THE IOWA PSYCHOLOGISTS, ASSEMBLED BY CONGRESS, SAID A PSYCHOLOGICAL AUTOPSY SHOULD NOT BE A SUBSTITUTE FOR A COMPREHENSIVE CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION.
“PSYCHOLOGICAL AUTOPSIES DESIGNED TO DETERMINE SUICIDAL TENDENCIES AND BEHAVIOR ARE OF MODERATE VALUE AND UTILITY,” SAID A SUMMARY OF THE IOWA PANEL’S FINDINGS, PUBLISHED IN THE JANUARY ISSUE OF AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGIST MAGAZINE. “PSYCHOLOGICAL AUTOPSY IS RELATIVELY INDEVELOPED, WITH LITTLE KNOWN ABOUT ITS RELIABILITY OR VALIDITY.”
THE SUMMARY’S AUTHORS ADDED: “WE URGE EXCEEDING CAUTION IN DECIDING TO USE POSTHUMOUS PSYCHOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS; MANY EQUIVOCAL OR UNSOLVED DEATH CASES MAY SIMPLY HAVE TO REMAIN UNSOLVED.
A CONGRESSIONAL CRITIQUE OF THE IOWA CASE SAID THE HARTWIG PSYCHOLOGICAL AUTOPSY “PROVIDED SOMETHING THE NAVY NEEDED-A THEORY THAT NOW COULD BE BACKED WITH SEEMING SCIENTIFIC SUPPORT.”
FOUR FORMER MILITARY INVESTIGATORS WHO REVIEWED MILITARY INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS FOR THE INQUIRER SAID AGENTS WERE QUICK TO ASSUME SUICIDE – USUALLY BEFORE FORENSIC AND LAB TESTS WERE COMPLETED. THEY SAID THE INVESTIGATIONS LEFT TOO MANY QUESTIONS UNANSWERED AND IN MANY CASES RELIED ON PSYCHOLOGICAL AUTOPSIES TO EXPLAIN THE DEAD MENS’ MOTIVES.
ONE FORMER AIR FORCE CRIMINAL INVESTIGATOR, RONALD F. DECKER, DISMISSED THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AUTOPSY IN ONE CASE WITH TWO WORDS: “TOTAL BULL-.”
WHEN MARINE CPT. JOHN MACCASKILL JR. WAS SHOT TO DEATH IN A NIGHTCLUB IN EL SALVADOR FIVE YEARS AGO, NOBODY DREAMED THAT HIS GRANDFATHER MIGHT HAVE SOMETHING TO DI WITH IT—EXCEPT A NAVY PSYCHOLOGIST.
THE NAVY’S PSYCHOLOGICAL AUTOPSY CONCLUDED THAT MACCASKILL HAD COMMITTED SUICIDE. THE PSYCHOLOGIST WHO WROTE IT SPECULATED THAT THE CORPORAL WAS ” MOODY,” AND HE BASED THAT EVALUATION ON AN UNUSUAL OBSERVATION.
“CORPORAL MACCASKILL’S FAMILY HAD A HISTORY OF PROBLEMS WITH ALCOHOL AND MOODIINESS,” HIS REPORT SAID, ” CORPORAL MACCASKILL’S FATHER AND GRANDFATHER HAD BOTH EVIDENCED UNCONTROLLED MOODINESS THAT WAS MADE WORSE BY THE CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOL.”
MACCASKILL’S FATHER, RETIRED NEW YORK POLICE OFFICER JACK MACCASKILL, SAID HE WAS OUTRAGED WHEN HE READ THE REPORT.
“THAT WAS A LOW BLOW,” HE SAID. ” JOHN’S GRANDFATHER WAS TREATED FOR ALCOHOLISM, BUT WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH MY SON COMMITTING SUICIDE? THEY’RE REALLY STRETCHING.”
JACK MACCASKILL AND HIS WIFE, JOANNE, HAVE TRIED SINCE 1988 TO PROVE THEIR SON DID NOT COMMIT SUICIDE. THEY ACCUSE THE NAVAL CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE SERVICE (NCIS) OF BUNGLING THE INVESTIGATION INTO JOHN’S DEATH.
THE NAVY SINCE HAS CHANGED THE MANNER OF MACCASKILL’S DEATH FROM SUICIDE TO “SELF-INFLICTED”.
IN ANOTHER CASE, AN ARMY PSYCHOLOGICAL AUTOPSY CREATED AN ELABORATE SCENARIO TO EXPLAIN WHY SPEC. 4 CHAD LANGFORD SHOT HIMSELF IN THE HEAD AT REDSTONE ARSENAL, ALA., IN MARCH 1992.
