OK OK - Brittany Phillips, 19, Tulsa, 27 Sept 2004

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The blood evidence is really nagging at me. This article is from April 2019 before they announced the DNA is irrelevant. I get how there could be blood and semen for other reasons, it just seems oddly worded. Why would it look like a struggle? How soon had the gf and the gf’s bf slept over? LE knows the difference between old and fresh blood. I mean I guess they could have discovered the blood with luminol. Sadly, she wasn’t found for several says, if I recall correctly. Any thoughts?

“Someone broke into the Tulsa Community College student's apartment in Oklahoma the night of Sept. 28, 2004, and raped and strangled her. Police still seek the killer with only a few clues, including DNA samples from blood left in a struggle at the scene.”

This mother wants to know if you can help find her daughter's killer

I agree with you on all of this about the blood evidence. The other thing that seems weird is that it took so long to identify the friend's boyfriend... surely the police spoke to Brittany's friends (especially one close enough that she actually stayed over at Brittany's apartment). Did the friend not tell investigators that she stayed over before? And the phenotype sketch has been out since 1/2018... wouldn't the friend say something to the effect of "hey, that looks like the guy I was dating at the time that stayed over at Brittany's apartment..." Plus, I think that investigators had swabbed several thousand people to run against the DNA they had, and I'm a little surprised the friend's boyfriend wouldn't have come up... especially since he matched the phenotype sketch?

I don't mean to sound critical. I really don't. It just seems like things could have unfolded differently, or more quickly.

Another thing that I've been thinking about is how the profile of the killer is totally different now... I mean, there are the obvious things beyond race, and even gender. But without the blood & semen evidence, it makes me wonder what other evidence there is that a sexual assault took place? Are investigators considering other motives now?
 
Yes, that seemed strange to me too Scholes! You would "think" that friend would have said something about the sketch! Hopefully, there IS other DNA if it was a sexual assault... not getting info from LE though, so who knows! :(
 
The blood evidence is really nagging at me. This article is from April 2019 before they announced the DNA is irrelevant. I get how there could be blood and semen for other reasons, it just seems oddly worded. Why would it look like a struggle? How soon had the gf and the gf’s bf slept over? LE knows the difference between old and fresh blood. I mean I guess they could have discovered the blood with luminol. Sadly, she wasn’t found for several says, if I recall correctly. Any thoughts?

“Someone broke into the Tulsa Community College student's apartment in Oklahoma the night of Sept. 28, 2004, and raped and strangled her. Police still seek the killer with only a few clues, including DNA samples from blood left in a struggle at the scene.”

This mother wants to know if you can help find her daughter's killer

I agree. I get semen, but blood AND semen together, from him...…...I wish they would have explained how the blood was left behind....did he cut his hand cooking, did he get in an argument/was he aggressive?
 
Yes, I agree. I was also thinking about how the guy didn’t come up in all the investigations, even though Brittany’s mom seemed to feel confident that all of Brittany’acquaintances were talked to and DNA collected.

“Every male friend she had, ex-boyfriends, people in Florida, males in the area, janitors at the high school, anyone she knew or knew of her friends…everyone was tested.”

Murder of the Girl Next Door

You all make an important point when asking why it took so long to get in touch with the gf’s bf. That is odd, even if he moved out of state. I’m absolutely not making accusations, just observations. I only know the situation from what info the public has, so there may be a valid reason. I am interested in the alibi. Apparently, Brittany’s mom hasn’t been told what his alibi is.

“She said police have not informed her about the alibi they believe makes clears the young man whose girlfriend was Phillips' friend. The development, in Zingman's eyes, means Tulsa Police should consider it like a new case because everything has to be relooked at.”

Brittany Phillips slaying: Police say man whose DNA was at Tulsa crime scene is no longer a suspect

I am also curious about the crime scene. She was not found for days. There was evidence of a struggle per Brittany’s mom’s website. I want to know a few things about the blood of the gf’s bf. Why would a guy bleed in the one time he stayed the night? I mean that just seems unlikely. Maybe he shaved, but why would he shave there when he can shave at his place? A bloody nose is possible or cut himself with a knife, but what are the chances? I have different people visit my home and just don’t recall any of them bleeding onto my things or my carpet or my bedroom, or cutting themselves with a knife. Sure it happens, but considering the situation here. I don’t know. Also, what kind of struggle took place? Like the bed was disheveled and a few things knocked over? Or? I do recall reading on Brittany’s mom’s website that there was evidence of her being against the wall at some point. I’ll have to find the link, so it’s just IMO.

