The Murder of Brittney Gregory

(originally published in the New York Daily News July 30, 2004)

BY NANCY DILLON in Brick, N.J.
and BILL HUTCHINSON in New York
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

The Royal blue prom dress a New Jersey teen wore on one of the happiest nights in her life will be on display one last time in one of the saddest times for her grieving family.

Brittney Gregory, 16, will be laid to rest in a mausoleum clad in the midriff-baring outfit she wore to her school dance, said her sister Bobbiejoe Gregory, 18.

The heartbroken sister said her family will honor an oddly prescient wish the slain honor student recently made - that she not be buried.

She said the family also plans to place Brittney's favorite SpongeBob SquarePants toy in her casket along with a blue toy Ninja motorcycle.

"She always said she wanted a blue Ninja when she turned 18," Gregory told the Daily News.

A day after the blond, blue-eyed Brick, N.J., teenager was positively identified, her family was making arrangements for a funeral tentatively set for Sunday.

Cops say Brittney was slain by Jack Fuller, 38, the father of her good friend Cassie Fuller.

She had been missing since July 11 when her nude body was found Tuesday in a hastily dug, 2-foot-deep grave in a wooded area 2 miles from her father's home.

Fuller has refused to cooperate with police since his arrest July 18.

Brittney's mother, Debra Gregory, has told reporters police say her daughter suffered a blow to the head, and that her death was swift.

But yesterday, authorities said it was more likely that Brittney was strangled or suffocated before she was buried.

"I'm not going to deny that there was trauma to her head, but that was not the cause of death," said Ocean County Executive Assistant Prosecutor Robert Gasser.

"The body had decomposed over two weeks, and the medical examiner has said he can't rule out strangulation or suffocation," Gasser said. "Tests are continuing in those areas."

Detectives are also awaiting the results of tests to determine if she was raped.

Brittney was last seen riding in Fuller's car the day she disappeared, witnesses have told cops.

Fuller, an ex-con with a history of drug abuse, also was recorded making incriminating statements to a drug dealer, who agreed to wear a wire for police.

Although Brittney's family is seething at Fuller, members expressed compassion for his daughter. Bobbiejoe Gregory said Cassie Fuller should not feel guilty about what her father did.

"There is anger for Jack, but none for his daughter," Gregory said. "She's still part of our family."

(published on Philly Burbs 07-30-2004. Credit Associated Press)

BRICK TOWNSHIP, N.J. - A 16-year-old girl whose body was found buried in a shallow grave suffered head injuries but investigators do not know yet how she died.

Ocean County Prosecutor Thomas F. Kelaher said Brittney Gregory's head injuries were not fatal. The teen may have been suffocated, although the autopsy results are pending, he said.

"I just don't know for sure," Kelaher told the newspaper for Friday's editions. "It's going to be up to the medical people."

The 16-year-old's mother had told the Asbury Park Press on Wednesday that authorities told her that her daughter suffered "blunt-force trauma to her head."

Gregory's body was found Tuesday in a grave beneath a power line transmission tower in Lakewood, about two miles from her house.

Gregory, a straight-A student at Brick Memorial High School, disappeared July 11. Officials have not said how she died, where or when.

Jack Fuller, 38, of Howell Township, has been charged with murder in Gregory's death. He is being held on $1 million bail.

Fuller, who has a history of drug and theft-related arrests and was released from prison in April 2003, has not cooperated with authorities.

Prosecutors have not said what evidence led them to accuse him.

At the site where Gregory's body was found, people have left flowers, teddy bears and stuffed animals.

"You just want to cry," Gina Hall, 32, of Toms River, told the Asbury Park Press. "Your heart breaks for the family."

Family members were preparing for a Sunday memorial service and then a private funeral on Monday.

Debra Gregory said she was still awaiting word about whether her imprisoned son - who once was engaged to the daughter of the man charged with killing Brittney Gregory - would be allowed to serve as a pallbearer at the funeral.

William B. Gregory, 23, is serving 16 months in a youth correctional facility in Hamilton. He reached a plea deal after being charged with conspiring to rob a man in 2003.

(originally published by CBS 3 Philadelphia July 29, 2004. Credit Associated Press)

BRICK, N.J. (AP) The mother of an Ocean County teen whose body was found buried in a shallow grave says her daughter died quickly after suffering a blow to the head, according to a published report.

Debra Gregory also said she is pushing for officials to allow her imprisoned son - who once was engaged to the daughter of the man charged with killing Brittney Gregory - to serve as a pallbearer at the funeral.

"I know it is against the rules, but it is not for me, it is not for him, it is for his sister who is a victim," Debra Gregory told the Asbury Park Press for Thursday's editions.

The body of Brittney Gregory, 16, was found Tuesday in a grave beneath a power line transmission tower in Lakewood, about two miles from her house.

Gregory, a straight-A student at Brick Memorial High School, disappeared July 11. Officials have not said how she died, where or when.

Debra Gregory told the newspaper her daughter suffered blunt-force trauma to her head. "They told me she went quick," Debra Gregory said.

Jack Fuller, 38, of Howell Township, has been charged with murder in Gregory's death. He is being held on $1 million bail.

Fuller, who has a history of drug and theft-related arrests and was released from prison in April 2003, has not cooperated with authorities.

Prosecutors have not said what evidence led them to accuse him.

Debra Gregory said her son, William, who was the half-brother of the victim, is required to be handcuffed and shackled at Brittney Gregory's funeral, and to approach her casket alone.

"This is important. This was his baby sister. We are pleading to please let him come home and carry his sister," Debra Gregory said.

William B. Gregory, 23, is serving 16 months in a youth correctional facility in Hamilton. He reached a plea deal after being charged with conspiring to rob a man in 2003.

An officer at the facility told the newspaper that inmates attends funerals under maximum custody, but that Gregory's request had not yet been made.

William Gregory was engaged at one point to Fuller's daughter, Cassandra, according to Debra Gregory.

While Brittney and William had different fathers, they never considered themselves half-brother and half-sister, Debra Gregory said.

"I never let them say that. They are brothers and sisters, that is it," Debra Gregory said.

(orginally published by CBS 3 Philadelphia. Credit Associated Press)

BRICK, N.J. (AP) The body of 16-year-old Brittney Gregory has been positively identified, but prosecutors aren't saying how she died, where or when.