AN ARMY INVESTIGATIVE REPORT TULED SUICIDE DESPITE NOTING THAT EVIDENCE AT THE DEATH SCENE WAS INCONCLUSIVE AND CONTRADICTORY. IT WARNED AGAINST A “TENDENCY TO SPECULATE.”
THE ARMY ACKNOWLEDGED THAT IT COULD NOT DETERMINE WHETHER LANDGORD HAD FIRED A GUN, OR WHY THE GUN FOUND UNER HIS BODY HAD BEEN FIRED TWICE. LANGFORD’S FINGERPRINTS WERE NOT FOUND ON THE WEAPON, AND UNIDENTIFIED FINGERPRINTS WERE FOUND ON HIS ARMBAND AND HANDCUFFS.
WITHOUT CITING ANDY PHYSICAL EVIDENCE, THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AUTOPSY SAID LANGFORD “WAS DETERMINED TO KILL HIMSELF IN A FASHION THAT WOULD SUGGEST HE HAD BEEN MURDERED IN THE LINE OF DUTY.”
THE PSYCHOLOGIST WHO WROTE THE REPORT SAID LANGFORD-WHO DID NOT DRINK OR USE DRUGS AND WAS NEVER TREATED FOR PSYCHIATRIC PROBLEMS-SUFFERED FROM A “RECURRENT MAJOR DEPRESSION.” HE CITED “NARCISSISTIC AND OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE TRAITS.”
THE AUTOPSY WAS NOT PREPARED UNTIL THREE MONTHS AFTER LANGFORD’S DEATH HAD BEEN RULED A SUICIDE. BUT IT WAS CITED IN THE ARMY REPORT AS AN INDICATION THAT LANGFORD STAGED HIS OWN DEATH SCENE TO MAKE IT APPEAR THAT HE HAD BEEN MURDERED.
LANGFORD’S FATHER, JIM LANGFORD, CONTENDS THAT HIS SON WAS MURDERED WHILE ON AN UNDERCOVER DRUG ASSIGNMENT. HE CALLED THE AUTOPSY “PSYCHIATRIC HOGWASH”.
JAMES W. KEEFE, A FORMER ARMY CRIMINAL INVESTIGATOR AND SUPERVISOR WHO REVIEWED THE LANGFORD INVESTIGATIVE FILE, CALLED THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AUTOPSY “THE BIGGEST BUNCH OF BULL I’VE EVER READ.”
HE ADDED: “THEY ASSUME SUICIDE, THEN TRY TO BUILD A CASE FOR IT AND BEND THE FACTS TO FIT IT.”
BASED ON HIS REVIEW OF THE VANDERBUR PSYCHOLOGICAL AUTOPSY AND DESCRIPTION OF AUTOPSIES IN OTHER CASES, SAID EBERT, THE PSYCHOLOGIST, THE MILITARY IS IN DANGER OF REPEATING THE MISTAKES OF THE IOWA INVESTIGATORS.
“SO MUCH,” HE SAID, ” FOR OUR BRILLIANT INTERVENTION.
A CONGRESSIONAL REPORT ON THE IOWA DISASTER WARNED AGAINST ANY PSYCHOLOGIST’S CONCLUDING HOW OR WHY A DEATH OCCURRED:
“THE INDEPENDENT EXPERTS BELIEVE IT IS BEYOND ANYONE’S PROFESSIONAL ABILITY TO DETERMINE FROM A PSYCHOLOGICAL RECONSTRUCTIVE EVALUATION WHETHER OR NOT EVENTS HAVE OCCURRED IN A PARTICULAR FASHION.”
EXPERIENCE AND TRAINING ARE ESSENTIAL TO ANY PSYCHOLOGICAL AUTOPSY, SAID DOUGLAS JACOBS, A HARVARD PSYCHIATRIST WHO SAT ON THE TOWN PANEL.
“THE STANDARDS ARE SOMEWHAT LOOSELY DEFINED.” JACOBS SAID. “THE TECHNIQUE IS ONLY AS GOOD AS THE TECHNICIAN”.
THE NCIS SAID IT ADJUSTED ITS PSYCHOLOGICAL AUTOPSY PROCEDURES AFTER CRITICISM OF THE OIWA INVESTIGATION. THE AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGIST SUMMARY HAS BEEN INCORPORATED INTO NCIS PROCEDURES, AN OFFICIAL SAID.
ACCORDING TO THE NCIS, A PSYCHOLOGICAL AUTOPSY IS USED “SELECTIVELY,” AND ONLY IF REQUESTED BY A MEDICAL EXAMINER.