Yes, @Scholes18, this new information changes so much. I now question who she took home that night and who was over there. Did anyone else see her drop this college friend off? Who lives near her? Did she have anyone in the complex who paid extra attention to her? Were there individuals known to linger around the complex? Were there other reported break-ins in that area? Did neighbors have guests around that time who LE would not know to check out?

The guy is thought to have brought a purple pillowcase with him. Purple can be a guy color, but I view light purple as a color that a female would purchase. That is such a stereotypical statement. Has that pillowcase been emphasized in this case? It’s probably too late now, but could be the one thing that causes an already suspicious mother, wife, or girlfriend to realize their loved one may have killed.

“A pillowcase that was found in the crime scene did not match any of her linens, Detective Jeff Felton said. We believe that the perpetrator may have brought the pillowcase with him and left it behind...The pillowcase is light purple and has some bleached or faded white spots near the end of the pillowcase that is sewn closed. Felton said that it does not have a brand name. We are looking for information from anyone who maybe has a suspicious boyfriend or suspicious roommate who is out at odd hours of the night or may recall having a pillowcase like this missing...”

Unsolved homicide evidence revealed

Well, I had so much to say, but now I’m going blank. I feel in my heart that a re-evaluation of Brittany’s murder is going to lead to the discovery of evidence that LE did not realize they had.

Oh I thought of a few more things. They have investigated a few people in the past and now I wonder if any of them came down to not matching the DNA? Here’s one article:

Tulsa Police Investigating Whether Suspect In Attempted Rape Is Connected To Unsolved Murder

Here are pictures taken by LE of outside of Brittany’s apartment and one inside.

TPD Unsolved Crimes

Here are some cold cases to consider:

Notorious Tulsa cold case investigations
 
Brittany Phillip's mom, Maggie, posted this one Facebook. She would like anyone that can come to please do so.
70006700_10157605557594468_3149044599515774976_n.jpg
Brittany Phillips
September 12 ·

TRYING TO GATHER NAMES OF TULSA COLD/UNSOLVED HOMICIDES for October 5th. 1st annual Tulsa Cold Case day of caring. More on event soon-- down on Riverside near Gathering Place. TBA flyer soon
BUT we want to include information on Tulsa cold cases unsolved homicides. (and add other OK)

If interested PM me loved one's name/ birth murder dates. May try to include brief info about murder but it all depends on how many responses. probably be an insert into pamphlet.

We hope this will turn into a conference each year and we'll discuss this at this event — in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
 
15 years and not much of anything here. Even with the DNA used in Gedmatch and with Parabon Labs. Something needs to turn around soon.
 
WHAT!!??!? LE found a match to DNA at the scene, but the person alibied out? I hope LE found more than one DNA profile.
What is right! And on her sheets?! Would love to know what kind of alibi
or explanation he had. I'd love to know what kind of dna was left on her sheets. If she had been sexually assaulted, you'd think there would be some type(s) of dna left behind!
 
What is right! And on her sheets?! Would love to know what kind of alibi
or explanation he had. I'd love to know what kind of dna was left on her sheets. If she had been sexually assaulted, you'd think there would be some type(s) of dna left behind!
I did some more research and one news article says she allowed the guy and his girlfriend to stay over at the apartment and they used her bed.
 
I did some more research and one news article says she allowed the guy and his girlfriend to stay over at the apartment and they used her bed.
In that case, you'd think there would be alot of unknown DNA left. Hope they interviewed the guy's girlfriend.
 
It's devastating for Brittany's mom, but she marches on. She is such an awesome lady. I hope she gets justice for Brittany soon. I wish that Brittany's case would make national television. :-(
 
I, too, am very curious about what the guy's alibi was. So sad they could be basically back at square one.

