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Who Killed Garrett Phillips? · Murder Files Unsealed

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the deep dive with us. Yeah, today we
• 0:04
  are tackling a case that I mean, well, they gripped
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  the nation, it really did, the unsolved murder of twelve
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  year old Garrett Phillips back in twenty eleven.
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  Speaker 2: Back in twenty eleven.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, we're in Potsdam, New York. You know, small town,
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  seemingly quiet town, seems like it, and this event shook
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  everybody to their core.
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  Speaker 2: It's one of those stories that just seems like ripped
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  from the headlines. Young life is cut short, a community
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  that's just reeling. Oh yeah, and this mystery it lingers
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  to this day.
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  Speaker 1: That's why we are here, absolutely and diving deep into
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  the source material. Yeah, we've got excerpts from an article
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  discussing the HBO documentary series Who Killed Garrett Phillips. Yep,
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  and trust me, this is packed with twist and turns.
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  It is. It'll keep you guessing, keep you on the
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  edge of your seat. So let's set the scene. All right,
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  It's October twenty fourth, twenty eleven. Okay, Garrett's being a
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  typical twelve year old playing basketballt the high school and
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  then he skateboards home. You know, that classic small town image.
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  Everyone knows everyone. Huh. But just fifteen minutes after he
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  spotted on his apartment building's security cameras, things take a
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  dark turn. Oh yeah. A neighbor hears a scream and
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  some unsettling noises coming from Garrett's apartment. Police arrive, uh huh,
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  and tragically, Garrett is found strangled to death. Oh my gosh,
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  no forced entry, Wow, no witnesses seeing anyone leave. It's
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  a case that just instantly sends shock waves to the
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  community and beyond. Yeah, I bet, and you can imagine
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  the fear that gripped the town.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
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  Speaker 1: But before we get into the suspects, I think it's
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  important to you know, yeah, remember Garrett. He wasn't just
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  a case file. He was a son, a friend, Yeah,
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  a kid with his whole life ahead.
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  Speaker 2: Of him exactly. And you know, the documentary does a
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  good job of highlighting that human element. You know, they
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  show home videos of Garrett, they talk to his friends
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  and teach. It really brings home the tragedy of this situation.
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  Speaker 1: It's a stark reminder that this isn't just some abstract mystery.
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  It's about a real child whose life was tragically cut short. Yeah. Now,
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  the initial investigation quickly focused on oral Nick Hillary, who
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  had been dating Garrett's mother. I see, and this is
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  where the case takes on another layer of complexity. Hillary
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  was one of the few black men in Potsdam. Oh wow,
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  and the documentary explores whether racial bias played a role
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  in how he was treated by law enforcement.
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  Speaker 2: That's a good point.
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  Speaker 1: So let's unpack the prosecution's case against Hillary.
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  Speaker 2: All right.
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  Speaker 1: They relied heavily on surveillance footage showing him leaving the
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  school shortly after Garrett, but instead of turning right towards
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  his home, he turned left. Oh okay, and their argument
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  was that this suggested he was following Garrett.
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  Speaker 2: Interesting.
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  Speaker 1: They also pointed to an ankle androi Hillary had, suggesting
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  he may have hurt himself jumping from Garrett's apartment window
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  after the murder. Of course, no one actually saw anyone
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  leaving the apartments, so speculation. And then there's the question
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  of motive.
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  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, motive.
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  Speaker 1: The prosecution claimed Hillary blamed Garrett for his breakup with
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  Garrett's mom, Tandy Cyrus. Okay, but if you look closer
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  at the details, the reasons for their split are actually disputed.
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  Oh really, it's important to remember that, despite the prosecution's efforts,
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  Hillary was ultimately found innocent in twenty sixteen. Was however,
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  the impact of those accusations Yeah, devastating. He lost his job. Wow,
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  his reputation had to live under a cloud of suspicion
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  for years. Oh man. And it's a prime example of
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  how the weight of an accusation, even if you're later
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  proven innocent, can have lasting consequences.
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  Speaker 2: True.
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  Speaker 1: And this is where District Attorney Mary Rain becomes a
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  key figure. She remained convinced of Hillary's guilt even after
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  the acquittal. Wow. It's interesting. Yeah, because Rain's law license
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  was later suspended due to misconduct oh wow, which casts
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  a shadow over her handling of the case. It raises
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  questions about whether her unwavering belief in Hilary's guilt might
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  have led her to overlook other leads or potentially even
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  mishandle evidence.
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  Speaker 2: Well, mishandle evidence.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, speaking of other leads. There's another theory that's been circulating,
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  the so called.