IN A STATEMENT, ROBERT J. FINAN 3D, ASSISTANT FIRECTOR OF THE NCIS, SAID THE HARTWIG ANALYSIS WAS CONDUCTED BY THE FBI FOR HTS AGENCY. HE SAID RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY PSYCHOLOGICAL AUTOPSY IN THE NAVY “RESTS WITH THE PROFESSIONAL CONDUCTING THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AUTOPSY AND NOT WITH THE ORGANIZATION.”
FINAN ADDED: ” A PSYCHOLOGICAL AUTOPSY IS AN OPINION OFFERED BY A TRAINED, EXPERIENCED PROFESSIONAL.”
OFFICIALS AT THE INVESTIGATIVE AGENCIES OF THE ARMY AND THE AIR FORCE SAID THEIR AGENCIES HAD MADE NO CHANGES IN THEIR PSYCHOLOGICAL AUTOPSY PROCEDURES AS A RESULT OF THE IOWA CASE.
KENNETH A. MILLER, A SPOKESMAN FOR THE ARMY’S CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION COMMAND (CID), SAID THE AGENCY USES PSYCHOLOGICAL AUTOPSIES IN BOTH CONFIRMED AND SUSPECTED SUICIDES, AND IN CASES IN WHICH THE MANNER OF DEATH IS EQUIVOCAL.
“THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AUTOPSY PROVIDES ASSISTANCE TO AN INVESTIGATION AND HILPS TO ANSWER QUESTIONS ON THE STATE OF MIND OF THE DECEASED,” MILLER SAID IN A WRITTEN STATEMENT. “(IT) CAN ALSO HELP THE INVESTIGATOR UNDERSTAND THE TOTALITY OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUNDING THE DEATH.”
EBERT, THE IOWA PANELIST, SAID THE METHODS OF MILITARY INVESTIGATORS IN THE IOWA CASE STRUCK HIM AS “INCESTUOUS.”
“PERHAPS INCESTUOUS IS TOO STRONG A WORD,” EBERT SAID “BUT THEY CARRY OUT THEIR INVESTIGATIONS WITHIN A VERY CLOSED NETWORK.”
CIVILIAN PSYCHOLOGISTS SUBMIT THEIR METHODS TO PEER REVIEW, OR TO CROSS-EXAMINATION IN CASES WHEN COURTS ALLOW TESTIMONY ON PSYCHOLOGICAL AUTOPSIES, EBERT SAID, MILITARY PSYCHOLOGISTS, HE SAID, DO NOT HAVE TO DEFEND THEMSELVES BEFORE AN INDEPENDENT BODY.
“THE ADVANTAGE OF THE BATTLE OF DOCTORS IN COURT IS THE OPPORTUNITY FOR DEBATE AND OPPOSING POINTS OF VIEW,” EBERT SAID. “IT TAKES METHODS OUT FROM UNDER ROCKS AND INTO THE LIGHT OF DAY. THAT’S THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE CIVILIAN COURTS AND THE SYSTEM IN THE MILITARY.”
FINAN, OF THE NCIS, SAID MOST DEATH CASES-INCLUDING THOSE INVOLVING PSYCHOLOGICAL AUTOPSIES-ARE REVIEWED WITHIN THE MILITARY BY A GROUP THAT INCLUDES A FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST, A CLINICAL OR FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST, AND A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATOR.
FAMILIES OF SOME DEAD SERVICEMEN COMPLAIN THAT PSYCHOLOGICAL AUTOPSIES CONTAIN FALSE ASSUMPTIONS. THEY ACCUSE THE MILITARY OF MAKING LEAPS OF LOGIC-ESPECIALLY IN CASES IN WHICH PHYSICAL EVIDENCE IS INCONCLUSIVE- IN ATTEMPTING TO DIVINE REASONS FOR DEATHS RULED SUICIDE.
KIRK VANDERBUR LEFT NO SUICIDE NOTE. HE HAD NO HISTORY OF DEPRESSION OR OTHER PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEMS. HIS BEHAVIOR HAD NOT BEEN ERRATIC IN THE DAYS BEFORE HIS DEATH. NO ALCOHOL OR NORCARTICS WERE FOUND IN HIS BODY.
DESPITE THESE FACTORS AND THE HIGHLY UNUSUAL MEANS OF SUICIDE-TWO WOUNDS FROM TWO WEAPONS-THE NCIS AGREED WITH LOCAL AUTHORITIES THAT VANDERBUR HAD COMMITTED SUICIDE. THE NAVY’S INVESTIGATIVE REPORT DECSRIBED A MOST UNUSUAL DEATH”
VANDERVUR FIRST SHOT HIMSELF IN THE GUT WITH HIS SPA 12-GUAGE SHOTGUN, INFLICTING A PAINFUL BUT NOT FATAL WOUND.
