>> john hudack, thank you for being with us. i'm alison morris, for all of us at nbc news, a very happy new year to you, "dateline" is coming up next. i have pictures in my head that will never go away. i will never have my son back. i don't get to go to his high school graduation or see him go to college. i had no idea what had happened. >> it was like a neat yore hitting. >> 12-year-old kid, loved to ride his scooter everywhere, lost his life at the hands of a killer. >> he's a soccer coach. >> great person on and off the field. great role model. >> there's nothing connecting him to this case. >> they don't have the fingerprint, they don't have blood, they don't have the witness. >> there's a darkness that's at

work here? >> you believe he killed your boy? >> yes. >> people call me a murderer, i'm 100% innocent. >> you could have heard a pin drop in that courtroom. pottsdale, way upstate new york. a spec on the map on the way to the canadian border. >> they like to joke up there that there's more cows than people. i don't think that's a joke. >> you would think nothing happens that could interest the world. but an epic story has unfolded here. a murder case for sure, but so much more than that. >> it's a little bit fargo? >> it is. >> a reporter for the new york times was drawn to it. it's got a small town, it's got love triangles, faded love, and

those elements for a writer are irresistible. >> the woman in the middle of it all, tandy cyrus. >> very pretty woman in a town where pretty women stand out. >> one of her lovers stood out too. nick hillary, as a black man in a predominantly white town. you. >> still have people who will not accept interracial relationships. >> what happened between tandy and nick will tip the balance, give rise to a lawsuit and lure high profile civil attorneys to face each out. >> this echos beyond st. lawrence county and even new york. >> except when you drill down, it's as local as it gets. all about a small town boy. this one, 12-year-old garrett phillips, tandy's son.

garrett was a blur of a kid, perpetually set on fast forward according to his mom. >> he was very energetic, always on the go, always had to have something to do. >> people here remember him tearing around town on his rip stick, a little bit skateboard, a little bit snowboard, all hip action and balance. there goes garrett sidewalk surfing his way home. >> did you think, my kid is an awesome athlete? >> yes. soccer, lacrosse, football, hockey. he was very good at everything. >> his bedroom wall, a poster shrine to his sports heroes, including new england patriots quarterback, tom brady. >> he wasn't much for video games. >> it's got to be pitch black before he's ready too come in for the night? >> yes. >> when he was still a toddler, garrett was dealt a devastating

blow, the death of his father robbie. >> garrett was nine months old when his dad had a brain aneurysm that ruptured, he was two when robbie passed away. >> tandy, a single mom, picked up the pieces as best she could. she studied at the police academy, but eventually gave up law enforcement for a job in a credit union. she also had a brief marriage which gave garret a kid brother, aaron. >> did garrett like to mess with him? >> all the time. >> he liked to play jokes a little bit? >> april fools was his favorite day of the year. >> tandy moved in with a sheriff's deputy named john jones, but it didn't last. >> how did the breakup go? >> not well. at one point she said john shoved her during an argument, and that was the last straw in that relationship. >> so in 2010, tandy was alone

again. making ends meet with a bartender, that's when nick hillary walked in and pulled up a stool. >> so he's just a customer that came? >> yes, he came in evenings after work and coaching. >> she was local, the frozen north, he was from lush jamaica. >> what's a happy memory from jamaica for you, nick? >> going to the rivers, swimming all day, coming back home, mom has a great home cooked meal waiting for you. i mean, you -- that's a fantastic day. >> he moved to brooklyn as a teenager and found his niche as a soccer star, earning a scholarship to nyu. the kid from jamaica was still searching. so he ditched school for the army. >> i said, let me serve a greater purpose for a while. >> three years in the army, all state side, forced nick to grow

up, now he was ready for college. >> soccer was his ticket to st. lawrence university near the canadian border. >> here's a jamaican guy who used to swim in rivers, and you're going to be in the snow six months out of the year. >> yes, but in the summer it felt like home. >> you found a good fit? >> yes, it sure was. >> he felt most comfortable on the soccer field, where his teammates gave him a nickname. >> he was the general. >> that was a tip of the hat to his career as a vet. but -- >> yeah, it fit him to a tee. >> in 1999, nick led st. lawrence to an undefeated season and a national championship. cementing bonds of friendship that remain tight today. >> great person on and off the field. great role model. >> yeah, he was our big brother. >> he brought us together, he

arranged dinners at his house, he cooked for the whole team. >> is that the rasta pasta nights? >> exactly. it was a staple of who we were as a group. >> after the championship season and graduation, nick kept leading, he landed a plum job. head soccer coach at clarkson. just minutes from his alma matter. life was good, it got even better when nick, a father of three, met tandy at that bar. him drinking guinness and diagramming plays on a cocktail napkin. >> what was the conversation? >> it was easy. >> the one thing i liked about tandy, she had goals and ambition. >> things between the two heated up quickly, as these emails attest. from nick, i miss you millions, have a great workday. >> from tandy, i can't wait to get home to you, ily, i love

you. >> they were sharing a house, blending families and going on vacations as a couple. nick took her to jamaica. but as they say in the islands, it wasn't a cool breeze being an interracial couple in pottsdam which was 90% white. it was particularly hard on garrett. >> garrett was being teased at school because his mom is dating a black man. >> he's getting school yard aggravation? >> exactly. >> whatever tensions garrett was feeling, it didn't keep him from his sports. they were always a welcomed distraction. even on the fateful afternoon of october 24th, 2011. >> he was playing basketball with his friends in the gym, but i got upset with him, because he knew the rule was, he had to go home and do his homework first. >> do your homework, then play with your pals? >> yes, so i made him go home.

>> he was going home on his rip stick. what could possibly go wrong? as it turned out, a lot. >> pottsdam police. >> a neighbor called police. >> hi, i live in an apartment house, and the folks next to us, i thought i heard screaming like no and help a couple times, so i knocked on the door and i heard the lock click. >> coming up, what had happened in that apartment? >> they get the key, they open the door, and they go inside. >> pottsdam rescue. >> someone had been in my apartment, i had no idea what happened. >> when "dateline" continues. els

that october monday in 2011, garrett phillips was supposed to

be the first one home to his second floor apartment at 100 market street. he arrived just before 5:00 p.m. about. >> it's on a very busy street. market street is off the main drag. >> it's kind of a rundown apartment building. >> sean hall and marissa vogel didn't know tandy or her sons, but they were familiar with the boys will be boys activities across the hall. >> you could hear running or rough housing sometimes, or something rolling down the hallway like a skateboard. >> but that afternoon, as sean and marissa were watching dexter on tv, the sounds coming from next door were different, scary different. >> i heard a loud crash, after that it was silence for a few seconds, and then in a low voice i heard what sounded like moaning, help, ow or no. >> at that moment i didn't think it was two little boys rough housing any more. it felt more dangerous. it felt wrong.

