The Garrett Phillips Tragedy That Resulted in Another for Nick Hillary

Seven Minutes is a document about the accidental death of Garrett Phillips and the “lynching” of Nick Hillary. This travesty occurred in Potsdam, NY, beginning in October 2011.

The author of this document is a retired New York State Police Sergeant. He has over 21 years of law enforcement experience. Thirteen and a half years, the author was a New York State Police BCI Investigator.
 
Please note: This document is the property of John Fountain. It cannot be reproduced, distributed, or used commercially without his express written permission to do so.

Section 1

       This is a documentary about a small-town tragedy that occurred in Potsdam, New York on October 24, 2011. The tragedy is that 12-year-old Garrett Phillips died because of a Rip Stik accident. However, it was classified as a homicide.

       This case was classified as a homicide because the so-called perpetrator (Nick Hillary) had a prior relationship with the victim Garrett Phillips. There was racism, jealousy, and substandard Police work in this case which resulted in an accident being termed a homicide.

       Garrett Phillips’ accidental death was a tragedy for his mother Tandy, his family, friends, and the community. What makes this a greater tragedy is the fact that the community was misled to believe that Garrett Phillips was murdered, not the victim of an accident. We must also acknowledge that this was also a life changing event for Nick Hillary.

One day he was a highly respected college coach and the next day he was a killer in the eyes of the community. Even though he was wrongly accused, but acquitted by a trial judge, in the eyes of many in the community he is still the killer of Garrett Phillips. This deception to the public was created and perpetuated by the District Attorney, Mary Rain and District Attorney Fitzpatrick. It is important to note that in 2018 a state court handed down a decision to suspend Rain’s law license due to “a pattern of disregard for defendants’ rights” and her misconduct during the Nick Hillary trial was also cited. (See Attachment 1A & 1B) District Attorney Fitzpatrick and Mary Rain seem to have been cut from the same cloth. The result? One was the puppet, and the other was the puppeteer. This is said due to the complete and utter lack of respect they showed for the Judge and the decision of the Court in the Nick Hillary case. Judge Felix Catena thoroughly weighed the evidence or lack thereof and rightfully handed down the decision of Not Guilty.

District Attorney Rain and District Attorney Fitzpatrick continued to show gross misconduct and disrespect when they repeatedly, publicly, stated that Nick Hillary was the killer of Garrett Phillips. They did this in several interviews with the press after the trial Judge rendered the verdict.

On page 3 of “The Right Thing” An Ethics Guide For Prosecutors it clearly states regarding unethical behavior by a prosecutor: “But the damage done by unethical behavior is not limited to innocent defendants or to defendants who are convicted. All defendants, innocent and guilty alike, are entitled to due process, including the presumption of innocence, the benefit of reasonable doubt, and the right to a fair trial. Unethical behavior by a prosecutor can render these fundamental rights illusory. Even defendants who are ultimately acquitted can nevertheless suffer irreparable harm from unethical prosecution: loss of freedom, employment, reputation, sense of security, and trust in our criminal justice system.” And continues on page 4 to state, “Unethical behavior by a prosecutor can subject crime victims to renewed stress and heartache.” The fact that William Fitzpatrick emailed approx. 200 individuals, including (and accusing) Dr. Perlin, “as a result of that a sociopathic killer of a helpless 12-year-old boy now walks among us.”  He did this after the Judge handed down the Court Decision. He also stated this in public settings and should have been admonished or at the least, forced to revisit the Ethical responsibilities of a prosecutor.  This is easily accessed at DAASNY-The-Right-Thing-07.15.2025.pdf.  A second resource he should consider reviewing would be the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, specifically Rule 8.2 (a), for the specific purpose of evaluating his behavior during this trial and after the Judge rendered his decision.

As a result of Garrett Phillips accident, Nick Hillary lost his life as he knew it and he has never recovered it.  The accusation alone that he had committed a murder, cost Hillary his job, friends, and his reputation in the community. In totality, this case is a tragedy. Garrett Phillips lost his life in a Rip Stik accident and Nick Hillary lost his life as he knew it for several reasons, all of which could have been avoided had this case been handled with integrity and a true quest for the truth, rather than poor police work culminating with prosecutorial misconduct.

       The main reason for this document is to present the facts of this case and to demonstrate that Nick Hillary was indeed innocent of the murder of Garrett Phillips not just on the ruling of the Trial Judge but on the facts that were and many that weren’t presented in the trial. Garrett Phillips’s death was accidental and should be officially recognized by the Potsdam, NY community and other relevant parties.

This document aims to clarify for Garrett Phillips’ mother, relatives, friends, and the community that his death was due to a Rip Stik accident, not murder.  This knowledge may reassure them that Garrett died in a tragic accident, not at the hands of someone he knew.  The loss of a child is always agonizing and the effects it has on those that survive are beyond words to describe. However, being misled to believe someone you once trusted murdered your child, rather than what the evidence shows: your child died because of an accident from doing what was enjoyed, is being cruel and negligent on the part of those that perpetuated the mistruth. Garretts’ death was not the result of a heinous act by another. The evidence clearly indicates otherwise.

   For a matter of record, I did not insert myself into this case as District Attorney William Fitzpatrick did. Fitzpatrick joined the case, reportedly to establish his standing as a DNA expert in the United States, therefore having his own ulterior motive or agenda. This case demonstrates how DNA testing isn’t as accurate as many believe when the system is abused and accurate findings are not presented. I will prove this statement to be true in this document.

        I think it important to clarify that I was brought into this case by Edward Narrow, Attorney at Law, Canton, New York who was at the time a partner with Peter Dumas, Attorney at Law, Malone, New York. (It should be noted that Attorney Dumas was the Attorney who handled the DNA aspect of the case for the Defense in the Hillary trial).

       Shortly after Attorney Narrow got involved in the Hillary case, he contacted me and I met with him at his office in Canton, New York. At that time, we went over the prosecution’s discovery information that Attorney Narrow had received thus far. After reviewing the information, I expressed my feeling that Nick Hillary was not responsible for Garrett Phillips death and there was no credible evidence to show that he was involved. I would like to emphasize that if I had thought that Hillary was guilty of Garrett Phillips death I would have ended any relationship with the case immediately. It should be noted in my past, there were several high-profile cases in which I was offered large fees to be part of the defense team, but I refused. The reason for these refusals stemmed from the fact that children were the victims, the serious nature of the crimes and my personal beliefs.

I would never work to free someone whom I believed was guilty based on the information available to me.

       After reviewing the information in detail with Mr. Narrow and several other individuals, Mr. Narrow gave me multiple documents to review. I did this work pro-bono for Mr. Narrow because I considered him a friend that would do the same for me if I needed his advice.

  Several months later I returned the files to Mr. Narrow that he had given to me. One reason was the defense had changed their strategy, and new attorneys were coming onboard. The second reason was because of my recent employment by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department as a home monitoring specialist. I felt any further activity in the defense of Hillary would be unethical at that time.

  Over the years I have watched this case and observed that the destruction of Nick Hillary has never stopped. He is still being persecuted for a death that was an accident, not a murder. This document will prove he was framed, severely discriminated against because he is black and because he had the audacity to have a love affair with a white woman.

       This document will prove, beyond doubt, that Garrett Phillips died because of a Rip Stik accident, not by murder. I will start by laying out the Police theory of Phillips death being a homicide, and it will become obvious how that theory was a case of suspect – centric, tunnel vision, and disgraceful Police work.

Section 2

 On October 24, 2011, at approximately 4:30 p.m., Garrett Phillips and two friends were playing basketball at Potsdam Elementary School. Lead Prosecutor William Fitzpatrick stated in the Garrett Phillips death investigation that Nick Hillary was actively hunting him at that time.  The supposed motive was that by removing Garrett Phillips, Nick Hillary could resume his relationship with Tandy Collins, Garrett’s mother.

 There is no doubt in my mind that theory was originally brought to the table by another ex- lover of Garrett’s mother Tandy Collins and that person was John Jones. There is also no doubt that John Jones is the person responsible for Nick Hillary becoming a suspect in Garrett’s death immediately. The police stated that Hillary was not considered a suspect at the time; however, there are records of conversations and actions involving the police that indicate otherwise.

 Nick Hillary became a suspect right away, as shown by police actions the night Garrett died and discussions among high-ranking officers on October 25, 2011. No additional suspects were identified in Garrett’s death.  Subsequently, the investigation adopted a suspect-centric approach, which persisted until Nick Hillary was arrested on what was later determined to be an unfounded murder charge.

 ~ There were no other suspects in their minds ~

       After receiving a call from his mother Tandy Collins, Garrett headed home to 100 Market Street, Apartment 4, Potsdam, New York. According to the prosecution, at this time he was being pursued by Nick Hillary, who the police allege followed him home. The prosecution was under the belief that Hillary was somehow able to gain access to apt 4, 100 Market Street, Potsdam, New York. Nick Hillary then, according to DA William Fitzpatrick, murdered Garrett Phillips by either suffocation or strangulation. (We don’t know which because the Pathologist didn’t specify which of the two caused the death in his report).

