"The Longest Road to Freedom: Richard Phillips' 45-Year Fight Against a Broken Justice System"

The Crime That Never Was: The 1971 Murder of Gregory Harris

On June 26, 1971, 21-year-old Gregory Harris left his Detroit home to buy cigarettes and never returned. The next day, his wife discovered his abandoned car, stained with what appeared to be blood. Despite this, police failed to collect samples or take photographs before returning the vehicle to Harris's wife, who cleaned it. Months later, on March 3, 1972, Harris's body was found near Troy, Michigan, with a fatal gunshot wound to the head. The investigation quickly turned to Fred Mitchell, Harris's brother-in-law and a man with a prior manslaughter conviction. Mitchell implicated Richard Phillips and Richard Palombo, claiming they confessed to him about the murder. Notably, Mitchell had been in possession of a .22-caliber pistol, the same caliber as the bullets found in Harris's body. Despite the lack of physical evidence linking Phillips to the crime, he was charged based solely on Mitchell's testimony.

A Trial Built on Lies: The 1972 Conviction

In September 1972, Richard Phillips stood trial in Wayne County Circuit Court for the murder of Gregory Harris. The prosecution's case hinged entirely on Fred Mitchell's testimony, which claimed that Phillips and Palombo had confessed to the crime. There was no physical evidence linking Phillips to the murder; the .22-caliber pistol was traced back to Mitchell, not Phillips. Despite this, Phillips was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Palombo was also convicted and received the same sentence. ...Read More

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