>> concerned, marissa walked down the hallway and listened in. >> i knocked on the door and waited a moment. and then i definitely heard a click, like a lock. i had the feeling that there was somebody on the other side of that door. >> she called pottsdam pd. >> i live in 3a, they live across the hall. it made me feel nervous, i heard yelling, and then i knocked to see if everything was okay, and i heard a click like a lock locking. >> i'll have somebody check on it. >> the patrol officer arrived around 5:15. . no one answered his knock. the patrolman hears footsteps moving inside the apartment. and then they get the key, they open the door and they go inside. >> everything appeared to be in order.

the living room was tidy, garrett's stuff all in place. rip stick propped against the wall, backpack in the corner. >> they walk to the back, turn the corner and find garrett. they think at first he's sleeping, he's falling, he knocked himself out. but at that point he's pretty much in physical distress. >> need an ambulance to respond to 100 market street, apartment 4 and expedite, patrol on scene beginning cpr. >> the patrol officer called in the distressing details. >> unresponsive male. no pulse, the mother is tandy cyrus. >> isn't she john jones ex-girlfriend? >> she raced to the canton pottsdam hospital. >> garrett's in a very bad way in the hospital? >> yes. >> what has happened? is there any information about this. >> the doctor told me he was in full cardiac arrest when they

brought him in. i had no idea what had happened, and couldn't understand how my 12-year-old had a heart attack. >> did you think at first maybe this had something to do with his dad's problem? maybe there was something genetic that happened to him? >> i honestly was in shock and couldn't wrap my head around anything. >> and i don't really want to take you back there, but you're there when he finally gives up. >> yes. >> they can't bring him back? >> no. >> how awful for you? >> garrett phillips unstoppable in life, was dead at age 12. >> what happened in the next few hours, tandy? >> it was kind of a blur. we were at the hospital for a while. we got sent home. and i slept in aaron's room with him. >> at the hospital, tandy had been joined by some of the men in her life, her ex-husband

casey collins and john jones the sheriff's deputy. no one notified nick hillary. turns out he and tandy had split up the month before. he was no longer in the loop. lieutenant mark murray called nick. >> we had an incident occur this evening and we'd like to speak with you in regard to it. >> minutes later, lieutenant murray and two other investigators were at nick's door, a courtesy notification they said. >> we're going to reach out to all the people who are connected to this kid. what do they know? do they know where he was. >> the attorney representing the pottsdam police. >> mr. hillary, we have bad news for you. >> i can't believe this, oh, my goodness, puts his hands on his head. >> he remembers the moment well. >> i'm still broken up over the situation. he has lived with me. how could i not be affected by

what has happened to garrett. >> nick wasn't dating tandy any more. he told police he hadn't been in her apartment since she moved in two months earlier. the officers didn't stay long. an autopsy was scheduled for the next day. police didn't wait for the results to reveal their suspicions to tandy. >> when was it that you started to get this awful news there might be foul play? >> the next morning. >> how did that happen? >> we had gone down to the police station and that's when they had made a comment that someone had been in my apartment. >> somehow garrett's made it home and there's somebody there or follows him, something's happened and he's attacked? >> yes. >> is it now a homicide investigation? >> yes. >> coming up. >> this is a crime that does not happen in a place like this. >> a small town in fear. >> is there a maniac out there? >> yes, someone who's going to kill again. >> an urgent hunt for suspects

begins. >> who are the people connected to his life. >> tandy's partners and husbands. >> absolutely. >> when "dateline" continues. ♪ things are getting clearer, yeah i feel free ♪ ♪ to bare my skin ♪ yeah that's all me. ♪ nothing and me go hand in hand ♪ ♪ nothing on my skin ♪ that's my new plan. ♪ nothing is everything. keep your skin clearer with skyrizi. 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months. of those, nearly 9 out of 10 sustained it through 1 year. and skyrizi is 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses. ♪ i see nothing in a different way ♪ ♪ and it's my moment so i just gotta say ♪ ♪ nothing is everything skyrizi may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. before treatment your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms such as fevers, sweats, chills, muscle aches or coughs, or if you plan to or recently received a vaccine. ♪ nothing is everything ask your dermatologist about skyrizi.

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october 2011, halloween was less than a week away. but the good folks of pottsdam were learning that a monster had arrived early. a child killer was in their midst. >> can you tell me if it was an

adult that hurt him? >> we don't know. >> you don't know? >> it's still under investigation. >> news this bad travelled fast in a town where so many people knew the emts, the nurses at the hospital. >> at the hospital, he looked like he had been beat up or had injuries on his body. >> the injuries on the knees indicated that there was a significant struggle, there was a violent struggle. this boy fought for his life. >> what do you think it is? >> it's a combination of being sat upon, smothered and asphyxiation. it was a long process, it wasn't an instant death. >> boy's death is ruled a homicide. police tell family, 12-year-old garrett phillips was strangled, no suspects listed. >> from every indication, this was a very tense scene. this is a crime that does not happen in a place like this. >> is there a break in maniac

out there? >> yeah. >> an intruder that kills children? >> yes. >> is there someone that's going to kill again god forbid. >> in the vacuum of hard information, rumor took flight. >> is it true about someone riding around on a bicycle molesting children? >> that one i haven't heard. >> a story that was gaining traction early on. an unsubstantiated report that garrett had been killed by one or more kids. >> who was he with recently, did he have any issues with other kids? who was he playing with that afternoon. >> calls continues to come into the police hotline. reassurance from the school principal. >> we're meeting with our staff right now. the student died last night -- >> back at the crime scene, police were beginning to pick up clues that suggested another possibility, that the killer had to be an adult. >> the police couldn't descend enmass. in the back bedroom, there's a

window that has been pushed outward. the screen is ajar. >> whoever is in there, has to leave and there's only one way out, that's the second story window, there's no fire escape. you're kind of up off the ground. >> the developing theory was, when a cop knocked at the door, that window became the killer's only exit. >> police surmise that only a fit adult, not a kid could make such a dangerous leap. >> there's kind of a shed structure beneath the window? >> yes. it's not an easy jump. >> a cracked tile was a clue that the killer ricocheted off the shed. >> they find a kid, a gash in the grass below. >> this is describing whoever the intruder was, exit from the property. >> he jumped out the window down to the shed, off the shed and into the grass and ran off. >> police wondered if the killer had injured himself on the way down.

possibly limping away from the crime scene. police combed the area, looks for fingerprints, shoeprints, dna. evidence was collected and sent to the crime lab. meanwhile, investigators began talking to those who knew garrett best. >> tandy's partners and husbands. >> absolutely, yeah. >> the list included ex-husband casey collins, john jones and her most recent ex-lover, nick hillary. >> collins and jones had been with tandy at the hospital, they even sat next to her during her interview at the potsdam pd the next morning. casey collins was quickly eliminated as a suspect. he had a solid albie that placed him nowhere near garrett's apartment at 5:00 p.m. october 24th. >> it's early hours, but something might be going on with john jones, you just don't know

what it is? >> potentially, yes. >> he told police he got home about 5:00, and he lives just two blocks from garrett's apartment. this is jones on a very grainy security video across the street from where garrett passed. >> jones was asked to roll up his shirt and pants to check for possible wounds and a leg injury. meanwhile, tandy was talking to police. and she had some thoughts. strong thoughts. coming up. >> they had asked if there was anybody i could think of that wanted to hurt garrett. there was only one person that came to mind. >> the chief of police indicated to another investigator they had a pretty hot suspect and they were lining up whatever evidence they could to try to make an arrest. when "dateline" continues. e. now with 25% more concentrated power. nothing works faster for powerful cold relief. oh, what a relief it is! so fast!