After the murder, Nick Hillary supposedly escaped by exiting out a back bedroom window and dropping approximately 20 feet to the ground. It should be noted there was no physical evidence found at the so-called murder scene linking Nick Hillary to the death of Garrett Phillips. There were no fingerprints, no DNA, and no blood evidence.  Witness testimony or any other evidence was nonexistent as well. No black man was seen in the window nor was anyone seen jumping from the window. This was confirmed in sworn court testimony by the former Potsdam Chief of Police Tischler and Lieut. Mark Murray, Potsdam Police Department. This testimony was provided by both officers on February 2, 2014, at Potsdam, New York during a civil hearing.

       In the next section of this document, I will show that Garrett Phillips died as the result of a Rip Stik accident and his death was indeed an accidental one. The information in this document will also show that Nick Hillary was completely innocent and was falsely accused of murder. It will demonstrate that due to a rush to judgment and hidden agendas, the family and friends of Garrett Phillips have had to endure the heartache of not only losing Garrett but also of having to endure the enormous pain of a trial, just as Nick Hillary had to, along with public scrutiny and speculation. Those that loved Garrett should have been able to focus on mourning him rather than having to experience the anger, confusion, bitterness, and doubt that must have resulted from being led to believe he had been murdered, by someone that was once trusted, to say the least. As for Nick Hillary? He and his family should have been able to mourn Garrett as well, instead of Nick Hillary being wrongly accused of being a cold-blooded killer. His children should not have had to face the ramifications of the changes that occurred in their lives because of the erroneous allegations and wrongful arrest of their father, even after he was rendered Not Guilty by a Court of Law after trial.

~Hillary was completely innocent and was falsely accused of this murder~

Section 3

 On October 24, 2011, at about 4:30 pm, Garrett Phillips was playing basketball at Potsdam Elementary School.  At that time Garrett received a call from his mother Tandy Collins and was told to return home to do his homework.

       Garrett Phillips was seen leaving the Elementary school and heading home shortly after the call from his mother. This was witnessed by the Elementary school janitor Dale Kingsley at approximately 4:50 p.m. At that time Garrett was riding his Rip Stik. Around this same time Garrett talked to his cousin, Kayla Phillips, momentary and she gave him some popcorn. Thereafter Garrett rode off on his Rip Stik in a normal way. Kayla never mentioned anything about injuries that Garrett might have had so apparently, he didn’t have any at 4:50 p.m. (Attachment 2A)

Garrett received the injuries that he had at the time of his death from a fall that he took on his way home, sometime between 4:53 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.

At 4:53PM, Garrett Phillips was seen on the camera belonging to Potsdam Hospital. It was the College Street Entrance Camera passing by in the direction of his home at 100 Market Street. Garrett was riding his Rip Stik. A Rip Stik, at first appearance, may look like a skateboard that is a little longer but there are significant differences in design. A Rip Stik requires intensive balance training to acquire proficiency and is much more dangerous to ride because of how the wheels operate while they are being ridden, among other factors.

       From the hospital camera to 100 Market Street, it is 1005 feet. This distance was measured on April 5, 2025, using a Pittsburgh measuring wheel manufactured by Harbor Freight. NOTE: To walk this distance, it would take around 4 minutes for the average person or someone riding a Rip Stik 2 to 3 minutes.

Garrett Phillips arrived at his apartment, according to his neighbors at approximately 5 p.m. Using a travel time of 7 minutes from the hospital camera it leaves 3 minutes unaccounted for in Garrett’s travel home.

On this evening it was raining heavily, and it was very windy. (17 to 23 MPH according to national weather reports) This would have made the sidewalk and the highway very slippery and hazardous for anyone riding a Rip Stik or even walking.

 Garrett Phillips had approximately 7 minutes between 4:53p.m. and 5 p.m. to make it home. It should have taken him a maximum of 4 minutes, so that would have been 3 minutes left or at a minimum of 2 minutes that are not accounted for.

       From physical evidence, an investigation of the known facts, the autopsy report, the injuries that Garrett Phillips suffered and other facts discovered, there is no doubt that he was an accident victim not a homicide victim.

       The physical evidence shows that during the 2 to 3 minutes missing from the seven minutes Garrett Phillips took to travel home he took a horrific fall to the ground. This would eventually turn from a severe physical injury accident to death from a fatal accident.

  This was a face down, hands down and knees down forward accident causing very serious damage to the front part of his body, face, and other parts of his body. Also, the imprint of Rip Stik which hit him in rear of his calf on his left leg. (It also should be noted that the dirt under one of Garrett’s finder nails would give the prosecution their famous phony DNA sample). This fall also caused multiple bruises, abrasions, dirt marks, grass stains, gravel scratches, oozing of blood from the knees, and some blood stains on the body along with the face. We will never know if there were any fractures because X-Rays were never taken of the body. That was very negligent of the Pathologist because sometimes that is the only way a murder or a cause of death can be discovered. This was observed during an investigation into the murder of a four-year-old boy I investigated in the past. Unfortunately, the Pathologist in this case was more interested in the Police theories then he was in trying to find the real cause of Garrett’s death by doing his own independent thorough investigation.

       The severe physically damaging injuries were still very apparent at the time of the autopsy and are apparent in the autopsy photographs. “NOTE” The photographs were taken after Garrett’s was washed at the Potsdam Hospital and prior to the autopsy performed by Dr. Michael Sikirica, Rensselaer County Medical Examiner, who was the Pathologist. If the photographs had been taken prior to cleaning the body, they would have shown the true extent of his devastating injuries. It should be noted the Pathologist was a little slow on the switch when he didn’t elaborate on the extent of Garrett’s injuries or questioned where he received them.

It appears the Pathologist Dr. Michael Sikirica bought the Police theory that Garrett either died of suffocation or strangulation so that is what he listed as cause of death. Even though Sikirica stated that was the cause of death there is a lot of other information available to dispute that ruling. Dr. Sikirica overlooked the real cause of death which were injuries caused by a Rip Stik accident.

       It should be noted that in one of my prior lives and occupations I was present as a witness to multiple autopsies. This was as an Investigator in charge of several death investigations which involved accidental death incidents. Over a 21-year period I was required to attend multiple autopsies. For obvious reasons I do have knowledge of autopsies, death investigations, and injuries that victims suffer. It is very apparent to me from the autopsy photographs that Garrett Phillips suffered some severe injuries just prior to his death from some type of accident. From my experience with death involved incidents I can honestly say that in my opinion Dr. Sikirica did a very incomplete report of Garrett Phillips autopsy. It was the poorest report I have ever seen. My reason for stating this is simple. It is my opinion that the Pathologist never properly addressed Garrett Phillips severe bodily injuries. That, in and of itself, promoted injustice. An injustice to the family that deserved an unbiased, thorough report of accurate and detailed autopsy findings and an injustice for Nick Hillary, as the substandard autopsy and the sham of an autopsy report were used to allege a child was murdered, causing additional pain and suffering for many.

Dr. Sikirica simply just followed the Police theory of how the death occurred instead of making his own independent determination of the cause of death. He never discussed the actual cause of Garrett Phillips death in his autopsy report. Dr. Sikirica should have paused before accepting law enforcements’ conclusions about this case. (See attachment 2B)

 There wasn’t a Pathologist in my past who would not have asked credible questions regarding Garrett Phillips’ severe injuries and how he got them. The Police theory of strangulation and suffocation would not have been sufficient in the minds of any Pathologists that I knew. Each one of them would have required a complete investigation and explanation for Garrett Phillips severe bodily injuries before issuing a cause of death for the death certificate. The Pathologist of the old days would have required the right answers before issuing the death certificate.

Section 4

 On October 24, 2011, at approximately 5 p.m. Garrett Phillips arrived home at his residence located at 100 Market Street, Apartment 4 in Potsdam, New York. Shortly after 5p.m., the next-door neighbors: Melissa Vogel and Sean Hall who lived in apartment 3 heard a variety of noises coming from apartment 4. After the noises continued for a few minutes, they became concerned and thought that someone might need help. This is when Ms. Vogal called 911 and talked to the Police dispatcher. At approximately 5:16 p.m., Officer Mark Wentworth arrived at the apartment complex at 100 Market Street.

       Officer Wentworth made several calls at the door of Apartment 4. He received no response. Even after hitting the apartment 4 door with his nightstick, he still didn’t receive a response. Officer Wentworth then had the Police dispatcher contact Rick Dumas, the property manager, to gain access to the apartment.

       Rick Dumas was a short distance away from 100 Market Street and responded immediately.

       Upon entering the apartment everything appeared to be neat in appearance, orderly and in good condition. Everything seemed to be normal until Officer Wentworth checked the master bedroom. At this time Officer Wentworth found Garrett Phillips unconscious, non-responsive and lying on his back. Officer Wentworth immediately called dispatch and requested EMS. Officer Wentworth then started CPR on Phillips and continued doing so up until the EMS arrived. Section 5 of this document will show who arrived at the apartment from EMS and what they saw individually relative to Garrett Phillips physical condition. Section 5 will also include what Officer Wentworth and Rick Dumas saw related to Phillips’ physical condition. Several minutes after they arrived EMS transported Phillips to Potsdam Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 7:18 PM.

