Brittany’s Story

CARAVAN TO CATCH A KILLER MOVES ON DOWN THE ROAD

         

            Brittany’s grave site — Brit & me

    Welcome to those who visit! Especially those recently viewing our car or hearing our story on the 5th CARAVAN TO CATCH A KILLER SOON TO MOVE OUT OF fLORIDA AND all of our CARAVAN TO CATCH A KILLER tours. We started on 10/14/07 and our last CARAVAN, the 5th BEGAN ON 6/26/09. All missions to tell Brittany’s story, find tips about her brutal rape and suffocation on 9/27/04 &  to educate people about DNA & Rape laws that could help prevent many of the violent crimes, including murder. The CARAVANS have covered 18500 miles, had 52 beautiful reporters tell our story across 34 states and 43 cities.

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         This story’s facts continue to evolve. We still struggle to solve the mystery of who took my beautiful, dancing princess. WE BURIED BRITTANY ON HER 19TH BIRTHDAY 10-4-04. Brittany was brutally raped and suffocated in the middle of the night in her apartment which sat right next to the highschool she garduated from. We have DNA and have regionally ruled out over 2000 possible suspects. This means boyfriends, (old and new) , friends, friends of friends, 400 good suspects. She had gone away to school for a year and came home to be near family. She was working and going to school-a chemistry major studying to be a pharmecutical cancer researcher.

I have told the story of how Brittany was murdered on 9/27/04 as I travel across the US in my pink/purple “wrapped” suv with child & adult pictures of Brittany and a profile of her killer.

Tears fill my eyes as I tell reporters or someone stopping by my car, about Brit was not found for 3 days after the murder, when a friend stopped by to see why she hadn’t been at classes the night before. The “good news” (sic) was that she died instantly so I didn’t have the added horror of thinking she lay dying for those three days.

The apartment Brittany was murdered in sits right next to Union High School where she graduated from a year prior. We never heard of any major crimes occuring there in those 5-6 years she attended school. Soon after her murder. we were extremely distressed to find out we had not been told of previous attacks/rapes that occurred at her complex (prior to her moving in).

Specifically, an attack two buildings down–10 months before she moved in.

It seems unreal to think that in 2003, Brit went away to college to my alma mater, Eckerd college in Florida. She planned to study Pharmaceutical Research in cancer and had a full ride scholarship. People always commented on her mix of brains and beauty. With dark eyes, long blond curls, she stopped traffic wherever she went. She always drew people towards her with her beauty & kindness. Many highschool friends wrote me ”I was always so surprised that someone so beautiful talked to a dork like me!”

A year younger than most freshmen, Brit, after her first college year (2003-2004), to move back to Tulsa. Little did I know, that her move to be back near me would be her last.

REMEBERING THE MOMENTS BEFORE…

That Monday evening, I talked to her over the phone like I always did after her class at the downtown campus of Tulsa Community College. She was tired, had tried to get into a walkin clinic because of nasal infections, couldn’t and decided to drive home. I said I would help her get an appointment, said I loved her and said good night. She had a heavy class schedule the next two days, and we usually didn’t talk those days. We often talked on Thursdays  to plan for her weekend visit to my house, 40 miles away. On 9/29 I called her (Wednesday) and wasn’t surprised she didn’t answer.  When I called Thursday, I remember I left a slightly miffed message, noting she knew I worried when she didn’t call back, that she needed to let me know she was okay by calling me when she got home. I assumed she had an exam she was studying for and went to sleep.

At 1 a.m. (10/1) a knock at the door woke me. Rain came thrugh the front door as I opened it. I was expecting an old friend from out of town so I opened the door, ready to complain about their late arrival. I vaguely remember a rain soaked Chandler Sherrif quickly stating, “You need to call Tulsa Police, your daughter has been murdered.”

The following hours, days swirl in clouded memories of racing down to the apartment, finding she had been taken to the medical examiners, calling family, going to airport pickups and making arrangements for her burial. By the time the autopsy was done we had a choice of three days for the burial, the middle day was 10/4, what would have been her 19th birthday. Since the other days were so near, we chose to honor her birth and passing on the same day

REMEMBER THESE ISSUES THAT POSSIBLY INCREASED CHANCES THAT THE MURDER OCCURED AND IMPEDE THE INVESTIGATION.
                                                                                                                                               CRIMES THAT OCCUR BY AN INDIVIDUAL DOING MULTIPLE OFFENSES BECAUSE THEIR DNA IS NOT IN NATIONAL DATABASES (SO THEY COULD BE CONNECTED TO THESE CRIMES) ARE CALLED “PREVENTABLE CRIMES” IN OTHER WORDS, THESE CRIMES WOULD NOT HAVE OCCURED IF DNA WAS TAKEN AT ARREST. BY THIER 2ND OR 3RD CRIME THEY WOULD BE IDENTIFIED AND TAKEN OFF THE STREET. DNA AT ARREST WOULD CUT DOWN ON POLICE WORK ON UNSOLVED CASES

 BECAUSE MANY RAPISTS PLEAD DOWN TO MISDEMEANORS, THEIR DNA IS NOT TAKEN (EXCEPT IN THE STATES WHO HAVE STARTED DNA AT ARREST. EVEN OF AN OFFENDER GETS A FELONY CONVICTION OF RAPE, IT CAN TAKE ANYWHERE FROM 1-4 YEARS FOR THEIR DNA PROFILE TO SHOW IN NATIONAL DATA BASES (DUE TO BACKLOGS, LOW FUNDING AND RED TAPE). 

