The powerful documentary has really struck a chord with viewers. Check it out.
Given the ever-growing interest in the documentary genre and true crime, it made perfect sense for Sky to launch a dedicated channel for true crime. However, viewers may have been forgiven for wondering if there was enough material to justify its existence.
Well, Sky Crime has made a very solid start after airing the acclaimed I Love You, Now Die, and their most recent feature Who Killed Garrett Phillips? has really left its mark on those who watched it too.
In terms of tone and style, the two-part series is very close to Making A Murderer with perversion of justice, racial bias, and questionable policing all coming to the fore.
On 24 October, 2011, 12-year-old Garrett Phillips was murdered at his home in Potsdam, a small town in upstate New York.
Police quickly zeroed in on a suspect for this unthinkable crime: Oral “Nick” Hillary, an African-American man that was living in a mostly white community.
Hillary was a football coach at Clarkson University and the ex-boyfriend of Garrett’s mother, Tandy Cyrus.
Clip via HBO
The two-part documentary examines the case from the initial investigation through the arrest and numerous legal twists and turns that culminated in Hillary’s trial for murder five years after the crime. In doing so, the documentary raises troubling questions of racial bias and issues surrounding policing and the criminal justice system.
The two-episodes will chronicle the five years following the murder, as Garrett’s grief-stricken family and community relentlessly seek justice, and Hillary desperately fights to prove his innocence.
Two-time Academy Award-nominee and Emmy-winner Liz Garbus directs the documentary and in terms of its aesthetic approach, Who Killed Garrett Phillips? features in-depth interviews with a variety of people linked to the case, as well as extensive police audio and video recordings and courtroom footage.
For anyone that missed the show when it was originally aired, part one of Who Killed Garrett Phillips? will be repeated on Sky Crime on 2 November at 22:15 – the second episode is shown immediately after at 23:55.
We highly recommend it, as do these viewers who were deeply moved by it.
https://twitter.com/billysubway/status/1187853771008819206
Watching Who Killed Garrett Phillips & I am bursting with rage at how corrupt small town police are in America. The racism is stomach churning. #whokilledgarrettphillips
— Corkscrew (@Amerieod) October 20, 2019
If you like true crime I recommend Who Killed Garrett Phillips? Absolutely speechless at how law enforcement handled the whole thing.
— Lisa (@lisadunn1978) October 20, 2019
'Who killed Garrett Phillips?' was so intense even right up until the last minutes of the programme.
— Stuart (@stuart_thfc) October 27, 2019
https://twitter.com/Cookie_b4/status/1188137309402812416
Why is this who killed Garrett Phillips just like when they see us. This poor guy did nothing. No evidence. Nothing. It was definitely John Jones. Snakey.
— Jen (@jenhunt_) October 20, 2019
The ‘who killed Garrett Phillips documentary ‘ is just the most corrupt thing I have ever watched
— Sarah O'Leary (@SarahOL37636434) October 21, 2019
Who Killed Garrett Phillips was v good. Maddening, but good. A good HBO true crime murder mystery in the same vein as Making a Murderer, if you’re into that sort of thing.
— Sarah Buhr Davis (@sarahbuhr) July 28, 2019
The show is also available to watch on NOW TV until 6 December as part of their Entertainment Pass offer.
