ONE SUNDAY IN JANUARY 1989, LUCY GARCIA DROVE TO THE AIRPORT IN SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO, TO PICK UP HER BOYFRIEND.
MARINE CAPT. JEFFREY DIGMAN HAD ASKED HER TO MEET HIM AS HE RETURNED FROM HOMELEAVE IN CALIFORNIA. SHE RECALLS MAKING SURE SHE LEFT EARLY ENOUGH TO MEET HIS PLANE ON TIME, FOR JEFFREY WAS METICULOUS. HE HAD GIVEN HER PRECISE FLIGHT INFORMATION AND ASKED HER TO HAVE HIS DRESS BLUE UNIFORM CLEANED FOR AN INSPECTION THE NEXT DAY.
JEFFREY DIGMAN NEVER ARRIVED. HE WAS LYING DEAD ON HIS BED IN TEMECULA, CALIF., THAT EVENING, SHOT THROUGH THE HEAD WITH A REVOLVER. THE RIVERSIDE COUNTY (CALIF.) SHERIFF’S OFFICE AND NAVY INVESTIGATORS LATER SAID THAT DIGMAN – SO DRUNK THAT HIS BLOOD ALCOHOL LEVEL WAS TWICE THE LEGAL LIMIT – HAD COMMITTED SUICIDE.
THE CASE WAS QUICKLY CLOSED, EVEN THOUGH INVESTIGATORS DID NOT FIND THE FATAL BULLET, COULD NOT DETERMINE IF THE .44 MAGNUM HANDGUN FOUND NEXT TO DIGMAN’S BODY HAD KILLED HIM, AND HAD NOT TESTED DIGMAN’S HANDS TO DETERMINE WHETHER HE HAD FIRED A WEAPON.
IN ADDITION, THE LEFT-HANDED CAPTAIN WAS SHOT ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF HIS HEAD, AND THE WOUND WAS NOT THE STAR-SHAPED T SUICIDE RULING.
TO LUCY GARCIA- AND TO KIGMAN’S PARENTS – JEFFREY’S ACTIONS IN THE DAYS AND HOUR BEFORE HIS DEATH HARDLY SEEMED THOSE OF A MAN PLANNING TO TAKE HIS LIFE.
WHEN SHE SPOKE TO HIM ON THE PHONE A FEW DAYS BEFORE HE DIED, GARCIA SAID IN AN INTERVIEW, DIGMAN “SEEMED TOTALLY NORMAL, HIS USUAL SELF, TALKING ABOUT THE THINGS WE WERE GOING TO DO WHEN HE GOT BACK.”
ABOUT 50 MINUTES BEFORE HE DIED, A FRIEND SAID, DIGMAN TOLD HER BY PHONE THAT HE WAS AWAITING A RIDE TO THE AIRPORT. GEMA PFEIFFER SAID IN AN INTERVIEW THAT DIGMAN, 30, “SOUNDED COMPLETELY NORMAL, NOT SUICIDAL.”
ALTHOUGH DIGMAN SOMETIMES DRANK HEAVILY, PFEIFFER SAID, SHE COULD NOT TELL OVER THE PHONE WHETHER HE WAS DRUNK.
WILLIAM DIGMAN, A RETIRED ENGINEER, AND DONNA DIGMAN, A REAL ESTATE AGENT, REFUSED TO BELIEVE THEIR GUNG-HO MARINE SON TOOK HIS LIFE. THEY SAID THEY HAVE SPENT ALMOST $100,000 TRYING TO PROVE HE WAS MURDERED.
THE DIGMANS SAY THEY ARE DETERMINED TO REMOVE THE STAIN OF SUICIDE FROM THEIR SON’S LEGACY. BUT IN DOING SO , THEY HAVE HAD TO CONFRONT PAINFUL REMINDERS OF HIS VIOLENT DEATH JUST A FEW MILES FROM THEIR HOME IN CYPRESS, CALIF.
FIRST, THEY HAD TO ENDURE THE EXHUMATION OF JEFFREY’S BODY A YEAR LATER SO THAT A SECOND AUTOPSY COULD BE PERFORMED BY NAVY DOCTORS.
THEN , IN A BEDROOM OF THE HOME WHERE JEFFREY GREW UP DREAMING OF BECOMING A MARINE, THE DUGMANS BUILT AN ELABORATE MOCKUP OF HIS DEATH SCENE. THEY MOVED IN HIS FURNITURE AND BELONGINGS AND PLACED THEM IN PRECISELY THE SAME POSITIONS AS IN THE BEDROOM WHERE HE DIED.
IN THE MOCKUP, DOWN THE HALL FROM THEIR BEDROOM, JEFFREY’S DEATH WAS REPLAYED ENDLESSLY. “IT GOT TO WHERE I COULDN’T STAND THE SIGHT OF THAT BED, “DONNA DIGMAN SAID., “BUT IT WAS SO IMPORTANT IN SHOWING WHAT HAPPENED, WE JUST LEARNED TO PUT UP WITH IT. WE OWE IT TO JEFFREY.”
ON THE CEILING, BILL DIGMAN SAID, HE MARKED A SPOT COINCIDING WITH THE HOLE LEFT IN THE CEILING OF JEFFREY’S HOME BY THE BULLET THAT PASSED THROUGH HIS SKULL AND OUT THE ROOF. THEN HE RAN A STRING FROM THE MARK TO THE EDGE OF THE BED UPON WHICH JEFFREY’S BODY WAS FOUND.