LEAVING THE SHOTGUN-HE CRAWLED EIGHT TO 10 FEET AND PICKED UP HIS RUGER MINI-14 .223-CALIBER RIFLE. THEN HE SOMEHOW LIFTED IT TO HIS HEAD AND PULLED THE TRIGGER WITH HIS THUMB.
TWO DAYS LATER, SHERIFF ED BROWN ANNOUNCED THAT VANDERBUR HAD COMMITTED SUICIDE. INVESTIGATORS WERE SO CERTAIN OF THE RULING THAT THEY DID NOT TEST VANDERBUR’S HANDS FOR GUNSHOT RESIDUE TO DETERMINE WHETHER HE HAD FIRED A WEAPON.
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AUTOPSY, ISSUED ALMOST A YEAR AFTER THE SHOOTING, ATTRIBUTED VANDERBUR’S DEATH IN PART TO A RECENT BREAKUP WITH HIS GIRLFRIEND.
BUT VANDERBUR’S PARENTS SAID THE BREAKUP HAD OCCURRED THREE YEARS EARLIER. THE GIRLFRIEND TOLD THE NCIS THAT SHE AND VANDERBUR HAD AN AMICABLE PHONE CONVERSATION THE WEEK BEFORE HIS DEATH. SHE DESCRIBED HIM AS NORMAL AND HAPPY.
THE GIRLFRIEND SAID VANDERBUR LIFT A PHONE MESSAGE ON HER ANSWERING MACHINE ON VALENTINE’S DAY – TOW DAYS BEFORE HE WENT TO THE RANGE-SAYING HE WOULD CALL HER AGAIN OVER THE WEEKEND. HE SOUNDED “UPBEAT,” SHE SAID.
NONETHELESS, THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AUTOPSY SPECULATED THAT THE GIRLFRIEND “MAY HAVE RECENTLY COMMUNICATED TO HIM THAT THERE WAS NO FUTURE.”
THE PSYCHOLOGIST WHO WROTE THE AUTOPSY REPORT DID NOT SPEAK TO THE GIRLFRIEND. AND REFERRED TO THE DATE OF VANDERBUR’S DEATH AS “THE SUNDAY BEFORE HER DEATH.” THE GIRLFRIEND IS STILL ALIVE.
“AFTER REVIEWING THE RECORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS,” THE REPORT SAID, “IT IS MY OPINION THAT 2LT VANDERBUR COMMITTED SUICIDE.”
THE PSYCHOLOGIST THEORIZED THAT VANDERBUR KILLED HIMSELF BECAUSE OF GIRLFRIEND AND MONEY WOES, AND BECAUSE HE FEARED HE COULD NOT MEASURE UP AS AN OFFICER. THE INVESTIGATIVE REPORT SAID VANDERBUR HAD NO MONEY PROBLEMS AND “EXHIBITED NO INDICATIONS OF PERSONAL CONCERNS” PRIOR TO HIS DEATH.
THE PSYCHOLOGIST WROTE THAT HIS CONCLUSIONS WERE “SPECULATIVE” AND “DERIVED FROM DATA SOLICITED FROM SECON-HAND SOURCES.”
HIS REPORT SAID OF VANDERBUR:
“HIS ENTUSIASM WITH GUNS AND HIS PREOCCUPATIONS WITH DEATH AND DESTRUCTION SUPPORT THE PRESENCE OF A DEPRESSIVE POSITION AND STRONG AGGRESSIVE DRIVE….I SUSPECT THAT HIS IMAGE AS A MARINE WAS A SIGNIFICANT COPING MECHANISM FOR AVOIDING UNDERLYING PAINFUL FEELINGS OF INADEQUACY AND UNWORTHINESS.”
ALL PSYCHOBABBLE, SAYS VANDERBUR’S MOTHER, LOIS VANDERBUR.
MY SON LOVED LIFE, “SHE SAID, “HE HAD EVERY REASON TO LIVE.”
VANDERBUR AND HER HUSBAND, GENE, A FORMER MARINE, DIDN’T BUY THE OFFICIAL EXPLANATION. AT HOME IN MAPLETON, IOWA, THEIR OUTRAGE AND DISBELIEF GREW AS THEY PORED OVER THE NAVY REPORT.