Shortly after the EMS left with Garrett Phillips, pursuant to the orders of Lieut. Mark Murrey, Officer Wentworth secured apartment 4 until the arrival of the New York State Police forensic team.

Section 5

On October 24, 2011, around 5:24 p.m., Potsdam Police found Garrett Phillips unconscious and without a pulse at 100 Market Street, Apartment 4, in Potsdam, New York.  Shortly thereafter, Phillips was transported to the Potsdam Hospital by the Potsdam Fire Department where he was pronounced dead at 7:18 p.m. The Police’s decision to have Phillips transported by EMS was emotional rather than rational because the medical records indicate that he was already deceased when discovered at the apartment. His removal from the apartment altered the case dynamics and the death scene.

A few hours later, Potsdam Police and a State Police Investigator concluded that Garrett Phillips’s death was a homicide and suspected Nick Hillary. The theory was formed before fully investigating the cause and circumstances of the death.

       Police developed a theory that Nick Hillary killed Garrett Phillips just after 5p.m.and left the apartment by 5:24 p.m. At that point, Officer Wentworth no longer heard any movement in the apartment, as he stated in his official statement. It was the Police theory that Hillary had exited the apartment through a bedroom window in the rear of the apartment.

In Lieutenant Mark Murray’s, search warrant affidavit (Attachment 11) he stated that Nick Hillary left the apartment by pushing out the screen window and then exiting through the window while holding on with his hands. (It was approximately 20 feet from the window to the ground).  He alleged that Hillary then swung several feet right to the cellar platform. (The platform is over nine feet below the exit window and approximately four feet to the right.) Murray then culminated by stating that Hillary then jumped to the ground (which was an additional 8 feet 3 inches below). According to the Search Warrant Affidavit, the alleged Murderer left a small indication where he landed.

 It should be noted that an alleged Murderer could not have gone into the back yard of 100 Market Street because of the activity there – the only possible way a murderer could have left the scene was by going in the direction of Market St.  A police scent dog unsuccessfully attempted to track the phantom killer, as confirmed by K-9 handler Deputy Andrew Ashleyn, of the St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department, during the Nick Hillary trial.

        With the police’s theories on Garrett Phillips’ death established, we can move on to the known facts.

       Nick Hillary could not have climbed out of the window in question because of his size. The dimensions of the screen and window opening were insufficient to allow passage for an individual weighing 190 pounds and standing 5’11” tall. An opening of this size would only accommodate a person weighing approximately 100 pounds. It would be similar in comparison to a person with a size 10 foot trying to squeeze into a size 6 boot.

       Additionally, for a person weighing 100 pounds, it would also pose a difficulty as that individual would have to possess the physical strength to do so.

       Now that we know the police’s theory about the murder, we can focus on whether it was possible to reach the ground from the window, though this remains uncertain due to other necessary factors. If the Police theory is followed, anyone will find that it would be impossible to exit the apartment by going out the window in question.Nick Hillary or any other ordinary man would not have been able to exit the apartment and eventually reach the ground. Nick Hillary supposedly climbed out window in question at 100 Market Street, Potsdam, New York. As previously mentioned, this would have been impossible for him to do because of his physical size and the size of the window opening he had to pass through.Nick Hillary could have never fit through the window opening. Additionally, he could never have had the necessary strength to exit through the window.

An additional factor concerning the window that has not yet been explained is very important: The window in question had stringless blinds which must be physically pushed up or pulled down to raise or lower. The design was intended to account for the enhanced safety of children. The stringless blind on the window is obvious in the picture (attachment 3) and illustrated exactly how Officer Wentworth found it on October 24,2011, shortly after he entered the apartment at 5:24p.m. From the photograph you can observethat the stringless blinds are down and pushed out into the screen.

For Hillary to have exited through the window in question he would have to have pushed the blinds upward at least 21 in. Then open the window at least 21 inches and push the screen out 20 inches on the western end with easternend at 0, as the distance between the western side and eastern side is 33 inches. It is apparent in the attached diagram of the window opening that a person of Hillary’s size would not have been able to fit through the window without ripping out the entire window screen. Hillary would have then had to somehow squeeze his body through the hole created by the screen being pushed out and have hung by his fingers and hands, suspended in the air. At some point, he would have had to release one hand and hang by the other (with his fingers holding the sill of the window) to reach upward approximately 21 inches and pull the stringless blind back down.  It defies logic to believe that Nick Hillary possessed the strength in his fingers that would be required in this alleged scenario of escaping through this window. After this incredible feat that the police theory suggests occurred,  Hillary would have had to gain enough momentum by swinging with his hands and fingers holding his 190 pound frame, with one hand while gripping the windowsill with his fingertips and then found the stamina to swing and additional distance of approximately 4 feet in a westerly direction to land on the cellar platform. Then drop 8 feet 3 inches to the ground. This would have been impossible for an ordinary man or even a acrobat. It sounds more like a potential escape scene from a spiderman movie. (Attachments 4)

Is it even reasonable to think anyone other than a professional acrobat could escape through that window? In one of his interviews with the press Lieut. Murray stated, “that anyone coming out the window would have to been an acrobat”.( See attachment 5) Apparently, he felt that way or he wouldn’t have said it. Murray was right—only an acrobat could have exited through that window and the record shows that Nick Hillary was a coach, not an acrobat nor a murderer.

  To verify that Nick Hillary couldn’t exit through the window in question I had a prototype built. Testing with an individual as close as possible to Nick Hillary’s size proved that Nick Hillary couldn’t have exited out the window. Remember you can’t fit a size 10 foot into a size 6 shoe. This would be like trying to fit a 190-person body through a hole that only a 100-pound body could fit through.

       This is what several individuals stated about the screen of the window in question being open as it was at Apartment 4, 100 Market Street, Potsdam, New York. (Attachment 6)

  Rick Dumas was the property manager at 100 & 110 Market Street properties on October 24, 2011.For that reason, he had important information relative Garrett Phillips death.

  In his statement to Officer Fink of the Potsdam Police department of October 28, 2011, he furnished the following information:

  After entering the apartment with Officer Wentworth on October 24, 2011, at approximately 5:24PM, they found Garrett Phillips. Shortly thereafter Dumas told Wentworth that a second child also lived in the apartment.

At this time, they started checking the other rooms of the apartment to see if anyone else was there. Quote by Dumas: “We reached the last bedroom, and I turned to check the closet in this bedroom too. Officer Wentworth called my attention to the window and asked if the window – always looked like that. I didn’t see the screen at all, but I saw that the mini blinds were crumpled and pushed into the window. I could see through the top portion of the blind that the window was open. I told Officer Wentworth that sometimes when the tenants leave a window open and the blinds down the blinds end up getting pulled into the window.” (Attachment 4)

       On June 9, 2025, at 11:42, I talked to Rick Dumas on telephone (phone number redacted)

Mr. Dumas verified that he had given a statement to Officer K.E. Fink, of the Potsdam Police Department regarding the death of Garrett Phillips on October 24, 2011. Dumas also verified that he had talked to Officer Wentworth, on 10/24/11, shortly after 5:24PM, about the blinds in the rear bedroom of Apt 4,100 Market Street, Potsdam, New York.

Dumas stated that the blinds in the apartment appeared to have been sucked into the open window by the wind. When Dumas was asked “about seeing this same situation with blinds being sucked into an open window by the wind” Dumas replied, “Yes.” Dumas stated he had seen the same situation of blinds being sucked into an open window. then into a screen several times in the past. At time the conversation ended.

       Another person who had pertinent information regarding Garrett Phillips death investigation was Andrew T. Carranza. On 10/24/11, around 4:45PM, Andrew T. Carranza, who at the time resided at apt 10. 110 Market St Potsdam, NY was changing the tire on his car in front of his apartment. His apartment was directly behind 100 Market Street and from his apartment he had a perfect view of the window in question.

  In his statement, which I will quote in italic font, Andrew Carranza stated that he was changing the tire on his vehicle behind 100 Market Street. It was after 4:37PM and his ex-girlfriend Shannon Harris was present.

  Andrew Carranza was under his vehicle when he heard a rustling sound. “It sounded like someone ran a pen or finger down the binding of a spiral notebook. I wasn’t sure where it was coming from at first. So, I crawled out from under the car towards the office door and didn’t see anything. I went back to work but heard it again. The noise sounded like something siding down the siding or maybe a piece of siding coming loose. I thought maybe a shingle had fallen off because of the rain and could tell this time that the noise was coming from the north side of brick building in front of my apartment.