THE TRAJECTORY INDICATED BY THE STRING PROVED TO HIM, DIGMAN SAID, THAT HIS SON DID NOT KILL HIMSELF.
“HE WOULD’VE HAD TO PRACTICALLY LEAN OVER AND STAND ON HIS HEAD TO SHOOT HIMSELF.” DIGMAN SAID. ” AND HE WOULD HAVE FALLEN OVER ON THE FLOOR, NOT ON THE BED.”
IT WAS THEN, THE DIGMANS SAID, THAT THEY DECIDED TO FIND THEIR OWN EXPERTS TO INVESTIGATE THE ENTIRE CASE.
THEY HIRED A PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR TO INTERVIEW PEOPLE WHOM THE NAVY AND SHERIFF HAD NOT QUESTIONED. THEY HIRED THREE OF THE COUNTRY’S TOP FORENSIC PATHOLOGISTS TO REVIEW AUTOPSY RECORDS. THEY PAID AN EXPERT IN BLOOD SPATTER PATTERNS AND A CRIME SCENE ANALYST TO PORE OVER AUTOPSY AND DEATH SCENE PHOTOS.
THOSE PHOTOS, COMBINED WITH A SECOND MOCKUP THE DIGMANS SET UP IN THE ACTUAL BEDROOM WHERE THEIR SON DIED IN TEMECULA, HELPED CONVINCE THEIR EXPERTS THAT DIGMAN DID NOT DIE THE WAY AUTHORITIES SAID.
“THERE IS MORE HARD EVIDENCE AGAINST A DETERMINATION OF SUICIDE THAN FOR IT, ” PATHOLOGIST CYRIL W. WECHT, A FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF FORENSIC SCIENCES, SAID IN AN INTERVIEW. HE CHARACTERIZED BOTH INVESTIGATIONS AS “NOT AS COMPLETE OR DETAILED AS THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN.”
WECHT ADDED: “THERE IS A LOT OF GOOD, SOLID EVIDENCE THAT SHOWS IT WOULD HAVE BEEN EXTREMELY DIFFICULT, IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE, FOR A SUICIDE TO HAVE OCCURRED IN THE MANNER THAT WAS DESCRIBED” BY AUTHORITIES.
A REPORT BY STEPHAN A. SCHLIEBE, A CRIME SCENE EXPERT AT THE CALIFORNIA LABORATORY OF FORENSIC SCIENCE, WAS LESS EQUIVOCAL: “JEFFREY DIGMAN STRUGGLED WITH SOMEONE, WAS EITHER ACCIDENTALLY OR PURPOSELY SHOT, AND WAS THEN PLACED ON THE BED.”
THE DEATH SCENE PHOTOS SHOWED THAT JEFFREY’S THUMBS, WHICH WERE POINTED UP AT HIS SIDE, WERE BLUE, THAT DIDN’T MAKE SENSE, THE DIGMAN’S EXPERTS TOLD THEM. THE BLUE COLOR WAS CAUSED BY LIVIDITY, OR THE SETTLING OF BLOOD, THEY EXPLAINED – BUT ONLY IF THE THUMBS HAD BEEN POINTED DOWNWARD AND AWAY FROM THE BODY.
ACCORDING TO WECHT, THE LIVIDITY AND POSITION OF THE THUMBS STRONGLY SUGGESTED THAT SOMEONE REARRANGED JEFFREY’S HANDS AFTER HE DIED.
THE DIGMANS ALSO SAW THAT THE PHOTOS SHOWED BLOOD RUNNING STRAIGHT DOWN FROM HIS EAR. THEIR EXPERTS CONCLUDED JEFFREY HAD REMAINED UPRIGHT FOR FIVE TO SEVEN SECONDS AFTER HE WAS SHOT.
BUT BECAUSE SUCH A SEVERE WOUND WOULD HAVE CAUSED HIM TO COLLAPSE INSTANTLY, THE EXPERTS CONCLUDED THAT SOMEONE EITHER PREVENTED DIGMAN FROM FALLING OR HELD HIM UPRIGHT WHILE LAYING HIM ON THE BED.
THE PHOTOS ALSO SHOWED A FRESH ABRASION ON DIGMAN’S RIGHT CHEEK-DISMISSED BY THE RIVERSIDE COUNTY CORONER’S REPORT AS A “SMALL” INJURY THAT DID NOT SUGGEST FOUL PLAY. AFTER THE BODY WAS EXHUMED, A NAVY AUTOPSY IN 1990 FOUND PREVIOUSLY UNDOCUMENTED INJURIES TO DIGMAN’S ELBOW AND FINGER.
EVEN SO, THE NAVY SAID DIGMAND HAD COMMITTED SUICIDE.
THE DIGMAN’S EXPERTS DISAGREED.
“THESE INJURIES INDICATE THAT SOME KIND OF AN ALTERCATION TOOK PLACE PRIOR TO JEFFREY DIGMAN’S DEATH,” SCHLIEBE CONCLUDED.