KIRK WAS A KNOWLEDGEABLE GUN ENTHUSIAST, THE SAID. WHY WOULD HE COMMIT SUICIDE WITH A BLAST OF NO.6 BIRDSHOT TO THE ABDOMEN, KNOWING IT WOULD NOT KILL HIM? AND WHY WOULD HE KILL HIMSELF AT A PUBLIC RANGE WHEN HE HAD A LOADED .22 PISTOL AT HOME?
“IF KIRK HAD COMMITTED SUICIDE, HE’D HAVE DONE A MUCH BETTER JOB OF IT, “LOIS VANDERBUR SAID. “HE KNEW GUNS TOO WELL TO MAKE SUCH A MESS OF IT.”
THE VANDERBURS ASKED FREDERICK R. MCDANIEL, A FORMER ARMY CRIMINAL INVESTIGATOR AND RETIRED KANSAS CITY POLICE CAPTAIN, TO REVIEW THEIR SON’S CASE. WHAT HE READ APPALLED HIM, HE SAID.
THE LAST TIME SALLY SABOW SAW HER HUSBAND ALIVE, HE WAS DEEP INTO HIS USUAL MORNING ROUTINE. COL. JAMES SABOW HAD RISEN EARLY, SHOWERED, SHAVED, HAD COFFEE AND SETTLED IN TO WATCH CNN COVERAGE OF THE GULF WAR.
IT WAS JAN 22, 1991.
ABOUT 8:30 A.M., SALLY SABOW RECALLS SHE DROVE OFF TO MORNING MASS, LEAVING HER HUSBAND SITTING CONTENTEDLY IN FRONT OF THE TV INSIDE THEIR MILITARY QUARTERS ON F STREET AT MARINE CORPS NAVAL AIR STATION IN EL TORO, CALIFORNIA.
AN HOUR LATER , SABOW SAYS , SHE RETURNED HOME TO DISCOVER HER HUSBAND LYING DEAD IN THE BACK YARD. PART OF HIS HEAD BLOWN AWAY BY A BLAST FROM A 12 GAUGE SHOTGUN. TWO WEEKS LATER, STILL NUMB WITH GRIEF AND SHOCK, SABOW WAS STUNNED YET AGAIN BY A DEVELOPMENT THAT HAS SINCE DOMINATED HER LIFE: THE NAVY CONCLUDED THAT COL. SABOW , 51, DESPONDENT OVER AN ALLEGATION THAT HE HAD TRANSPORTED PERSONNEL ITEMS ON MILITARY AIRCRAFT, HAD COMMITTED SUICIDE.
IT DIDN’T MAKE SENSE TO HER. JIM WAS DETERMINED TO PROVE HIS INNOCENCE. SABOW SAYS. THE NIGHT BEFORE HE DIED, SHE RECALLS , SHE HAD WATCHED HER HUSBAND VOW TO A FELLOW OFFICER TO FIGHT THE CHARGES IN MILITARY COURT. SHE HEARD HIM THREATEN TO EXPOSE ALLEGED DRUG TRAFFICKING ON THE BASE.
BEYOND THAT, SALLY SABOW SAYS, THE EVIDENCE SHE HAD SEEN SUGGESTED MURDER , NOT SUICIDE. SHE HAD SEEN A LUMP HALF THE SIZE OF A BASEBALL BEHIND HER HUSBANDS RIGHT EAR, AS IF HE HAD BEEN BLUDGEONED.THE TELEVISION WAS ON” MUTE.” SHE KNEW JIM USED THE MUTE BUTTON ONLY WHEN HE HAD TO STEP AWAY TO ANSWER THE DOOR. AND THE TWO FAMILY DOGS WERE LOCKED IN THE GARAGE. HER HUSBAND NEVER LOCKED UP THE DOGS. SABOW SAYS, UNLESS SOMEONE CAME TO THE BACK DOOR.
NOW, ALMOST THREE YEARS LATER, JIM SABOW’S WIDOW AND HIS BROTHER SAY THEIR EXPERTS HAVE FOUND EVIDENCE PROVING THE COLONEL WAS MURDERED. THEY ACCUSE THE MILITARY OF COVERING UP A HOMICIDE, MISHANDLING EVIDENCE, REARRANGING THE DEATH SCENE, AND PLOTTING TO DISCREDIT THE FAMILY. THEY MAINTAIN THAT SABOW WAS KILLED BECAUSE HE PLANNED TO EXPOSE THE ALLEGED USE OF MILITARY AIRCRAFT TO SMUGGLE DRUGS.
