The Murder of Brittney Gregory

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

A heartbroken New Jersey father is haunted by thoughts of how his 16-year-old daughter was murdered, and prays that she is now at peace.

Joe Dunn, 45, said in an interview yesterday that his "baby girl," Brittney Gregory, was his biggest concern in life, and that it torments him that he couldn't save her.

"All I could think about was my daughter, what she must have gone through," said Dunn, staring at photos of his blond, blue-eyed girl. "It just hasn't sunk in yet. This is every father's worst nightmare. I can't even believe it's true."

A day after the high school honors student's funeral, Dunn poured out his heart about the fear, anger and agonizing heartache he and his family endured over the past three weeks.

He said he is still aghast that Jack Fuller, the father of Brittney's good friend Cassie Fuller, has been charged with the killing.

"How could he do such a thing when he's got his own daughter?" Dunn said of Fuller, an ex-con with a history of drug abuse.

"I just wish I could see her still in her bedroom, studying for a test on her bed," the father said. "I just hope she's in a better place."

He held a Father's Day card Brittney gave him in June, and shook his head as he read over and over the note she penned.

"I love you. Don't ever forget it," Brittney wrote.

"She was a beautiful kid," said Dunn, who works as a maintenance man. "When she was stretched out across the bed doing her homework, that was my proudest moment. I was never any good at school. I knew she was going to go far. She would have made it to college."

As he looked at snapshots of Brittney as a 12-year-old, playing on the front lawn, Dunn's thoughts again turned to how she died.

Dunn said he believes Brittney was walking to her boyfriend's house on July 11 when Fuller offered her a ride.

"She only knew the good side of people," he said, explaining why Brittney would get into the car with Fuller. "She was young and always sheltered."

He believes that his daughter was knocked out, but must have regained consciousness as she was being assaulted.

"Maybe she woke up and she didn't like what he was doing," Dunn said. "She would have been one to fight back."

An autopsy showed that Brittney suffered blunt trauma to the head, but cops believe her death was caused either by strangulation or suffocation.

Detectives are still awaiting the results of tests to determine if Brittney was raped before she was killed.

After an intense two-week search, police found her nude body July 27 in a shallow grave just 2 miles from her home.

"I actually still had hope until they found her," Dunn said.

He said Brittney's death had made him draw closer to his other daughter, Bobbijoe, 18.

He said he is in constant touch with Bobbiejoe because he's terrified something bad will happen to her. "I want to know where she's at every night," he said.

Even in his deepest sorrow, Dunn offered thanks to the police who handled the investigation, especially Detectives Michael Moel and Thomas Hayes of the Ocean County prosecutor's office. He also expressed his appreciation to Correction Officers Joseph Nicholas and Bruce Myers and State Trooper Brian Trexler, who discovered the body.

He also found solace in the words of a minister who likened Brittney to a butterfly. He said that as he stood behind the hearse that carried Brittney's body on Monday, a butterfly fluttered past him.

"I haven't noticed a butterfly all spring," he said. "I think God wanted to let me know that Brittney was all right, that she was at ease and she's going to heaven."

(originally published in the New York Daily News August 2, 2004)

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

The grieving family of a slain New Jersey girl cursed her alleged killer yesterday, but welcomed his tearful daughter as she and hundreds of friends paused to mourn at a closed casket.

As two pals held her by the arms, a sobbing Cassie Fuller entered the Anderson and Campbell Funeral Home in Toms River and slowly walked to the white coffin that held her friend, Brittney Gregory.

Friends said the 21-year-old daughter of suspect Jack Fuller has been racked with guilt over the slaying, but Brittney's family showed her only kindness yesterday.

"She's destroyed, too," said Cassie's friend Cherie Wilkinson, 30, of Toms River. "The Gregory family gave her full support. They understand what she's going through."

Cassie placed a bouquet of purple irises, lilies and white carnations at the foot of her friend's coffin. She stared up at a large photo of Brittney before heading out a back door.

Before she could leave, Brittney's sister Bryana hugged Cassie and let her know the family bore her no ill will.