THE DIGMANS HAD ALSO NOTICED A BLOOD STAIN ON THE SHEET SEVERAL INCHES ABOVE THEIR SON’S HEAD. THEIR EXPERTS CONCLUDED THAT THE BLOOD WAS NOT SPATTER FROM THE GUNSHOT BUT HAD BEEN SMEARED THERE BY ANOTHER SOURCE-POSSIBLY A SECOND PERSON WHO HAD JEFFREY’S BLOOD ON HIS OR HER BODY.
NONE OF THESE CONTRADICTIONS WAS NOTED IN EITHER INVESTIGATION. IN FACT, THE AUTOPSY REPORT PREPARED THE DAY JEFFREY DIED-WHEN THE INVESTIGATION WAS JUST HOURS OLD-CONCLUDED: “NO SIGNS OF FOUL PLAY”.
TED L. GUNDERSON, THE FORMER HEAD OF THE FBI OFFICE IN LOS ANGELES, WAS HIRED BY THE DIGMANS TO REINVESTIGATE THE CASE.
“IT WAS A JOKE-ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS.” GUNDERSON SAID OF THE JOINT CIVILIAN AND NAVY INVESTIGATION.
THE DIGMANS TOOK THEIR ACCUMULATED EVIDENCE TO THE ARMED FORCES INSTITUTE OF PATHOLOGY IN WASHINGTON, A DEFENSE DEPARTMENT AGENCY. IN FEBRUARY 1991 – TWO YEARS AFTER JEFFREY DIGMAN DIED-A MEDICAL EXAMINER AT THE INSTITUTE, RICHARD FROEDE, WROTE THAT “AFTER CAREFUL EXAMINATION AND MUCH THOUGHT,” HE HAD RECLASSIFIED THE DEATH FROM SUICIDE TO “UNDETERMINED.”
EVEN SO, THE SHERIFFS OFFICE AND THE NCIA REFUSED TO CHANGE THEIR RULINGS. THE DIGMANS CONTINUED TO PRESSURE BOTH AGENCIES WHILE WRITING LETTERS TO CONGRESSMEN, MILITARY COMMANDERS AND LOCAL OFFICIALS.
LAST YEAR, THE CALIFORNIA STATE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AGREED TO REINVESTIGATE THE CASE. MICHAEL PRODAN, THE INVESTIGATOR IN CHARGE OF THE REVIEW, SAID HE HAS STUDIED EXISTING EVIDENCE AND SOUGHT NEW INFORMATION.
PRODAN DECLINED TO DISCUSS SPECIFICS OF THE CASE, BUT HE SAID HIS OFFICE WOULD SEND A COPY OF ITS FINAL REPORT TO RIVERSIDE COUNTY AUTHORITIES.
“I UNDERSTAND THE TRAUMA THESE KINDS OF CASES CAUSE THE FAMILIES,” PRODAN SAID THIS MONTH. “IT’S VERY PAINFUL FOR THEM NOT TO HAVE ANSWER. WE HOPE WE CAN FIND THEM.”
DEPUTY MARK LOHMAN OF THE RIVERSIDE COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE SAID THE DEPARTMENT’S INVESTIGATION WAS THOROUGH AND PROPER.
“IF WE ARE PRESENTED WITH NEW EVIDENCE-AND I EMPHASIZE NEW-THAT MIGHT LEAD US IN A DIFFERENT DIRECTION, WE’D PURSUE IT” HE SAID.
OFFICIALS AT THE CORONER’S OFFICE DID NOT RESPOND TO REQUESTS FOR COMMENT. IN A 1992 LETTER TO DIGMAN’S CONGRESSMAN, THE CORONERS OFFICE WROTE:
“THE CORONER HAS CLASSIFIED THE DEATH AS SUICIDE BASED UPON THE EVIDENCE AVAILABLE AND SUPPORTED BY CONSULTATIONS AND PHYSICAL EXAMINATIONS BY A FORENSIC SPECIALIST.”
THE LETTER ADDED: “UNTIL ANY SUPPORTIVE REAL EVIDENCE IS PRODUCED, THE OFFICE THE CORONER MAINTAINS THE POSITION THAT CAPTAIN DIGMAN’S DEATH IS A SUICIDE.”
BILL DIGMAN SCOFFS AT THE CORONER’S EXPLANATION, AND ACCUSES THE NAVY OF ENDORSING AND COMPOUNDING ASSUMPTIONS AND ERRORS BY CIVILIAN INVESTIGATORS.
LIKE DOZENS OF OTHER PARENTS OF DEAD SERVICEMEN, DIGMAN SAYS, HE HAS SEEN ALL TOO CLEARLY HOW EASY IT IS TO DISMISS A COMPLEX AND DIFFICULT DEATH CASE AS A SIMPLE SUICIDE.
“WITH A SUICIDE THERE IS ESSENTIALLY NO INVESTIGATION, NO SUSPECTS, NO QUESTIONS ASKED AND NO QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED,” HE SAID, “AND THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED-UNTIL WE LAUNCHED OUR OWN INVESTIGATION.”
THIER SONS WERE DEAD. PERSONAL EFFECTS WERE MISSING. WHEN FAMILIES TRIED TO TRACK DOWN THE BELONGINGS, THEY CAME TO QUESTION THE MILITARY’S ENTIRE ACCOUNTS OF HOW THE MEN HAD DIED.