“MY BROTHER WAS MURDERED — AND I CAN PROVE IT,” SAID JOHN DAVID SABOW, A SOUTH DAKOTA NEUROSURGEON. “I KNOW WHO KILLED HIM. AND THEY KNOW I KNOW. IT WILL ALL COME OUT.”
FOR OTHER FAMILIES OF DEAD SERVICEMEN, THERE ARE NAGGING FEARS THAT THE TRUTH NEVER WILL COME OUT. BECAUSE THE MILITARY HAS SO MISHANDLED INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE DEATHS OF THEIR LOVED ONES, THEY SAY, THEY MAY NEVER KNOW HOW THE MEN DIED.
WORSE YET, THE SABOWS AND A FEW OTHER FAMILIES SAY, KILLERS HAVE GOTTEN AWAY WHEN MURDERS WERE WRONGLY RULED SUICIDE. FORTY FAMILIES HAVE TOLD THE INQUIRER THAT THE MILITARY DECEIVED THEM AND IMPROPERLY INVESTIGATED THE CASES OF SERVICEMEN WHOSE DEATHS WERE RULED SUICIDES OR ACCIDENTALLY SELF-INFLICTED. THE NEWSPAPER’S REVIEW OF THE CASES FOUND A PATTERN OF PERFUNCTORY AND INCOMPLETE INVESTIGATIONS IN WHICH EVIDENCE WAS MISHANDLED OR DESTROYED.
IN SOME CASES, LAB TESTS WERE NOT PERFORMED. BLOOD AND TISSUE SAMPLES WERE NOT ANALYZED. FINGERPRINTS WERE NOT TAKEN. EVIDENCE WAS THROWN AWAY. LEADS WERE NOT PURSUED. PEOPLE WERE NOT QUESTIONED.
WITH EACH PASSING DAY, TRAILS GROW COLDER AND WITNESSES’ MEMORIES GROW MORE FAINT. AS THE 40 CASES LIE CLOSED IN MILITARY FILES, FAMILIES’ DEMANDS FOR NEW INVESTIGATIONS GROW MORE URGENT.
“I REFUSE TO LIVE THE REST OF MY LIFE WITH THESE LIES ABOUT MY BROTHER,” SAID JULIA HARRISON, WHOSE FAMILY DISPUTES A RULING BY THE NAVY THAT ELECTRICIAN’S MATE WILLIAM T. HARRISON COMMITTED SUICIDE IN TEXAS IN JANUARY. “WHOEVER KILLED HIM IS STILL OUT THERE — AND I WONDER HOW THEY SLEEP AT NIGHT.”
LAST MONTH, CONGRESS PASSED A BILL REQUIRING THE PENTAGON TO REVIEW ITS PROCEDURES FOR INVESTIGATING DEATHS RULED SELF-INFLICTED, AND REPORT BACK TO CONGRESS BY NEXT JULY. THE MEASURE ALSO CREATES A MECHANISM FOR FAMILIES TO PRESENT TO THE PENTAGON’S INSPECTOR-GENERAL EVIDENCE OF A “MATERIAL DEFICIENCY” IN A DEATH INVESTIGATION.
MOST FAMILIES SAY THEY WANT MORE: NEW INVESTIGATIONS BY AN AGENCY UNCONNECTED TO THE MILITARY. SOME HAVE FORMED A SUPPORT GROUP CALLED “UNTIL WE HAVE ANSWERS.”
“AT THIS POINT, I PROBABLY DON’T HAVE A PRAYER OF FINDING OUT HOW MY SON DIED,” SAID A FOUNDER OF THE GROUP, ROBYN HALL, WHO HAS DISPUTED THE NAVY’S SUICIDE RULING IN THE 1991 DEATH OF HER SON MICHAEL J. LESLIE. “BUT IT’S GRATIFYING TO KNOW CONGRESS HAS QUESTIONED THE MILITARY’S METHODS– AND RECOGNIZED WE HAVE LEGITIMATE COMPLAINTS.”
SPOKESMEN FOR THE MILITARY’S THREE INVESTIGATIVE AGENCIES DEFENDED THEIR INVESTIGATIONS AS THOROUGH AND PROFESSIONAL. THEY SAID THE AGENCIES WERE AWARE OF NO NEW EVIDENCE TO WARRANT REINVESTIGATING THE CASES
FOR CATHERINE JAKOVIC, THE MORE QUEATIONS SHE ASKS ABOUT HER SON’S DEATH, THE MORE CONTRADICTORY THE ANSWERS SHE GETS.