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  Speaker 3: Kidds theory Kid's theory. Okay, this is where things get
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  a bit murky. The rumor is that Garrett may have
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  been involved in some kind of dangerous game with other
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  kids before his death. But here's the catch. Okay, there's
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  very little evidence, yeah, to support this theory. The documentary
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  filmmakers even mentioned that they couldn't find anything concrete to
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  back it up.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. It seems to be based mostly on town gossip
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  and speculation, which you can imagine runs rampant in a
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  case like this. Absolutely, and it's a good example of
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  how rumors and speculation can muddy the waters in an investigation,
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  especially in the small town of course, So we have
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  to take that theory with a rain assault. But then
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  another figure emerges, John Jones jarn Jones, a sheriff's deputy
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  who also had a past relationship with Garrett's mother. Interesting,
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  and this is where the plot thickens.
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  Speaker 2: I like where this is going.
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  Speaker 1: What's fascinating here is the potential motive. Okay, there seems
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  to have been some overlap in Jones's and Hillary's relationships
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  with Garrett's mother. Uh huh. And there's even mention of
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  a lawsuit filed by the mother against Jones oh wow,
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  though she later claims she was pressured by Hillary to
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  file it.
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  Speaker 2: Interesting.
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  Speaker 1: So you have this tangled web of relationships and potential
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  motives and then there's the issue of suppressed evidence, which
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  really highlights the complexities of the legal system. For sure,
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  the documentary features an interview with Gregory Brown, an inmate
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  who claimed to have seen Jones entering Garrett's building shortly
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  before Garrett was found. Oh wow, this is where the
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  Brady rule comes into play. The Brady rule, it essentially
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  means that the prosecution can't withhold evidence that could be
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  favorable to the defense. So the fact that this interview
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  with Brown was suppressed raises some serious questions about the
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  fairness of the investigation.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
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  Speaker 1: Now, the prosecution did offer a counter argument, no, claiming
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  they suppressed the interview because they had other evidence proving
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  Jones's innocence. They pointed to observations from a civil defense
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  attorney named Tom Moore Toddy who saw Jones walking his
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  dog around the time of the murder. And apparently Jones's
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  DNA didn't match the DNA found under Garrett's fingernails.
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  Speaker 2: So it sounds like a very complex web of evidence
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  and counter arguments, right, And that's what makes this case
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  so compelling. It is we're left with more questions than answers.
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  Oh yeah, and it's up to us to try and
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  make sense.
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  Speaker 1: Of it all exactly. Yeah, I mean, it's a puzzle,
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  it is, And for me, the suppressed interview with Gregory
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  Brown is the piece that really sticks out. If they
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  were so sure of Jones's innocence, why not just present
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  the interview and let the jury decide. It feels like
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  they were high.
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  Speaker 4: Something I can understand why you would feel that way.
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  A lot of people who followed this case question that decision.
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  And what's even more frustrating is that the article doesn't
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  go into detail about what specific evidence the prosecution claimed
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  to have against Brown's statement, So it leaves us, potentially
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  the jury in the dark about their reasoning.
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  Speaker 1: It's just one of the many unanswered questions in this case.
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  As we dig deeper, it becomes clear that the investigation
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  was anything but straightforward. We've got these tangled relationships, conflicting accounts,
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  and then this crucial piece of evidence is withheld. It
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  makes you wonder what else might have been missed or overlooked.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, it really highlights how important it is to have
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  a system that ensures a fair and impartial investigation. The
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  Brady Rule is there for a reason. It's meant to
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  protect the rights of the accused and prevent wrongful convictions.
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  Speaker 1: And to your point about a fair investigation, Yeah, I
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  think it's worth revisiting the issue of potential racial bias
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  in the initial focus on Nick Hillary. Okay, it's touched
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  upon in the documentary, but I think it warns further discussion. Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely. The fact that Hillary was one of the few
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  black men in Potsdam raises legitimate questions about whether implicit
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  bias played a role in how he was perceived and
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  treated from the very beginning.
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  Speaker 1: Right. And it's a sensitive topic, but one that can't
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  be ignored, absolutely, especially in a case like this.
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  Speaker 2: Not just about this specific case. Studies have consistently shown
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  that racial bias within the criminal justice system is a
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  real and pervasive problem.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it makes you think about the broader implications, of course,
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  how many other cases out there might have been influenced
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  by similar biases, how many innocent people might have been
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  wrongly accused or convicted.