I looked up in front of the car and up the building, but I didn’t see anything. It was still light out. Shannon asked me if I had heard something too. I told her yes and she replied that she had heard it three or four times. My dad didn’t say anything. (presently deceased) I went back to work and got the new tire secured. I put the jack back into the truck before Shannon and I went back inside. When we arrived upstairs my dad told me that earlier, when he had been up in apartment, he saw a cop go into the brick building. (That would have been Officer Wentworth at 5:16 p.m.) Shannon and I started looking out my apartment window to see what was going on. My window looks out towards the street and into the parking lot. I could see the police cruiser parked alongside the driveway, across from the brick building. When Shannon and I were talking and keeping an eye out the window

I saw Rick Dumas pull up by the front of the building abruptly. Rick got out and went inside the building. (That was at 5:24 p.m.) A couple of minutes Shannon and I saw Officer Wentworth running to his car. He grabbed the big bag from the trunk of the police car and ran back inside. (That was 5:25 p.m.) We kept watching. We thought it might be a domestic dispute or something in the apartments. Minutes later the police charger came flying into the parking lot with the lights going another officer ran inside. Shannon and I kept watching out the window. We saw the rescue squad arrive and then saw them load someone into the ambulance and leave.” That was the end of Carranza’s statement.Please note that I put the times in the above paragraphs. The times correspond with times previously mentioned in this document and in the police files regarding police movements int this case. The times were not included in Carranza statement.

       After reading Andrew Carranza’s sworn statement and what Shannon Harris stated in her sworn statement, any reasonable person would have to realize the following. Neither Andrew Carranza or Shannon Harris observed Nick Hillary, or any other person climb out the rear window of Apartment 4, 100 Market St, on October 24, 2011. They had a perfect view of the window in question, and it was daylight.

They were alert and noticed everything the police and rescue squad did between 5:16 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. One thing they didn’t see was Nick Hillary jump from the window in question was because it didn’t happen.

       It should be noted at the time of the trial and Nick Hillary’s trial in July 2016; Andrew Carranza testified for the prosecution. Carranza testified that he saw someone in the window of apt 4 sometime between the hours of 5:00PM and 5:24PM.

       This was perjury by Carranza because in a prior sworn statement he stated that he had not seen anyone in the rear bedroom window of Apartment 4. If he had seen anyone in the window he would have told the police in his sworn statement of 10/25/2011.

The following should be noted about that Carranza testimony at the trial of Nick Hillary. DA William Fitzpatrick, at one of his press conference’s relative to Garrett Phillips, stated the following about the testimony of Andrew Carranza. Fitzpatrick stated that Carranza would have stated in his trial testimony that he saw a man in the window of Apt 4, but he wanted to say a black man. He also believed that Carranza would have said he saw Nick Hillary in the window if he had been allowed to. That was unbelievable, so he would only allow him to testify that he saw a man in the window.

Why was Carranza allowed to testify in the first place? Did District Attorney Fitzpatrick not have the ability to recognize perjury in action, or did he simply feel that allowing someone to commit a crime to succeed in the conviction of someone that hadn’t, was how Justice is intended to work?  The simple answer as to why he allowed someone to commit perjury is that Fitzpatrick had to have a perpetrator in the apartment to make the police theories and his presentation of the case against Hillary work.  Apparently, the prosecution in this case chose to ignore the crime of perjury or the subornation of perjury with the mentality that the end justifies the means, regardless of how unjust that could have been had the Judge in this case not had the foresight to recognize the truth. However, the prosecution should have never allowed Carranza to testify at Nick Hillary’s trial.

       I tried to interview Andrew Carranza telephonically on June 9, 2025, without any success at his residence located in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina with negative results. Although I couldn’t contact Carranza regarding his perjury in the Nick Hillary trial, I was able to find out some interesting information which illustrates his lack of moral’s, credibility, character, integrity, and honesty.The lack of these personal characteristics show why he didn’t have any qualms about committing perjury in the Nick Hillary trial.

       Andrew Carranza was in the U.S. Marine Corps between 2016, (before Nick Hillary’s trial) until April 2025. I don’t know if he was allowed to re-enlist because of his off-duty activities.

 Carranza was assigned as a Marine Recruiter in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina up until April 2025. The following information was discovered relative to some of Carranza’s activities while off duty. Who knows how many other off duty incidents he has been involved in because the following were committed in North Carolina. No other states were checked. Currently, apart from those listed below, the only other crime I am aware of that he has committed is the perjury in the Nick Hillary trial.

Marine Corp’s Record for Andrew T. Carranza:

       Andrew Thomas Carranza

  March 2016 – April 2022

  Machine Gunner

  April 2022 – April 2025

  Recruiter, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

02/23/20, Carranza was arrested in North Carolina for the following crimes:

       Flag desecration

       Resisting Arrest

On 8/22/22 in Hadlock, North Carolina

Details of arrest – Lance Cpl Andrew T Carranza was arrested with another Marine PFC William West for injury to real property. The crime involved a former military fighter and a former military helicopter located at a tourist welcome center. One of them was seen on camera walking on the wing of the fighter and $1,000 in damage was done to the helicopter. Carranza and West identities were learned by the police by the waitress at a nearby Waffle House.

Approximately one hour before this incident Carranza and West had stiffed the waitresses at the Waffle House and left without paying.

Any person that believes Carranza would have had any qualms about committing perjury in the Nick Hillary trial better arrange for a mental examination.

       There was another person who had direct knowledge of the activities at 100 Market St, Potsdam, New York on the afternoon of October 24, 2011. That person was Shannon Harris and at that time she was the girlfriend of Andrew T. Carranza.

       Shannon Harris gave a statement to the New York State Police at the Potsdam Office on October 25, 2011. The important details of the statement are as follows. Quoting from the statement:

 Between 4:37 p.m. and 4:47 p.m. she (Shannon) heard a noise which sounded like a screen ripping. It sounded like it was coming from the second story window. She heard it 4 to 5 times. I asked my boyfriend (ex) Andrew Carranza. “Did You Hear That? We then looked up.” The next day she (Shannon) saw that the screen in the window in question was pushed out. That is when she started thinking that was the noise she had heard the previous night. Thereafter she contacted the Potsdam Police.

  On June 9, 2025, I interviewed Shannon Harris. Shannon is married and a mother of three. In respect for her I will not disclose where she presently resides or her married name. Shannon stated that to the best of her knowledge Andrew Carranza lied at the Hillary trial. She was present with him all that afternoon of October 24, 2011, between around 4:00 p.m. until after 5:30 p.m. They were either inside his father’s apartment which was number 10 at 110 Market Street or in the parking lot that 110 Market St shares with 100 Market Street. Shannon stated that she never saw anyone in apartment window of apartment four and she and Andrew had a perfect view of it. Furthermore, if Andrew had seen anyone in the window he would have brought it to her attention and he didn’t.

        Additionally, Shannon stated that she confronted Andrew T. Carranza in regard to his testimony at Nick Hillary’s trial. At trial he (Andrew) said he saw someone in the window of Apt 4, 100 Market Street, on 10/24/2011, sometime after 5:24 p.m. Shannon recorded the conversation with Andrew and asked him why he was lying about seeing someone in the window. Andrew refused to answer the question.

       When I asked why she thought Andrew might have lied while testifying she responded as follows: One reason might have been he was given leave from his Marine Corp base for several weeks to attend court. It would have been a free one because the court would be paying for it. Another reason might have been because of his relationship with the John Jones family. Shannon stated that John Jones’s son, John Jones Jr., used to be the boyfriend of Andrew Carranza’s sister. John Jones Jr like his father John Jones, was a women abuser. Shannon stated she knows that for a fact because when John Jones Jr abused Andrew’s sister, she (Shannon) used to pick her up and bring her to her residence.

       Shannon stated that at some time before the trial DA Fitzpatrick called her to the courthouse to go over her statement. Shannon told Fitzpatrick that her statement was accurate and truthful when he interviewed her. That was the last time anyone from District Attorney Fitzpatrick’s office contacted her and she was never subpoenaed to testify at the trial of Nick Hillary. I think it would make some people wonder why Andrew Carranza was called as a witness in Nick Hillary’s trial and Shannon Harris wasn’t. The answer is very simple. Shannon Harris’s testimony would not have fit the police theory that Nick Hillary was in Apt 4, 100 Market St, at 5:24PM, on October 24, 2011.

Section 6

 Following is a list of the individuals that entered Apt 4, 100 Market Street, Potsdam, New York on October 24, 2011, shortly after 5:24 p.m. This was where Garrett Phillips was found unconscious and non-responsive.

Initial entry occurred around 5:24PM, when the property manager Richard Dumas opened the apartment door for Officer Wentworth, of the Potsdam Police Department. Limited access by emergency personnel was allowed until Officer Wentworth locked it down. The apartment was locked down after Garrett Phillips was removed from the apartment by the Potsdam Rescue squad. The apartment was locked down on the orders of Lieut. Mark Murray, pending the arrival of the New York State Police forensics team.

The team arrived sometime after 9 PM to do their forensics investigation.

Note: Under the name of everyone that entered Apt 4, 100 Market Street in Potsdam, NY will be a description of what they saw individually regarding the physical condition of Garrett Phillips.

              1. Officer Mark Wentworth

In Officer Wentworth’s official statement, he stated the following. “I noticed the boys’ knee had blood on it as if he had slid or dragged it on the ground.”. Meredith from the squad also pointed out that he had small marks on the front of his neck.

              2. Richard G. Dumas, property manager of 100 Market Street. “I saw a young boy lying on his back, angled towards the wall with his head and shoulder rested on the wall”.