THE NAVY FIRST SAID MARINE LANCE CPL. SCOTT JAKOVIC WAS ALONE WHEN HE SHOT HIMSELF IN THE HEAD WHILE ON GUARD DUTY IN 1991. THEN, IT CHARED A FELLOW MARINE IN CONNECTION WITH THE SHOOTING. WHEN THAT MARINE WAS ACQUITTED, THE NAVY AGAIN SAID JAKOVIC HAD SHOT HIMSELF– WHILE PLAYING RUSSIAN ROULETTE.
MORE THAN TWO YEARS AFTER SCOTT’S DEATH, JAKOVIC STILL DOES NOT KNOW HOW HE DIED.
“THE MILITARY TRIES TO INTIMIDATE YOU AND KEEP YOU IN THE DARK.” SHE SAID. “THEY DON’T WANT THE TRUTH TO COME OUT.”
THE DEATH OF COL. SABOW WAS RULED SUICIDE TWO WEEKS AFTER SALLY SABOW FOUND HIS BODY. IT WAS TOO QUICK, SABOW’S BROTHER SAYS. THE FINGERPRINT, BLOOD AND GUNSHOT RESIDUE TESTS WEREN’T BACK FROM THE LAB YET. IT SEEMED TO DAVID SABOW THAT THE NAVY WAS EAGER TO CLOSE OUT HIS BROTHER’S CASE. HE SUSPECTED THE MILITARY WAS HIDING SOMETHING.
SABOW DECIDED TO HAVE THE ENTIRE CASE INVESTIGATED. HE HIRED GENE WHEATON, A FORMER ARMY AND AIR FORCE INVESTIGATOR WHO HAD SUPERVISED HUNDREDS OF INVESTIGATIONS, AND TED . GUNDERSON, THE FORMER CHIEF OF THE FBI OFFICE IN LOS ANGELES. HE ALSO HIRED FORENSIC SPECIALISTS TO STUDY THE AUTOPSY AND CRIME SCENE PHOTOS
WHAT THEY FOUND CONVINCED SABOW THAT HIS BROTHER HAD BEEN MURDERED BY SOMEONE IN THE MILITARY WHO FEARED THE COLONEL WOULD REVEAL DRUG TRAFFICKING VIA MILITARY AIRCRAFT.
SABOW SAID HIS FORENSIC EXPERTS HAVE CONCLUDED THAT THE SHOTGUN BLAST BLEW AWAY HIS BROTHER’S BRAIN STEM, INSTANTLY CEASING ALL BREATHING. YET THE EXPERTS FOUND EVIDENCE THAT SABOW BREATHED BLOOD INTO HIS LUNGS FOR FOUR TO FIVE MINUTES BEFORE HE WAS SHOT.
THAT EVIDENCE, COMBINED WITH THE LARGE BUMP ON SABOW’S HEAD, LED THE EXPERTS TO A CONCLUSION: THE COLONEL WAS BLUDGEONED FROM BEHIND BY A RIGHT-HANDED PERSON, KNOCKED UNCONSCIOUS, AND THEN WAS SHOT IN THE HEAD MINUTES LATER.THAT CONCLUSION IS
SUPPORTED, DAVID SABOW SAID, BY THE POSITION OF HIS BROTHER’S HANDS. IF THE COLONEL HAD SHOT HIMSELF, HE SAID, HIS ARMS WOULD HAVE FLOWN OUT AND AWAY FROM HIS BODY. BUT THE ARMS WERE FOLDED IN PRAYER POSITION IN FRONT OF SABOW’S FACE, SABOW SAID.
BEYOND THAT, INVESTIGATOR WHEATON CONTENDS, THE CRIME SCENE WAS REARRANGED TO FIT A SUICIDE SCENARIO. WHEATON SAID THE FIRST INVESTIGATORS ON THE SCENE TOLD HIM COL. SABOW WAS FOUND LYING A FEW FEET AWAY FROM A LAWN CHAIR. CRIME SCENE PHOTOS SHOW THE CHAIR LYING ON TOP OF SABOW, ACCORDING TO WHEATON.
THE PHOTOS ALSO SHOW OPEN SHOTGUN AMMUNITION BOXES LYING ON THE GARAGE FLOOR. WHEATON SAYS INVESTIGATORS TOLD HIM THAT THE BOXES WERE FOUND CLOSED AND STORED INSIDE A CABINET.
“THEY ARRANGED THE SCENE SO THEIR REPORTS WOULD “FLOW PROPERLY”, WHEATON SAID. “THEY DUMMIED IT UP. THEY THOUGHT THE SUICIDE MADE MORE SENSE THAT WAY.”