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iran backed militia men have

withdrawn from baghdad, iraq. after a second day of violent protests. earlier they tried to scale the walls. secretary of state mike pompeo has postponed his friday trip to ukraine to monitor the situation in iraq. the state department says it will be rescheduled. now back to "dateline." tandy cyrus had lost her 12-year-old son, now she had to pull herself together to talk to the police. >> do they ask you who could possibly have something in for garrett? >> yes. >> what did you say? >> nick. >> nick hillary, the soccer coach, her most recent ex-boyfriend. >> there seems to be some discussion, who would want to harm garrett, and the name nick is raised. early on it sounds like. >> the name nick was raised

almost instantaneously. whether that was justified or not is at the heart of the case. >> the videotape of tandy's interview with police is difficult to hear. but when she talked to "dateline," she described a different side of the general, the nickname his teammates gave him in his glory days. she believed it revealed a regimented demeanor. >> he was very regimented. very structured. >> did he bring that into your life, into the family? >> he tried. >> he tried? >> it wasn't well received. >> especially not by garrett. a spontaneous ants in the pants kid. but according to tandy, nick was increasingly acting the drill instructor with both the boy and his mother. >> if i didn't get garrett on control, when he got older, i

wasn't going to be able to control him. he was about control. >> was he asking too much? >> very much so. that's not how i am, that's not how my kids were, and he wanted them to change. >> tandy said nick's inflexibility brought it all crashing down. garrett had told her about one incident with one of nick's children. >> there was kind of an argument between garrett and his daughter that turned into an argument between the two of us. he took his daughter's side, and i took garrett's side. i chose my son. >> as tensions escalated and with nick out of town, tandy had a heart to heart with garrett. he didn't hold back. he didn't like being in the same house with nick and his kids, and he wasn't happy. >> that was it. tandy told nick she was moving out. then according to tandy, it was nick's turn to be unhappy. >> there was an argument, he tolgd me that i was letting

garrett make my decisions for me, and he was standing in the front of the door blocking me. he carried me away from the door and wouldn't let me leave. >> was that a scary moment? >> it was. >> was that a side of nick you hadn't seen before? >> yes. he put me down and he put his hands up and i left. >> she and her two boys moved into that second floor apartment. and nick helped them move. >> we ended up having a couple different conversations, trying to make it work. but living in separate households. i talked to garrett he said he was okay with, he said he didn't want to live in the same house with him. >> according to tandy, nick wasn't okay with the new living arrangements. >> he showed up at my apartment in the middle of the night. >> in the middle of the night? >> yes. >> while you're asleep? >> he has a key. i woke up and he was standing in my bedroom. >> that was it, the final straw. >> i was angry.

so i told him that that made me want my key back, i didn't want him to have a key any more. >> when you give a girlfriend the key back, that's really the end of it? >> yes. >> it was september, garrett had one month to live. the unwelcomed drop in as well as tandy's other stories about nick made police suspicious. but what to make of her account? >> she tells the story of looking up from her bed in the middle of the night and there's nick. >> that's what she says. that is not a substantiated account. this is her saying this happened. >> investigators started knocking on doors to get the lowdown on nick. tandy's side didn't pull any punches. >> family, friends, relatives, they all immediately thought, there's only one person we can think of that might do something to garrett, and that was nick hillary. >> he has reason to have a grudge against garrett for breaking up this relationship? >> essentially, yeah. >> still wants to be with the

mom. >> tandy's parents gave statements to police. >> he kept telling me it was tandy's fault they broke up, and that garrett was a factor. >> nick had gone to her parents to basically lobby them, to -- help me get back in tandy's good graces. i'm good for garrett, i'm good for her. help them see the light. >> as investigators continued targeting nick. they still have the other ex-boyfriend, john jones on their radar. >> he provided a dna swab, fingerprints, let us photograph with his shirt up, pants up. and pretty much whatever you need me to do, i'll do it. >> besides his eagerness to cooperate, his time line with corroborating security video checked out. he's seen walking his dog around 5:13, about the time the officer arrived at garrett's apartment. >> i'm sorry, but no one goes over to someone's house to strangle someone with their dog, and jumps out the window with

their dog. >> she told police, garrett and jones were very close. >> what about john jones. >> absolutely not. >> wasn't possible? >> no. >> for tandy, it always was nick and only nick in the frame for the crime. police would continue investigating, but by day two, pressures seemed to be mounting for a quick resolution. >> even the next morning, the chief of police there in pottsdam indicated they had a pretty hot suspect and they were lining up whatever evidence they could to try to make an arrest. >> that conversation was reported by the pottsdam pd. a routine procedure for calls in and out of the department. >> we have a 12-year-old that's lost his life, we have to look at everyone. >> we're trying to get all the ammunition against him at this point we can. >> 24 hours after the murder, lieutenant mark murray, working his first holl side as lead

investigator went to observe nick on the sideline at a soccer game. the killer may have sustained a leg injury jumping from that second floor window. would nick be limping? coming up. >> were awe wear that the cops were running a camera on you as you coached the team? >> i had no idea. >> coach hillary secretly taped. >> did you think you saw a hitch in his gate? >> definitely. i observed the significant limp when he went off at half time. >> and questioned -- >> a man was treated like an animal and that's not allowed in the united states. >> when "dateline" continues. n s my dad joined the navy and helped prosecute the nazis in nuremberg. their values are why i walked away from my business, took the giving pledge to give my money to good causes, and why i spent the last ten years

fighting corporate insiders who put profits over people. i'm tom steyer, and i approve this message. because, right now, america needs more than words. we need action.

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not long after garrett phillips had been strangled, his mother told investigatorskiller. and now police were investigating the soccer coach. a team led by lieutenant mark murray aimed eye video camera at nick. they were looking for a limp which would match their theory that the killer may have been leafing from that second story window. >> he's known to be an active guy on the sidelines, he's not doing that here. >> police were convinced they

saw what they came to see. >> did you think you saw a hitch in his gate that night? >> absolutely. when he went off at half time, i observed a limp. >> were you aware that the cops were running a camera on you as you coached the team? >> i had no idea. >> nick said he was focused on beating cross town rivals. >> you're going to be seeing these guys around town, this is a game we must win. >> he said he had nothing to do with garrett's death, he had no reason to think he was a suspect that night or the next morning, when the police asked him to come down to the pd and help their investigation. >> for what purpose? >> to see if i could identify a list of garrett's friends. >> no? >> then the conversation veered away from the list and kids. >> if you're here to help me with something i'm clueless about. >> i'm clueless before it as well.

>> what questions am i being asked right now? >> what we'd like to do is eliminate you as being part of this whole thing. >> am i a suspect? >> well, no -- everybody's a suspect. this whole town is a suspect. >> nick realized he was being accused. he shut down. >> what time was practice, do you remember? >> i have no comment. >> no comments on when practice was? >> jesse mckingly covered the story for the new york times. >> i think at that point his argument would be, i was scared, this was a scary situation, i seem to be being singled out for a crime i didn't commit. >> lieutenant murray had a different take. he believed nick was not cooperating and for no good reason. >> he said no comment. i remember thinking to myself, everybody else here -- if the

roles were reversed, i would be doing everything i could to help figure out what happened to garrett. >> nick was read his miranda rights. >> two officers got up and barred the door and told me i'm not allowed to leave. >> you hadn't been arrested? >> i was never arrested. i'm being held against my will. >> police were zeroing in on nick, and asking tough questions to his assistant coach at the same time. fairly told him he had seen nick shortly after 5:00 p.m. the afternoon of the murder and he was acting normally. >> this was supposedly 10 minutes after he strangled someone to death. >> you're not trying to cover for him? >> no, i'm trying to be as honest as i can. >> it kind of looks like he did it. i don't know if you believe he's capable of something like that. >> i don't think he would be capable of something like that. >> i mean, actually, i absolutely don't believe he's capable of something like that. >> meanwhile, nick had asked for a lawyer. he was detained but still hadn't

been arrested. police took his phone, wallet and car while they were waiting for a judge to sign a search warrant. for a proud army vet, nick said his treatment was humiliating. >> they took my clothes. >> took pictures of you naked? >>s athe day i was born. >> looking for what, scratches, cut marks? >> only they would know. >> how long did this day last? >> it seemed like an eternity. >> after about nine hours inside, police released him. >> this was from early in the morning until about after 5:00, when i was released in a hazmat suit. >> you didn't get your clothes back? >> nothing. >> didn't have keys to go into my apartment. didn't have my wallet with any kind of identification if i should get stopped in the street, to identify who i am. it's an inhumane way to be treated. >> the next day, he felt branded