Gregory, a straight-A student at Brick Memorial High School, disappeared July 11. Her naked body was found buried in a shallow grave beneath a power line transmission tower in Lakewood, about two miles from her house.

An autopsy by Dr. Hydow Park concluded that Gregory was killed before she was buried, but it did not establish a time of death, Ocean County Prosecutor Thomas F. Kelaher said Wednesday.

It wasn't immediately known if she had been sexually assaulted; the result of tests to determine that will not be known for several weeks, Kelaher said.

The body was identified using fingerprints and dental records reviewed by forensic odontologist Dr. Haskell Askin.

No cause of death was given, but Kelaher said in a prepared statement that the body showed no signs of mutilation.

Executive Assistant Prosecutor Robert Gasser, Kelaher's spokesman, said investigators cannot rule out suffocation or strangulation. There were no gunshot or stab wounds, Gasser said.

Investigators returned Wednesday to the site where the body was found to look for clothing or any other evidence that might be nearby.

Jack Fuller, 38, of Howell Township, has been charged with murder in Gregory's death. Fuller, an ex-convict who was a friend of Gregory's father, Joe Dunn, is being held on $1 million bail.

Fuller, who has a history of drug and theft-related arrests and was released from prison in April 2003, has not cooperated with authorities. He is being held on $1 million bail.

Prosecutors have not said what evidence led them to accuse him.

But Gasser said, "We are absolutely convinced that he's the guy who did it."

He said investigators are still in the process of interviewing people who might have "some relevant knowledge to the case."

It was not clear whether Fuller has retained a lawyer. The prosecutor's office said it has received no letter of representation.

Gregory's body was found Tuesday by officers using search dogs in a wooded area off Ridge Avenue in Lakewood. At the time, authorities said it was probably Gregory's.

She was last heard from on July 11 when she called her mother from her father's house and said she wanted a ride to her boyfriend's home.

(originally published by FoxNews July 28, 2004. Credit Associated Press)

TOMS RIVER, N.J. — A body unearthed from a shallow grave was confirmed to be that of a 16-year-old girl believed murdered by a family acquaintance, authorities said Wednesday.

The unclothed body was found Tuesday buried in a wooded area about two miles from Brittney Gregory's (search) house in central New Jersey, Ocean County prosecutor Thomas F. Kelaher said. The discovery was made by officers with search dogs.

"It bothered me," said Department of Corrections Officer Joseph Nicholas, who took part in the search Tuesday though it was his day off. "That is why we were there."

Gregory, of Brick Township (search), was last heard from July 11 when she called her mother from her father's house, where she lived, and said she wanted a ride to her boyfriend's home.

Jack Fuller (search), 38, a friend of Brittney's father, has been charged with murder and is jailed on $1 million bail. Fuller has a history of drug and theft-related arrests and was released from prison in April 2003.

Investigators have not said why they believe Fuller was involved or why they had been searching the marshy wooded area since July 18. It was not immediately clear whether Fuller had an attorney.

The body was identified using fingerprints and dental records. An autopsy showed that Gregory was killed before she was buried, but did not establish a time of death, Kelaher said in a statement Wednesday. Tests were pending to determine whether the girl had been sexually assaulted, he said.

Kelaher's statement did not give a cause of death, and a spokesman for Kelaher did not immediately return phone calls seeking more information.

A decision whether to seek the death penalty against Fuller had not been made, the prosecutor said.

(originally published in the Brick Township Bulletin July 28, 2004)

Windward Beach vigil remembers 16-year-old Brittney Gregory
BY KARL VILACOBA and JOYCE BLAY
Staff Writers

Ocean County Prosecutor Thomas F. Kelaher announced at a press conference in Toms River Tuesday that the body of a young girl had been found in Lakewood that morning.

Pending additional identification, the body is believed to be Brittney Gregory, 16, who has been missing from her Brick Township home since July 11. An autopsy was scheduled for Tuesday evening.

Evidence found at the scene indicated it was Brittney, according to a press release from the Prosecutor’s Office.

The body was found in the Greenville section of Lakewood near the Metedeconk River boundary separating Monmouth and Ocean counties. The site is about 2 miles from Brittney’s home.

Three volunteer police officers canvassing a wooded area off Ridge and Brook roads made the discovery, the prosecutor said, adding that searchers have been in this area for about two weeks.

"I guess perseverance paid off," he said.

The prosecutor said law enforcement authorities had more than ample evidence to establish probable cause and arrest Jack Fuller Jr., 38, of Howell, and charge him with first-degree murder. Fuller has been in custody since July 18. Kelaher said there is no known motive for the crime.

He said it is believed that Fuller knew the area where the body was found. The body was buried about 2 feet deep.

Kelaher credited many different law enforcement personnel with aiding the search, but said that without the use of canines trained to search for bodies, the girl’s body may not have been found.

Kelaher said no decision on whether to seek the death penalty in the case against Fuller has been made.

On Sunday, two weeks to the hour after her disappearance, several hundred people gathered at a somber twilight prayer vigil for 16-year-old Brittney Gregory.

Shortly after 8:30 p.m., Brittney’s family and closest friends surged through the throngs at Windward Beach Park hoisting a large sign that read, "In Our Hearts Forever," a photo of the teen’s smiling face inside a heart. At the center of the group, Brittney’s teary-eyed mother Debra paused, scanned the crowd, and remarked, "There’s so many people."

At the vigil, classmates of Brittney’s wore shirts adorned with her photo, which read "We Love and Miss You" on the front, and "Rest in Peace — You Are a Beautiful Angel" on the back.

Judging by the number of cars parked at the Windward Beach lots, township officials estimated as many as 2,000 could have been on hand to mourn what Mayor Joseph Scarpelli said was the worst tragedy he could recall related to a criminal act in Brick. Those in attendance gathered around the "Angel in Anguish" statue — dedicated to those lost in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks — where they prayed, sang "Amazing Grace," and lighted candles in the teen’s honor.

"The ‘Angel in Anguish’ is crying again tonight," Scarpelli said after the ceremony. "Brick Township has experienced some severe losses, such as 9/11 and (slain N.J. Army National Guard) Spc. Christopher Duffy. This community has come together tonight and shed a tear for its latest angel, Brittney."

Gathered around a microphone at the center of the monument area, Brittney’s family members said few words but thanked the community for its outpouring of support.