  3. William Hafner – Lead EMT

                       10/24/11

In his official statement to the Potsdam Hospital, Haftner, as lead EMT, was required to furnish a written report to both the Potsdam Hospital and his employer. His employer was the Potsdam Fire Department. He stated the following: 

 “PT (Phillips) has bilateral knee abrasions, not scabbed, still Oozing blood. Approximately an inch hematoma on right eye, pupils dilated, eyes bloodshot, red marks around anterior portions of neck. PT (Phillips) had dirt on his hands, knees, and shirt removed. No deformity, contusions, abrasions, punctures, burns, lacerations, swelling noted to chest, abdomen soft, initially, not extended, pelvis intact. PT(Phillips) apparently lost bladder control as indicated by wet pants. (EMT Report- Attachment 7A and the Canton-Potsdam Admission Report, Attachment 7B)

Writers Note: Oozing is in bold print for a specific reason. First, I would like to express that I have the utmost respect for emergency service personnel. Many, including EMT’s, are on a volunteer basis and even those that are paid do not earn enough for the trauma they often see. However, I think it is noteworthy to mention that in EMT Haffner’s initial report he indicated there was oozing. In his second report, the one the prosecution relied on, oozing, was crossed off. Could this be because the accurate description Haffner provided initially wasn’t beneficial to the Police Theory? The reason this is important is because oozing typically stops after 15-20 minutes. Based on the times established, the injury causing the oozing of blood would have occurred between 4:53 p.m. and 5 p.m. These are the 7 minutes it took Garrett to return home on the route that typically would take 2 or 3 minutes on a Rip Stik.

                    4. Meredith A Lizote –

 D.O.B 10/27/82 – 110 Leroy St, Potsdam, NY

  In her statement to Police, stated the following: “I noticed dirt and abrasions to both knees, a hematoma above his right eye which was raised and he had dirt marks on the anterior part of neck.”

                    5. Lawrence Burnah – EMT

  In his statement to the Potsdam Police on October 25, 2011, Burnah stated the following:

  “I noticed MUD on the victims’ knees and 2 ” abrasion on inside right knee.”

6. Shawn McCargar – Police Officer

At Potsdam Police Department stated the following in his official statement:

  Officer McCargar observed some swelling around the victim’s brow line and noticed several scrapes on the victim’s knee’s appearing to have characteristics of rug burn. Also, it appeared the victim had urinated in his shorts The victim appeared to be blue in the face.

                     7. Rachel McKinney – EMT on the call. No statement was taken from her.

                    8.Trevor Mullins – EMT – Driver of ambulance. No statement was taken from him.

After learning about Garrett Phillips’ injuries, any investigative person would have asked at least three questions. When was Garrett injured? Where was Garrett injured and how did he get the injuries he had?

Any intelligent investigator would have known. He hadn’t received them in the apartment due to the physical condition of the apartment. Additionally, the nature of his injuries suggested otherwise.

The Prosecution and Police Investigators were not interested in finding that out. They were only focused on arresting Nick Hillary for the murder of Garrett. Any other information was ignored because it didn’t fit into their theory of how Garrett died.

That theory being that he either died of strangulation or suffocation, not from an accident. They just ignored the numerous injuries that Garrett had.

Section 7

In this section I will cover the theory that Police had that Nick Hillary was wearing gloves when he murdered Garrett Phillips. That was supposedly why his fingerprints were not at the crime scene. – In section 8, I will cover the autopsy.

Police theorized that Nick Hillary wore gloves during Garrett Phillips’ murder, to explain away why his fingerprints or DNA were not found at the scene. According to the autopsy report, Garrett Phillips had a scratch on his face from an attacker. It is reasonable to infer that they allege Nick Hillary was the source, as he was the individual charged in connection with the child’s murder.  How could Nick Hillary have put scratch marks on Garrett’s face with gloves on?

If common sense had prevailed it would have been determined that those came from the dirt and pebbles in his fall from the Rip Stik. It is a far more plausible explanation for the scratches when the photographs of Garrat’s face were analyzed.  Dirt and pebbles are more realistic than scratches.

Nick Hillary would have needed to remove his gloves during the attack on Garrett Phillips, then put them back on before exiting through the back bedroom window of Apt 4, leaving no fingerprints or DNA. Another thing to keep in mind is that Nick Hillary’s fingerprints didn’t match any one of the 4 fingerprints found on the windowsill or any other part of the window. Additionally, Hillary’s DNA wasn’t found on the windowsill, window, or blinds.

It should be noted that if Garrett was attacked and killed in the apartment, the perpetrator would have exited through the window, leaving both Phillip’s and their own DNA behind. Especially because of the extent of Phillips injuries with blood still oozing out of his knees. It is not realistic to believe that anyone could have straddled over Phillip’s body or held him down without contaminating their clothing with Phillip’s DNA and then left the apartment without leaving their own or Phillips DNA.  That alone proves that any attacker of Phillip’s, if there had been one, would not have left through the back bedroom window of apartment 4.Remember: The Police theory of Phillip’s death being classified as Homicide instead of an accident must have the attacker exiting the apartment through the rear bedroom window. It was supposedly the only escape route for the killer.

       The recap of the Police theory is that Nick Hillary had a pair of gloves on when he murdered Garrett Phillip’s. Hillary then climbed out the bedroom window with gloves on and eventually dropped 20 feet to the ground. This apparently was the reasoning for why there were no fingerprints or DNA belonging to Hillary found on the window, windowsill or blinds.

There is no way using that theory that the gloves would not have had Garrett Phillips DNA on them and would not have been spread to the window, windowsill, or blinds.

Remember, the blinds were string-less, requiring them to be pulled up or down by hand.

That proves that no one pulled the blinds up or down. There was no DNA, fingerprints, or other physical evidence on the blinds. Four fingerprints were found on the window and none of them compared to Hillary or the other 39 individuals tested. Apparently, any DNA found was too old to be of any value. There were no current DNA markers on the window.

       The above information shows that no one exited Apartment 4, 100 Market Street, Potsdam, New York on October 24, 2011, through the window. It also shows the Police theory that Nick Hillary escaped through the window after murdering Garrett Phillips is an unreliable theory.

Section 8

 On October 24, 2011, Garret Phillips was pronounced dead at Potsdam Hospital. The St. Lawrence Coroner, June Wood, ordered an autopsy to determine the cause of his death.

       On October 25,2011, an autopsy was performed at the Albany Medical Center by Pathologist Dr. Michael Sikirica. (Attachment 2)

In his Anatomic Diagnoses report Dr. Michael Sikirica stated that Phillips died of Asphyxia due to suffocation/strangulation A.B.C.

This ABC Follows. The pathologists’ findings as indicated in his report are underlined. In parentheses, I have added comments and clarification of my beliefs about this case.

1. Clinical history consistent with decedents dying at the hands of another who fled the scene. (That statement is consistent with the Police theory but not with clinical history)

It is obvious from his statement that Dr. Sikirica followed the Police theory of Garrett Phillips death and took the easy way out. After observing the extent of Phillips injuries from the neck down how could Dr. Sikirica have downplayed them? He was just one of the good old boys and went with the police theory of murder by suffocation/strangulation)

B) Multiple abrasions and ecchymosis injuries around the face, forehead, and large ecchymosis injuries around the face, forehead and large ecchymoses of the left eye consistent with suffocation/strangulation. (Note – As I have previously stated, Dr. Sikirica concentrated on the police theory of strangulation/suffocation, and he downplayed the injuries from the neck down. All the injuries mentioned in paragraph B are also consistent with a fall. Those injuries, combined with the injuries apparent from the neck, should have triggered serious consideration and determination that Garrett suffered a horrific fall just before his death.)

C. Reported history of decedent’s eyes being bloodshot at the time of arrival to the emergency room. (EMT Hafner reported in his report to the hospital that Phillips’ eyes were bloodshot and dilated. What Hafner stated in his report is indicative of a horrific fall prior to death.)

D. Small hemorrhage along the soft tissue of lower lateral neck. (No doubt caused by pebbles or small gravel when Garrat fell shortly before death)

II. Additional findings:

  A. Bilateral abrasions injuries of the knees (Apparently all the other leg and back injuries weren’t important to document for some reason. Apparently, the pathologist just wanted to stick with the suffocation/strangulation theory. The pathologist didn’t inquire or pursue a reason as he knew it might have changed the theory of the case from murder to reality as the accidental death it was.)

111. No evidence of significant natural disease or other significant antemortem injury. (Remember that the body of Garrat Phillips was cleaned two times before his autopsy and for that reason the true extent of the injuries won’t be shown. The EMT’s and Police gave better description in Section 6 of this document about Garrett Phillips’ severe injuries. The reason being that the injuries hadn’t been cleaned yet.)

  I have examined the autopsy photographs. I have consulted with professionals in the medical community that have also examined the autopsy photographs. Their opinion mirrored my own. The autopsy photographs reinforce the unbiased facts, and findings of an independent investigation that conclude Garrett Philipps was not murdered but died because of a horrific accident while returning home on his Ripstick. The hope is that you have approached this document without a preexisting bias and without the delusion that everything you have heard or read from the media is accurate. It is up to you to decide if the theory of a Rip Stik accident is more substantiated or if the unsupported theory of the police is correct. It is important to remember before drawing this conclusion that the only information the Pathologist gave in his report was the theory of the Police and he never proved the real cause of Garrett Phillips death by means of his own independent findings.