in his own community. >> there was a big spread in the newspaper clearly stating that the police had questioned me. >> realizing he was the prime suspect and perhaps the only suspect, nick started to fight back with the help of a good friend who happened to be a lawyer, former teammate. >> this was tunnel vision. the powers that be that wanted to get mr. hillary for this, always had that intention. >> nick told us he wasn't at garrett's apartment that day. and he denied the accusations tandy had made to police. >> saying there was bad blood between you and garrett? >> that's very shocking and surprising. >> did you ever have a butt head moment with nick? >> no. >> an issue over do the chores? >> no. >> october 2011, how were things between you and tandy? >> things were great. >> did you want to get back with tandy? >> no. >> did you have a key to her

house still? >> no, i didn't. >> by this point nick and his lawyer have also seen the sideline video. to them, it was eye opening. they said it didn't show what police said it did, a significant limp. >> that turned out to be untrue. >> watch as nick strides off the field at half time. he doesn't appear to be limping at all. >> i had no limp. i was myself that night on the sideline. with the exception of a heavy heart because of what had happened to garrett. >> like the soccer champions they were. they were not only playing defense, they went on offense too. blasting police for what nick says they did to him at the station. >> a man was treated like an animal, and that's not allowed in the united states. >> so they vowed to sue the village of potsdam and the police department for violating nick's civil rights. >> we live in a country where when rights are violated,

citizens can continue to have those rights violated or you can stand up. coming up, a startling new videotaped clue, garrett on his way home, and whose suv was that? seeming to follow him. >> is that nick hillary in his car in that parking lot? >> when "dateline" continues. let's be honest, every insurance company says

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and potsdam was in mourning. schools emptied out for a memorial service for garrett phillips. that 6th grader so exuberant in his 12 years of life. then later that week, the funeral at this church. for his mother tandy, it was all a blur. >> i remember being at the church. i remember being at the funerfunera funeral home. it's just a lot of people.

>> garrett was laid to rest in the nearby town where his mother grew up. he's buried next to the father he barely knew. >> is it true that you buried him with the rip stick? >> yes. >> that was mom's decision? what do you think that says about who that little boy was? >> that and his lacrosse stick were his most prized possessions. so i wanted him to have 'em. >> she said good-bye to her boy. but now, as police continued to zero in on nick hillary, she hoped to get answers for him. >> did you know that they had brought nick in for questioning? >> yes. >> do you think there's going to be an arrest at that point, tandy? >> i had thought there was going to be one very quickly. >> but nick hillary was just as adamant he was an innocent man. hounded, he claims, by a blinkered rush to judgment investigation that didn't turn up any evidence because he didn't do it. >> why did they believe that you were their person of interest? >> i wish i knew.

>> police were trying to make a case against him. though, in the months that followed, search warrants on nick's home, phone, and car yielded nothing. forensics came back and did not match nick for hair or fibers. techs did find fingerprints around that pushed out window but they matched no one known to the case. and the imprint in the slushy grass below? useless. even initial tests on dna scrapings taken beneath the boy's fingernail proved inconclusive. and what's more, two people were vouching for nick's whereabouts around the time of the murder. >> i was with my -- my daughter and my assistant coach during this time period. >> so they are what they call in criminal investigations your alibi witnesses. >> exactly. >> nick's teenage daughter would say in a deposition that her dad was with her at their apartment here on leroy street from 5 to 5:15 p.m. assistant coach fairly says nick came to his house here on garden street around 5:21. their accounts would seem to make it impossible for nick to

have been here on market street about 5:00 p.m. when garrett was being attacked. >> there were no arrests. there was no grand jury. there's no indictments. there's nothing. they really were kind of at -- at -- at their wit's end in a sense. >> police did pull up security video around potsdam and they noticed a car that looked like nick's honda crv creeping through the high school parking lot around the time garrett was to skate by. but the camera shots were too far away to i.d. plates or the driver. despite the continuing lack of hard physical evidence against him, in the court of public opinion, nick was a marked man. >> being out and about in the community, fingers were being pointed. conversations are being whispered. and people will drive past our house and call me a murderer. my house has been egged. >> that's something he maintains to this day that he has been made a pariah in that community, which he felt a part of.

>> this black male being singled out in this mostly white part of the world. >> absolutely. and i think to some extent, nick's case fits into that narrative of a black man falsely accused. >> but unlike the stalled criminal investigation, nick's lawyer was moving ahead with the civil lawsuit against lieutenant murray and the potsdam police. a suit filed for detaining nick all day without arresting him. and allegedly degrading him by taking photographs of him naked. >> mr. hillary could have held his head down and ran away. he believes in civil rights. he believes in his rights as a man. and he's going to stand up for those rights. >> i did not violate his rights in any way, shape, or form. i executed a lawful search warrant of his person while he was at our station. >> lieutenant murray and the potsdam police department deny the allegations in the civil suit. and potsdam's insurance company hired tom mortati to defend the police. believing that the best defense is a good offense, mortati

decided to turn the tables on nick and his lawyer. >> what's your strategy? >> to prove that nick killed garrett phillips. >> and, therefore, your cliens,s the cops, were justified in doing everything they did. >> bottom line, yes. >> a preliminary step in these cases before the lawsuit is actually filed is a proceeding called a 50h hearing in which the defense attorney, in this case tom, gets to question the plaintiff, nick hillary. >> does he have to answer? >> no. he can assert his fifth amendment privilege. >> april 2012. tom purposely picked a non-descript conference room for nick's deposition. he chose not to videotape it. >> i wanted to keep it low key because in the event he's talking, i want him to keep talking. >> how did it go? >> well, mr. hillary was talking. >> tom's main goal was to get nick to admit that he was in the car seen on that security camera video. up until then, police had

suspicions but no proof. >> unlike the movies, you can't zoom in on the license plate or let's zoom in on the guy's eyeglasses and that's so and so behind the wheel. doesn't work that way. so the number one question at that time was, is that nick hillary in his car in that parking lot? >> so tom asked a series of questions. and to his surprise, nick readily answered them. mr. hillary, at any point on october 24th of 2011, were you at potsdam high school? >> yes. >> how did you get there? i drove. did you drive the honda? yes. and why was nick at the high school on that rainy day? he said it was to watch a soccer game. but notice the yellow school bus. it's blocking his view. >> his vision of the soccer field is obscured by a giant yellow school bus, the concession stand, and the stands next to the field. you can't see the soccer field. >> coming up. an admission under oath. >> he didn't take the fifth and the police are -- are ecstatic

with what we've got. >> and it was the thing i had prayed for. >> make way for a new d.a. >> she was going to do everything she could to bring justice for garrett. >> exactly what would that be? >> i was alarmed a little bit. >> when "dateline" continues. aleve it. aleve is proven stronger and longer on pain than tylenol. when pain happens, aleve it. all day strong. our mission is to provide complete, balanced nutrition... for strength and energy! whoo-hoo! great-tasting ensure. with nine grams of protein and twenty-seven vitamins and minerals. ensure, for strength and energy. at t-mobile, we're lighting up 5g, and when you buy a samsung note 10+ 5g, you get one free. plus you can experience it on the nation's largest 5g network. so do this. on that. with us. buy a samsung note 10+ 5g and get one free when you add a line.

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wow, you call a lot. yeah, well it's my money we're talking about here. joining us for karaoke later? ah, i'd love to, but people get really emotional when i sing. help from a team that will exceed your expectations. ♪ >> reporter: attorney tom mortati was defending the potsdam police department in a civil lawsuit brought by nick hillary. at a preliminary hearing, nick had just confirmed that it was him in this car seen on security camera video at the high school. nick said he was there to watch a game. but in the footage, a school bus seems to block his view. the honda slowly moves. settling into this parking spot. red taillights on. but from there, nick still can't see the game. nor does he try to get a closer look. >> he never gets out of his car. he never shuts the vehicle off.

