The Murder of Brittney Gregory

Just a reminder (and a notice for those that were not aware), in memory of Brittney who was an A student, and hoped one day to be a forensic scientist, a scholarship has been set up in her name. Information and donations instruction can be found at the following location.

http://www.mudstock.com/brittney/donationinfo.htm

Was justice served in this case?

Did Jack Fuller get what he deserved? Did he deserve less time? More?

Well it is official, Jack Fuller is "gone" for the next 30 years for the murder of Brittney Gregory.

You can read the article from the Asbury Park Press here.

The Associated Press coverage can be found here.

While I hope the official conviction and sentencing of this horrible animal provides some sort of closure, I would not be surprised if this left them feeling less than satisfied. Thanks to Fuller not saying a word more than he had to, and the fact that he kept his mouth shut and allowed her body to decompose for two weeks, means that nobody will ever really know the full details of what happened that day, or even if Fuller's accounts are accurate (outside of the fact that he killed her).

If events played out as he described in October, then why did he remove her clothing before burying her? Where is the clothing? The one thing that the Coroner's inital report stated was that it was NOT the blows to the head that killed her. Which means he sat there and did drugs while she suffocated on her own blood, presumably from a potential nose bleed from the blows to the head? Wouldn't that have left considerably more blood in the car than the "traces" they found in his car? If this is true, his clothes should have consierable blood on them. Where are his clothes?

I commend the Police and Prosecutors office for the fantastic job they did on this case, and do not blame them for not providing these answers. But, I am sure that if I am thinking about them... and I have never met Brittney, I feel darn sure that these same questions burn in the minds of family members as well.

Jack Fuller Jr. will go before Superior Court Judge Vincent J. Grasso for sentencing. Under terms of his plea bargain, he should be sentenced to 30 years, without possibility of parole.

I must admit that I am grossly upset that there is a possibility that this animal can actually walk out of jail. Even if it is thirty years from now.

He killed this poor girl, because he needed his crack cocaine, and he needed to have it immediately, and she was nothing more than an annoying bug that he just squashed the life out of, so that he could indulge himself in peace.

I don't understand why the State didn't hit him with any of the additional charges he could have been charged with, some of which I outlined here. I guess they have their reasons, maybe they figured they didn't need the additional charges. Or perhaps they held them back in case something went wrong during the trial would have led to allowing this louse to walk away.

When this story first broke, there were untold number of news reports, newpaper articles and the such. Now, all these months later, it would seem that only the Asbury Park Press and I are hanging around for the outcome.

Sorry, due to spamming, I had to turn on word verification for you to add comments to this blog. You can still post anonymous messages, but you will need to type in the word verification. Sorry for the inconvenience.

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 the Asbury Park Press on 10/19/05
REASON: She objected when he lit up a crack pipe while they sat in his car
PLEA BARGAIN: Killer likely to get 30 years with no chance of parole

Plea avoids need for trial in Brittney Gregory case

BY KATHLEEN HOPKINS
TOMS RIVER BUREAU

TOMS RIVER — Brittney Gregory died because she asked her killer to stop smoking crack in front of her.

With that, Jack Fuller punched the 16-year-old Brick honor student in the head "at least twice." Then he continued to get high, even though the teen was unconscious, bleeding profusely and apparently choking.

Only after Fuller finished smoking the cocaine did he check on the girl.

By then she was dead.

That is what Fuller, 39, of Howell, said happened to the pretty, blond teenager who went missing on July 11, 2004, spurring hundreds of law enforcement officers to comb woods and swamps in a search that ended with the discovery of the victim's body in a shallow grave 16 days later.

Fuller relayed the story by responding affirmatively to questions from his attorney Tuesday in pleading guilty to murder before Superior Court Judge Vincent J. Grasso. He faces 30 years with no parole when he is sentenced on Jan. 13, under a plea bargain he accepted a week before he was scheduled to stand trial for Brittney's murder.