THE U.S. GOVERNMENT ALLOWED CPL. JOHN MACCASKILL’S HEART AND LUNGS, HIS LIVER AND INTESTINES TO BE CUT FROM HIS DEAD BODY AND BURIED IN AN UNMARKED GRAVE AFTER HE DIED IN EL SALVADOR, 2,400 MILES FROM THE HOME HE LEFT ON LONG ISLAND TO BECOME A MARINE EMBASSY GUARD.
THE ARMY COULD NOT TELL THE MOTHER OF PVT. SEAN ALLISON WHERE HIS BODY WAS UNTIL THREE DAYS AFTER HE DIED IN GERMANY, THEN SENT HER A LETTER REFERRING TO “YOUR WIFE’S REMAINS.”
THE AIR FORCE LOST AIRMAN GAR ROSENLEAF’S BIBLE AND SILVER ROSARY, PLUS THE LIGHTER FROM VIETNAM HIS FATHER HAD GIVEN HIM-THEN SENT HIS MOTHER HIS OTHER BELONGINGS, WHICH HAD BEEN RIFLED AFTER HIS DEATH IN THE NETHERLANDS.
THE NAVY DISCARDED THE CLOTHES THAT ELECTRICIAN’S MATE WILLIAM “TIM” HARRISON WAS WEARING WHEN HE DIED IN TEXAS, THEN MAILED HIS MOTHER SOMEONE ELSE’S CLOTHING. ALONG WITH HARRISON’S BROKEN FURNITURE.
AND THE NAVY LOST MACHINIST’S MATE MARTIN ESSARY’S CLASS RING, WALLET AND RADIO AFTER HE DIED ABOARD A SHIP DOCKED NORFOLK.
FOR DOZENS OF AMERICAN FAMILIES ALREADY IN SHOCK AFTER BEING TOLD THEIR SONS HAD KILLED THEMSELVES, THE MISHANDLING OF THE DEAD MEN’S PERSONAL EFFECTS OR REMAINS ADDED A PAINFUL NEW DIMENSION TO THEIR ORDEAL. THEIR QUEST TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THEIR SONS’ BODIES OR BELONGINGS EVENTUALLY LED THEM TO QUESTION THE MILLITARY’S ENTIRE ACCOUNTS OF HOW THE MEN DIED.
“IF THEY CAN’T EVEN HOLD ON TO HIS PERSONAL BELONGINGS, YOU HAVE TO WONDER WHAT KIND OF INVESTIGATION THEY’RE DOING,” SAID KATHLEEN KOCH, THE GRANDMOTHER OF AIRMAN ROSENLEAF, WHO THE AIR FORCE SAID HANGED HIMSELF IN OCTOBER 1992.
IN MANY CASES, FAMILIES’ DOUBTS WERE TRIGGERED BY SMALL INDIGNITIES: A LOST FAMILY PHOTO, A MISSING DIARY, A WALLET THAT CAME HOME EMPTY. BUT AS THE FAMILIES BEGAN TO ASK QUESTIONS, THEY ENCOUNTERED MORE PUZZLING CIRCUMSTANCES:
CONFLICTING VERSION OF HOW AND WHERE THEIR SONS DIED. THREATENING PHONE CALLS. UNEXPLAINED BRUISES ON THEIR SONS’ BODIES. MISSING OR MISHANDLED EVIDENCE. TAINTED CRIME SCENES. BLANKET DENIALS BY THE MILITARY. SERVICEMEN ORDERED NOT TO SPEAK TO SURVIVING FAMILY MEMBERS.
IN ALL, 40 FAMILIES HAVE TOLD THE INQUIRER THAT THE MILITARY HAS GIVEN THEM FALSE OR CONTRADICTORY INFORMATION ABOUT THEIR SONS’ DEATHS-ALL RULED SUICIDES OR ACCIDENTALLY SELF-INFLICTED. THE NEWSPAPER’S SEVEN-MONTH REVIEW OF THE CASES HAS FOUND A PATTERN OF CONTRADICTORY OR INCOMPLETE INVESTIGATIONS, RAISING DOUBTS ABOUT THE VALIDITY OF THE MILITARY’S FINDINGS.
FOUR EX-MILITARY INVESTIGATORS WHO REVIEWED 19 OF THE CASES SAID THE INVESTIGATIONS DID NOT FULLY SUPPORT FINDINGS OF SUICIDE OR SELF-INFLICTED DEATHS. THEY CHARACTERIZED MOST PROBES AS PERFUNCTORY AND CONTRARY TO ESTABLISHED INVESTIGATIVE PROCEDURES.
THE FORMER INVESTIGATORS SAID SOME SUSPICIOUS MILITARY DEATHS WERE PREMATURELY RULED SUICIDE BY INVESTIGATORS UNDER PRESSURE TO CLEAR UP CASES. CALLING SUCH DEATHS SUICIDES IS A SWIFT WAY OF RESOLVING THE CASES AND RELIEVES INVESTIGATORS OF THE BURDEN OF FINDING EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT PROSECUTION OF A MURDER CASE, THEY SAID.
AMONG THE 40 CASES, CONTRADICTIONS ABOUND. TRYING TO RECONCILE THEM HAS PITTED THE FAMILIES AGAINST A MILITARY ESTABLISHMENT THEY SAY BLOCKS THEM AT EVERY TURN. MANY SAY THEY HAVE LOST NOT ONLY THEIR CHILDREN BUT THEIR FAITH IN THE VERY MILITARY THEY HAD ENTRUSTED WITH THEIR SONS’ SAFETY.
