Introduction
This blog is a tracking of the murder case of Brittney Gregory by Jack Fuller Jr. for those looking for information.
I had planned to cover the facts as they unfolded, piece together as much of the press and information as I can, since many of the sources of information are
either poorly linked, or disappear to archives (some paid).
At some point I still hope to get some, interviews with some of the players in this case,as well as Brittney's family and friends. I have opted not to even try up until now as I felt there were other places their attention needed to be focused.
While I tried to remain unbiased, once Fuller admitted to killing Brittney, it became impossible for me as a father of a young girl to be COMPLETELY "fair and balanced".
But despite that, all information that I uncover will be found here.
Please feel free to comment, but remain civil. (especially towards each other).
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
'Oh God! I want to reach out and kill him'
(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."