"I have no idea what to say tonight except thank you all," said Brittney’s sister, BobbiJoe Dunn.

Bryana Gregory read a poem that was written as if it were her sister’s words to all those who were in sorrow. The sound of the audience’s sobs permeated the poem as she read verses like "When tomorrow starts without me, please try to understand, that an angel came and called my name and took me by the hand."

Capt. Dan Schafer, the Brick Police Department’s chaplain, helped arrange the interfaith prayer service and invited grief counselors to assist mourners, Scarpelli said. Schafer prayed the family would receive the strength necessary to withstand the ordeal.

The vigil also drew people who didn’t know Brittney or her family or live in Brick, but were captivated by the tragic story. One of them was Point Pleasant’s Leo Bryce, 28, who said the situation confronted him with the dreadful thought of losing his 6-year-old son.

"It makes you wake up and start thinking. I talk to my son all of the time, and I’m afraid to let him out because I don’t know what’s going to happen," Bryce said. "You never think that it can happen around here. My heart goes out to the family."

Brittney’s last contact with family members came around 8:30 p.m. July 11, when she contacted her mother from her father’s Greenwood Loop Road, Brick, home. According to her mother, Brittney called about getting a ride to see her boyfriend.

Debra Gregory said her daughter was an outstanding student who spent her free time at the library and who aspired to become a forensic scientist.

In the days after her disappearance, fliers with Brittney’s face were posted in public places throughout the area, asking anyone with information to call police or her mother. Her image and description was also added to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children Web site.

On July 18, police arrested Fuller, 38, who appeared before Judge James Citta in Ocean County Superior Court the next day. Fuller is being held in Ocean County jail in lieu of $1 million bail.

Debra Gregory recently described Fuller as a longtime family acquaintance whose daughter was close friends with some of Brittney’s siblings.

Authorities initially disclosed little information about how the investigation led to Fuller, who has served two prison terms for burglary, theft and other offenses since 2000.

In the days following Fuller’s arrest, investigators and volunteers from throughout Monmouth and Ocean counties searched a wooded area in the vicinity of Ocean County Park, Lakewood, for Brittney’s remains. Last week, that search was expanded into the southern Howell area where Fuller lived, as well as the outskirts of Allaire State Park. Officials said the search was temporarily halted last weekend because of inclement weather.

(originally published by WABC 7 New York July 27, 2004)

(Toms River-WABC, July 27, 2004) — She was missing for more than two weeks, and cops were so certain she'd been murdered they've already charged a family friend with the crime.

But finally, police believe they have found the body of 16-year-old Brittney Gregory.

Jen Maxfield is in Toms River with details.

The body believed to be that of the 16-year-old honor student was found buried in a shallow grave, in a remote and wooded area off of Ridge Avenue in Lakewood. Investigators had been searching the area for more than a week, based on reports that murder suspect Jack Fuller used to camp out in the vicinity.

Nothing in that grave gave any clues as to how Brittney may have been killed. An autopsy scheduled for Tuesday night is expected to confirm that the body is that of Brittney Gregory.

Thomas Kelaher, Ocean County Prosecutor: "It was underneath a power line and near a dirt road. So it was probably a convenient place for him to do what he did."

More than 100 people a day had searched the heavily forested area on the Monmouth/Ocean County border. Brittney's grave site was discovered on Tuesday morning by three New Jersey K-9 officers who had brought their dogs to the search sites on their days off to help.

Joseph Nicholas, NJ Corrections Officer: "If the man was off the clock he would have been here anyway. That's how much it bothered us."

Thomas Kelaher: "It's a mix of sand, and dirt, and weeds, and scrub, and so if it wasn't for the dogs we may not have been able to discover it."

Brittney Gregory was last heard from on July 11 when she told her parents she needed a ride to her boyfriend's house. Prosecutors say they have a witness that saw Brittney in Jack Fuller's car on the night she disappeared. He was no stranger to her -- Fuller's daughter is Brittney's sister's best friend.

Fuller was charged with first-degree murder eight days ago, before Brittney's body was found. He did not assist police in the search.

Thomas Kelaher: "It's a massive undertaking, and we just relied on what we thought would be good common sense. Now, he could have gone 10 miles away, he could have gone 15 miles away, all of those things could have happened. He didn't."

Friends of her family, who had long been braced for this, were resigned. But sought what comforting thoughts they could.

Denette Oryniak, Family Friend: "Dead, but -- now she can be put to rest. She's an angel now."

(originally posted on WABC 7 New York July 27, 2004)

(Toms River-WABC, July 27, 2004) - She was missing for more than two weeks, and cops were so certain she'd been murdered they've already charged a family friend with the crime.

(originally published on FoxNews July 27, 2004. Credit Associated Press)

TOMS RIVER, N.J. — A body believed to be that of a 16-year-old girl missing for two weeks was found Tuesday in a shallow grave in a wooded area, law enforcement officials said.

The body is "in all likelihood" that of Brittney Gregory (search), Ocean County Prosecutor Thomas F. Kelaher (search) said. A family acquaintance has been charged in her slaying.

Three officers, including two working on their day off, made the discovery with the help of search dogs.

"It bothered me," said Department of Corrections Officer Joseph Nicholas, one of the men searching on his day off. "That is why we were there."

Brittney, of Brick Township, was last heard from on July 11 when she called her mother from her father's house, where she lived, and said she wanted a ride to her boyfriend's home.

Jack Fuller (search), 38, a friend of Brittney's father, already had been charged with her murder. Fuller has a history of drug and theft-related arrests and was released from prison in April 2003. He is jailed on $1 million bail.

The prosecutor said the 2-foot-deep grave was about two miles from Gregory's home.

"It was probably a convenient place for him to do what he did," Kelaher said at a news conference. He said he did not know whether the teen was killed there.

Investigators have not said why they believe Fuller was involved in Brittney's disappearance or why they had been searching the marshy wooded area since July 18. Kelaher also would not say whether the body was clothed or whether there were signs of sexual assault or trauma. An autopsy was expected Tuesday night.

Kelaher said a decision whether to seek the death penalty against Fuller had not been made; Fuller's failure to reveal the body's location would count against him, he said.

Brittney's aunt, Susan Wood, made no comment afterward, but stopped to hug and thank the officers who found the remains.