“I’M SORRY, BUT MY PATRIOTISM IS SHOT.”-SAID KATHRYN MADDASION, WHO SAY THE ARMY TOLD HER IT EITHER LOST OR DESTROYED SOME OF THE PERSONAL EFFECTS OF HER SON, GUY MADDASION, AFTER HIS DEATH IN 1991. ” I COULD TAKE THE AMERICAN FLAG AND BURN IT IN FRONT OF THE FEDERAL BUILDING. I’M SO DISGUSTED.”
OFFICIALS OF THE THREE MILITARY INVESTIGATIVE SERVICES SAID INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE 40 DEATHS WERE THOROUGH AND PROFESSIONAL. THEY SAID THEIR AGENCIES WORK WITH FAMILIES TO ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS AND TO ENSURE THAT PERSONAL POSSESSIONS ARE TURNED OVER TO FAMILIES BY OTHER MILITARY DEPARTMENTS.
“OUR GOALS ARE THE SAME AS THE FAMILIES’-TO FIND ANSWERS,” SAID CMDR. KEVIN MUKRI, A SPOKESMAN FOR THE NAVAL CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE SERVICE (NCIS) . ” AS A PARENT, I SYMPATHIZE WITH THEM. WE REALIZE THAT A DEATH IN THE SERVICE IS A VERY, VERY DIFFICULT THING…..SO TRUST IS PARAMOUNT TO US.”
MUKRI SAID FAMILIES OF DEAD SERVICEMEN OFTEN BECOME SUSPICIOUS OF THE MILITARY BECAUSE IT CANNOT, BY LAW, REVEAL DETAILS OF INVESTIGATIONS UNTIL THEY ARE COMPLETED. AND THE LAW ALSO REQUIRES FAMILIES TO FILE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA) REQUESTS TO RECEIVE INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS, SAID ROBERT J. FINAN 3D ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF THE NCIS.
ON AVERAGE, MUKRI SAID, IT TAKES AT LEAST SIX MONTHS FOR A FAMILY TO RECEIVE AN NCIS INVESTIGATIVE REPORT.
“WHILE IT SOMETIMES HINDERS FAMILY MEMBERS, NCIS IS BOUND BY THE FOIA LAW REQUIREMENTS,” FINAN SAID.
DOZENS OF FAMILIES SAY THE MILITARY HIDES BEHIND THOSE REQUIREMENTS TO DENY THEM ESSENTIAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE DEATHS OF THEIR LOVED ONES. SOME MAINTAIN THAT THE MILITARY DISREGARDS EVIDENCE THAT THEIR SONS POSSIBLY WERE MURDERED.
MADDASION, FOR INSTANCE, CONTENDS THAT HER SON WAS KILLED SHORTLY AFTER TELLING HER HAD STUMBLED ACROSS ILLEGAL GUN RUNNING AT FORT BRAGG, N.C. SHE SAID HE WENT ABSENT WITHOUT LEAVE AND CAME TO STAY WITH HER IN FLORIDA, TELLING HER: “MA, MY LIFE IS IN DANGER. DON’T TELL ANYBODY. THIS IS BIG.”
THE ARMY AND LOCAL POLICE SAID MADDASION SHOT HIMSELF IN THE HEAD INSIDE A ROOM WHERE HE WAS LIVING NOT FAR FROM HIS MOTHER’S HOME. THEY SAID NO FOUL PLAY WAS INVOLVED.
MADDASION SAID HER SUSPICIONS WERE HEIGHTENED IN MAY 1992 WHEN SHE SAYS SOMEONE BROKE INTO HER HOME IN ALTA MONTE SPRINGS, FLA. THE ONLY ITEMS STOLEN, SHE SAID WERE HER FILES ON HER SON’S CASE- ALTHOUGH A TV, VCR AND JEWELRY WERE CLEARLY VISIBLE.
MADDASION ALSO SAYS SOLDIERS AT FORT BRAGG TOLD HER THAT HER SON HAD INADVERTENTLY OVERHEARD A GROUP OF SOLDIERS DISCUSSING PLANS TO ILLEGALLY SELL MILITARY WEAPONS.
OTHER FAMILIES SAY THEY BEGAN TO QUESTION THE MILITARY AFTER BEING GIVEN DIFFERENT ACCOUNTS OF HOW OR WHERE THEIR SONS DIED.
MARENICOLA WHITTLES, AN ACCOUNTING CLERK FROM BLOOMFIELD, N.J. , SAID SHE WAS GIVEN THREE VERSIONS OF HOW HER SON DIED AT A NAVY BASE IN 1989. SHE SAID OFFICERS FIRST TOLD HER THAT MARINE CPT. CORNELIUS WHITTLES, 22 SHOT HIMSELF WHILE PLAYING RUSSIAN ROULETTE. LATER, SHE SAID, SHE WAS TOLD HE HAD BEEN CLEANING HIS GUN , AND FINALLY THAT HE HAD BEEN TOYING WITH THE GUN AS HE COMPARED IT WITH ANOTHER SERVICEMAN’S WEAPON.
