REMY BOOK FAILS VICTIM
Chapter on son Jared’s murder of girlfriend disgusts witness
The woman who witnessed and tried to stop Jared Remy from butchering his girlfriend Jennifer Martel in August 2013 is disgusted by Jerry Remy’s decision to recount the gruesome murder committed by his son in his new book, written with the late Nick Cafardo — “If These Walls Could Talk: Stories from the Boston Red Sox Dugout, Locker Room and Press Box.”
Kristina Flickinger Hill was there on the patio of Martel’s Waltham apartment moments after the Remdog’s mad dog son plunged a knife into the mother of his child, stabbing her viciously with one hand while strangling her with the other. Flickinger Hill tried desperately to pull Jared Remy off Martel, punching him over and over again. But her attempt to save Jennifer’s life was futile, as her blows had zero effect on the steroid-fueled monster bent on murder.
These are the details that you don’t get in Jerry Remy’s new book. He dedicates an entire chapter, only four pages really, to the crime. Remy’s account of the tragedy has been promoted and excerpted widely and is propelling sales of the book.
It’s shoehorned among other subjects like Remy’s all-time favorite players, his Remdog business interests and his battle with cancer, which is longer and more descriptive than the chapter titled: Jared.
Remy calls it the chapter he never wanted to write and maybe he shouldn’t have. It’s self-pitying at best. Despite calling victim Jennifer “the sweetest, most loving person” and “a gem,” the writing focuses on Remy’s own ordeal and what a “horrible day” it was for him.
The day was much more horrible for Jennifer, the 27year-old mom from Taunton who was working to become an elementary school teacher.
“Jen was an amazing mum,” Flickinger Hill tells me in an exclusive interview. “If we are not making the narrative about the victims and how we failed to keep them safe, then we are just as much to blame.”
Jerry Remy takes no accountability in these pages for enabling and protecting his son for decades despite Jared Remy’s violent, out-of-control behavior.
Flickinger Hill claims that Jerry Remy’s wife, Phoebe, texted Jennifer Martel and pleaded with her not to pursue criminal charges against their son the day before she was killed.
Remdog alludes to this in his book by playing the victim card.
“What bothered me so much after the tragedy was the criticism of my wife … it was nasty. It went above and beyond,” Remy writes.
No, Remdog. What was truly nasty were the murderous wounds to Martel’s shoulders, arms, neck and head at the hands of your son.
Remy even goes so far as to praise Jared in the book for his decision to plead guilty to the murder and avoid the trial.
“He wasn’t looking for a way out,” the father writes.
Jared Remy — the standup guy. You must be so proud.
Flickinger Hill, who paid for Jennifer Martel’s funeral, claims that Jerry Remy tried to “rip her to shreds” in the media, which is why she fled the U.S. and is now living abroad, living each day with the horror of her friend’s murder.
She hopes that Jerry Remy will donate proceeds from the book to an organization that helps victims of domestic abuse.
“We have to do better for the people we love and for society as a whole,” Hill Flickinger tells me. “We take responsibility when we recognize the problem and the problem is that too many women die every year at the hands of domestic violence.”