder, the film is an eye-opening look at how justice is delivered and delayed. And that was the tunnel vision., And that was on what Garbus wanted to shine a larger light with this project. The first afternoon, of many, spent rebuilding his life. Dismiss. The only real signs of struggle was his sweatshirt laying in the hallway and his physical body.". They said that he had a limp in his right leg, however, the video is grainy and I didnt see any limp. He talked a lot about accountability, but with guys rarely getting benched, demoted or cut, it was just talk. 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. He was asked many questions about where he was the day of the murder. Release Date (Streaming): The window is approximately 20 feet above the ground, Murray said. There are no clues as to who killed Garrett. As Tandy would tell us, Nick was rigid -- a man with a plan for every day. The first part of the documentary Who Killed Garrett Phillips? 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. The inside of the house where Garrett Phillips' body was found, is pictured on Sept. 27, 2016. The big question now is how law enforcements following up. And, once I started working on the film, I realized that another major issue was the lack of oversight and the free reign given to the district attorneys.. Why would I even want to hurt a child, after having worked with kids for over two decades? 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. Garrett, 12, was found strangled in his empty home on October 24, 2011, with no witnesses reporting seeing the killer enter or exit the second-floor apartment. 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. 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?". Fourteen at the time of the murder, she was one of his two alibi witnesses. Hillary was confused, especially because Jones was not in his deputy uniform and he wasn't sure if Jones was there in an official capacity or not. The victim, Garrett Phillips, was only 12 years old. Hillary was considered a suspect because he was an ex-boyfriend of the boy's mother. Nick was interviewed for 9 hours that day. On Tuesday, the eve of the verdict, Interim Potsdam Police Chief Mark Murray took ABC News' Elizabeth Vargas through the crime scene: a 3-bedroom apartment where Garrett lived and where he was found on the floor that fateful October day. His brilliant field leadership at St. Lawrence, next door to Potsdam, had made him a college All-American. Its so heartbreaking, and I feel bad for his family. At that point "we weren't sure what we had," Murray told "20/20." with hopes to shed more light on the devastating case. Tonight, ABC News and Dateline will both investigate the 2011 murder of Garrett Phillips. 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.. The police photographed the window, took fingerprints and took the blinds as evidence. 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. It concerns a group of people who were living in the North Country around the time of the murder. While Garrett was alive, his uncle said,the boy was deeply loved. The lawsuit alleged that Hillary's civil rights had been violated during his trial. That process has a name sentinel event review. Sky Crime launched the documentary Who Killed Garrett Phillips? After Garrett is seen turning towards his house, the car is seen following him. Whether Phillips mother agrees remains to be seen. On October 24, 2011, the neighbors of Garretts heard noises coming from next door. But Hillary was black and Jones was white, and Hillary was focused on as a suspect with much more intensity. Shanna Hillary is the eldest of Nick Hillary's five children. His neighbours turned against the proud father, and he was soon fired from his job back in 2011. 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. The next part of the investigation was from a surveillance camera. Apparently, the town of Potsdam is split about if Nick is guilty or innocent. The altercation made him fearful for himself and his family, NNY 360 reported. He said he had gotten it a week ago from moving furniture. MORE : Robbie Williams takes terrifying Halloween decorations to the next level with a giant witch statue, MORE : Rose McGowan pays homage to Mia Farrow on Halloween in Rosemarys Baby costume, Putin formally suspends last nuclear arms treaty left with the US, Today presenter forced to leave mid-show and rush home after falling ill, Boy, 15, shot dead by his older brother, Scott Mills misses romantic weekend after getting locked in electric car for five hours, How a group of LGBTQ+ MPs helped fight Hitler years before Britain did, Robbie Williams takes terrifying Halloween decorations to the next level with a giant witch statue, Rose McGowan pays homage to Mia Farrow on Halloween in Rosemarys Baby costume, Do not sell or share my personal information. Could the choke out theory be true. He also said he'd talked with police and met with Garrett Phillips mother but he didn't want to discuss his findings. Photo: David Sommerstein, Oral "Nick" Hillary was found not guilty on Wednesday in the 2011 murder of twelve-year-old Garrett Phillips. Just like his father, spitting image of my brother, a heck of a little athlete. For years, no one was named in Phillips' death. 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. Jones was briefly a suspect in the murder as well, though he didn't receive nearly the same level of scrutiny that Hillary did. Photo: Lauren Rosenthal. His mother was rushed to the hospital. Garrett had been strangled and suffocated. One DA declined to pursue an indictment and was eventually voted out of office. Garbus shares that she was in contact with Tandy while in production on the project, and she expressed the possibility of sitting down for an interview once the trial was over. Tandy and Nick had moved in together for a brief time, but according to family of Garretts, Nick and Garrett didnt get along. Garrett lived at the apartment at 100 Market St. with his mother, Tandy Cyrus, and younger brother, Aaron. His backpack was taken off. 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). Tandy and Aaron have since moved out. How are police handling new leads in the Garrett Phillips case? His mothers ex-boyfriend, Nick Hillary, was found not guilty of the murder just over two years ago in a trial that captivated the region. The last time Phillips was seen alive was on school surveillance footage, in which he's seen making his way home on a Riptide skateboard. said he had gone through the case files himself. Cookie Notice Prosecutors have also said they will not reopen the investigation. civil actions filed against DA Rain and Jones, circumstantial evidence against him and Hillary. On Wednesday morning, Hillary was found not guilty by a judge, after a two-week long trial. Jones held Cyrus' hand and comforted her as she was interviewed by the police. Police soon said it was a homicide. They also knocked on the door and said they heard footsteps coming from inside the apartment. 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. 