(originally published by WABC 7 New York undated)

Thomas Kelaher, Ocean County Prosecutor: "It was underneath a power line and near a dirt road. So it was probably a convenient place for him to do what he did."

(originally published in the Star Ledger July 23, 2004 - link to original Publication no longer available)

She recoils to think he is now accused of killing Brittney

BY MARY ANN SPOTO
Star-Ledger Staff

Brittney Gregory once helped save the life of the man who stands accused of taking hers.
The Brick Township Memorial High School junior was visiting Jack Fuller's daughter one night a couple of months ago when a taxicab pulled up in front of the Fullers' Howell Township home, according to Brittney's mother, Debra Gregory. Fuller was in the back seat of the cab, barely conscious because of a drug overdose, Gregory said.

Brittney, 16, and Fuller's daughter, Cassie, 20, immediately called 911, and Fuller was soon revived by the ambulance crew, she said.

The irony of that has gnawed at Brittney's mother since Fuller's arrest. "How do you take the life of a person who saved your life?" Debra Gregory asked during an interview yesterday at her Beachwood home. "How do you do that?"

Fuller, a 38-year-old with a long rap sheet and a history of drug problems, was charged Sunday with Brittney's murder. He remains at the Ocean County Jail on $1 million bail.

Brittney's remains have not been found. Police continued to search wooded areas in Howell, Brick and Lakewood yesterday. New Jersey State Police crews spent about 45 minutes early in the afternoon examining the ground in the back yard of the home where Fuller's friend, Tom Long, lives. Long was reported to have been in a car with Fuller and Brittney the night she disappeared. The search extended into a neighbor's yard, too.

The charges against Fuller were the result of the cooperation of a confidential informant, according to Brittney's mother and law enforcement sources. The informant, a drug dealer, contacted authorities to say that Fuller had approached him with a question about how to bury a body. Detectives from the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office put a wire on the informant and had him tape a conversation with Fuller, a law enforcement source said.

Police told Brittney's mother that Fuller implicated himself in Brittney's murder during that taped conversation, Debra Gregory said yesterday. The family wants Fuller to tell authorities where he buried Brittney so they can give her a proper funeral. "It makes us hate him more the longer this goes on," Brittney's sister Bryana Gregory said.

Brittney, who lived in Brick with her father Joe Dunn, was home by herself on July 11, the night she disappeared. She and her boyfriend, John Fitzgerald, had had a tiff during the day about him not taking her to the beach, Debra Gregory said. Brittney badly wanted to go see him. The last time Gregory talked to her daughter was around 8:30 that night, when Brittney called from home to ask for a ride to her boyfriend's house.

Brittney would not have called Jack Fuller to ask for a ride, but if he had been in the area she might have been desperate enough to accept one if he offered, according to her mother and her sister.
Fuller was well-known to Brittney and her family. He and Brittney's father were friends, her mother said. Brittney's brother used to date Fuller's daughter, and Brittney and the daughter remained close.

Gregory said she has run through the events of that evening in her mind a thousand times since Brittney disappeared, trying to figure out what might have happened. "Nothing adds up," she said. "Nothing makes sense. I think of all those theories, but nothing makes sense."

Her family imagines that whoever killed Brittney had his hands full. She had two older brothers and two older sisters, after all, and had had her share of sibling fights. "She stood her ground until the end," Bryana said.

Debra Gregory remembered Brittney yesterday as "every mother's dream of a 16-year-old girl."
She said her grades at Brick Memorial were so good that she was exempted from many of her final exams. She was never a discipline problem, her mother said. She never had to be told to do her homework or clean her room, and she loved to read.

Brittney relished her role as the baby of the family, her mother said. She was spoiled, to be sure, but not vain or arrogant. She celebrated her 16th birthday in April by holding her mother to a promise she had made to let her get her bellybutton pierced. She idolized pop queen Britney Spears and had posters of her tacked up in her bedroom. She enjoyed cartoons, especially "SpongeBob SquarePants," and she couldn't get enough of the TV shows about forensic science, a profession she wanted to pursue. She and her mother used to tune in to the same shows and then call each other to talk about them as they watched.

"She thought it was so cool they can tell how you died, when you died ... She was so intrigued," her mother said. "And now there's people out there like that looking for her."

Staff writers Brian Donohue and Tom Feeney contributed to this report.

(orginally posted in the Star Ledger July 22, 2004)

Accused of killing Brick girl, chronic crook was neighborhood scourge

BY MARY ANN SPOTO AND TOM FEENEY
Star-Ledger Staff

Jack Fuller Jr.'s neighbors were glad to hear he's locked up once again. They only wish the charge weren't the murder of Brittney Gregory.

Fuller, 38, the habitual criminal accused of killing the 16-year-old Brick Township girl, has menaced the neighborhood around his Howell home for most of his adult life. He has broken into cars, homes and garden sheds, used and sold drugs, threatened a man with a baseball bat, scuffled with police and lied to them about his identity after a drunken-driving arrest, according to court records and interviews.

He has been arrested more than a dozen times in the past 10 years alone. He has done time in a state prison on charges of theft and parole violations. Many of his offenses went unreported because people were afraid of him, neighbors said.

"When Jack Fuller is in jail, everybody around here wants to throw a party -- they feel safe," said one neighbor, a 24-year-old delicatessen worker who asked that her name be withheld. "When we hear he's out, everybody knows to lock everything up."

If Ocean County prosecutors have their way, Fuller won't be out of jail for a long, long time. They have charged him with Brittney's murder, and he remains in the Ocean County Jail on $1 million bail.

Brittney, a junior at Brick Township Memorial High School, went missing 11 days ago from her family's home on Greenwood Loop Road in Brick. Her family searched for her for more than a week, posting her picture on bulletin boards and utility poles around Brick, Howell and Lakewood.
Fuller was arrested Sunday and charged with murder, though Brittney's remains have not been recovered. Authorities have not said why they believe she is dead or why they suspect Fuller.
Fuller was known to Brittney's family. His daughter was a friend of Brittney's sister. One of Fuller's friends reportedly told police he saw Brittney in Fuller's car the night she disappeared.
The search for Brittney's body continued for a fourth day yesterday as police officers used search dogs and helicopters to scour the woods near the border of Ocean and Monmouth counties, woods Fuller was known to frequent. He often used a tent in those woods to stash stolen goods and to hide from the police, neighbors said.