>> so why was he really there? the answer, according to tom, was about to skate into view. at 4:52 p.m., here comes garrett at the bottom of the screen. cruising down the sidewalk on his rip stick. blissfully unaware that in just a few minutes, he'll be viciously attacked and left for dead. after about 16 seconds on camera, he skates out of frame. turning left on his way home. >> nick's brake lights come on within a second of garrett going out of view. and he backs his vehicle out. >> but nick did not admit to following garrett. he didn't admit to even seeing garrett. instead, he told tom. >> i went home. i went straight home. i didn't stop anywhere else. >> which nick acknowledged should be with a right turn out of the parking lot. but when his honda reached the t-intersection, a crossroads for this case, nick didn't go right. instead, he turned left. going in the same direction as garrett. six months after garrett's death, the civil lawyer had

breathed new life into a dormant murder investigation. extracting what seemed like powerful new evidence from the prime suspect. >> he didn't take the fifth. and the police are -- are ecstatic with what we've got. >> but the person he needed to convince was nicolle duvay, the then-district attorney for st. lawrence county. so tom sent her the transcript of nick's deposition wherein nick admits to being in his car in the high school parking lot which police said seemed to be tailing garrett shortly before he was killed. but the d.a. said it still wasn't enough. >> she believed there was simply not enough evidence to -- to convict nick hillary, let alone arrest him. >> not a winnable case. >> the da met with tandy and told her the same thing. >> she used like a scale as an example. and it was one little pebble at a time. and that they just didn't have enough yet. >> she couldn't get enough pebbles to tilt it this way. >> right. >> the case went into a deep

freeze. and it seemed like it might stay there. >> in that town, this sort of crime is so out of the ordinary. so unheard of that the fact that they were not able to find someone quickly and make a case quickly and convict them quickly and put this behind them has been enormously frustrating. >> tandy, what is your word about how you feel? >> i don't know if i can say it on camera. just the level of frustration is -- there's no words really. >> out of frustration and sorrow, garrett's family led by his uncle brian put up justice for garrett signs all over the county. the message from a smiling garrett was both subtle and direct. do the right thing. >> brian was very close with -- with his brother robbie, garrett's dad. so he lost robbie. and then losing garrett the way that we did, brian's never stopped.

>> he wouldn't let this become a cold case. >> never. >> and then in 2013, mary rain, a former cop and public defender, decided to run for district attorney. >> politics has raised its head here. >> absolutely. and her prime campaign theme, if you will, is there is a murderer running around and nobody's done anything about it. >> the only thing i would promise is that would be my top agenda as soon as i got into office. so i spoke with tandy the next day and we talked for about two hours. >> you didn't promise her results. you promised her your professional interest. >> exactly. i promised her i would put a lot of work and energy into it. >> tandy took to the stump to campaign for mary. >> she was interested in your case? >> yes. >> passionate about it? >> very. she was going to do everything she could. to bring justice for garrett. >> ten days before election day, mary knew she still had ground to make up if she had any hope of becoming the new d.a. >> and you needed something. >> you know, help from up above

that never hurts. >> she calls it her campaign miracle. >> i was in church one morning. i sat there and i said, you know, god, i need some help. >> and help came that same day when, according to tandy, the incumbent d.a., while out campaigning unwittingly walked up to her house. >> she had no idea that she was door belling the mother of the boy. >> she saw my sign in the yard and she was trying to change their minds and their opinions to vote for her. and then she realized where she was. and she left. >> tandy was incensed because she says the d.a. refused an invitation to speak with her. and instead just walked away. tandy took to facebook to vent. someone just paid a visit to my house that left me feeling like my family is very unimportant. >> how did it feel to hit send? >> good and a little scary. i'm not the type to rant on facebook. i generally stay away from the drama side of it. but i was angry. >> once i read that facebook

post, i thought, who does that? and i immediately private messaged tandy and i said this just makes me cry. and she said there is no crying. but that's hard to get past. >> tandy let mary repost the incident to her facebook friends. and from there, it went viral. >> it was the thing i had prayed for. >> a big news splash in the county. >> kind of a political stumble. you know, it makes nicole look like she didn't have a handle on things. if she didn't even know where the victim's mother lived, how can she find the victim's killer? >> on election night, the voters spoke. mary rain came from behind to win the d.a.'s job. 52% to 48. the two potsdam voters with perhaps the greatest rooting interest in the outcome had opposite reactions. >> i felt relief. i felt like something was finally going to happen. >> i was alarmed a little bit. not surprised. >> the new d.a., as promised,

immediately plunged into this confounding case. and she'd soon get lucky again and come up with something her predecessor never had. the prime suspect under oath but this time on video. coming up. nick hillary's hazy memory. >> i cannot recall. i cannot recall. i cannot recall. >> people remember why they broke up with their high school girlfriend. you can't remember why this relationship broke up? >> investigators wanted to know. did he have something to hide? >> can you describe for me your relationship with garrett up until the point in time where you and ms. cyrus broke up? do you know if garrett liked you? >> he never said he disliked me. >> when "dateline" continues. >> when "dateline" continues man: sneezes skip to the good part with alka-seltzer plus. now with 25% more concentrated power. nothing works faster for powerful cold relief. oh, what a relief it is! so fast!

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open as she'd promised in the campaign was the garrett phillips case. >> and i'm disheartened to see a folder, a lone folder, sitting in the office, which is about this thick. and i realize this is a murder investigation. it's deficient. >> but the file was about to get a huge addition. tom mortati was just weeks away from putting nick hillary under oath again in the civil lawsuit nick brought against police. >> i prayed, honestly, for some guidance and to -- to just to be able to do my job and to help in whatever way that i can. >> this time, lieutenant murray and his chief, who both happened to be defendants in the lawsuit, would be sitting in on the deposition. taking notes for their criminal investigation. and nick would be on video. >> how are you going to advance your story? what's the strategy? >> well, i want him to reaffirm all of the things that he's previously told me under oath. >> yes, that is my car. i'm driving it. >> right. i want him to be saying it on camera because the whole purpose of videotaping this had nothing

to do with the civil case at all. this is totally about this video is going to be played in front of a grand jury someday and a criminal jury someday. >> acting as de facto prosecutor, tom would be marry rain's best chance to get justice for garrett. tom, heard off camera, asked the questions. nick hillary's attorney, also off camera, was raising objections to protect and appeal. still, nick did go on to answer almost everything. >> at some point, did that relationship that you had with ms. cyrus end? >> objection to relevance. >> yes. >> but when the questions turned personal, nick seemed to get a case of amnesia. >> did you approach ms. cyrus and discuss with her the possibility of breaking up? >> i cannot recall. >> did ms. cyrus ever discuss with you her two boys' relationship with you as a basis for ending the relationship? >> i cannot recall. >> if she had told you that that's why she wanted to end the relationship, is that something you think you would have

remembered? >> i don't recall. >> people remember why they broke up with their high school girlfriend. you know, you can't remember why this relationship with a woman you lived with for seven or eight months broke up? >> tandy had said she broke up with nick because garrett hated his rules. >> this was the heart of the theory of motivation in this crime. >> exactly. >> that garrett is dead because nick hillary believed that he was an obstacle in the way of him ever being with tandy. that the boy had caused the breakup. >> right. it goes to motive. it goes to what's his underlying state of mind? >> can you describe for me your relationship with garrett up to the point in time where you and ms. cyrus broke up? >> objection relevance. >> we had a positive relationship. >> do you know if garrett liked you? >> he never said he disliked me. >> tom also probed nick about his behavior after tandy moved out. >> did you ever show up in ms. cyrus's apartment in the late evening hours letting yourself in on your own? >> no. >> if ms. cyrus has provided a

sworn deposition to the police indicating that that did, in fact, occur, was she lying when she gave that testimony? >> yes. >> police had a theory that the killer was injured in the escape and they claim they had video of nick limping at the soccer game the next night. when tom asked him about it, nick admitted he had injured his ankle. but said it happened before garrett was killed. >> mr. hillary, at any point prior to october 24th of 2011, did you suffer an injury to either one of your lower legs? >> objection relevance. >> yes. >> can you tell me the circumstances under which that occurred? >> i was moving furnitures around in my new apartment. >> approximately when did that occur? >> objection to relevance. >> i cannot recall. >> what kind of piece of furniture was it? >> objection to relevance. >> i cannot recall. >> did you trip over the piece of furniture? or drop something on you or something else? >> i cannot recall. >> he maintains nick's ankle injury had to connection to the crime or the crime scene.

