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Oral Nicholas Hillary Acquitted in Potsdam Boy’s Killing Oral Nicholas Hillary Acquitted in Potsdam Boy’s Killing
(about 11 hours later)
CANTON, N.Y. — Nearly five years after the murder of a 12-year-old boy in New York’s rural, northernmost frontier set off a mystery tinged with race, sex and questionable prosecution, the man accused in the crime was acquitted on Wednesday, as a judge found no credible evidence to convict. CANTON, N.Y. — Nearly five years after the murder of a 12-year-old boy in New York’s rural, northernmost frontier set off a mystery tinged with race, jilted love and questionable prosecution, the man accused in the crime was acquitted on Wednesday, as a judge found no credible evidence to convict.
The man, Oral Nicholas Hillary, had been charged with second-degree murder in the strangling of Garrett Phillips, an ebullient sixth grader who was savagely attacked in his mother’s apartment in Potsdam in October 2011. Mr. Hillary once had a romantic relationship with Garrett’s mother, and the police focused on him almost immediately, searching his home, car and office looking for evidence that he had killed Garrett in retribution for the breakup. The man, Oral Nicholas Hillary, had been charged with second-degree murder in the strangling of Garrett Phillips, an ebullient sixth grader who was savagely attacked in his mother’s apartment in Potsdam in October 2011. Mr. Hillary once had a romantic relationship with Garrett’s mother, and the police focused on him almost immediately, searching his home, car and office for evidence that he had killed Garrett in retribution for the breakup.
They found little, if any, evidence linking Mr. Hillary to the crime — no DNA, no fingerprints, no hair or fiber samples — leading him to suggest a far more pernicious explanation for the prosecution: his race. Mr. Hillary is black; Garrett was white, as is his mother and most of the surrounding St. Lawrence County. They produced little, if any, hard evidence linking Mr. Hillary to the crime — no DNA, no fingerprints, no hair or fiber samples — leading him to suggest a far more pernicious explanation for the prosecution: his race. Mr. Hillary is black; Garrett was white, as is his mother and most of the surrounding St. Lawrence County.
Mr. Hillary has always proclaimed his innocence. And on Wednesday morning, Judge Felix J. Catena — who presided over the two-week nonjury trial in Canton, the St. Lawrence County seat — concurred, noting that the prosecution’s case was entirely circumstantial.Mr. Hillary has always proclaimed his innocence. And on Wednesday morning, Judge Felix J. Catena — who presided over the two-week nonjury trial in Canton, the St. Lawrence County seat — concurred, noting that the prosecution’s case was entirely circumstantial.
As the judge announced his decision, both sides of the courtroom let out bursts of emotion. Mr. Hillary hugged his lawyers, shedding tears as his family praised Jesus; many of Garrett’s relatives were also weeping, their heads and bodies collapsing into the courtroom benches. As the judge announced his decision, both sides of the courtroom let out bursts of emotion. Mr. Hillary hugged his lawyers, shedding tears as his family praised Jesus; many of Garrett’s relatives were also weeping, their bodies collapsing into the courtroom benches.
“Karma will get you,” shouted Brian Phillips, an uncle of Garrett’s who sold and distributed thousands of posters bearing the slogan “Justice for Garrett” and raised $40,000 for a reward fund. “Karma will get you,” shouted Brian Phillips, an uncle of Garrett’s who sold and distributed thousands of posters bearing the slogan “Justice for Garrett” and raised $40,000 for a reward fund to solve the crime.
Seen through a prism of racial bias, the case drew widespread attention at a time when law enforcement’s relationship with black Americans is under increased scrutiny after a string of police-related shootings. Seen through a prism of racial bias, the investigation and trial drew widespread attention at a time when law enforcement’s relationship with black Americans is under increased scrutiny after a string of shootings by police officers. But the case was also steeped in raw emotion and drama: the violent, unsolved murder of a child, an unheard-of crime in a small town, and a long and imperfect search for a killer.
Mr. Hillary’s defense team — which featured two high-profile New York City lawyers, Norman Siegel and Earl S. Ward, drawn by the case’s notoriety — only lightly touched on the issue of race at trial, preferring to attack the prosecution’s case as a weak, circumstantial attempt to pin a gruesome murder on the wrong man.Mr. Hillary’s defense team — which featured two high-profile New York City lawyers, Norman Siegel and Earl S. Ward, drawn by the case’s notoriety — only lightly touched on the issue of race at trial, preferring to attack the prosecution’s case as a weak, circumstantial attempt to pin a gruesome murder on the wrong man.
“There is absolutely no direct evidence tying Mr. Hillary to this crime,” Mr. Ward said during his closing argument on Thursday, adding: “Nick Hillary is not the type of person that would walk into a room, put his hands around the neck of a child and strangle him, kill that child. That is not Nick Hillary.” “Someone killed Garrett Phillips,” Mr. Siegel said, shortly after the verdict was announced. “But it wasn’t Nick Hillary.”
