Potsdam, New York, is the kind of place where everyone knows everyone’s business. Or at least, they think they do. In 2011, the town changed forever. 12-year-old Garret Phillips was found strangled in his apartment. It was brutal. It was fast. And 15 years later, the question of who killed Garret Phillips remains one of the most polarizing mysteries in American true crime history.
You might have seen the HBO documentary. Maybe you followed the trial of Nick Hillary. But if you think you know the whole story just from a few headlines, you're probably missing the weirdest parts. This isn't just a cold case. It's a study in how a small town’s desperation for "justice" can sometimes stand in the way of finding the actual truth.
The Afternoon Everything Went Wrong
October 24, 2011. A Monday. Garret was a normal kid who loved lacrosse and skateboarding. He was seen on surveillance video skating home from school around 4:48 PM. By 5:00 PM, neighbors heard "help" or "no" coming from apartment 4. They called the police.
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When the cops arrived, they found Garret. He was still alive, but barely. He died shortly after at the hospital.
The killer? Gone. They supposedly jumped out a back window, leaving the screen pushed out. It was a bold move in broad daylight.
The police immediately looked for a villain. They didn't have to look far. They found Oral "Nick" Hillary. He was the ex-boyfriend of Garret’s mom, Tandy Cyrus. He was also a soccer coach at Clarkson University and one of the few Black men in a very white town.
Who Killed Garret Phillips? The Nick Hillary Saga
The prosecution’s case against Hillary was, honestly, kinda thin. There was no DNA. No fingerprints. No murder weapon. Their biggest "smoking gun" was a grainy video of a car that looked like Hillary's following Garret home.
But here’s where it gets messy.
There was another ex-boyfriend. John Jones. He was a St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Deputy.
People always ask: why wasn't Jones investigated more? He had a key to the apartment. He was seen on video walking his dog near the scene right around the time of the murder. Yet, the police seemed to treat him like a victim rather than a suspect. He even comforted Tandy while the police were still processing the scene.
In a small town, optics are everything. To many, it looked like the police chose their suspect first and then tried to find the evidence to match.
The Trial That Shook Potsdam
It took five years to get Nick Hillary to trial. Five years of him living under a cloud of suspicion. When the trial finally happened in 2016, Hillary chose a bench trial. That means no jury—just a judge.
It was a gamble. But it paid off.
Judge Felix Catena looked at the evidence—or the lack of it—and basically said there wasn't enough to convict. He acquitted Hillary.
The courtroom was a mess. Half the people were cheering. The other half, including Garret's family, were devastated. For them, Hillary was the one. For the defense, the case was a "torn and tattered quilt" of circumstantial nonsense.
The DNA Problem
One of the most frustrating parts of the search for who killed Garret Phillips is the science. Or the lack thereof.
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The prosecution tried to use a new type of DNA software called STRmix. They claimed it found a "likelihood" of Hillary's DNA on Garret's fingernails. But the judge threw it out. Why? Because it was deemed unreliable at the time.
Later, a different company called Cybergenetics used their own tech (TrueAllele) and found... nothing. They said Hillary's DNA was definitively not there.
When science fails to give a clear answer, people fill in the gaps with their own biases. That’s exactly what happened in Potsdam.
What People Often Forget
There are details in this case that get buried under the race and police bias debates.
- The Window: The person who killed Garret supposedly jumped from a second-story window. Witnesses saw someone, but the descriptions were vague.
- The Timeline: The window of time for the murder was incredibly tight. About 15 to 20 minutes.
- The Lawsuits: Nick Hillary didn't just walk away. He sued the village and the police for civil rights violations. He claimed he was targeted because of his race.
Why the Case Is Still "Unsolved"
Technically, the case is open. Practically? It’s frozen.
Mary Rain, the District Attorney who obsessed over convicting Hillary, eventually lost her law license for professional misconduct. Her "crusade" ended in a wreck. The new investigators are in a tough spot. If they look at someone else now, they’re admitting they blew it the first time.
And John Jones? He’s always maintained his innocence. He even testified during Hillary’s trial. Without new physical evidence, he's just another person of interest in a town full of rumors.
Actionable Steps for True Crime Followers
If you're following this case, don't just stop at the HBO documentary. To really understand the nuance of who killed Garret Phillips, you need to look at the primary documents.
- Read the Trial Transcripts: Much of the nuance of the DNA evidence is lost in TV edits. Look for the "Daubert hearing" records regarding the STRmix software.
- Follow Local Reporting: Outlets like North Country Public Radio and the Watertown Daily Times have covered the civil suits and the aftermath more deeply than national news.
- Examine the Civil Rights Case: The details revealed in Nick Hillary's lawsuit against the Potsdam police offer a much darker look at the initial investigation's flaws.
The truth is, we might never have a name. Unless a new piece of forensic technology can pull a profile from old evidence, or someone finally breaks their silence, Garret Phillips’ killer remains a ghost in the North Country. It's a tragedy that doesn't just belong to one family, but to an entire community that still can't agree on what happened that October afternoon.