"It was pretty scary to know somebody was camping back there," said Iliana Montero, who bought a house across Western Drive from Fuller's house six years ago.
Because of warnings about Fuller from the person who sold her the home, she had a burglar alarm installed after she moved in, she said.

"We were told he did try to break in here before we bought the house," she said.
Fuller cut a peculiar figure in the neighborhood. The man with the shaved head and the barbed-wire tattoo around his biceps was never known to work an honest job, yet always seemed to be nattily dressed , often in an expensive jogging suit and slip-on sneakers, usually with his baseball cap turned sideways or backwards, said Ron Thompson, who lived around the corner from Fuller on Sunset Drive for the past two years.

Sometimes Fuller would walk around the neighborhood, other times he would ride a bike, Thompson said.

Thompson said people in the neighborhood assumed Fuller made his money by selling drugs.
"I'm new here, and I knew about him as soon as I moved in," Thompson said.

There is plenty in the court records to support the neighbors' beliefs about Fuller's involvement with drugs.

In fact, he is due to go on trial, along with two co-defendants, in Monmouth County on Monday on charges he was found to be in possession of cocaine when he was stopped by police in Asbury Park last October.

He was charged as far back as 1986 with trying to sell marijuana in Howell Township. He was charged with possession of heroin in Point Pleasant in 1994, and Howell police charged him with using and being under the influence of heroin after an overdose last year, according to court records.

An Ocean County judge ordered Fuller into drug rehab in 1994 after he was arrested on a parole violation, but Fuller did not stick with the program, court records show. A probation report in his file indicates his attendance was spotty and that he had failed drug tests. He was eventually kicked out of the program.

In a letter to the court from prison in 2000, he promised to try to stay clean. "My commitment is to become a productive and positive figure in my community and to help others do the same, and of course to stay off drugs," he wrote to Superior Court Judge Edward Turnbach.

Aside from the drug offenses, most of the crimes on Fuller's rap sheet are nonviolent property offenses. Fuller and a friend named Tom were charged with breaking into a neighbor's car last year and stealing wedding and engagement rings and a credit card, according to court records and the alleged victim. They ran up $800 in charges on the card and sold the rings at an Asbury Park pawnshop, according to court papers.

The alleged victim, who asked that her name not be published, said the two men were caught only because Fuller's friend used his real name for the pawn shop transaction.

Fuller was not convicted of the offense, the woman said. She took two days off work to testify against him, she said, but his trial was postponed both times. She told the judge she couldn't afford to take a third day off. The judge ordered Fuller to pay her for the time she had missed and to return the stolen property, and the charges were dismissed, she said.

He also appeared in court last year on charges he removed the hinges from the doors on a garden shed and stole a neighbor's moped. That charge, too, was eventually dismissed, court records show.

"He's been a problem forever," said a neighbor who claims he has had some power tools stolen by Fuller. "He's the scourge of the neighborhood."

Not all of Fuller's offenses were nonviolent. He was indicted on a charge of assaulting the police officer who had arrested him on the marijuana charges in 1986. He also was sentenced to two years' probation in 1992 for threatening to harm a woman he had robbed, court records show.
And he appeared in Howell Municipal Court last year on charges he used a baseball bat to smash a taillight out of a pickup truck and threatened to use a gun to kill the driver, court records show. The alleged victim in that case appears to have been a co-defendant in the 1986 marijuana case, according to court records.

Neighbors said Fuller was immediately suspected whenever something was stolen.
But even with his long criminal record and propensity for trouble, they were shocked to learn when he was implicated in Brittney's murder.

Thompson, the neighbor who lives around the corner, said he didn't even consider that possibility when he saw the police cars outside Fuller's house last weekend. "I thought it might be drugs," he said. "We would never figure it would be something like murder."

Staff writer Brian Donohue contributed to this report.

'We want to find her, but we don't,' says teen's agonized family

BY NANCY DILLON in Howell, N.J.,
and BILL HUTCHINSON in New York
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Authorities believe a missing New Jersey girl was hacked to death with a machete by her best friend's father, a source close to the grieving family said yesterday.

As cops and volunteers continued to search the woods near Howell for the body of 16-year-old Brittney Gregory, chilling details of how the honor student was believed killed began to emerge.

Cops have told Brittney's relatives there is no hope of finding her alive, and the investigation has led them to believe suspect Jack Fuller, 38, of Howell, killed her with a machete, a family source said.

"They [police] said there's no hope she's alive. It's awful. They think it was brutal," said the source. "She would have been one to fight."

Police also have asked the family for one of Brittney's hairbrushes, likely for DNA testing, the source said.

Fuller - the father of Brittney's best friend, Cassie Fuller, 21 - has refused to cooperate with police. The suspect, who is being held on $1 million bail, has been charged with murder.

As the search for Brittney entered its ninth day, the agonizing wait was taking its toll on her family.

"When it rains, you worry about her lying in the rain. When it's hot, you worry about her lying in the sun. It's just heart-wrenching," said Brittney's aunt, Susan Wood, 36.

"We want to find her, but we don't."

Brittney's father, Joe Dunn, who filed a missing-person report about his daughter July 12, is so distraught he can barely speak, said his girlfriend, Susan Peterson.

"Her father is so destroyed," Peterson said. "I don't know if he'll ever recover from this. It's like a horror film."

A friend of Jack Fuller, Tom Long, has told police he saw Brittney riding in the suspect's car on the day she vanished, a source said.

Torment for beau who left Britt alone

The boyfriend of a missing New Jersey teen said yesterday he's being ripped apart by guilt because he believes he could have saved her life simply by taking her to the beach.

John Fitzgerald told the Daily News that on the day 16-year-old Brittney Gregory vanished she asked whether she could go with him to Point Pleasant Beach and he said no.

John, 17, of Brick, N.J., said he had to leave Brittney behind because there wasn't enough room in his friend's truck.

"We kind of had a little argument," said John, who had been dating Brittney for 16 months and planned to marry her once she turned 18.

"I said I wanted to hang out with my friend and I'd see her later," he said. "I definitely could have prevented this if I was with her instead. Believe me, it hurts."

Police believe Jack Fuller, 38, the father of Brittney's best friend, killed her July 11 - the day John went to the beach without her, sources said.

As he looked at snapshots he and Brittney took June 30 in a photo booth at Point Pleasant Beach, John could only shake his head and wonder what if. "She was my first and only love," he said.