But other mourners could not mask their anger at Cassie's father, a 38-year-old ex-con whom they want to see suffer.

Brittney's nude body was found Tuesday buried in a shallow grave beneath towering power lines in a wooded area two miles from her Brick, N.J., home. An autopsy revealed blunt trauma to her head and evidence she was either strangled or suffocated, police said.

Detectives are awaiting the results of tests to determine if she was sexually assaulted.

"They should take him [Fuller] to the power lines where they found Brittney and string him up," said John Hasse, 50, of Brick.

But most mourners tried to focus on how Brittney lived, not how she perished.

They remembered the Brick Township Memorial High School honor student for the twinkle in her blue eyes, the sparkle of her smile and warmth of her heart.

"She made everything nicer," said classmate John Barrett, 16. "She didn't deserve this."

All around the funeral home were snapshots of the blond-haired girl enjoying life. There was one of Brittney with her face covered in cake frosting after a food fight with her buddies. Another photo showed her in her royal-blue prom dress, surrounded by her smiling girlfriends.

"She was just a beautiful girl, gorgeous," said classmate Danielle Demers, 16, who like other mourners wore a blue ribbon on her lapel to signify Brittney's favorite color.

Brittney's mother, Debra Gregory, hugged every one of Brittney's friends, pleading with them to be careful.

"Beautiful girls like you should always take a friend when you go out," the mother told one of her daughter's friends. "Don't go alone. Promise."

(originally published by WABC 7 New York August 02, 2004)

(Brick-WABC, August 2, 2004) — In Brick Township, New Jersey today, a private funeral will be held for Brittney Gregory.

She is the 16-year-old girl who was found murdered last Tuesday following an 8-day search.

No word yet on how she was killed. A family friend has been charged with her murder.

(originally published by CBS 3 KYW Philadelphia August 1, 2004. Credit to Associated Press)

TOMS RIVER, NJ (AP) Friends of a slain Ocean County teen and strangers moved by her death are expressing their grief at an impromptu memorial and by posting condolence messages at a Web site set up in her honor.

Brittney Gregory, 16, was missing for more than two weeks before her body was found Tuesday buried in a shallow grave in Lakewood. Ocean County Prosecutor Thomas F. Kelaher said she suffered head injuries, but they were not fatal and investigators do not know yet how she died.

Dozens of mourners paid their respects Sunday during visiting hours at a local funeral home. Only family members were permitted to attend her private funeral, scheduled for Monday.

Since the discovery of Gregory's body, a makeshift memorial containing cards, notes, stuffed animals and other items was erected near where her body was found. And a Web site was set up so people many who never met Gregory could post their sympathies to her family and also make contributions to help defray the cost of her funeral.

Many of the notes at the site which has drawn e-mails from people in Florida, New York and Ohio reflect on how the teen's life came to an abrupt and tragic end, the Asbury Park Sunday Press reported.

``Rest, sweet angel, for you are now in a better place! God is lucky to have such a beautiful soul alongside Him in heaven,'' one person wrote. Another, recalling several conversations he had with Gregory in recent years, wrote that he was ``completely heartbroken'' over her death and planned to donate his next paycheck to her family.

Gregory, a straight-A student at Brick Memorial High School who dreamed of becoming a forensic scientist, disappeared July 11 after she called her mother from her father's house and said she wanted a ride to her boyfriend's home. Her mother told her that if she waited for about 45 minutes, her sister would give her a ride, but Brittney did not answer the phone later that night.

A family acquaintance, Jack Fuller, 38, of Howell Township, has been charged with murder in Gregory's death and is being held on $1 million bail. Fuller has a history of drug and theft-related arrests and was released from prison in April 2003.

Expected at Monday's funeral is William Gregory, Brittney's 23-year-old half brother, who once was engaged to Fuller's daughter. He is serving 16 months in a youth correctional facility in Hamilton under a plea deal he reached after being charged with conspiring to rob a man in 2003, and his family believes authorities will allow him to attend the services.

However, he will not be allowed to serve as a pallbearer, as the family had requested, the newspaper reported.