Victim's family overcome

Authorities said it was the first revelation to the victim's family and authorities of how and why the girl died.

The girl's father, Joseph Dunn, walked out of the courtroom, overcome with emotion, when Fuller admitted punching Brittney in the head after she asked him to stop smoking crack in front of her.

Brittney's mother, Deborah Gregory, her sisters and an aunt also were among those in the courtroom. Many of them were weeping quietly.

None of them would comment after the court proceeding. Brittney's older sister, BobbiJoe Dunn, was administered oxygen by Ocean County sheriff's officers when she began hyperventilating in the courthouse hallway afterward. Sherri Seiling of the victim-witness unit of the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said later in the day that BobbiJoe Dunn was fine, although still upset.

In court, Fuller merely responded affirmatively as his attorney, John Goins, asked him questions, setting forth what happened on the night of July 11, 2004.

In that fashion, Fuller said he drove to Joseph Dunn's home in Brick with an acquaintance, Tom Long, and when they learned Joseph Dunn was not home, he agreed to give Brittney a ride.

Her mother, who lived in Beachwood, previously has said that Gregory — a straight-A student who had just completed her sophomore year at Brick Township Memorial High School — called her that night, looking for a ride to her boyfriend's house.

Killer's account

Still responding to Goins' questions, Fuller relayed that after he dropped off Long at his home in Howell, Brittney climbed into the front seat of his car.

"Soon afterward, did you stop the vehicle and take out a pipe to smoke cocaine?" Goins asked. Fuller responded that he had.

"Did Miss Gregory yell, scream and raise her hand to the pipe and ask you to stop smoking and not to do it in front of her?" Goins asked. Again, Fuller responded affirmatively.

"Did you punch her in the head at least twice with the purpose to incapacitate Miss Gregory?" the attorney asked.

"I did," Fuller responded, showing no emotion.

Brittney began bleeding profusely from the nose and mouth and slipped into "a deep unconscious state, with her head leaning back," Goins said.

"That's true," Fuller said, matter-of-factly.

"After she reached unconsciousness, she began to choke and make gurgling noises," Goins said.

"That's also true," Fuller said.

"You proceeded to smoke cocaine without rendering aid or assistance to her?" Goins asked.

"Yes," Fuller said.

"After you were done getting high, you checked on Miss Gregory," Goins said, but by then the girl was lifeless and not breathing.

"That's correct," Fuller said.

With that, Fuller pleaded guilty to the murder charge.

Incriminating tape

No mention was made of what Fuller did with the body after the girl died.

However, a police informant several days later made a secret audiotape of Fuller asking him whether burying someone 4 feet in the ground was deep enough to protect the body from animals or predators. On the audiotape, Fuller also says he has to "take out" Long because he last saw Brittney alive with him in his car.

Searchers found Gregory's body in a shallow grave just under a power line off Ridge Avenue in Lakewood, not far from where Brittney lived with her father in Brick, and about a mile and a half from Fuller's Howell home.

An autopsy revealed that Brittney suffered head trauma, although it could not pinpoint a cause of death. But Dr. Hydow Park could not rule out asphyxiation or suffocation.

Blood found in Fuller's car was eventually determined to be the victim's.

Executive Assistant Ocean County Prosecutor Ronald F. DeLigny, who was set to try Fuller for murder, would not comment outside the courtroom on the guilty plea. In court, he did say that he discussed the plea offer with Brittney's family.

"They wish to proceed with this plea agreement," he said.

When asked why Fuller decided to plead guilty a week before his trial was scheduled to begin, Goins said: "I believe Mr. Fuller knew it was time to step forward and let people know exactly what happened and take responsibility for his actions. He understands, as devastating as that would be for the family, a trial would be more devastating.

"According to state Department of Corrections records, Fuller had served time in prison twice in the four years preceding the murder for burglary and theft convictions in Ocean and Monmouth counties and for violating terms of his parole.