“I WAS ALWAYS A BELIEVER IN, “IF THE MILITARY SAYS IT, THEN IT’S TRUE.” NOT ANYMORE,” SAID WHITTLES, WHO MAINTAINS THAT HER SON WAS SHOT BY SOMEONE ELSE.
SOME PARENTS CANNOT AFFORD TO HIRE INVESTIGATORS OR EXPERTS TO UNCOVER EVIDENCE THAT CONTRADICTS MILITARY FINDINGS.
MOST OF THE FAMILIES SAY THEY WAITED MONTHS = AND IN SOME CASES MORE THAN A YEAR- BEFORE OBTAINING INVESTIGATIVE FILES THROUGH FOIA REQUESTS. PORTIONS OF THOSE FILES ARRIVED CENSORED BY THE MILITARY.
IN SOME CASES, THE REPORTS CONTAIN INFORMATION THAT LITERALLY IS UNBELIEVABLE.
A COAST GUARD INVESTIGATIVE REPORT CONCLUDED THAT WILLIAM M. SHORT, 18, A COAST GUARD CREWMAN, HAD HANGED HIMSELF ABOARD A SHIP DOCKED IN CAPE MAY IN FEBRUARY 1992. THE DEATH CERTIFICATE DESCRIBED HIM AS A BLACK MAN. SHORT WAS WHITE.
THE AUTOPSY REPORT SAID THERE WERE NO INJURIES TO SHORT OTHER THAN TO HIS NECK. BUT AT HIS FUNERAL, HIS PARENTS SAID, THEY NOTICED A BRUISE ON HIS FOREHEAD, A CONTUSION ON HIS CHEEK AND SCRAPES ON HIS KNUCKLES.
RICK SHORT, A DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AUDITOR IN LINCOLN, NEBRASKA, AND HIS WIFE, KATHY, SAY THEY NOW HAVE DOUBTS ABOUT THE SUICIDE RULING.
“WHEN I READ ALL THESE REPORTS, IT’S LIKE I’M READING ABOUT SOMEBODY OTHER THAN MY SON,” SAID SHORT, AN AIR FORCE VETERAN.
THE COAST GUARD SAYS BILL SHORT, WHO WAS DRUNK WHEN HE DIED, LEFT A SUICIDE NOTE THAT READ: UPON ARRIVAL OF MY DEATH, I (BILL SHORT) WANT YOU TO: CALL (HIS FATHER AND GIRLFRIEND),” FOLLOWED BY THEIR TELEPHONE NUMBERS.
THE SHORTS SAY THEIR SON WROTE THE NOTE MONTHS EARLIER AND CARRIED IT IN CASE OF AN ACCIDENT. IT IS WRITTEN ON A PAMPHLET TITLED “SUICIDE AND HOW TO PREVENT IT,” WHICH WAS HANDED OUT AT A SUICIDE-PREVENTION SEMINAR ALL CREWMEN WERE REQUIRED TO ATTEND.
LESS THAN 12 HOURS BEFORE HIS SON DIED, RICK SHORT SAID, HE PHONED HOME TO COMPLETE PLANS FOR HOME LEAVE THE COMING WEEK. SHORT SAID BILL WAS HIS USUAL SELF, COMPLAINING ABOUT AIRLINE TICKET PRICES AND WHAT HE HAD JUST PAID FOR NEW UNDERWEAR.
A COAST GUARD OFFICIAL, LT. JAN PROEHL, SAID: “WE ARE SATISFIED WITH THE INVESTIGATION AND HAVE NO INTENTION OF REOPENING THE CASE.”
THE SHORTS SAY THEY PLAN TO EXHUME THEIR SON’S BODY. THEY HAVE HIRED A LAWYER AND ARE CONSIDERING A LAWSUIT.
“OF ALL THE NIGHTMARES I’VE EVER HAD,” KATHY SHORT SAID, “I NEVER THOUGHT I’D LIVE THROUGH ONE LIKE THIS.”
ANOTHER AUTOPSY REPORT, PREPARED NEARLY 20 YEARS AGO, STILL BAFFLES ESTHER SALEM. IT DESCRIBED HER DEAD SON, SAILOR GARY GLASS, AS 6-FOOT-2, WITH BROWN EYES AND HAIR, SHE SAID. HER SON WAS 5-FOOT-7, WITH BLUE EYES AND BLOND HAIR.
SALEM SAID THE NAVY TOLD HER THAT HER SON DROWNED ACCIDENTALLY NEAR CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA, IN 1974. HIS MOTHER CONTENDS THAT GLASS, 18, WAS AN EXPERT SWIMMER WHO WAS BEATEN BY SHIPMATES ANGRY THAT HE HAD TURNED THEM IN FOR DEALING DRUGS.
“IT’S A FRIGHTENING EXPERIENCE THAT TEARS YOU APART,” SAID SALEM, OF BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA, WHO SAID SHE GAVE UP AFTER 11 YEARS OF TRYING TO HAVE THE CAUSE OF DEATH CHANGED.
TWO AUTOPSY REPORTS WERE SENT TO SARA AND MICHAEL MARUSA IN HOMER CITY, PENNSYLVANIA, AFTER THE DEATH OF THEIR SON IN 1989. THE NAVY RULED THAT SEAMAN MICHAEL MARUSA, 20, ACCIDENTALLY FELL FROM THE USS CHARLESTON AND DROWNED WHILE THE SHIP WAS DOCKED IN ROTA, SPAIN.
