LOCKPORT – Three Niagara Falls police officers testified in Niagara County Court Thursday in a hearing on the admissibility of Tyler S. Best’s confession to police that he helped stash the body of a 5-year-old Cheektowaga girl in a stolen garbage tote Aug. 26.
Best, 18, of Barnard Street, Buffalo, is charged with evidence tampering and hindering prosecution in the death of Isabella S. Tennant. The girl allegedly was strangled by babysitter John R. Freeman Jr., 17, of Sixth Street, Niagara Falls. Freeman is charged with second-degree murder, a crime that allegedly occurred in the Falls home of the girl’s great-grandparents.
Officer Jack Miljour said he was the first to encounter Best at Police Headquarters on the morning of Aug. 27. He testifed that Best “seemed very remorseful” as he told his story.
The content of what Detective William Smith said was a 33-minute interview was not discussed during Thursday’s hearing, but the tape of the interview was submitted to Judge Matthew J. Murphy III for his review.
Smith said Best also gave a DNA sample, and Deputy District Attorney Doreen M. Hoffmann told Murphy that Best’s clothing also was confiscated.
Best, 18, of Barnard Street, Buffalo, is charged with evidence tampering and hindering prosecution in the death of Isabella S. Tennant. The girl allegedly was strangled by babysitter John R. Freeman Jr., 17, of Sixth Street, Niagara Falls. Freeman is charged with second-degree murder, a crime that allegedly occurred in the Falls home of the girl’s great-grandparents.
Officer Jack Miljour said he was the first to encounter Best at Police Headquarters on the morning of Aug. 27. He testifed that Best “seemed very remorseful” as he told his story.
The content of what Detective William Smith said was a 33-minute interview was not discussed during Thursday’s hearing, but the tape of the interview was submitted to Judge Matthew J. Murphy III for his review.
Smith said Best also gave a DNA sample, and Deputy District Attorney Doreen M. Hoffmann told Murphy that Best’s clothing also was confiscated.