>> if there were abrasions, we should have some dna that's linking mr. hillary to this. and we do not. >> as in the first deposition, tom asked nick to describe his route home on the day of garrett's murder. but this time, nick suggested that if he turned left, it would have been to visit his assistant coach. >> typically, if i make a left out the parking lot, i would be checking in with my assistant coach who lived on garden street, which is what i would normally do. >> is that what you did that afternoon? >> i cannot recall. >> you don't recall whether or not you stopped into mr. fairly's apartment on garden street that afternoon? >> that is correct. >> and i interrupt him. i say, well wait minute. you've already told me previously under oath a year and a half ago you didn't go anywhere else. you didn't make any stops anywhere on your way between leaving potsdam high school and going to your apartment that afternoon. do you recall giving that testimony at your 50h examination? that's what i said, that's what i said. >> if you turned left out of the parking lot to go home to your

apartment, what route did you take? >> objection. >> i cannot recall. >> when it was over, tom mortati had a gift for the new d.a., mary rain. more than six hours of nick on tape under oath. everything he said. everything he couldn't recall. so rare from a prime suspect who is not talking to police. >> i've always described this as the oj case backwards. you know, oj, you had a criminal trial and then there was a civil case. and here, it -- the exact opposite happened. >> you have regrets about going the civil route in the midst of this criminal case. >> i regret that mr. hillary was targeted due to his race. and i have no control over that. that is the only regret i have in this entire situation. >> d.a. rain, who had campaigned on getting justice for garrett, now believed she had enough evidence to take to a grand jury. but in a perplexing case that still had gaping holes, no dna,

no forensics, no eyewitnesses. this road to indictment would hit an unexpected pothole. coming up. a bold new strategy. >> you take samples of dna that previously would have been cast aside and attempt to make sense of them. >> prosecutors wonder. could nick's dna really be at the crime scene after all? when "dateline" continues. s. and when you buy a samsung note 10+ 5g, you get one free. plus you can experience it on the nation's largest 5g network. so do this. on that. with us. buy a samsung note 10+ 5g and get one free when you add a line.

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hi. your hour's top stories. militia men have withdrawn from the u.s. embassy in iraq. earlier, demonstrators tried to scale the walls. u.s. security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets. australia's military now have been deployed to help contain several massive wildfires. according to the associated press, the death toll stands at 17. tens of thousands have been forced to evacuate their homes. for now, back to "dateline."

>> reporter: may 2014. two and a half years after garrett phillips skated home for the last time, d.a. mary rain was finally putting the case before a grand jury. her key piece of evidence? >> if i make a left out the parking lot -- >> nick hillary's own words from his video deposition for his lawsuit against the potsdam police. >> the civil deposition was safe to say very important. >> extremely important. we couldn't have put him in the places where he put himself. >> on may 15th, nick hillary was indicted and arrested. >> 100% innocent. >> charged with second-degree murder, he was led away in handcuffs by lead investigator ma mark murray. >> no ruckus? no to do? >> no ruckus. no to do. just us walking nick into the station. >> nothing, however, has been ordinary in this extraordinary case. five months later, a judge threw

out that indictment on the grounds of prosecutorial misconduct. >> the judge in the case decide that mary rain acted inappropriately. that she injected opinion. that she obviously was not pursuing justice per se. but was pursuing nick. >> the judge read transcripts of the proceedings and determined that the d.a. bullied nick's daughter. an alibi witness. asking her the same question 13 times. >> cross-examination. there was no bullying. he is not there. he doesn't know my tone of voice. so he's surmising something that just didn't occur. >> mary rain had taken a legal round house blow to the chin. but she got up to fight again. >> there was no question you were going to refile it. >> absolutely no question at all. >> using the same evidence but toning it down, the d.a. won another indictment. and this one stuck. tandy felt, finally, vindicated. >> you believe nick hillary killed your boy. >> yes. >> for what reason, tandy?

>> for whatever happreason, he not like my son. he was a problem for him. he was in his way. >> meanwhile, nick hillary was gearing up for his biggest match ever. his very freedom was at stake. >> i have stated that since day one. i'm 100% innocent. >> nick's old friends and supporters had helped him make bail. although, in potsdam, he faced visible reminders of the strong feelings against him at every turn. >> lawn signs are everywhere in your town. justice for garrett. what do you think? they're everywhere. >> they're everywhere. i mean, for my own sanity, i have told myself justice for garrett sign is a good thing because i need justice for garrett. >> but justice of any kind was grinding slowly. and the case was attracting

attention. two legal heavyweights from new york city join nick's team. norman siegel, a civil rights lawyer. and earl ward, a celebrated criminal defense attorney. >> for people like that to be involved in the case shows you that the case is echoing beyond. >> is this shaping up as another test of racial justice in the criminal justice system? >> i think for the defense team, they don't believe that nick did this. and they think he's being railroaded and they feel that part of that has to do with his race. i think for mary rain and the prosecution team, that is the last thing that they want. they want this to be a murder trial. and they want this to be about a 12-year-old boy who lost his life at the hands of a killer. >> nick's supporters, including his former teammates, remained adamant that their friend was innocent. >> it's not possible. i mean, he's just such a caring and compassionate, loving person. he's been around kids his entire life. >> even on the worst day of his

life, something happened. he can't get there, huh? >> not a chance. >> these teammates are among countless friends and supporters behind the website truth for nick hillary. they dipped into their pockets and helped fund his defense. and also, paid his everyday bills once he was fired as soccer coach after his arrest. >> and you are now putting your money where your sentiments are. >> yeah. all these guys are. we've had hundreds of people on the donation site itself. contribute whatever they can. >> a trial date was set for september 2016. nick's teammates would stand by him in open court. >> so it's a championship season again. this is more than a ring, though. >> this is more than a ring. this is -- this is life and death. >> but first, both sides braced for a summertime fight that could tilt the balance. it was over dna. did it exist? was it nick's? and whatever it was, was it even admissible? no hair, tissue, or fingerprint belonging to nick was found at the crime scene. and testing on that tiny mix of

dna under one of garrett's fingernails had been inconclusive. >> the initial sampling of this, the initial testing of this, showed it could neither include nor exclude nick hillary. >> so with traditional dna chemistry not implicating nick, prosecutors opted for something revolutionary. a new kind of computer-driven dna analysis from a company in new zealand. >> whereby you take samples of dna that previously would have been cast aside because they were too small, they were too difficult to analyze properly. you take those samples and attempt to make sense of them using a computer algorithm. >> prosecutors said the new test came back a match for nick. not so fast, argued the defense. too unorthodox. too unreliable. >> after every reputable organization or testing sites told them, look, there's nothing connecting this guy, they went to a different continent. to new zealand to try to get something to stick. and it didn't stick.