I feel like this has to be someone who knew of Brittany. It's possible she didn't know him, but this seems obviously sexually motivated (IMO), so the perp wouldn't just chance going into a random apartment. She was obviously their target. I just feel like the possibilities are endless, and that's very discouraging. It could be an acquaintance or friend of someone who lived in the apartments who happened to see her while visiting someone there. It could have been a HS student who passed by the apartments regularly seeing as how the HS was close by. Could have been a maintenance worker, etc. It could even have been someone who ran into her at school, or out in public somewhere, got infatuated with her and followed her home to see where she lived. It's a bit overwhelming to think of just how many possibilities there could be.
 
I have no idea how I missed this. The Murder Squad, which is an amazing podcast, did an episode on Brittany's case. This is a huge development - the podcast is so good, and these guys have sooo much investigative experience.

Here's the page - you can click on the buttons at the top for apple/spotify/stitcher.
Brittany Phillips Unsolved - The Murder Squad

Or you can listen here, but you may have to navigate to the 12/16/2019 episode #38.
The Murder Squad — Exactly Right Podcast Network
 
Ok, initial impressions from info on The Murder Squad:

1) 70 DNA swabs is extremely promising. Yes, it's a lot to go through, but Paul Holes is right - it sounds like the CSI was very thorough. This case is still solvable through DNA evidence despite the recent setback. There were clear signs of a struggle. I think it's probable that the killer's DNA has been collected. Just have to identify him.
2) Really strange that investigators won't/can't reveal whether Brittany was strangled or suffocated. It seems like an autopsy would be able to tell, so are they withholding that info from the public??? If so, why?
3) I've gotta say, the alibi for the friend's boyfriend must be absolutely airtight. Investigators have DNA from semen and blood from the scene, and they've been trying to identify who it belongs to for 15 years. Police gather samples from 3,000 people, but never from this guy??? why?? The only possible explanation is that they had no idea he was ever in the picture because Brittany's friend never told investigators. Brittany's friend 100% had to have known that police were looking for a match to the DNA at the scene, and she still didn't say anything... she didn't say anything for 15 years. That's insane. It's even crazier after investigators release the phenotype sketch. Surely at that point it would have occurred to the friend or the friend's BF that it's HIS DNA the police have! But crickets... the phenotype sketch is out there for 20 months... 1/2018 - 8/2019 before friend's BF is cleared by police. I just don't get it. It seems super suspicious to me that no one came forward about the fact that this guy had stayed at Brittany's.

A couple of reasons why they may not have come forward:

1) Friend / Friend's BF were scared of being falsely accused: But he apparently has an airtight alibi, right? What was he scared of?
2) Friend / Friend's BF thought they'd be in trouble for fooling around: Maybe? The podcast says the friend was a year younger, so maybe she was underage and the boyfriend was older? But I think age of consent in OK is 16? But it seems like maybe they thought they'd be in trouble with the Friend's parents since they were sneaking around. The question is, does that fear keep you from talking to investigators for 15 years? Even when you know that investigators have placed all their effort in identifying the DNA match? Even when you see Brittany's mom lobbying for DNA at arrest laws???

All this is even more remarkable if you try to think about it from the investigators' standpoint:

No signs of forced entry (although there's the bizarre attic situation), and Brittany has only lived in her apartment for 3 months. They'd want to know every man that has been in that apartment during that time - anyone who may have reasonably gained entry without breaking in. How could they figure that out? Interview Brittany's relatives and friends. Also, there's DNA from semen and blood from the scene, so they're swabbing anyone who may have been in contact with Brittany: Family, friends, classmates, apartment complex employees, etc.

With that kind of wide net, how did this guy slip through the cracks for so long? It makes me angry that the friend never came forward, and it seems really suspicious to me.
 
Yes, Scholes18 - very suspicious they didn't come forward 15 years ago!! Especially with the sketch out there. And yes, the age of consent in OK is 16.
 
Yes, Scholes18 - very suspicious they didn't come forward 15 years ago!! Especially with the sketch out there. And yes, the age of consent in OK is 16.

Something just occurred to me: the friend whose boyfriend stayed over was Brittany's best friend. I wonder if that's the same friend that Brittany dropped off the night she was murdered? Also, something that I didn't pick up on - Brittany was found in a tank-top and underwear... there was no evidence of a break-in. either she was taken completely by surprise (the attic scenario, for instance) or she was with someone she had a relationship with.... but apparently she had no known boyfriends... I dunno, this is pure speculation, but maybe she was seeing someone her friends didn't know about. Maybe it was someone she had to keep secret?
 

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