Murder in Woodstock

We Need to Talk

On the morning of December 13, 2005, just a day after Judy Nilan went missing, about fifteen minutes after Graham and his partner left Scott Deojay's house, telling his girlfriend why they had been interested in talking to him, a cloud of suspicion hovered over Deojay. The state police had his car. It had blood on it. They would find Judy's DNA inside the car, as well as blood matching Judy's type all over one side of it, as well as inside. As each hour passed, it appeared that Scott Deojay knew where Judy Nilan was, but refused to talk about it.

Scott's girlfriend was not happy with the circumstances she now found herself in. Here was Deojay at her house—a man she thought she knew—being accused of a nasty, vicious crime. That morning, after police left, she approached Deojay, saying, "We need to talk."

Deojay knew what she wanted. It was time for him to leave. Get the hell out of the house.

He looked at her, "I need ten minutes alone ..."

As Deojay went into the garage, his girlfriend followed him. "Leave me alone," he said. "I need some time."

So she walked back into the apartment.

But when Deojay didn't return some time later, his girlfriend went back into the garage to see what was keeping him. When she entered, she saw Deojay with a "blue strap around his neck," she later told police. The other end of the strap was attached to a rafter in the garage.

Scott Deojay was, in effect, trying to hang himself. Then, when she looked up at him and gasped, he uttered quite condescendingly, "Say good-bye."

Not even thinking about it, she ran toward him and helped him down. Then she picked up the phone, which she had in her robe pocket, and dialed 911. When dispatch answered, she screamed, "I need help at [my apartment]," but as she was speaking, Deojay kicked the phone out of her hand.

"Give me that knife," Deojay yelled. There was a knife on a tool bench near where his girlfriend was now standing. "I'm not going to stab myself," he pleaded, "I just want to cut myself down ...." The strap was still attached to his neck and the rafter.

Scared, she reached over and handed Deojay the knife.