>> in the end, the judge agreed with the defense. pretrial, he ruled that the prosecution could not use the new fangled dna analysis. a major setback. do you still have a case absent that science? >> we still can do it based on the other evidence that we have. >> to be determined, as they say. setting the stage for nick hillary to, at last, have his day in court. the trial finally was about to get underway. >> i think that it has taken so long to find justice for garrett as it were that this has become one of those stories that people will talk about for a very long time. regardless of how the verdict turns out. >> coming up. >> i will continue to fight until i don't have anything left inside of me to fight. >> nick and tandy, face to face. >> you're going to be going up to the stand. and inside the rail will be nick hilary. are you ready for that moment? >> i am. >> the showdown begins.

>> every single fact in this case points to him. >> i am 100% innocent. of the accusations that i'm facing. >> and you could've heard a pin drop in that courtroom. >> when "dateline" continues. n >> when "dateline" continues i'm not hungry! you're having one more bite! no! one more bite!

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>> reporter: five long years after garrett phillips was killed, the case of new york state versus nick hilary went to trial. nick and tandy, former lovers, would be together in the same courtroom. >> you're going to be going up to the stand. and inside the rail will be nick hilary. are you ready for that moment? >> i am. >> as tandy readied to face her ex-boyfriend in court, nick came face to face with the possibility of a conviction. and theyou'll be given another p suit, put in a van, and taken

away. >> i will fight and i will continue to fight until i don't have anything left inside of me to fight. just the same way i'm fighting right now. >> the trial was shaping up as a battle between seasoned, successful attorneys. the venerable team of earl ward and norman siegel for the defense. for the state, d.a. mary rain, as bill fitzpatrick, a renowned prosecutor from another county, to take the lead in court. >> you bring fitzpatrick for what reason? >> well, bill fitzpatrick has over 75 homicide prosecutions himself. he's been a prosecutor for over 24 years. and i've been a prosecutor for over two. >> almost immediately, a courtroom bombshell. ten jurors had been quickly selected. all white. when nick and his defense team made a shocking announcement. they were opting for a bench trial. letting judge felix catina decide nick's future. "new york times" reporter jessie mckinley. >> i think their calculation was

we're better off going with the legal mind. someone that knows the law. >> good morning, everybody. please be seated. mr. fitzpatrick, your opening statement. >> thank you very much. >> bill fitzpatrick laid out the state's case. painting a portrait of nick hilary as a scorned lover and a liar. he said nick's own words from his video deposition, given under oath, would nail him. >> the only reason he has to lie is because he was killing garrett. >> but longtime civil rights attorney siegel said nick is an innocent man squand could prove was home at the exact time garrett was being attacked. >> you can't be in two places at the same time. and nick hilary went home. >> it was all part of a rush to judgment by police, argued siegel. >> there's naturally a cry for justice. a cry for someone to be held accountable. but it must be the right person.

nick hilary is not the right person. >> after opening arguments, cameras were removed for all testimony. the prosecution called the victim's mother to the stand as its lead-off witness. tandy told the judge what she told us. that nick was unhappy about her breaking up the relationship. >> she was absolutely cool as a cucumber. she rarely let emotion get to her. she was very controlled. very competent witness. >> and she testified about the time, she said, nick let himself into her apartment uninvited. >> i was getting very annoyed with the fact that he wouldn't leave me alone. >> he obsessed about the breakup. >> next, the prosecution presented evidence that garrett died from a choke hold. a ghastly combination of strangulation and asphyxiation. rug burns on garrett's legs and marks on his neck pointed to a desperate struggle. it was a crime of passion, insisted fitzpatrick.

pointing to nick as the only person hostile to garrett. >> this is somebody that chokes the life with a high degree of hatred of a 12-year-old boy. >> he talks about an amicable breakup. >> it was not amicable at that point because he was not happy. tandy was amicable but he was not. he was very, very angry. >> prosecutors used video to try to prove their case. a one-two punch of nick hilary on camera. they played for the judge the security video of nick's honda in the high school parking lot as they saw it stalking garrett. >> that's the most important witness in this case. a neutral camera sitting on top of a school. >> the state also presented that critical video of nick under oath from his deposition in his civil case. >> something happens, which i will affectionately refer to as the gift that keeps on giving. that person is telling lies,

frankly, too numerous to catalog. >> one lie, according to the state, involved nick's damaged ankle. remember during his deposition, nick said he hurt it before garrett's death. >> mr. hilary, at any point prior to october 24th of 2011, did you suffer an injury to either one of your lower legs? >> objection to relevance. >> yes. >> can you tell me the circumstances under which that occurred? >> i was moving furnitures around in my new apartment. >> prosecutors attacked that story when the medical examiner took the stand. he commented on photos police took of nick's ankle just two days after garrett was killed. >> his ankle is swollen. it's got a very fresh cut. the doctor, m.e., said the cut is 24 to 48 hours old. >> a fresh cut, prosecutors theorized, caused by nick's desperate escape leap from garrett's second floor apartment. and then what prosecutors called another lie. the big one at the heart of their case. when nick talked about where he

went after driving out of the school parking lot. just minutes before garrett was choked to death. >> according to him, at least a dozen times under oath, i went straight home back to my daughter. straight home. >> you went straight home after you left the potsdam high school that afternoon, correct? >> yes. >> straight home would have meant turning right. but nick turned left just like garrett. prosecutors laid it out with dramatic flair. here was nick, under oath, caught in a lie confirmed by the video. >> mr. hilary doesn't turn right. he turns left. because he's hunting garrett phillips. >> maybe the prosecution's best evidence is this videotape. the journey to the field to look at the soccer team. >> yeah. prosecution says it's their most conclusive piece of evidence. >> rainy day in potsdam.

the last few minutes of garrett's life. >> and when they were playing that tape, which is about five minutes long, in that courtroom, you could have heard a pin drop. >> the state argued that when nick wasn't lying, he had very suspicious lapses in memory about the day garrett was killed. a convenient forgetfulness, said prosecutors, highlighted by three simple words. >> i cannot recall. i cannot recall. i cannot recall. >> watch him as he answers i cannot recall without even the slightest reflection or effort to try to recall. >> if you start to take these things in sum, in total, that you have a guy who is not telling the truth. you have a guy that does not have an ironclad alibi. >> and the proof is beyond compelling. it approaches mathematical certainty. every single fact in this case points to him. and at some point, coincidences stop being coincidences and they start being proof of guilt. >> it was a circumstantial case. but prosecutors were confident. now, the defense would get its turn.

and they would aggressively make the case in court that nick hilary had been making for himself from day one. >> i'm 100% innocent of the accusations that i'm facing. coming up. >> you searched his house twice. what did you find? nothing? you searched his office. what did you find? nothing. >> no evidence, no case? >> this theory is simply not credible on its face. >> the defense comes on strong. >> nick hilary is not a murderer. when "dateline" continues. ". frequent heartburn waking him up. now that dream is a reality. nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts for all-day, all-night protection. can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn? i had no idea that my grandfatherfe changing moment for me. was a federal judge in guatemala. he was an advocate for the people... a voice for the voiceless. bring your family history to life like never before.

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>> reporter: nick hilary's high-powered legal team began their defense by aggressively cross examining the prosecution's witnesses. starting with tandy cyrus. the defense now acknowledged nick had, in fact, visited tandy twice in her new apartment. but they got tandy to admit those visits weren't so scary after all.