(originally published by WABC 7 New York July 21, 2004)

(Howell-WABC, July 21, 2004) — The search for a missing teenage girl leads police to several wooded areas in New Jersey.

Brittney Gregory, 16, was last seen July 11th and is now feared dead. Even with a man in custody, police are still searching for her body, and investigators hope their latest leads point them in the right direction.

New Jersey reporter Jen Maxfield reports from Howell with the story.

This is the hometown of suspect Jack Fuller where he lived his whole life, when he wasn't spending time in jail for robbery and burglary. Neighbors tell us that when Fuller had trouble at home, he would camp out in the woods nearby.

And police believe that's where he buried Brittney Gregory after he killed her.

Investigators searched for Brittney's body in a densely-wooded area off of Randolph Road in Howell Township, just a few miles from the house she disappeared from, and where her anguished family waits for news.

Susan Wood, Victim's Aunt: "The search (for) the body is the hardest, hardest part."

Searchers are using helicopters and search dogs to explore several sites in Monmouth and Ocean Counties around the Lakewood/Howell border. They are focused on a forested, swampy area where Brittney's alleged killer once lived.

Jack Fuller Jr., 38, the father of one of Brittney's sister's friends, is apparently not cooperating with investigators.

Susan Wood: "I hope and pray to God that Brittney ... returns to us, so we can do the necessary things by her that should be done."

Brittney went missing on July 11, just hours after she told her family she needed a ride to her boyfriend's house. Prosecutors say they have evidence that shows there is no hope of finding Brittney alive.

Friends of the Gregory family have offered to help search the woods to help bring Brittney home.

Denette Oryniak, Family Friend: "We want to find her though, it doesn't seem like we're going to find her. Just, we look, and look, and look, and we're hoping for something."

But police are now asking friends and neighbors to stay out of the woods, fearing that they will disturb crucial evidence. Now there is nothing for them to do but wait.

Denette Oryniak: "We want to put her to rest. She's got to come home."

Even though they've been discouraged from participating in this search, neighbors are now putting up ribbons saying "Find Brittney," in support of the Gregory family.

 

Brittney Gregory was last heard from on July 11 when she told her parents she needed a ride to her boyfriend's house. Prosecutors say they have a witness that saw Brittney in Jack Fuller's car on the night she disappeared. He was no stranger to her -- Fuller's daughter is Brittney's sister's best friend.

(originally published Jul 20, 2004 8:07 am US/Eastern by 1010 WINS)

1010 WINS) (Toms River, NJ) A neighbor of the man accused of murdering a teen girl rode with the two of them in a car the night she was last seen, according to a published report.

"I was the last one to see them together," Tom Long told The New York Times in Tuesday's newspapers. "She didn't seem scared.

Long, 39, of Howell Township, is a longtime friend of Jack Fuller, who appeared in court Monday, charged with the murder of 16-year-old Brittney Gregory.

Long said the three of them were together July 11, when Fuller gave him a lift home. He said Gregory was speaking with the man now accused of killing her.

"She wouldn't talk to me; it was like she didn't know me and she didn't want to know me," Long said. The newspaper said he would not provide more details, but that Long said he was cooperating with the investigation.

The body of Gregory, who lived in Brick Township, has not been found.

Attempts to reach Long on Tuesday morning were unsuccessful. There is no phone listing in his name in Howell Township, and messages left at homes listed under his last name were not immediately returned.

On Monday, mother of Brittney Gregory seethed as Fuller, 38, of Howell Township, sat in a red jail jumpsuit and whispered to his lawyer.

Outside the courthouse, a tearful, angry Debra Gregory said she does not want to see her daughter's killer executed.

The death penalty is "too good for him," she said, adding that she wants to see him "in jail for the rest of his life, and I hope he lives to be 100."

Robert Gasser, executive assistant Ocean County prosecutor, said search parties were still looking for the teenager's body in several locations in Brick, Lakewood and Howell.

With better weather on Monday, authorities planned to use a state police helicopter to assist, Gasser said. Heavy rains grounded the helicopter on Sunday.

Fuller did not enter a plea during the brief appearance before Superior Court Judge James N. Citta. No further hearings were scheduled.

Fuller remains in custody at the Ocean County Jail on $1 million bail. He appeared in court with a public defender, but told the judge he plans to hire a private attorney, which he has not yet done.

Authorities have not explicitly said why they filed a murder charge against Fuller in the absence of a body. Gasser declined further comment, citing the ongoing investigation.

Family members described Brittney Gregory as a straight-A student who always wanted to become a forensic scientist.

As she entered the courthouse, Gregory's mother said she longs to hold her daughter again.

"She was just a good kid," she said. "I want her back. I want her back. Just give her to me."

Brittney's mother sat on the end of a third-row spectator's bench, telling family members she wanted to get a good look at Fuller and ensure he would see her.

"I want to look right in that man's face," she said shortly before the hearing began. "I want to see his face. I want him to see me."

Brittney Gregory has not been heard from since about 8:30 p.m. last Sunday when she called her mother from her father's house. The 16-year-old said she wanted a ride to her boyfriend's home. When her father's girlfriend returned home later that night, Brittney was not there.

Fuller has a history of drug and theft-related arrests, twice being sentenced to five-year prison terms in Ocean and Monmouth counties. He was most recently released from prison in April 2003.

Gregory family members said they knew Fuller because Brittney's sister, BobbiJoe, was a friend of Fuller's daughter, Cassandra.

(Originally published in the New York Daily News - July 20th 2004)


N.J. cops continue grisly hunt for missing teenager, as her mom lashes out at slay suspect

BY NANCY DILLON in Toms River, N.J.
and BILL HUTCHINSON in New York
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Debra Gregory tells reporters outside courthouse that the death penalty is too good for alleged killer of her 16-year-old daughter, Brittney. She wants suspect to rot in jail.
Slay suspect Jack Fuller, 38, appears in court yesterday on charges he murdered Brittney Gregory, a 16-year-old missing since July 11.

As cops searched the woods for her little girl's body, heartbroken mother Debra Gregory sat in a New Jersey courtroom yesterday staring daggers and wishing a life of torment for the man accused of killing her daughter.

Tattooed suspect Jack Fuller, 38, refused to look in Gregory's direction as he appeared in shackles in Ocean County Superior Court to face charges he murdered 16-year-old Brittney Gregory.

