The Murder of Brittney Gregory

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 10/21/05

Jack Fuller finally admitted what most people long knew. He killed 16-year-old Brittney Gregory of Brick. After Fuller pleaded guilty Tuesday in an Ocean County courtroom, his lawyer, John Goins, put a despicable spin on Fuller's motive for the plea.

Fuller, he said, "understands, as devastating as (providing the details of her death) would be for the family, a trial would be more devastating. . . . I believe Mr. Fuller knew it was time to step forward and let people know exactly what happened and take responsibility for his actions."

Fuller "took responsibility" for one reason: to shorten his prison sentence as part of a previously negotiated plea arrangement. Thanks to that agreement, Fuller, 39, will serve only 30 years behind bars. Given the horrific nature of the crime and his lengthy criminal past, he never should have been given the chance to be a free man again.

In court this week, Goins recited the chilling details of the cold-blooded murder and Fuller affirmed them in emotionless, matter-of-fact responses. Several of Brittney's family members were overcome with grief upon hearing the motive for the murder, and the details of her death, for the first time.

Brittney was a lovely, straight-A student who accepted a ride from Fuller, a family acquaintance, the night of July 11, 2004. Fuller said he killed her because she objected to him smoking crack cocaine while she sat next to him.

If Fuller had even a scrap of compassion, he wouldn't have punched Brittney in the head twice with the intent to incapacitate her. Nor would he have ignored the choking sounds and the gurgling noises Brittney made after she went unconscious from the blows to her skull. If Fuller had any feelings at all, he wouldn't have waited to "check on" the lifeless Brittney until after he finished smoking the crack cocaine.

If he had any concern for Brittney's family members, he wouldn't have made them sit through 16 agonizing days between the time Brittney was last seen alive in Howell and when her body was found in a shallow grave in Brick. If he had any decency at all, he wouldn't have let the case drag on for more than a year, only to plead guilty under a plea deal a week before his trial was to begin.

Fuller has been under the eye of the state's penal system for the better part of 18 years. Since 1987, not a single year has gone by when he hasn't faced some type of court action or been in prison or on probation. In May and August of 2000, he was sentenced to five years in prison on each of two separate theft cases. The sentences ran concurrently, and he was out in 2002. In the two years between his release and Brittney's murder, he was returned to prison for three months for probation violation, pleaded guilty to assault and was indicted on a drug charge.
There's no trace of humanity left in this vile creature. And 30 years isn't nearly long enough for him to be able to see the light — no matter how anyone tries to spin it.

# posted by Anonymous @ 7:48 AM