THE FIRST AUTOPSY REPORT, BY A SPANISH MEDICAL EXAMINER, SAID MARUSA DIED OF HEAD TRAUMA, NOT DROWNING. HIS REPORT NOTED HEMATOMAS ON BOTH SIDES OF MARUSA’S HEAD AND A SKULL FRACTURE, WHICH HE ATTRIBUTED TO BLOWS TO THE HEAD. AN AMERICAN PHYSICIAN’S ASSISTANT WHO ATTENDED THE AUTOPSY AGREED.
A SUBSEQUENT AUTOPSY REPORT, BY TWO AMERICAN PATHOLOGISTS WITH THE ARMED FORCES INSTITUTE OF PATHOLOGY (AFIP), SAID THE CAUSE OF DEATH WAS DROWNING. IT SAID NO HEMATOMAS WERE FOUND, AND IT NOTED THAT A SMALL CRACK IN THE SKULL WAS CAUSED BY THE SPANISH AUTOPSY.
THE NAVY’S INVESTIGATIVE REPORT CONCLUDED THAT THE AFIP AUTOPSY WAS “MORE CREDIBLE,” IT REJECTED THE SPANISH AUTOPSY BECAUSE “IT IS INCONSISTENT WITH THE AFIP RESULTS.”
THE OFFICIAL NAVY REPORT OF CASUALTY, DATED EIGHT DAYS AFTER MARUSA’S DEATH, COMBINED THE TWO. UNDER “CAUSE AND CIRCUMSTANCES,” THE REPORT SAID: “HEAD TRAUMA/DROWNING.”
* ARLENE BALL WAS SHOCKED BY SOMETHING SHE READ IN A NAVY INVESTIGATIVE REPORT SHE RECEIVED EIGHT MONTHS AFTER THE DEATH OF HER SON, MARINE PRIVATE JAMES GARDNER, IN OCT 1991.
ALTHOUGH THE REPORT SAID GARDNER SHOT HIMSELF WITH A BROWNING 9MM PISTOL, IT ALSO NOTED THAT THE BLOOD-SPATTERED WEAPON WAS FOUND WITH ITS SAFETY ON.
BALL HIRED A WEAPONS EXPERT TO TEST FIRE A BROWNING 9MM. THE EXPERT CONCLUDED, SHE SAID THAT THE GUNS DESIGN MADE IT VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE FOR GARDNER TO HAVE SOMEHOW KNOCKED THE SAFETY INTO THE ON POSITION AFTER SHOOTING HIMSELF, BALL, OF ENOCH, UTAH, SAID THE NAVY HAS BEEN UNABLE TO EXPLAIN THE DISCREPANCY.
FREDERICK R. MCDANIEL, A FORMER ARMY INVESTIGATOR AND SUPERVISOR WITH THE ARMY’S CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION COMMAND (CID) WHO REVIEWED THE GARDNER CASE, SAID INVESTIGATORS SHOULD HAVE CONSIDERED THE POSSIBILITY THAT GARDNER WAS MURDERED.
“HE KILLED HIMSELF AND PUT THE SAFETY ON? THAT’S UNBELIEVABLE,” SAID MCDANIEL, A RETIRED KANSAS CITY POLICE CAPTAIN.
ARLENE BALL SAID SHE HAS NOT RULED OUT THE POSSIBILITY THAT HER SON KILLED HIMSELF. “BUT THE NAVY STILL HASN’T EXPLAINED TO ME HOW OR WHY,” SHE SAID.
IN OTHER CASES, IT HAS BEEN SOMETHING THAT WAS INCLUDED AMONG A DEAD SON’S POSSESSIONS THAT TRIGGERED A FAMILY’S SKEPTICISM.
RICHARD CARNEVALE IS STILL PUZZLED BY A LARGE, SMASHED BLACK ONYX RING THE NAVY SENT HIM WITH HIS SON’S BELONGINGS. THE NAVY RULED THAT MARINE CPL. RICHARD CARNEVALE JR., DRUNK AND DESPONDENT OVER A BREAKUP WITH HIS GIRLFRIEND, HANGED HIMSELF WITH A NECKTIE IN HIS ROOM IN NORTH CAROLINA IN 1982.
CARNEVALE, OF CLIFTON HEIGHTS, SAID THE RING WAS NOT HIS SON’S. HE SAID HE SUSPECTS IT BELONGED TO SOMEONE WITH WHOM HIS SON STRUGGLED AS HE WAS BEING CHOKED.
“MY SON LOVED TO FIGHT, ESPECIALLY WHEN HE WAS DRINKING,” CARNEVALE SAID. “I THINK HE GAVE SOMEBODY SOME LIP AND THEY KILLED HIM.”
SOME EVIDENCE SUGGESTS A STRUGGLE. THE NAVY INVESTIGATIVE REPORT SAID CARNEVALE HAD BEEN INVOLVED IN TWO DRUNKEN FISTFIGHTS HOURS BEFORE HE DIED. IT ALSO NOTES THAT FURNITURE IN CARNEVALE’S ROOM HAD BEEN OVER TURNED AND OTHER ITEMS HAD BEEN DISTURBED.