Autopsy photographs were taken on October 25,2011. This is the list of the photographs I have personally examined in detail and have shared with independent medical and other knowledgeable professionals. These photographs reinforced the facts. Initially I had considered attaching them to this document but after careful consideration, out of respect for Garrett’s family and friends, I did not include them. The purpose of this document was a quest for the truth through an independent, unbiased investigation, in the hope that it could bring clarity and a conclusion to the inaccuracy of the investigation from start to finish. The speculation that continues and the people involved, directly and indirectly, that have never been able to heal due to the misinformation that has consistently been promoted has not done Justice for Garrett, nor has it seen Justice for Nick Hillary and others. It is time that Garrett’s accidental death be accepted and acknowledged.

IF you are a family member, private investigator from an agency working for any of the parties involved, part of a legal/ethics oversight committee, or someone with a valid, honorable reason and feel the need to view the evidence in the autopsy photographs, I am open to meeting in person to review them with you. Contact information is at the end of this document (Attachment 8)

List of photographs most pertinent to this independent, unbiased investigation and supported findings and conclusion:

Photograph #12: back of left hand

Photograph #13: back of left hand – bruising on hand

Photograph #14: bruising on left hand

Photograph #38: Large bruise on left knee – shows dirt and grass stains.

Photograph #39: Shows bruise on top of right knee and shows grass stains.

Photograph #40: Left knee – shows bruise, dirt and grass stains.

Photograph #41: left knee shows 2 large bruises with dirt and grass stains visible.

Photograph #42: Left knee – two large bruises – dirt and grass stains visible.

Photograph #43: Right knee – large bruise – dirt and grass stains visible.

Photograph #44: Bruise on back of right hand

Photograph #45: Back of left leg -calf- shows imprint of the Rip Stik.

Photograph #46: Back of left leg – calf area of leg. Shows imprint of Rip Stik – marks by ankle

Photograph #47: Left leg imprint on ankle from Rip Stik

Photograph #48: Garretts’ back shows wound.

Photograph #49: Back of both legs show imprint of Rip Stik – Plus bruising on back of both legs.

Photograph #50: Both legs – show Rip Stik injury

Photograph #52: Shows bruising to Garretts’ shoulders.

Photograph #54: Damage to back of both legs – Rip Stik injury.

Photograph #56: Left ear – shows serious injury.

Photograph #57: Left ear – shows serious injury.

Photograph #58: Shows damage to Phillips’ face.

Photograph #60: Garrett Phillips’ face – left cheek scratch marks and gravel scratches.

Photograph #61: Left side of Garretts’ forehead Hematoma size of golf ball (Officer Wentworth made a statement to the press about this injury.)

Photograph #62: Garrett Phillips’ face showing severe bruising.

Photograph #64: Shows Garrett Phillips’ ear – shows the severe injury he had to ear as result of a fall.

Photograph #65: Shows Garrett Phillips’ face showing scratches and bruising.

Photograph #66: Shows damage to Garrett Phillips’ scull – front of face – from the fall he took just prior to death.

Photograph #67: Shows damage to Garrett Phillips’ skull – front of face – from the fall he took just prior to death.

Photograph #68: Shows damage to Garrett Phillips’ scull – front of face – from the fall he took just prior to death.

Photograph #79: bruise on right hand obviously from a fall.

Photograph #80: Right hand showing bruising on palm – sign of a fall.

Photograph #81: Palm right hand showing bruising.

Photograph #82: Scrape right index finger.

Photograph #83: Scrapes and bruises to back of right hand.

Photograph #84: back of right hand.

 
The forgoing photographs proved that Garrett Phillips’ was in some type of accident just prior to his death. The visible injuries and bruises to his body were horrific. The extent of the injuries and bruises showed that they are directly related to his death.

       Another pertinent point is that would Garrett have these many injuries, supposedly (based on police theory) incurred in his apartment by an attacker so immaculately that not a single trace of DNA was left behind? And the apartment was, according to multiple reports: tidy, with everything in its place?

       Additionally, the times need to be reviewed again. On October 24, Garrett Phillips arrived home at approximately 5 p.m. That was verified by the neighbors in apartment 3, Melissa Vogel and Sean Hall. Around 5:05 p.m. they started hearing strange noises. They also heard moaning and words that included what sounded like “help”. After several minutes, Vogel and Hall became concerned that someone needed help, so they called 911. The noises continued until Officer Wentworth arrived. Officer Wentworth was unable to gain access to the apartment, so he had the Potsdam police department dispatch call the apartment manager, Rick Dumas. The noise continued until 5:24 p.m. and then the noise stopped. Before the noises, a loud sound was created from within the apartment, like a piece of furniture falling over. Dumas arrived and gained entrance to the apartment.

Once the apartment was entered by Officer Wentworth, he found Garrett Phillips unconscious and non-responsive. Garrett was lying on his back with his head and shoulder resting against the wall. (That information was in the statement Dumas gave to police on October 28, 2011.) Shortly after, Officer McCargar arrived at Apartment 4 and noticed Garrett’s face was blue in color. It was also noted that Garrett had wet his pants.

 EMT Hafner also noticed that Garrett had wet his pants.

       The noises in Apartment 4 before, and after police arrived, indicate that Garrett Phillips was having a seizure of some kind. This seizure was a direct result of the horrific accident he had on his Rip Stik. Seizure in adolescents happens sometimes after a major accident or extreme emotional stress. They are called Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures. Some of the following can be the results of a non-epileptic seizure: Crying or making a noise, falling, loss of bladder control, loss of consciousness, and the seizure can last 10 minutes. All the above apply to the way that Garrett Phillips acted on October 24, 2011. Looking at the Garrett Phillips death and how he died, one must conclude Garrett Phillips died of a seizure atter he took a horrific fall. He made it home and thereafter called out during his seizure. He then moved around in the apartment until he fell, bringing his head and shoulder against the wall.

There is no doubt Garrett was deprived of oxygen and went unconscious. Remember, Officer McCarger said Garrett Phillips was blue in the face. This is an indication he was lacking in oxygen. Phillips was unconscious and non-responsive when Officer Wentworth entered the apartment and realistically, he had already passed away. Even so he was transported to Potsdam Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 7:14 p.m.

  I am confident I have the right scenario regarding Garrett Phillips death. I am confident in my statement regarding his death. I have discussed and extensively reviewed my documents with several very knowledgeable law enforcement officials. They fully agree with my beliefs about Garrett Phillips’ death and Nick Hillary’s complete innocence.

             In addition to those officials, I consulted a brilliant and experienced member of the medical community that I know. Respecting this individual’s privacy, I asked for a medical opinion, off the record. This Doctor has treated several thousand children and adolescents. The Doctor read all the information relative to my investigation, asked pertinent questions and reviewed additional documentation before providing an educated opinion on Phillip’s death. The Doctor agreed with me that Phillips probably had a seizure, lost consciousness because of lack of oxygen and passed on. This seizure was probably brought on by his Rip Stik accident. This seizure is called a non-epileptic seizure and is also known as psychogenic non-epileptic seizures. The Doctor further stated that the Clinical history is consistent of death caused by complications of a seizure.

       In the event anyone is questioning my knowledge of seizures and what can result when someone suffers one, I will clarify.

I have been present at least a dozen times when someone has had a seizure. Those seizures ranged from being unconscious, making noises, trashing around, or as during a Grand Mal Seizure, becoming very violent During two of the seizures I was present for a person who was unconscious from a seizure and unresponsive. It was not until CPR was performed on the person that signs of life returned. Once the rescue arrived and oxygen was received, a full recovery was made. The point I am making is that if a person’s safety cannot be monitored during a seizure and lifesaving measures administered if required then sadly, death is not uncommon. I believe that the information related to Phillips’ movements and the sounds he made support the belief that he did have a seizure because of an accident, and it claimed his life, because he was alone. Phillips became unconscious because of the seizure, and he was laying against the wall.

His neck was bent and his body position deprived him of oxygen.

This correlates with the statement of Officer McCarger that said Phillips was blue in the face.

Note: As previously indicated in the itemized photograph listing, autopsy photographs are not shown in this document or the appendix. There are 2 primary reasons for this omission.

       #1) In respect for the feelings of the mother and family of Garrett Phillips I felt photographs needed to be omitted as they may cause intense, emotional reactions. It is not and never has been my intent to cause increased pain or grief for the family or friends of Garrett. On the contrary, I have always felt that knowing the truth of an accident would be easier to understand and accept rather than the false assumption of a horrific murder that they have been led to believe.

       #2) It is not necessary to include photographs of facial and skull injuries to show Garrett Phillips took a horrific fall on October 24, 2011 between 4:53 p.m. and 5:00 p.m., which eventually resulted in his death.

       If someone needs to view the omitted autopsy photographs for a legitimate reason or to affirm a decision regarding how Garrett Phillips died, it can be arranged by referring to contact information and criteria in Attachment 8. In addition, any sensible questions regarding this document can be asked by calling the number listed as well.