Only 20 feet and a half-dozen courthouse guards separated Fuller from Brittney's mother, whose tear-streaked face registered grief, rage and betrayal.

"I don't want him to get the death penalty," she said after the five-minute hearing. "It's too good. I want him locked up for the rest of his life. No parole. I want him to live to be 100."

Just hours before Fuller was arrested Sunday, he had the nerve to try to comfort Brittney's mother, according to her sister Susan Wood, 36.

"He rubbed her arm. He said he was sorry, and three hours later he was arrested. It's sick," Wood said.

Gregory, 43, who bolted from the courtroom sobbing and pulling at her curly blond hair, said it was all she could do not to throttle Fuller with her own hands.

"Oh my God! I wanted to kill him," said Gregory, of Beachwood, N.J. "I wanted to reach out and ...," she said as her voice trailed off and she thrust out her hands in a choke hold.

Prosecutors declined yesterday to reveal why they arrested Fuller, an ex-con with a history of drug addiction, in the slaying of the high school honor student.

But Brittney's father, Joe Dunn, told neighbors that DNA evidence linked the suspect to the girl, who has been missing since July 11.

"They have enough DNA evidence to lock him up for 50 years," said one of Dunn's neighbors, a woman who requested anonymity because she fears Fuller, who was being held last night on $1 million bail.

"Apparently, he was going around bragging about it [the murder]," she said of Fuller, whose father lives in Howell, about 1-1/2 miles from Dunn's home in Brick, N.J.

Police have questioned a friend of Fuller, Tom Long, about having seen Brittney riding in the backseat of Fuller's car the day she disappeared, sources said.

Long's mother, Gloria Long, 77, of Howell, told the Daily News yesterday that Fuller stayed at her house after Brittney vanished.

"If I'd known it was him, I never would have let him stay," Long said. "Now I know why he stayed in that bedroom and kept the door locked."

She said police interviewed her son extensively and searched her house from the attic to the basement, removing some clothes Fuller apparently left behind.

Cops also searched Fuller's father's house, seizing potential evidence, including at least one dirt-covered grain-cutting sickle, neighbors said.

Wood said her family is acquainted with Fuller because his daughter Cassie, 21, is a close friend of Brittney and her older sister, Bobbijoe.

Bobbijoe, 18, and other neighbors said Cassie Fuller, who lives in Howell with her grandparents, had recently taken out an order of protection against her father.

"There's no way she [Brittney] would have gone with him [Fuller] unless Cassie was in the car," Bobbijoe said last night.

Both Brittney and another sister, Bryana, 20, live with their father and his girlfriend, Lori Peterson, Wood said.

Cops said Fuller, whose record shows numerous arrests for theft and burglary dating back to 1999, has refused to cooperate with investigators probing the murder mystery.

Police continued to search a wooded area yesterday near Joe Dunn's house for the 5-foot, 105-pound girl.

Brittney, a junior at Brick Township Memorial High School, was last heard from about 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 11, when she called her mother, who was visiting relatives in South Toms River.

Debra Gregory said Brittney phoned her from Dunn's house to ask about getting a ride to the home of her boyfriend, John Fitzgerald.

But when Bryana arrived home about 10:30 p.m., she found the house empty. Debra Gregory said her daughter left her cell phone and her purse behind.

Police said there was no sign of a break-in or a struggle inside the house.

Brittney's family began to take down flyers of the missing girl yesterday, but they held out a sliver of hope she is still alive.

"We started to take the signs down, but since he [Fuller] didn't admit anything, at least to our knowledge, we're still hopeful," Wood said.

"She was the baby of the family," Wood said of Brittney. "We spoiled her, but she deserved the attention."

(originally published on FoxNews Tuesday, July 20, 2004. Credit Associated Press)

TOMS RIVER, N.J. — A neighbor of the man accused of murdering a teen girl rode with the two of them in a car the night she was last seen, according to a published report.

"I was the last one to see them together," Tom Long told The New York Times in Tuesday's newspapers. "She didn't seem scared.

Long, 39, of Howell Township, is a longtime friend of Jack Fuller (search), who appeared in court Monday, charged with the murder of 16-year-old Brittney Gregory (search).

Long said the three of them were together July 11, when Fuller gave him a lift home. He said Gregory was speaking with the man now accused of killing her.

"She wouldn't talk to me; it was like she didn't know me and she didn't want to know me," Long said. The newspaper said he would not provide more details, but that Long said he was cooperating with the investigation.

The body of Gregory, who lived in Brick Township, has not been found.

Attempts to reach Long on Tuesday morning were unsuccessful. There is no phone listing in his name in Howell Township, and messages left at homes listed under his last name were not immediately returned.

On Monday, the mother of Brittney Gregory seethed as Fuller, 38, of Howell Township, sat in a red jail jumpsuit and whispered to his lawyer.

Outside the courthouse, a tearful, angry Debra Gregory said she does not want to see her daughter's killer executed.

The death penalty is "too good for him," she said, adding that she wants to see him "in jail for the rest of his life, and I hope he lives to be 100."

Robert Gasser, executive assistant Ocean County prosecutor, said search parties were still looking for the teenager's body in several locations in Brick, Lakewood and Howell.

With better weather on Monday, authorities planned to use a state police helicopter to assist, Gasser said. Heavy rains grounded the helicopter on Sunday.

Fuller did not enter a plea during the brief appearance before Superior Court Judge James N. Citta. No further hearings were scheduled.

Fuller remains in custody at the Ocean County Jail on $1 million bail. He appeared in court with a public defender, but told the judge he plans to hire a private attorney, which he has not yet done.

Authorities have not explicitly said why they filed a murder charge against Fuller in the absence of a body. Gasser declined further comment, citing the ongoing investigation.

Family members described Brittney Gregory as a straight-A student who always wanted to become a forensic scientist.

As she entered the courthouse, Gregory's mother said she longs to hold her daughter again.

"She was just a good kid," she said. "I want her back. I want her back. Just give her to me."

Brittney's mother sat on the end of a third-row spectator's bench, telling family members she wanted to get a good look at Fuller and ensure he would see her.

"I want to look right in that man's face," she said shortly before the hearing began. "I want to see his face. I want him to see me."