>> those two episodes, prosecutors tried to portray as some type of nefarious behavior on nick's part. but tandy made it clear that they -- that these episodes were nothing more than an inconvenience. she testified that on one occasion they slept together. >> the defense's argument, tandy's breakup with nick was hardly the drama she made it out to be. >> they tried to portray it as if nick was this, you know, demon. this -- this -- this awful person who snuck into this woman's bedroom, as i said on my summation, like something out of a horror movie. and hovered above her in the dark as if he was about to do something, you know, evil. when during cross-examination, it came out that that wasn't the case. >> and tandy and other family members also conceded that nick had never laid a hand on garrett while they lived together. >> there was nothing between the two that could be considered hatred. nothing between the two that

would lead, or could lead, to murder. >> they have kind of picked away at the prosecution's witnesses enough, it would seem, for them to try to create reasonable doubt. which is all they want to do. that's the game. >> reasonable doubt. >> reasonable doubt wins their case. >> nick hilary is not a murderer. he is not a violent man. violence is inconsistent with who he is. and what he has done in his life. >> now, the defense started to paint a different picture of nick hilary. not the man accused of a heinous crime but the army vet. adored soccer captain and loving father, who could never ever harm a 12-year-old, let alone kill him. >> he's been around kids his entire life. i've seen him interact with 12-year-olds constantly. >> brendan murphy, the goalie on nick's championship soccer team, was one of the character witnesses who testified about the nick he knew. >> he was always there to pick me up and never blame me.

and never, you know, yelled at me or made me feel bad about letting a goal in. >> and his lawyers dismiss the prosecution's suggested motive that he killed for revenge. >> this theory is simply not credible on its face. >> there has always been this question as to what this would possibly gain for him? what would be the upside of hurting this kid? >> the defense's biggest point was very simple. there was no physical evidence. none linking nick hilary to the crime. >> it was no hair. there were no fibers. there was no fingerprints. linking nick to this crime. >> and there was testimony from investigators about those unknown fingerprints that were found around that pushed out window screen. >> you have to ask yourself, whose print was on that window? whose print was on the window that that perpetrator climbed out of to escape the building?

again, it wasn't nick hilary's. >> in an unusual move, the defense called to the stand mark murray, the lead cop on the case. getting him to admit his nearly five-year investigation had failed to turn up any physical evidence against nick in any place. >> brought him forward and said you searched his house twice. what did you find? nothing. you searched his car. what did you find? nothing. you searched his office two times. what did you find? nothing. >> which made it clear, the defense argued, that police had tunnel vision. starting with the night of the murder when lieutenant murray and two state cops came to nick's house. >> within hours, as you have heard, i was targeted. would it be fair to say there was a rush to judgment? yes. >> i cannot recall. >> the most damning prosecution evidence against nick had been those videotapes. first, his deposition in the civil suit. >> i cannot recall. >> the defense argued that his inability to answer questions then was just a memory lapse.

nothing more. >> the statements he made at that deposition were made 27 months after the death of garrett phillips. it is true he often said i can't recall. but does that make him a murderer? >> and as for the state's center piece evidence, that security camera video where nick appeared to follow garrett out of the high school parking lot. it didn't actually show much of anything, argued the defense. >> the prosecution wants you to make much of this video. but the prosecution wants you to jump to conclusions. >> camera doesn't record the end of this. >> yeah. there is no videotape that exists anywhere that shows nick hilary pulling up to 100 market street, getting out of his car, and walking up those stairs. >> nick's assertion that he went to his home and not garrett's was bolstered at trial by two alibi witnesses. >> the focus was to show that nick was somewhere else from the

period of 5:00 to at least 5:23 and have two alibi witnesses that would hold up. >> the first was assistant soccer coach ian fairly. he testified that nick stopped t 20 minutes after garrett was attacked according to police estimates. >> did fairly stick to his guns to the same story he's told over and over? >> absolutely. and he said that that afternoon when nick hillary walked in that apartment, he wasn't limping, he wasn't sweating, he didn't seem upset. he just seemed like the same old guy. >> but it was nick's daughter whose testimony would be make or break. she testified he was with her at their house in the critical time period of 5:00 to 5:15 p.m., which is the same time young garrett was losing that struggle for his life. >> judge, there is nothing about shawna k.'s testimony that was false. she is a strong witness, and she

is reasonable doubt. >> prosecutor bill fitzpatrick went after nick's daughter with gusto and got her to admit she didn't remember very much else about that day except for the time her dad was home. >> it was all come down to whether or not the judge believes whether nick was where he said he was. >> which is the gamble nick had taken when he waived a jury trial. his fate would soon be in the hands of one man, judge catina would decide. coming up. >> i'm never going to have my son back. >> my family and i have been living underneath this cloud. >> we are talking murder. we are talking 25 years to life. >> the judge's verdict, what would it be? when "dateline" continues. when it comes to using data, everyone is different.

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this is not shoplifting. this is a very serious charge. ♪ >> the awful question before the court was this. had nick hillary choked the life out of a 12-year-old boy? >> he's been lying about it ever since. >> lead prosecutor bill fitzpatrick had thundered outrage during his closing argument, channelling the emotion of tandy and her family. >> garrett phillips wasn't killed by someone passing through town who hates little boys. he was killed by nick hillary. he wanted to be 12 years old and not be dictated to. and that cost him his life. >> convicting someone -- >> the defense team had spent three weeks arguing there was simply no evidence against nick. >> i know, judge, that you'll get it right. i know, judge, that after considering all the evidence in this case, you will find mr. hillary not guilty. >> the defense had wagered an

unusual high-stakes gamble, bypassing a jury and asking the judge to decide. judge and jury and one man, felix patino. a week went by with no decision, an excruciating wait for both sides. then the judge called everyone back to the courthouse to hear his verdict. for 42-year-old nick hillary and his unwavering supporters, it had been a five long years to clear his name. >> we have been here since day one, supported nick. i'm not going to stop standing by him now. >> for tandy cyrus cocooned in a huddle of supportive friends and family, the agonizing wait with all its fits and starts was finally over. the moment was at hand. as to the charge of murder in the second degree as charged in

the indictment, the defendant oral nicholas hillary is found not guy. >> not guilty, a quick burst of applause and a cry from nick's side of the room. >> thank you, jesus. >> garrett's uncle shouted out in nick's direction "karma will get you." tandy, a bundle of nerves while waiting for the verdict was inconsolable. d.a. mary said she was devastated and spoke of tandy's pain. >> i just simply express my condolences, and that was about it. and she said i know you guys tried. >> tom, the attorney for the police addressed the issue of race, which had been hanging over the case from the start. >> race had nothing to do with this investigation. and if any of you actually had an opportunity to meet with some of the investigators involved, you'd know that. but i can tell you affirmatively that race had nothing to do with

this from the get-go. >> the defense attorney. >> the family still grieves so we are not oblivious to that. but nick hillary did not kill garrett phillips. nick hillary is an innocent man. >> just a few hours after the verdict, nick told us he felt a sense of relief. but would feel the scars of his ordeal for years to come. >> i am very happy. don't get me wrong. but for five years, my family and i have been living underneath this cloud, and the focus right now is to start putting this in the rear view mirror. >> maybe the people will try too to put this case behind them. but it won't be easy. nick's civil suit against the police is still pending. and small towns don't pivot so easily to normal after an epic drama like this one. >> this case has had a lot of the great elements of fiction, and at the heart of it you have

this terrible, terrible tragedy, which is the death of a child. >> and that raw hurt never goes away, not to a mother with a broken heart. >> i have pictures in my head that will never go away. i had to watch as people tried to resuscitate my son and failed. i'm never going to have my son back. >> had he lived, had he gotten extra years, what do you think he would have been? >> still the fun loving kid that he was and joking and teasing. and i think he would be looking at a very bright future somewhere as an athlete. >> but the boy is buried now with the artifacts of his brief childhood, including that rip

stick. garrett exits forever frame left. the mystery surrounding his killing still abides. ♪ she has a magnetic quality, dark, raven hair, the intense broadi bro brooding look to her. it's just mayhem. >> it's the story binge watched around the world. the netflix series "evil genius." >> one of the most diabolical cases in criminal history. >> a bank robbery and bomb plot. >> this death trap was locked around his neck. >> horrifying. >> turned deadly mystery. >> the notes say "we are following you." >> it seemed like someone playin