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Who Killed Garrett Phillips- HBO


Goo Punch

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Documentary about a white 12 year old kid who was strangled to death in upstate NY. Or more accurately about how the cops immediately zeroed in on the only black dude in town, mainly because he was in a relationship with the ex gf of one of the town cops. 

I watch a lot of shows about crime, and this one is making me physically angry as much as anything i've seen. I'm at the end of episode one, the interrogation of Nick Hillary. Without spoiling anything specific i'll just say that these cops have met their match during this interrogation, and they don't take it very well when he attempts to assert his constitutional rights. shit is infuriating. anybody else watching this?

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What a frustrating, mystifying case.  So many lingering questions.

Don't know what to make of that DNA evidence. I'm inclined to believe the judge made the right decision ruling it inadmissible.

John Jones. Christ. Several Abuser/Coercive Control red flags with this guy. (1) The way he glibly bragged about having the hottest girlfriend in town - sign he views her as a possession. (2) The multiple letters filed by Tandy. And then he alleges some kind of conspiracy while backhandedly mocking her intelligence? "She didn't write those letters cause she didn't even know some of those words!"  Lol k. Some proof you got there. He also displays a consciousness of guilt  by not actually denying the allegations in the letter, and opting to attack the credibility of the source instead. (3) Suing her in small claims court. Petty and vindictive. (4) Helping her find an apartment close to him. "For the kids" allegedly. Yeah, sure. (5) The way he was holding her hand in the interrogation room. Fucking overbearing, smothering, and creepy. (6) Rushing to her side and spending the night with her. I'll bet that was his idea, not Tandy's.  

The video evidence of Jones walking his dog seems to clear him as a suspect, but he comes off as a narcissist and an abuser, and  was undoubtedly leading the charge against Hillary behind the scenes,  manipulating and/or pressuring his buddies to zero in on him.

Did Tandy testify at trial? Wouldn't she be the best witness to testify to the nature of Nick and Garrett's relationship?  All I've been able to find is that Nick had strict parenting methods (like no TV during the week). Other than that, no evidence he was abusive or prone to anger/violence. There is such a dearth of information related to this alleged motive. Was it left out of the doc, or does it just not exist?

Such unusual circumstances surrounding this case, that I lean toward the offender being a statistical outlier. 

I read a theory that Garrett was roughhousing or playing the "choking game" with friends and it went too far. Though it seems unlikely that a kid  around Garrett's age would deftly flee the scene without being spotted. Especially if his death was an accident.

Two theories seem the most plausible to me right now - Garrett interrupted someone already in the apartment, possibly someone who was stalking Tandy. Garrett tries to run and the offender tackles him (causing the "crash" the neighbors heard), put him in a choke hold to try to silence/control him, and ended up killing him. 

Or a child predator saw Garret riding home alone, followed him to the apartment, and was let in by Garrett or forced his way in. In this scenario I would guess that the offender had knowledge that knew Garrett would be home alone. Which means he lived nearby, or hung out there regularly, or had at least been hanging around that afternoon and knew nobody else was home. Or had a personal relationship to the family and knew where Tandy and her other kid were.

Edited by CurlyDumps
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According to the prosecution, video of Nick Hillary taking a left out of a parking lot = compelling evidence of murder, while video evidence of jon jones actually crossing paths with the deceased just before the murder = "oh just a coincidence." go fuck yourself. 

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The last shot of Mary Rain in the doc: "I 100% know in my mind that Nick Hillary is the killer. I know it."

five minutes later: 

In June 2018, Mary Rain was barred from practicing law in New York for two years for "severe and persistent misconduct"

lmao 

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Yeah, Mary Rain is a buffoon. She campaigns on the back of a dead child, then proceeds to completely embarrass herself with the grand jury fuck up and the egregiously stupid Brady violation. She's your typical "convictions = justice"  DA, minus the smarts and savvy.

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15 hours ago, Goo Punch said:

According to the prosecution, video of Nick Hillary taking a left out of a parking lot = compelling evidence of murder, while video evidence of jon jones actually crossing paths with the deceased just before the murder = "oh just a coincidence." go fuck yourself. 

Well Hillary never did explain why he went that direction. I watched the 20/20 or dateline on this before this docu came out...anyway nothing really seems to clear Hillary completely, but certainly not enough to convict him. The wound on his ankle was also somewhat suspicious, but again not NEARLY enough for him to even be brought up on charges in my opinion. 

The cop ex boyfriend definitely should not have been involved in the investigation if for no other reason than the fact that he was a potential suspect/person of interest. 

I'm not convinced Hillary wasn't the killer, but it damn sure wasn't proven and his life was trashed in the process. And there is no way he could get a fair trial when the case was so publicized....this should NEVER happen but it does all the time under our pathetic justice system.  His presumption of innocence was obliterated.  The smartest move he made was opting for a bench trial. Also fuck the Jones guy..what a douche

Edited by immortal13
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8 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Filing a civil suit before the criminal investigation was concluded somehow was a moron move of epic proportions.  His attorney friends are dumb as fuck and probably got him tried.

I couldn’t believe that he’s currently doing it again. If I was him I’d forever cut my dealings with that place and try to salvage what I could with the rest of my life. He should’ve done that the first time.

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28 minutes ago, Helobious said:

I couldn’t believe that he’s currently doing it again. If I was him I’d forever cut my dealings with that place and try to salvage what I could with the rest of my life. He should’ve done that the first time.

Yep.  Those suits don't go very far without a physical injury, most times.  

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Another irksome thing.  All of the DAs except the first one a) used the investigation for political advantage and b) acted as if they really have some investigative function or prerogative.  Both of these are distasteful if not despicable.  

Granted, it can be a bit hard to draw a line between investigation and prosecution, but prosecutors are not cops and vice versa and they need to try pretty hard to stay in their respective lanes, especially a prosecutor.  This is true of the Comey deal (cop making prosecution decision) and also of this and many other cases where the DA starts to take credit for, or worse, drive an investigation.

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6 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Filing a civil suit before the criminal investigation was concluded somehow was a moron move of epic proportions. 

Objection relevance.

Quote

His attorney friends are dumb as fuck and probably got him tried.

Objection relevance.

Edited by CurlyDumps
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I came across a really thorough 2015 article on Grantland (RIP). It presents both sides of the case and endeavors to give Garrett a voice.

Potsdam's Nightmare: What Happened to Garrett Phillips?

Quote

Cyrus wrote that Hillary showed up twice at her home unannounced, once letting himself in and standing over her bed while she had been sleeping, and once again after he’d seen her dancing with another man.

Cyrus asked him to return his key, and, according to her testimony, Hillary gave it to her. She wrote that she believed the last time he entered her apartment was on September 23 or 24.

Apparently Hillary had been in the apartment unannounced twice before. Not a good look. Was that in the doc? I don't remember hearing that.

I also found the "Day by Day" podcast mentioned in the doc that covered the trial.  Tandy and her mom both testified. The podcast covers their testimonies in ep. 6. Another interesting tidbit is that both of Tandy's parents worked at Clarkson University. The mom testified about 3 incidents in which Hillary approached her at work and spoke to her for over an hour. Hillary wanted her to help him get Tandy back. She said the conversations made her uncomfortable.

Tandy was very present in the 20/20 and Dateline shows, but must have declined to be in the HBO doc.

https://www.npr.org/podcasts/492848182/day-by-day-the-nick-hillary-trial

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