       In the next Section I will prove that Hillary was never in Apartment 4, on October 24, 2011.

Section 9

The Prosecution relied on the theory that Nick Hillary murdered Garrett Phillips then left the murder scene. They allege Hillary escaped through the rear bedroom window and dropped 20 feet to the ground. After going out the window Hillary hung by his hands and then swung his body in a westerly direction. This allowed him to land on the top of the cellar entrance. Then he dropped another 8 feet, 4 inches to the ground. To go through the window, he had to deal with the string-less blinds and the screen. The Police theory was that he ripped the screen to pass through. Hillary accomplished his escape sometime between 5:07 p.m. when the noise started in the apartment and 5:24 p.m., when the noises ended.

       The problem with this Police theory is that two people heard the screen ripping between 4:37 p.m. and 4:47 p.m.. Andrew Carranza who lived directly behind 100 Market Street, Potsdam, New York. He heard the screen ripping as did his ex-girlfriend Shannon Harris. Andrew lived with his father in Apartment 10, 110 Market St, Potsdam, New York. Shannon Harris heard the screen ripping sound at least 5 times, and Andrew at least twice.

       The Police were convinced that Nick Hillary had escaped the scene by going out the rear bedroom window. Before exiting through the window, he would have had to rip the screen. That would have had to have been done between 4;37 p.m. and 4:47 p.m. to fit the times given by the witnesses. At that time Nick Hillary couldn’t have ripped the screen because he was several miles away between 4:43 p.m. and 4:45 p.m. Where was he? He was on Grove St and that can be verified by Dale Rice.

 Between 4:45 p.m. and 4:50 p.m., he was on Market Street headed downtown to the heart of the village of Potsdam, NY. That was verified by Brian Phillips who was Garrett Phillips’ uncle.You can’t be in two places at the same time. What was ripping the screen at 100 Market St, was a very strong wind that was blowing at that time. According to the National Weather Service, the wind at that time was between 17 and 23 miles per hour. The wind was the culprit in ripping the screen, not Nick Hillary who was several miles away. This coincides with Rick Dumas’ statement. He mentioned seeing blinds sucked into an open window several times before. In this case and others, when a strong wind sucks the blinds out the window it destroys the screen. In fact, in one of Lieut. Murray’s press interviews he stated the night Garrett Phillips died. The people doing the investigation in Apartment 4 told him about the strong wind. It was blowing very strong through the window blinds and making an awful sound.

       We now know, using common sense, that Nick Hillary didn’t rip the screen to escape, and he wasn’t present in the apartment.The prosecution made a big issue about Garrett Phillips allegedly being hunted by Nick Hillary because they were at the Potsdam High School at the same time. Granted, they were both in the same area momentarily, but Garrant Phillips went west on Collage Street and Nick Hillary went south on LeRoy Street. The times were very close at around 4:52 p.m.

       The person making up the timeline in the death of Garrett Phillips stated that Hillary left the school parking lot. They said she went in the direction of Garrett. That’s not true because one went south and one went west. Those are different directions. My guess is that most children could answer this correctly on an elementary school test. The question would be: same or different? Different directions.

 Also, if Nick Hillary had been hunting Garrett Phillips he would have followed him onto College Street. We know that he didn’t follow him because he (Hillary) was not seen on the Potsdam Hospital camera and Phillips was.

       Hillary checked to see if his assistant Coach Farley was home. He wasn’t at home, so Nick went home. Nick arrived at his residence around 5 p.m. Hillary traveled to Farley’s apartment. He discovered Farley was not home. Then, Hillary traveled back to his own residence. This travel time corresponds with the school timeline. It also corresponds with his daughter’s statement that her father was home at 5 p.m. His daughter, Shanna, was consistent in her testimony before the grand jury. Judge Jerome Richards took issue because she was badgered repeatedly by Mary Rain. She tried to discredit and intimidate Shanna, a 17-year-old girl. (Attachments 1)

Section 10

This section will cover the DNA sample taken from Garrett Phillips little finger when he was autopsied.

       On October 25, 2011, an autopsy was performed on Garrett Phillips. During the autopsy a small sample, alleged DNA, was taken from Garrett Phillips’ little finger on his left hand for DNA testing. This sample (reportedly human DNA) was to be used to link Nick Hillary to the murder of Garrett Phillips.

  The sample was sent to the New York State Police laboratory in Albany, New York. The NYSP laboratory tried to link Nick Hillary to the DNA sample with negative results. They used every possible method to make a comparison with negative results.

       This included the use of new DNA testing equipment with which they were not certified. This also resulted in negative results.

Suspect-centric analysis, considered unethical by many DNA labs, led to negative results. After repeated failures, the NYSP lab sent samples to True Allele, known for advanced computer-based DNA testing. This decision broke their usual protocol, as reported in the Albany Times Union.

Upon request from the NYSP Laboratory, Tru – Allele tested 149 samples sent by NYSP. All results were negative, showing no connection to Nick Hillary. The extensive testing, valued at around $250,000, was completed pro bono.

       The Prosecution claimed to the defense and the Court prior to trial that they never received a report from True Allele. (Attachment 10 A) NOTE: There is no doubt that there was an enormous amount of discussion within the District Attorney’s office about the negative DNA testing results. I do not believe that anyone, knowing the above facts, would be stupid enough to believe there was not any conversation between the DA office and True Allele concerning negative results. The facts are, if a verbal conversation is not known then it is not Brady Material which requires full disclosure of information to the Defense team. That is what transpired in this investigation.

  Sometime later, before the trial of Nick Hillary, District Attorney William Fitzpatrick made a connection with a company from New Zealand by the name STRmix.  STRmix is a New Zealand computer program that analyses DNA mixtures and John Buckelton is the developer of the commercial STRmix program. STRmix had just started doing business in the U.S. and were trying to expand their business. (Remember, some have the mentality that if they do not like the rules of the game and cannot win, they can make new rules or change the old ones to try to achieve that win.)

       After developing this connection, District Attorney Fitzpatrick arranged for STRmix to analyze the DNA samples in the Phillips death case. District Attorney Fitzpatrick did this to attempt, yet again, to link the DNA sample taken from Phillips little finger to Nick Hillary. (My question is why would you have another company reanalyze the DNA evidence when the leading company in the world had already done it? The answer is simple. The first DNA sample was negative, but the prosecution desperately wanted and needed a positive result, so they went to STRmix when the results from True Allele did not meet their agenda.)

       STRmix analyzed the DNA samples with negative results, but after changing their own rules they made progress towards obtaining a positive test. At this time TruAllele (Mark Perlin) got involved in the DNA analysis of the STRmix test.Dr. Perlin, with his expertise on DNA testing stated that there could not be a credible link between Nick Hillary and the DNA sample from Garrett Phillips.

At this time, STRmix did not produce any possible positive results for the DNA test.

 As you will see from the attached e-mails between District Attorney Fitzpatrick and Dr. Perlin there was great animosity involved. Dr. Perlin did not have any animosity toward District Attorney Fitzpatrick, but Fitzpatrick had tremendous animosity toward Perlin. After reading the e-mails you will discover it for yourself. While personally reviewing the emails, I could not help but make the comparison between Fitzpatrick and a little bully on the playground who can’t tolerate when other’s play fairly, except Fitzpatrick is an adult, He should have outgrown the need to bully others just because he can’t make things go his way regardless of the reality of the truth he doesn’t want to face or accept.

       It should be noted that the DNA samples in this case are very tiny. The samples only consisted of three human cells. The average person has an average of 30 trillion cells in their body.

Dr Perlin stated in one of his releases the following: If the proper rules were used in testing the samples, there wasn’t enough material to be tested. Also, there wasn’t even human DNA in the samples that were taken from Garrett Phillips.

       It should be noted that the NYSP laboratory bent their own rules during this investigation. They even used equipment that they had recently received and were not certified in, (per Albany Times Union). When they couldn’t receive the results they wanted from their testing, they sent the samples to Tru Allele. In the end, the prosecution still didn’t get the results they wanted. The results being to tie Nick Hillary to Garrett Phillips death.

       Another thing to note is that 2014 Tru Allele had a contract with the New York State Police to supply their DNA knowledge to them as needed. In 2015 they lost that contract apparently because of the New York Police Laboratory Scandal.

This was when 22 scientists were fired suddenly over accusations of cheating and failing to learn the Tru Allele DNA computer system. The scientists at the laboratory were in turmoil over learning the Tru Allele computer system properly. One fired scientist, who was a long-term supervisor at the lab stated the other factor in the cancellation of the contract was because Tru Allele wasn’t pro- prosecution enough in their analysis of DNA samples. Tru Allele was neutral in their analysis and reported it that way. (Per Albany Times Union). That was what they did in the Garrett Phillips case when they said that Nick Hillary’s DNA wasn’t present in submitted DNA samples.