Brittney Gregory has not been heard from since about 8:30 p.m. last Sunday when she called her mother from her father's house. The 16-year-old said she wanted a ride to her boyfriend's home. When her father's girlfriend returned home later that night, Brittney was not there.

Fuller has a history of drug and theft-related arrests, twice being sentenced to five-year prison terms in Ocean and Monmouth counties. He was most recently released from prison in April 2003.

Gregory family members said they knew Fuller because Brittney's sister, BobbiJoe, was a friend of Fuller's daughter, Cassandra.

(originally published in the Columbia Daily Tribune July 19, 2004)

BRICK TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) - The search for a 16-year-old straight-A high student who vanished last week while on her way to see her boyfriend has turned into a quest to recover her body after a 38-year-old man was charged with her murder.

Authorities did not release any information about why they had charged Jack Fuller in the death of Brittney Gregory or about how he and the girl might have met. Fuller, of Howell, N.J., was being held on $1 million bail, prosecutor Robert Gasser said.

A court appearance was scheduled for today.

Gregory has not been heard from since the evening of July 11, when she called her mother from her father’s house saying she wanted a ride to her boyfriend’s home.

Her mother said Gregory’s sister would be home in an hour, but when they called back 45 minutes later, there was no answer. When her father’s companion, Lori Petersen, later that night returned home, the girl was not there.

Gregory hadn’t gone to her 18-year-old boyfriend’s home and did not take her purse or any identification. Authorities said there was no sign of a break-in at her father’s town house.

"It looked like she left knowing she was leaving," Petersen told the Asbury Park Sunday Press. "But it looked like she didn’t plan on staying away."

Gregory recently finished her sophomore year at Brick Township Memorial High School. Family members have described her as a straight-A student who always wanted to become a forensic scientist.

Residents in the neighborhood where Fuller lives described it as a quiet, blue-collar area. Neighbors, who did not want to be identified, said Fuller lived off and on with his father there.

(Originally Posted on FoxNews. July 19, 2004. Credit Associated Press)

BRICK TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Authorities said Monday they hoped better weather would assist in the search for the body of a 16-year-old girl who vanished last week.

Authorities on Sunday charged Jack Fuller (search), 38, in the death of Brittney Gregory (search), and the search for the girl turned into a quest to recover her body. They did not release any information about how he and the girl may have met, but family members said Fuller's daughter was a friend of the girl's.

Robert Gassert, executive assistant Ocean County prosecutor, said search parties were still looking for the Brick Township teen's body in several locations in Brick, Lakewood and Howell.

With better weather on Monday, authorities planned to use a state police helicopter to assist, Gassert said. Heavy rain had grounded the helicopter on Sunday.

Fuller did not enter a plea Monday during a brief appearance before Superior Court Judge James N. Citta, and he remained in custody on $1 million bail. Outside the courthouse, Debra Gregory said she wants to see her daughter's killer "in jail for the rest of his life, and I hope he lives to be 100."

Gregory has not been heard from since the evening of July 11, when she called her mother from her father's house saying she wanted a ride to her boyfriend's home.

The mother said the girl's sister could pick her up later, but when they called back after 45 minutes, there was no answer. When her father's companion, Lori Petersen, returned home later that night, the girl was not there.

Gregory hadn't gone to her 18-year-old boyfriend's home, and did not take her purse or any identification. Authorities said there was no sign of a break-in at her father's town house.

"It looked like she left knowing she was leaving," Petersen told the Asbury Park Sunday Press. "But it looked like she didn't plan on staying away."

Gregory recently finished her sophomore year at Brick Township Memorial High School (search). Family members have described her as a straight-A student who always wanted to become a forensic scientist.

Residents in the neighborhood where Fuller lives described it as a quiet, blue-collar area. Neighbors, who did not want to be identified, said Fuller lived off and on with his father there.

(originally published by WABC 7 New York July 18, 2004)

(Brick-WABC, July 18, 2004) — Brittney Gregory, 16, is still missing. But police suspect the worst, and have charged a family friend, and neighbor with her death.

Brittney lived in Brick, and Jack Fuller, the alleged killer, lives in Howell. Fuller, 38, is being held on $1 million bail, charged with first-degree murder in connection with the disappearance of Gregory. He'll be arraigned on Monday afternoon.

Fuller's neighbors we spoke with said he had a reputation for drugs and getting into trouble.

Brittany was straight-A student. She disappeared a week ago after calling her mother asking for a ride to her boyfriend's house. It now appears she accepted a ride from someone she knew and presumably trusted, namely Fuller, her best friend's father.

Mike Montero, Suspect's Neighbor: "That is how he was able to supposedly able to give her a ride home, you know, he was there. She got in the car with him thinking she was going to get a ride home or ride to her boyfriends house."

On Sunday, police arrested Fuller, and the front door to the house is covered in fingerprint dust.

Residents say this is not the first brush with the law. They say Fuller has been in and out of jail for drugs, and would break into homes to feed his habit.

Janice Moody, Suspect's Neighbor: "He will knock on doors, ask for money, and in the woods behind us that is where he would sleep. We were scared at times."

The search for Brittany's body continues in the woods near Fuller's home, and in trails near her house.

Brittany's family was too distraught to speak on camera. Through a statement, they thanked everyone for their support and the authorities for the quick police work. As for Jack Fuller, he is being held on $1 million bail. He's charged with first degree murder and has a court appearance set for Monday.

(orginally published in USA Today July 18, 2004. Credit Associated Press)

Authorities did not release any information about why they had charged Jack Fuller in the death of Brittney Gregory, or about how he and the girl may have met.

Fuller, of Howell, was being held on $1 million bail, prosecutor Robert Gasser said. A court appearance was scheduled for Monday.

Gregory has not been heard from since the evening of July 11, when she called her mother from her father's house saying she wanted a ride to her boyfriend's home.

Her mother said Gregory's sister would be home in an hour, but when they called back 45 minutes later, there was no answer. When her father's companion, Lori Petersen, returned home later that night, the girl was not there.

Gregory hadn't gone to her boyfriend's home, and did not take her purse or any identification. Authorities said there was no sign of a break-in at her father's town house.

"It looked like she left knowing she was leaving," Petersen told the Asbury Park Sunday Press. "But it looked like she didn't plan on staying away."

Gregory recently finished her sophomore year at Brick Township Memorial High School. Family members have described her as a straight-A student who always wanted to become a forensic scientist.