His trial was set to begin in Ocean County on Tuesday, after Grasso in July turned down a request by Goins to move the case to another county because of the pretrial publicity it had received.

TOMS RIVER, N.J. -- A 39-year-old Howell man said Tuesday he viciously punched a teenage girl who had accepted a ride in his car, killing her, because she asked him to stop smoking crack cocaine in front of her.

Jack Fuller said he punched 16-year-old Brittney Gregory "at least twice" in the head and continued to get high, even though the teen was unconscious and bleeding profusely.

Only after he finished smoking the cocaine did he check on the girl and by that time she was dead, he said.

Gregory went missing on July 11, 2004. Her body was found two weeks later in a shallow grave beneath a power line tower in Lakewood.

Responding to questions from his attorney, Fuller recounted the events of that night in pleading guilty to the murder before Superior Court Judge Vincent J. Grasso. The girl's parents and other relatives looked on, some weeping quietly.

Under a plea bargain he accepted a week before he was to go on trial, Fuller will face 30 years in prison without parole when he is sentenced on Jan. 13.

Brittney's mother, Deborah Gregory, who lived in Beachwood, said previously that Brittney had called her from her father's house in Brick and said she wanted a ride to her boyfriend's house. Her mother told Brittney that her sister could give her a ride if she waited about 45 minutes.
Fuller was a friend of Brittney's father, Joseph Dunn. He had stopped by looking for Dunn and learned he wasn't home. Fuller agreed to give Brittney a ride.

A police informant ultimately led authorities to Fuller.

A straight-A student, Brittney had just finished her sophomore year at Brick Township Memorial High School.

source: WNBC.com and the Associated Press

Before admitting to murder, defendant's account of Brick teen's death sears her family
Wednesday, October 19, 2005

BY MARYANN SPOTO
Star-Ledger Staff

A week before he was to go on trial for the murder of a Brick honors student, a Howell man admitted yesterday that he killed the girl by beating her and leaving her to die in his car while he got high.
Ending the mystery of what happened the night 16-year-old Brittney Gregory disappeared in July 2004, Jack Fuller told a judge in Toms River that he beat the teen unconscious, then continued smoking cocaine while she lay bleeding and motionless on the seat next to him in his car.
While Fuller calmly revealed details he had kept secret for more than a year, members of Gregory's family were overcome with emotion. Her father, Joseph Dunn, stormed out of the courtroom when Fuller said he heard Brittney making a gurgling sound, but did nothing to help her. Later, one of Gregory's sisters collapsed outside the courtroom, requiring medical attention.
A family friend who answered the door at Dunn's house in Brick last evening said "it's a tragedy for everybody concerned.
"There's never any closure for anything like this. We'll just try to regroup," said the woman, who declined to give her name.
In pleading guilty to the single murder count, Fuller, 39, an ex-convict, faces 30 years in prison with no parole. He is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 13.
Ocean County Executive Assistant Prosecutor Ronald DeLigny said he consulted with Gregory's family before reaching a plea agreement.
Fuller laid out the facts of the murder through a series of questions posed by his attorney, John Goins, before Superior Court Judge Vincent Grasso. In court, Fuller wore the red jumpsuit of the Ocean County Jail, where he has been held since his arrest.
An acquaintance of Gregory's father, Fuller said he went to Dunn's house with a friend, Tommy Long, on the night of July 11, 2004. Dunn wasn't home, but Gregory was. Fuller said he agreed to give her a ride and, with the teen in the car, dropped Long off at his house in Howell.
After Gregory got into the front seat, Fuller drove off, but soon stopped the car and took out a pipe to smoke cocaine, he said. At that point, Gregory grabbed at the pipe and yelled and screamed at him not to smoke in front of her, he said.
"After that, did you purposely punch Miss Gregory in the head and face area at least two times with violent blows with the purpose to incapacitate Miss Gregory?" Goins asked.
"Yes, I did," Fuller replied.
From those punches, Fuller said, Gregory began bleeding profusely from the nose and mouth. Soon, it appeared she fell into a "deep unconscious state," with her head back between the seat and passenger door, Fuller said.
She began to choke and make gurgling noises, Fuller said, but he went back to smoking cocaine without tending to her. It was only after he finished getting high that he checked her, he said. She appeared lifeless and was not breathing, he said.
"Mr. Fuller, at the time of the event, you knew or were aware that your actions and conduct made it practically certain that the serious bodily injury you inflicted would result in her death?" Goins asked.
"Correct," he responded.
"Mr. Fuller, how do you plead to the charge of murder?" Goins asked as nearly the final question.
"Guilty," he said.
The questioning did not cover any details of what occurred after the beating, such as how Gregory came to be buried and why she was unclothed when she was found 16 days after her disappearance.
Investigators found Gregory's body July 27, 2004, after a massive search that attracted national attention. Her body was found in a shallow grave in Lakewood, just two miles from Fuller's house.
A straight-A student at Brick Memorial High School who dreamed of becoming a forensic scientist, Gregory would have entered her junior year at the school that fall. She knew Fuller's daughter because Fuller's daughter dated Gregory's brother.
From the beginning, investigators had difficulties with the case.
Fuller has a long history of drug- and theft-related convictions, and was released from prison in 2003. He was arrested shortly after Gregory's murder, but insisted he did not kill her and would not shed any light on the location of her body. When her body was finally found, it was so badly decomposed that the county medical examiner could not assign a definitive cause of death.
Investigators had secretly recorded a conversation between Fuller and an informant in which Fuller asks how deep to bury a body so it cannot be detected and says he "killed a white girl from Brick."
While she was missing, Gregory's family said she might have accepted a ride from Fuller because she was desperate to go to her boyfriend's house in Brick after the couple had had a tiff earlier that day.