The prosecution — largely led by William Fitzpatrick, an experienced district attorney from the Syracuse area — had put much of its hopes on surveillance footage shot the day of the killing. It showed Mr. Hillary’s car lingering near Garrett as he headed home from school. Mr. Hillary, 42, a former soccer coach at Clarkson University in Potsdam and a collegiate soccer star at St. Lawrence University here, had been painted by prosecutors as an obsessive ex-boyfriend of Garrett’s mother, Tandy Cyrus, who broke off a yearlong relationship after her son told her he did not like Mr. Hillary.
Mr. Hillary, 42, a former soccer coach at Clarkson University in Potsdam, had been painted by prosecutors as an obsessive ex-boyfriend of Garrett’s mother, Tandy Cyrus, who broke off a yearlong relationship after her son told her he did not like Mr. Hillary. That assertion, supported by testimony from Ms. Cyrus’s family, was not enough to overcome the lack of any physical evidence tying Mr. Hillary to the murder. The state — largely led by William Fitzpatrick, an experienced district attorney from nearby Onondaga County — had put much of its hopes on surveillance footage shot the day of the killing. It showed Mr. Hillary’s car lingering near Garrett, and then briefly following him as he headed home from school; a short time later, the boy was found strangled in a back room of his mother’s apartment, after police had been alerted by concerned neighbors to ominous noises.
The acquittal most likely will do little to end the upset over Garrett’s murder, which shocked Potsdam, a small riverfront village. While the police received dozens of tips in the months and years after the murder, the list of potential suspects was never truly broadened beyond Mr. Hillary, testimony and depositions showed. Mr. Fitzpatrick also had pointed to what he and authorities saw as inconsistencies in Mr. Hillary’s account of his actions and ailbi that day, “a constellation of facts” that pointed to Mr. Hillary as the only person with motive to kill Garrett.
Mr. Hillary has sued the village for civil rights violations in connection to his arrest. That case is still pending. That was not enough to overcome the lack of any physical evidence tying Mr. Hillary to the murder.
As the bailiffs cleared the courtroom, the Hillary family made their way outside to address the news media. The Phillips family stayed behind, along with the local prosecutor who brought the case, Mary Rain, who stood silently in front of the family as they wept. Mr. Hillary’s lawyers argued that he had a legitimate, noncriminal reason to be near Garrett before the crime: as a coach, he was scouting a local soccer team at the field that the boy passed by on the way home. They also used statements made by a police officer responding to a 911 call that footsteps of an intruder could be heard inside Garrett’s apartment, even as Mr. Hillary was at an assistant’s house around the corner, according to a defense witness.
“A person can’t be in two places at the same time,” Mr. Siegel said.
The prosecution was also hurt by several missteps during their pursuit of Mr. Hillary, including an earlier indictment that was dismissed after a judge cited misconduct on the part of the St. Lawrence County district attorney, Mary Rain, who brought the case.
During the trial’s first week, prosecutors admitted to failing to inform the defense that a man from Potsdam — an incarcerated rapist — had told investigators in 2015 that he saw a white man at the scene of the crime. That man, John Jones, a St. Lawrence county sheriff’s deputy, had also had a long relationship with Ms. Cyrus. (In testimony last week, Mr. Jones denied any involvement, and the inmate was not used by the defense.)
As the bailiffs cleared the courtroom on Wednesday, the Hillary family made their way outside. The Phillips family stayed behind, along with Ms. Rain, who stood silently in front of the family as they wept.
One member of the family, Kayla Phillips, a cousin of Garrett’s, collapsed in a stairwell shortly after the verdict. Moments later, her grandmother — Patricia Phillips, who had also fainted during early testimony about Garrett’s death — made reference to Mr. Hillary’s defense fund, which had been supported by friends and St. Lawrence alumni who believed him to be innocent.
“What money won’t buy,” Ms. Phillips said, before being led away by her son, Brian.
Beyond that, the family did not speak to the media, though Ms. Rain said at a post-verdict news conference that she and the family were “devastated.”
Ms. Rain, who had run successfully for office, in part, by promising to bring a new focus to the murder, said she still was “100 percent certain that Nick Hillary committed this crime.”
“He’s the one who did it,” she said, adding that her office had no intention of looking for other suspects. “Just because he was found not guilty doesn’t mean he’s innocent.”
The acquittal most likely will do little to end the upset over Garrett’s murder, which shocked Potsdam, a small riverfront village where the burden of finding his killer was substantial. The police would receive dozens of tips in the months and years after the murder, but the list of potential suspects was never truly broadened beyond Mr. Hillary, testimony and depositions showed.
Mr. Siegel, a veteran civil rights lawyer, said that while the defense had not played up racial issues, they nonetheless hovered over the trial.
Mr. Ward echoed that, and noted that the investigation had seemed to single out Mr. Hillary, even before the case was considered a murder. “You have to ask yourselves: why was Nick Hillary targeted from Day 1?’” he said.
The legal fight is not over. Mr. Hillary — a father of five who lost his job as coach after his arrest in 2014 — has sued the village for civil rights violations in connection to his arrest. That case is pending.
He said he would try to rebuild his life and reputation in the community he had called home. But that might prove hard, he said.
“It would be very difficult to go back to that,” Mr. Hillary said, sitting in a supporter’s backyard hours after being exonerated. “And feel as if this ordeal didn’t happen.”