“THERE ARE JUST TOO MANY QUESTIONS THAT WEREN’T ANSWERED,” SAID CARNEVALE’S FORMER GIRLFRIEND, DEBBIE JOHNSTON, WHO SAID THEY HAD RECONCILED BY THE TIME HE DIED.
KAY ALLISON SAYS SHE SPENT THREE FRANTIC DAYS IN JULY BEFORE THE ARMY FINALLY FOUND HER SON’S BODY AND CASKET. IN AN AUGUST LETTER, AN ARMY COLONEL BLAMED BUREAUCRATIC GLITCHES AND SAID: “I CAN ONLY APOLOGIZE FOR THE ANXIETY CAUSED TO YOU.”
ALLISON HAS SINCE MADE UP A PHOTO COLLAGE AND MAILED IT TO ARMY OFFICIALS AND HER CONGRESSMEN. IT SHOWS PHOTOS OF HER SON SEAN AT AGES 2 AND 4, AT 19 IN COMBAT FATIGUES — AND LYING DEAD AT 20 IN A COFFIN WEARING HIS DRESS BLUES.
“PLEASE HELP ME,” ALLISON WROTE NEXT TO THE CASKET PHOTO. “THIS IS ALL I HAVE TO REMEMBER MY SON BY NOW.”
ALLISON SAYS THE ARMY HAS TOLD HER ONLY THAT SEAN DIED OF “UNKNOWN CAUSES” AT ANSBACH ARMY BASE IN GERMANY AFTER CONSUMING “AN UNKNOWN AMOUNT OF ALCOHOL AND DEPRESSANTS.”
“I SENT THEM MY ONLY SON AND HE COMES BACK DEAD,” SHE SAID. “AND THEY WON’T TELL ME WHY.”
FOR MANY FAMILIES, THERE IS NO CLOSURE. INSTEAD OF GRIEVING OVER THEIR SONS’ DEATH AND THEN GETTING ON WITH THEIR LIVES, THE LINGERING QUESTIONS FESTER.
“IT’S A HOLE IN YOUR LIFE YOU NEVER REALLY LEARN TO LIVE AROUND,” SAID CASSANDRA ALLEYNE, WHOSE SON PAUL MAMBY DIED IN 1990 WHILE SERVING IN THE NAVY IN BEAUFORT, SOUTH CAROLINA.
WITH EACH INCONSISTENCY THEY ENCOUNTER IN THE INFORMATION DOLED OUT BY THE MILITARY, FAMILIES SAY, THEIR PAIN INTENSIFIES.
“IF THEY WOULD JUST TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED I COULD ACCEPT HIS DEATH,” ALLEYNE SAID. “BUT THEY DON’T. IT JUST DRAGS ON AND ON.”
THE NAVY RULED THAT MAMBY HANGED HIMSELF WITH A ROPE TIED TO A METAL HOOK ON A TELEPHONE POLE IN HIS BACK YARD. IT’S INVESTIGATIVE REPORT SAYS “NO SINGLE PRECIPITATING EVENT” PROMPTED THE SUICIDE. IT CITED A COMBINATION OF JOB STRESSES AND A POST-MORTEM PSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATION THAT FOUND EVIDENCE OF A “PASSIVE -AGGRESSIVE, OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE” PERSONALITY.
ALLEYNE WONDERS WHETHER HER SON’S DEATH IS RELATED TO PERSISTENT COMPLAINTS HE HAD MADE ABOUT RACIAL HARASSMENT AT HIS BASE. THE REPORT CONCLUDED THAT MAMBY, WHO WAS BLACK, HAD FABRICATED THE COMPLAINTS. THAT CONCLUSION IS BASED LARGELY ON A BRIEF INTERVIEW WITH A SUPERVISOR MAMBY HAD ACCUSED.
THE NAVY REPORT ALSO SEEMED TO DISCOUNT STATEMENTS FROM FRIENDS THAT MAMBY WAS IN GOOD SPIRITS HOURS BEFORE HE DIED. NEITHER DOES IT EXPLAIN HOW MAMBY HANGED HIMSELF WITH HIS FEET TOUCHING THE GROUND.
ALLEYNE SAID SHE BEGAN QUESTIONING THE NAVY’S STORY AFTER SHE NOTICED A LARGE BRUISE ON HER SON’S FOREHEAD AT HIS FUNERAL. THE NAVY REPORT SPECULATES THAT MAMBY’S HEAD BANGED AGAINST THE TELEPHONE POLE AS HIS BODY SWUNG FROM THE ROPE, CAUSING A BRUISE 5 INCHES WIDE.
“IT WAS A BIG BRUISE , A REALLY BAD BRUISE,” ALLEYNE SAID. “ISN’T THAT A SIGN OF A STRUGGLE THAT WARRANTS AT LEAST SOME INVESTIGATION?”
ALLEYNE, OF SOUTH COVENTRY, PENNSYLVANIA, SAID SHE WILL NOT STOP PRESSING THE NAVY UNTIL IT REINVESTIGATES HER SON’S DEATH.
“IN THE PRIVACY OF MY HEART,” SHE WROTE RECENTLY, “I HAVE BEEN APOLOGIZING TO MY SON FOR MY INABILITY TO DEFEND THIS INJUSTICE AGAINST HIM..”