source: The Star Ledger

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 10/18/05

BY KATHLEEN HOPKINS
TOMS RIVER BUREAU

A 39-year-old Howell man today admitted murdering 16-year-old Brittney Gregory of Brick, for the first time shedding light on what happened to the straight-A student who went missing on July 11, 2004.

Jack Fuller pleaded guilty to the murder before Superior Court Judge Vincent J. Grasso in a courtroom filled with the victim's relatives.

Many of them were quietly sobbing as Fuller, answering questions posed by his attorney, admitted that he punched the teen ""at least twice'' in the head when she asked him not to smoke crack in front of her. Then, she fell unconscious while Fuller continued to smoke the crack, he said. When he was done getting high, he realized the girl was lifeless, Fuller admitted.
Fuller faces 30 years without parole when he is sentenced by Grasso on Jan. 13.

News of Gregory's disappearance dominated news for weeks and prompted hundreds of law enforcement officers to search for her. The search ended July 27, 2004, when the girl's body was found in a shallow grave, just under a power line off Ridge Avenue in Lakewood, near where she lived with her father, Joseph Dunn, in Brick, and about 1 miles from Fuller's home in Howell.

The headlines read quite differently between The Star Ledger and the Asbury Park Press.

Well, actually they both do, but they seem to attack the story from completely different angles.

What can be discerned from them is, Dr. Park WILL be allowed to testify. He CAN offer an opinion on the asphyxiation aspect BUT CAN NOT suggest "strangulation" or "suffocation."

It would seem the truth is somewhere in the middle of these two stories. He WILL get to testify, but he WILL NOT be able to suggest murder.

I guess we will have to wait to see how it plays out.

Jury Selection is scheduled to start in 11 days.

Superior Court Judge Vincent Grasso has ruled that Medical Examiner Hydow Park will be allowed to testify in the Murder Trial. Defense Attorney John Goins, had sought to have the testimony barred from the trial since there was no conclusive finding on the cause of death.

With little to go on, it took 16 days for Brittney's body to be found. Because of the advanced decomposition of the body it was virtually impossible for Park to come to a conclusive determination as to the exact cause of death.

Jury selection is to begin Oct. 25.