MINIMAL SENTENCING FOR RAISTS OFTEN ALLOWS THEM BACK INTO THE COMMUNITY AS DO THE BACKLOGS. AN OFFENDER IS OFTEN RELEASED FROM PRISON BEFORE BEING CONNECTED TO OTHER CRIMES. IN OKLAHOMA AS OF 2007 WE HAD 900 SEX OFFENDERS THAT WERE LOST (WHAT ABOUT MONTHLY CHECK-INS?) MANY HAD SHORT SENTENCES (NO TIME FOR DNA MATCHING). THIS HAPPENS IN OTHER STATES. THE BIKINI MURDERER IN SOUTH CARLOINA CLEMSON UNIVERISTY WAS LISTED AS A SEX OFFEDER IN THREE STATES WITH A LONG LIST OF CRIMES THAT OCCURED PRIOR TO THIS YOUNG WOMAN’S MURDER!! MORE INFO ON RAPE LAWS/ISSUES PAGE.

My heart aches in loss but amid this echoe of pain, I hope to lessen the number of other daughters, family members lost. Sadly and angrily I fear that Brittany’s murder will be found to be a “Preventable Crime” . This angers me, that due to misinformation, states are not passing DNA at arrest laws which would stop violent ofenders before they commit 15-30 crimes that often occur before they are caught. (See DNAsaves.org). So part of my CARAVANS are to fight to get DNA at arrest laws passed!! DNA taken after conviction (often only for those put in prison with felonys) often matches back to 15-30 crimes violent offenders commit before capture (many arrests DO NOT result in conviction or are plead down to misdemeanors that don’t take DNA). Bravo to the 15 states passing DNA at arrest laws. Taking DNA at arrest, gives police forces the ability to stop violent offenders at the very next crime the offender leaves DNA at. This can stop the violent offender at his 2nd or 3rd crime. We miss many violent offenders when not taking DNA at arrest.

The DNA analyzed by police IS NOT like blood samples or skin samples taken at doctors office. There are only 14, what they call identifiers, of thousands of identifiers that make up each of our DNA profiles. Of these 14, 13 are “empty” which means they are specific to the person but do not identify anything, not sicknesses, not blood type, not anything. The 14th identifier only identifies whther the person is male or female. The name is kept separate from the sample when it is sent to the national data base. It is less accessesible than fingerprints and stiff sentences and fees are set for breaking any DNA analysis rules (250,000 fine and 10 year felony). Samples at doctors offices are less secure and have more info than the forensic samples. Email me at address below for more info!

******* I should do this on my own. I hate asking for help. Again I am on the 5th CARAVAN. If you can, even $5 will help with Gas. We have Paypal to the Brittany Phillips Memorial Fund. Bank acknowledgement to me is delayed, Please email me about donation, if it is okay to post your 1st name or email name. Or email/call/snail mail any national news that you heard about our CARAVAN!!! We need national coverage! *******

++THANK YOU TO THE SWEET MOTHER & 27-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER, WHO, ON I-25 BETWEEN SANTA FE AND COLORADO SPRINGS, WITH TEARS IN THEIR EYES, GAVE ME SOME GREATLY NEEDED HUGS, THEN CAME BACK & PUSHED $20 IN MY HAND. A DAY THAT WAS VERY ALONE, SUDDENLY FELT LESS ISOLATED++

VISIT OUR OTHER WEBSITES myspace.com/therapoet   and youtube.com/zpoet  and policefacebook.com dr.maggie-motherofbrittanyphillips     and livestream.com/caravantocatchakiller

VISIT OUR NEW GROUPS WEBSITE DNASAVES.ORG

   LEARN ABOUT ALL THE MEDIA THAT HAVE TOLD OUR STORY ON THE “THANKS TO……” PAGE

 THE GREATS!!!! LEARN ABOUT THE GREATS ON THE THANKS TO…. PAGE

LEARN ABOUT THE UNBELIEVABLE RESPONSE OF THE APARTMENT COMPLEX ON THE NEWS PAGE!!!

BRITTANY’S MURDER HAS BEEN CALLED THE MOST MYSTERIOUS MURDER OF AND SINCE 2004 BECAUSE SEXUAL HOMICIDES USALLY DON’T OCCUR IN TULSA!!!

ON 10/04/06 AT OUR 2ND YEAR ANNIVERSARY, HER APARTMENT COMPLEX,
SOMMERSET AT UNION BANNED US FROM POSTING POSTERS ABOUT THE  MURDER!!!