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Clarkson coach questioned in Potsdam boy's murder threatens village with lawsuit

Posted 4/3/12

By CRAIG FRELICH POTSDAM – A Clarkson University soccer coach who was prominently featured in some media reports after being questioned by police in the murder of a Potsdam boy last October is …

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Clarkson coach questioned in Potsdam boy's murder threatens village with lawsuit

Posted

By CRAIG FRELICH

POTSDAM – A Clarkson University soccer coach who was prominently featured in some media reports after being questioned by police in the murder of a Potsdam boy last October is warning the village he might sue them for false arrest, emotional distress and defamation.

Oral Nicholas Hillary, who has not been charged, sent a “notice of claim and notice of intention to commence an action thereon” to the village, signed and notarized Jan. 20 and received Jan. 23. It claims the village is responsible for “injuries and damages sustained by me” including false arrest, illegal detention, illegal search and seizure, emotional distress, and defamation.

Hillary was one of many people questioned in the death Oct. 24 of 12-year-old Garrett Phillips, which was ruled a homicide based in part on autopsy results performed by a forensic pathologist in Albany, according to police.

Hillary surfaced in connection with the case when the Watertown Daily Times named him in an Oct. 27 story as one of those questioned in the case, and accompanied their story with a photo of Hillary, a St. Lawrence University graduate and coach of Clarkson University’s men’s soccer team.

The newspaper article quoted Potsdam Police Chief Edward Tischler as saying, “Right now, we have no suspects or persons of interest.” The story also said that Hillary “had been dating the boy’s mother.”

A story in the Times the next day by St. Lawrence County Editor Jeffery Savitskie quoted Hillary’s attorney, ManI Tafari, also a St. Lawrence University graduate, as saying “the direction of this investigation has made him a de facto suspect.”

“Mr. Tafari said he has heard complaints from people in the community that the coverage focusing on Mr. Hillary and not police interviews with other ex-boyfriends of the boy’s mother, Tandy L. Cyrus, was because his client is black,” Savitskie wrote.

The notice of claim sent to the village offices is a declaration of the possibility of a lawsuit. It is a first step in the process, and is not the filing of an actual suit.

A notice of claim “preserves the right to go forward with a suit,” and has to be presented within 90 days of the claimed damage, according to a local attorney not associated with any of the parties. It also allows for the option of obtaining depositions to examine the case.

If a suit is to go forward, it must be filed with the appropriate court within one year and 90 days from the date of the injury or damage. This notice of claim says it stems from actions by the village police “on or about October 26, 2011, and continues to this date.” The document was logged in at the village offices on Jan. 23.

Potsdam Village Administrator David Fenton said last week that the village had made no response to the threat of a suit but had turned the matter over to their insurance carrier.

Potsdam Police Lt. Mark Murray, when asked about the status of the case, said “it continues to be an ongoing multi-agency investigation,” and would say no more.

The man who had been leading the Potsdam Police Department, Chief Edward Tischler, retired as of March 31 to pursue a career in the private sector. Former Sgt. Kevin Bates was selected as the new chief.

At the time of the murder, neighbors called police and reported hearing a loud noise and moaning coming from the apartment that afternoon. Phillips was found unconscious and alone in the apartment at 100 Market St. where he lived with his mother.

He was taken by the Potsdam Volunteer Rescue Squad to Canton-Potsdam Hospital, but efforts there to save him were unsuccessful.

The investigation was in full swing as hundreds of Garrett’s fellow students along with teachers and staff held a memorial at A.A. Kingston Middle School the next day to honor the life of the well-liked sixth grader.

The Potsdam Police Department has been aided in the investigation by New York State Police and their forensic laboratory, and by the office of St. Lawrence County District Attorney Nicole Duvé.

Police have made no arrests, named no suspects, nor would they name any “persons of interest.”

As police waited for reports from the crime lab, hopes in the community for an arrest in the case rose, but the results apparently didn’t provide sufficient evidence to charge anyone.