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  Speaker 2: It's a sobering thought, it is, and it underscores the
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  need for ongoing reform and greater awareness of these issues
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  within law enforcement and the legal system as a whole.
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  Speaker 1: So we have this web of theories, a lot of speculations,
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  some serious questions about the handling of the investigation. But
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  let's circle back to this central question, who killed Garrett Phillips. Unfortunately,
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  there's no easy answer. No, the case officially remains unsolved.
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  It does, and that's part of what makes it so haunting.
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  The young life was taken, a community was traumatized, and
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  justice remains elusive.
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  Speaker 2: And it's hard to even imagine the pain and frustration
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  that Garrett's family and friends must still be feeling. Oh yeah,
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  to have no closure, no clear answers.
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  Speaker 1: It's heartbreaking, and this case really brings to light the
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  complexities of the justice system. It does, especially in a
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  small town where everyone knows each other, right loyalties, rumors,
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  and personal biases can easily cloud judgment and complicate the
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  search for truth. Absolutely, It's like trying to piece together
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  a puzzle where some of the pieces are missing and
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  others might be intentionally.
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  Speaker 2: Hidden exactly, And it makes you realize how important it
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  is to be critical of the information we consume, to
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  question assumptions, and to consider multiple perspectives, especially in cases
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  like this where the stakes are so high.
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  Speaker 1: So where does that leave us? We've explored the major
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  theories examined the key evidence, even questioned the actions of
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  those involved in the investigation, But that central question remains,
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  who is responsible for Garrett Phillips's death.
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  Speaker 2: It's a question that may never be definitively answered. But
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  I think as we wrap up this deep dive, the
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  most important thing is not necessarily finding all the answers,
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  but learning to grapple with the questions. I like that
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  to understand the complexities of the case, the limitations of
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  the justice system, and the human impact of this tragedy.
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  Speaker 1: That's a really insightful way to put it for our
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  listeners who are just as fascinated by this case as
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  we are. I think it's worth posing a challenge, Okay,
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  I like it. Imagine you were an investigator on this case.
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  Where would you start, What piece of evidence would you
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  focus on, Who would you want to interview, What questions
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  would you be asking yourself to make sure you weren't
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  letting your own biases or assumptions influence your investigation.
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  Speaker 2: That's a good one.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a challenge, but that's what makes it so captivating.
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  It's not just about finding the right answer, It's about
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  that process of investigation, the weighing of evidence, understanding that
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  sometimes in these real life mysteries there may not be
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  a neat and tidy resolution exactly.
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  Speaker 2: And that's a valuable takeaway for our listeners. It's about
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  developing that critical thinking, learning to question what you see
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  and hear, and recognizing that truth can often be elusive.
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  Speaker 1: A good reminder that even when a case is officially closed,
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  the questions and the search for answers can linger for years,
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  even decades, And in Garrett's case, it's clear that his
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  death continues to have a profound impact on the Potsdam community.
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  Speaker 2: The documentary does a great job of capturing that sense
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  of loss and the unresolved grief that still hangs over
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  the town. It's a reminder that these cases aren't just
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  abstract puzzles to be solved, right. They involve real people,
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  real families, real communities that are forever changed by these events.
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  Speaker 1: It makes you think about the ripple effect absolutely of
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  a crime like this. Yeah, it's not just about the victim.
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  It's about the families, the friends, the investigators, and even
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  the community as a whole for sure, that are left
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  grappling with the aftermath.
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  Speaker 2: It's a powerful reminder of the interconnectedness of our lives, yeah,
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  and how one event can have such far reaching consequences.
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  Speaker 1: So, as we wrap up our deep dive into the
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  Garrett Phillips case, I think it's important to acknowledge that
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  we may never know for sure who was responsible for
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  his death, but that doesn't mean we stop searching for answers,
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  stop questioning, or stop demanding accountability from those impositions of power.
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  Well sir, and for our listeners who want to delve
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  even deeper into this case, highly recommend checking out the
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  full HBO documentary series Who Killed Garrett Phillips.
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  Speaker 2: It's a great series.
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  Speaker 1: It is a truly compelling watch, and it provides a
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  much more in depth look at the complexities of this tragedy.
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  As we leave you to ponder the mysteries of this case,
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  I think the biggest takeaway is this, Okay, never underestimate
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  the power of curiosity, the importance of critical thinking, and
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  the value of seeking truth even when it's difficult or uncomfortable. Absolutely,
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  keep asking questions, keep exploring, and keep learning.
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  Speaker 2: Couldn't have set it better myself.
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  Speaker 1: That's what the deep dive is all about. It is
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  until next time,