       That wasn’t what the State Police Laboratory did regarding Nick Hillary. They used either of the following statements regarding eliminating Hillary from the DNA samples: Nick Hillary can’t be included or excluded because of the lack of scientific information or the other statement they used was Hillary can neither be included or excluded as possible contributor of DNA. Either way, that is a slick way to not eliminate a suspect that you still want to be viewed as the perpetrator. Use of Suspect centric was prevalent in the Phillips case against Hillary. Throughout the case this is how they handled the Nick Hillary DNA even though it was tested multiple times by independent professionals in the field, on the same evidence and cleared. It was intentional that Hillary was not cleared after the results confirmed a lack of evidence.

       Dr. Mark Perlin, of Tru Allele, has stated that there is no link with the sample from Phillips little finger to Nick Hillary. Furthermore Nick Hillary, according to the DNA evidence, was not involved in the death of Garrett Phillips’ and is an innocent man.

       District Attorney William Fitzpatrick still had in his mind (according to his e-mail dated December 8, 2016, to Dr. Mark Perlin, True Allele) that the DNA samples from Garrett Phillips’ belonged to Nick Hillary.

District Attorney Fitzpatrick wants to continue beating his own drum to the tune that Hillary is the killer of Garrett Phillips and as if that isn’t injustice enough, he wants to erroneously believe and convince others to believe that Hillary is a sociopathic killer.

There is no other DNA evidence or any other evidence linking Nick Hillary to Garrett Phillips death. There has been no valid evidence brought forth by the Prosecution, just invalid circumstantial. With all the bragging that District Attorney William Fitzpatrick did concerning his rock-solid case against Hillary,it wasn’t based on evidence. It was just some of District Attorney Fitzpatrick’s’ verbose personality in action. The prosecution never had a circumstantial case against Hillary because there never was one.

       Who do you think has the most knowledge about DNA Issues Dr. Mark Perlin, True Allele or District Attorney William Fitzpatrick?

       District Attorney William Fitzpatrick has the reputation for giving Emmy award performances during criminal trials as the lead prosecutor. Fitzpatrick could not use his acting skills and self-perceived, brilliant courtroom knowledge in this case. The reason is that he is not a world-renowned DNA scientist like his perceived opponent Dr. Mark Perlin.

       Look at the background information related to Dr. Mark Perlin, co-owner of True Allele, DNA expertise. Dr. Perlin founded the DNA company Cybergenics, which uses computers to analyze DNA samples. Many District Attorneys used his service prior to October 24,2011. and still use his DNA services today. Since October 24, 2011, Dr. Perlin has testified in 100’s of cases.

       This is an example of his reputation as a DNA expert: Article from Havard University law journal. Quote Harvard Law Journal:

  Harford Law Journal

  Vol 3 1/02/17

  “As of 2-16(Dec) True Allele has Been involved in 500 cases for both prosecution and defense.

These cases involved his expertise for both the Defense and prosecution. Dr. Mark Perlin is considered a DNA expect throughout the United States. This includes the State of Georgia, New York, Pennsylvania, and my other States.”

His company helped identify the remains of victims in the World Trade Center disaster. If this isn’t enough information to clearly identify the expertise of Dr. Mark Perlin and his reputation in the global community, please review his curriculum vitae included in the attachments to this document.

        After reading the previous paragraphs it should be enough to comprehend that DA Fitzpatrick may be a wizard in a court room trial but regarding DNA, he hasn’t one iota of the knowledge or expertise that Dr. Perlin possesses. It also shows that he (Fitzpatrick) is not the expert he thinks he is about DNA. District Attorney Fitzpatrick needs to accept the fact that he is not the scientist, or expert, in DNA research and he does not have the knowledge or education to allude the public into believing he does.

       In addition to the Curriculum Vitae (Attachment 10B) of Dr. Mark Perlin, pertinent emails between Fitzpatrick and Dr. Perlin are included. The three e-mails are labeled as follows:  

 Email of 7/29/16 (Attachment 10 C)  Dr. Mark Perlin regarding STRmix

 Email of 12/08/16 (Attachment 10 D)  DA Fitzpatrick to Dr. Mark Perlin

 Email of 12/16/16 (Attachment 10 E) Dr. Perlin to DA Fitzpatrick.

This section clearly shows that Dr. Perlin found after extensive review (and has the expertise to back up his findings) that there is no evidence of Nick Hillarys’ DNA linked to Garrett Phillips death. Dr. Perlin’s findings are 100% reliable and should be recognized in Saint Lawrence County as so. The results were recognized everywhere else, so what is the problem in Saint Lawrence County?

Dr. Mark Perlin determined and proved Nick Hillary is an innocent man. This needs to be acknowledged by the community of Potsdam, NY where this tragic accident occurred and the community was misled into believing it was a heinous crime instead. It was not, but the crime of sabotaging the life of an innocent man did occur and a family was not allowed to grieve a child without the additional pain and horror of enduring an unnecessary trial and the media frenzy that ensued throughout.

Conclusion

After several years, many hours and months I have completed my investigation into the death of Garrett Phillips. During this time, I have read hundreds of articles and press releases regarding Garrett. Many of these articles and segments on National television, as well, were not accurate. On the other hand, some news outlets such as NPR, Albany Times Union, New York Times, Syracuse Post and Huffpost along with a couple of others, provided fair and accurate coverage of Nick Hillary’s trial and the years preceding it. Unfortunately, they did not have access to some of the material or information as it developed. They had to rely on the information provided by the police and/or District Attorney’s office. There wasn’t a shortage of information. Both entities thrived on holding press conferences. Unfortunately, the information was often misleading. It was sometimes completely inaccurate.

       I relied on very smart law enforcement officers while writing this document. I also consulted a doctor, a professional writer, and others. This includes a professor involved and quite renowned in the research field.

       The above also includes my daughter. She has spent decades doing DNA/genealogy research. She has successfully connected adoptees with their biological family on multiple occasions.

       After studying all the information, I conducted numerous interviews. Everyone I spoke with shared the same opinion. They unanimously agreed that Nick Hillary was falsely accused of the murder of Garrett Phillips.

       Several high-ranking members of law enforcement that I spoke with read the complete document. They were astonished by the substandard police work. The unprofessional conduct of the prosecution in the death investigation also disgusted them.

       Unfortunately, the people that provided me with advice and support throughout this investigation cannot be named.  The reason being that they must interact directly or indirectly with some of the individuals that were actual participants in the case.

Some also have businesses and cannot risk retaliation for their honesty due to the controversial nature of this case in Potsdam and the surrounding areas.

       Many of the individuals know how Ian Farley was treated by the police and prosecution for being an Alibi witness for Nick Hillary. (His Statement-Attachment 9). For the record, when Farley moved 300 miles away for a new job prior to Hillary’s trial, he was the one hunted in a sense. He was harassed and intimidated by Brian Phillips. “Justice for Garrett” signs were suddenly erected in his new community along roads he traveled. The prosecution did not have Brian Phillips stop this conduct because they wanted him to change his statement.

In the end, Farley is an honest, solid person, firm moral compass, with an unblemished record and he held to the truth. He was not like Andrew Carranza who changed his testimony and did not think twice about lying under oath. Nobody will ever know why, but I suspect it was because the Prosecution needed to have a witness put Hillary in the building and for whatever reason, Carranza was willing to oblige.

       Once you have examined this document and reviewed the attachments, I am confident you will be as appalled as I by the deceitful and misleading acts that were committed. I hope that you can put any bias aside and recognize the evidence as being conclusive in that the death of Garrett Phillips was caused by an accident and not because he was a murder victim.

       An additional point that I am compelled to mention before closing is my utter disbelief that neither the forensic investigation nor the autopsy report appears to have considered the fact that Garrett’s biological father died at a young age of a brain aneurysm. In every investigation I have been involved with in the past and the pathologists that were involved as well, knowing this information would have been relevant and noteworthy. I encourage you to research for yourself the reason I am stating this.

 Every medical article and medical journal I have read clearly states that having a first-degree relative (biological parent or sibling) puts an individual at an increased risk of experiencing a brain aneurysm. Symptoms of a brain aneurysm can include stiff neck, blurred or double vision, dilated pupils, confusion, loss of consciousness, ear bleeding, loss of balance and/or dizziness, speech difficulties and seizures.

If you have read this document carefully, you already know when Garrett was initially found, he was described as having dilated pupils, being unconscious, and the autopsy photo showed the ear injury. This information does not contradict my theory that Garrett died because of a Rip Stik accident in inclement weather and hazardous conditions, but it also opens the possibility that Garrett may have had a brain aneurysm that contributed to the accident. This could also explain the noises neighbors state they heard prior to calling 911. An aneurysm in addition to a horrific accident would have caused utter confusion. He may have also had speech difficulties which might explain why neighbors that reported hearing him, couldn’t make out what he was saying.

Please note I initially provided this document to a limited number of individuals. I have since decided to make it available to anyone that continues to think about this case with too many questions. I hope, if you are reading this, you have an open mind and the moral compass to understand how very wrong this case was from the start and the excruciating pain and division it created for Garrett’s family and friends, Nick Hillary’s family and friends, and the community at large.

This case perpetuated dishonesty, thereby putting Hillary’s family, Garrett’s family, and so many others through years of anguish and emotional torture that is difficult, if not impossible, to overcome.

A new death certificate should be issued stating Garrett Phillips died an accidental death, not from a homicide.                   ~ John Fountain