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." In 2011, 12-year-old Garrett Phillips was killed in his upstate New York home. Since then, St. Lawrence County law enforcement has been unable to piece together the facts surrounding this tragedy and bring . The two-part HBO documentary Who Killed Garrett Phillips? doesnt solve the mystery but looks at the case through a critical lens. No one else has ever been named a suspect. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. 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. Genre: Documentary. Phillips refused to make an example out of anyone. Rain credited the "Justice for Garrett" movement Brian Phillips, Garrett's uncle, sold and distributed thousands of posters bearing the slogan and raised $40,000 for a reward fund . And while the killer of the 12-year-old boy could still be on the loose,. 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. ", Brian Phillips, Garretts uncle, said he hadn't been notified about the existence of any tips but he also admitted he's not too interested in continuing to hear them. We need to start a true dialogue about how can we bring forth changes, he explained. HE HAD A KEY!!! Hillary still swears by his innocence, while the cops and prosecutor reiterate that Hillary was the only person who could have done this and had opportunity in their minds.. The police also made Nick strip down in the nude, so they could take photographs. This case is currently still unsolved after a not guilty verdict. There was a blue car that the police zeroed in on. As le I think of Michelle McNamara: Did that book [Ill Be Gone in the Dark] solve that case? 2023 Variety Media, LLC. When 12-year-old Garrett Phillips was murdered in 2011 . It would take 18 more months for any more information about what happened to Garrett would come to light. Garrett was described as always being a happy kid, who always had a smile on his face. 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. #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. A St. Lawrence County prosecutor says there's a new tip in the Garrett Phillips murder case. His admiring teammates in their undefeated season called him, "The General. He'd parlayed his experience into a job as the head coach of the men's soccer team at Clarkson. The case does present a thicket of overlapping roles. Cyrus says that when she showed up at the hospital, her son had bruises all over his face, and Marks on his neck. 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. Before he spoke with NCPR, Trainum reviewed press clippings and media coverage to familiarize himself with the Garrett Phillips case. He has maintained his innocence since day one telling Elizabeth Vargas, I have absolutely nothing to do with what has happened to Garrett. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. Back at the crime scene, the police realized there was no forced entry, but there was an open window, with the screen cut out. Garrett didnt ever want to be alone with Nick, even though Nick said he never had any problems with Garrett. 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. But at the same time, so many armchair sleuths, so many Reddit boards, so much discussion only increased the chances of it being solved.. "You could see that Garrett had neatly set his sneakers by the closet. The police found Garrett laying motionless. It suggests that a kid named Brandon who lived next door gave two different statements about his whereabouts. (Also pictured: Potsdam Village attorney Thomas Mortati.) Oral "Nick" Hillary still coaches soccer. He also had deep rug burns, scratches on his face, a black eye and cauliflower ear. The neighbors knocked on the door, and heard what sounded like the door being locked and latched. It's going on four years since . No prints or hairs from the scene matched the police's suspect, Hillary. ", "That day, I pulled the sign out of my yard. ", 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. No, the police did. And then there was the potential witness about whom prosecutors never told the defense a revelation that nearly led to the trials dismissal. He entered the parking lot of the high school, heading towards his house. Advocates for the wrongfully accused are trying to draw new attention to the murder of Garrett Phillips in Potsdam nine years ago. The chief of police is now Mark Murray, who was the lead detective on the case. And they havent been in touch with Garrett Phillips family. Let me know what you think in the comments. In the gallery, Tandy slumped and cried. 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. -- 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. Nick soon asked for a lawyer, food and cigarettes. (Hillary has denied visiting the apartment without Cyrus' permission. The police asked him why he turned the opposite way. They deserve justice and so does Garrett, but I think its also a good thing that an innocent man isnt sitting in prison. Dateline's been covering the case of Garrett Phillips for over a year. The signs became iconic in Potsdam. And the focus right now is to start puttin this in the rearview mirror.. The prosecution, he ruled, had not made its circumstantial case "beyond a reasonable doubt." 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. "He was a kid he was a 12-year-old kid. [2] 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. https://www.nny360.com/news/new-leads-surface-in-phillips-murder/article_129462bd-bed2-53ab-b550-39d06dfacc74.html. Privacy Policy. For years, no one was named in Phillips death. 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. They knew that Garrett and his brother lived there and had heard noises before, but never this loud. Nick said he was at the high school to watch a soccer game, went home and talked with his daughter, and then went to his assistant coachs house. There was really nothing beyond whats in the film that we were able to learn.. Ive probably seen every show on this case, but for my research I watched Deadline Crime with Tamron Hall. Despite having only circumstantial evidence, the D.A. Police suspect the killer escaped through this window. 1.) However, if youre innocent, why would it matter? M3GAN Is Finally Available To Stream After The Kids Go To Bed, 'Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio' Puts A Dark Twist On The Classic Disney Tale, 'Puss In Boots: The Last Wish' Is So Fun, But Gets Way Darker Than You Expect, Everything You Need To Know To Watch 'Puss In Boots: The Last Wish', What Parents Are Talking About Delivered Straight To Your Inbox, By subscribing to this BDG newsletter, you agree to our. But in a county thats population is more than 90% white, the killing of a child -- a crime that screamed out for justice -- became an investigation that boiled with questions of racial fairness. It's simple.. Nick also denied this ever happened. On October 26, two days after the murder, Nick was brought into the station. (Courtesy of HBO ). For more information, please see our (Courtesy of HBO ). Nick is innocent, and cannot be retried. But going forward, it looks like industry-shifting life sciences Police collected fingerprints from the window; they are not Hillary's and have never been identified, Murray said. According to Grantland, Officer Mark Wentworth investigated the apartment at 100 Market Street. 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