CBS 6 Albany
January 24, 2015
A new murder indictment has been issued in the case of a former college soccer coach charged with killing a 12-year-old northern New York boy four years ago.
Local media report that the second indictment procured by St. Lawrence County District Attorney Mary Rain says Oral “Nick” Hillary strangled and suffocated Garrett Phillips in October 2011 inside the boy’s home in Potsdam.
The first indictment on second-degree murder charges came last May but was later dismissed by a county judge who criticized the DA for what he described as bullying and prejudicial questions of grand jury witnesses.
Rain said the same evidence ruled sufficient by the court was presented again to a grand jury last week. Hillary, a former coach at Clarkson University in Potsdam, had pleaded not guilty in the previous case. He remains free on bond.