ALTHOUGH THE COLONEL WAS NOT WEARING GLOVES, THE NAVAL CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE SERVICE (NCIS) REPORT SAID NO FINGERPRINTS WERE FOUND ONE GUN OR THE TWO SHELLS LOADED INTO IT. MOREOVER, WHEATON SAID, AN AGENT TOLD HIM THAT TWO INVESTIGATORS HANDLED THE GUN WITH THEIR BARE HANDS, TAINTING THE EVIDENCE.
SALLY SABOW NOTICED THAT HER HUSBAND WASN’T WEARING HIS GLASSES WHEN HE DIED. HE WAS
EXTREMELY FAR-SIGHTED, SHE SAID , AND COULD NOT SEE UP CLOSE WITHOUT THEM.SO HOW, SHE WONDERED, DID HE SELECT 12 GAUGE SHELLS FROM A JUMBLE OF BOXES, BURIED IN THE GARAGE CABINET. THAT ALSO CONTAINED 16-GAUGE AND 20-GAUGE SHELLS?
THE NCIS SAID NO FINGERPRINTS WERE FOUND ON THE AMMUNITION BOX, YET WHEATON SAID AN INVESTIGATOR TOLD HIM THAT ANOTHER INVESTIGATOR HANDLED THE BOX WITH HIS BARE HANDS.
AND, ACCORDING TO DAVID SABOW, THE BREECH OF THE SHOTGUN WAS WAS DEVOID OF BLOOD. IF SABOW HAD PUT THE BARRELL TO HIS MOUTH AND FIRED, AS THE NCIS REPORT SAID, THE BREECH SHOULD HAVE BEEN SPATTERED WITH “BLOWBACK” BLOOD AND BRAIN TISSUE.
IN OCTOBER, THE SABOW’S FILED A CIVIL COMPLAINT IN FEDERAL COURT AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT AND MILITARY, SEEKING DAMAGES FOR EMOTIONAL DISTRESS AND ALLEGING A CONSPIRACY TO CONCEAL CIRCUMSTANCES OF SABOW’S DEATH.
THE GOVERNMENT, WHICH HAS UNTIL MID-JANUARY TO FORMALLY RESPOND, HAS NOT YET DONE SO, ACCORDING TO SABOW’S ATTORNEY. A SPOKESWOMAN FOR THE U.S. ATTORNEY’S OFFICE IN LOS ANGELES DID NOT RETURN CALLS SEEKING COMMENT.
THE SUIT ALLEGES THAT THE MILITARY CONSPIRED TO “OPPRESS , THREATEN, HARASS, COERCE, INTIMIDATE AND INFLICT EMOTIONAL DISTRESS” ON THE SABOWS. IT CHARGES THAT EL TORO COMMANDERS PLOTTED TO PORTRAY COL. SABOW AS A “CROOK” AND “FELON,” AND PREPARED A LETTER TO THE SOUTH DAKOTA BOARD OF MEDICAL EXAMINERS ACCUSING DAVID SABOW OF MISCONDUCT.
ACCORDING TO THE SUIT:
INVESTIGATORS FAILED TO CORDON OFF THE DEATH SCENE AND LEFT SABOW’S BODY EXPOSED AND UNCOVERED FOR ABOUT SEVEN HOURS ON A WARM AFTERNOON.
THEY FAILED TO PROPERLY “BAG” SABOW’S HANDS TO PRESERVE EVIDENCE THAT HE FIRED THE SHOTGUN.
THEY STUCK THE SHOTGUN INTO THREE PAPER BAGS INSTEAD OF PROPER EVIDENCE BAGS, POSSIBLY TAINTING THE EVIDENCE.
THEY FAILED TO CHECK BENEATH SABOW’S FINGERNAILS FOR POSSIBLE EVIDENCE THAT HE STRUGGLED WITH AN ATTACKER.
THEY FAILED TO PRESERVE SABOW’S ORGANS AND TISSUE SAMPLES.
THEY MISQUOTED WITNESSES. “YOU’D DO A BETTER JOB AS A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATOR IF YOU WATCHED OLD PERRY MASON RERUNS,” AND SABOW’S LAWYER PAUL COPENBARGER.
ACCORDING TO THE SUIT, COL. SABOW’S MILITARY ATTORNEY WAS QUOTED BY THE NCIS AS SAYING THE COLONEL WAS “DESPERATE” WHEN THE TWO MEN SPOKE THE MORNING SABOW DIED. THE LAWYER LATER SAID HE ACTUALLY TOLD THE NCIS THAT SABOW “EXHIBITED THE NORMAL ANXIETY ASSOCIATED WITH BEING UNDER INVESTIGATION, BUT DID NOT APPEAR IRRATIONAL OR DESPERATE,” THE SUIT SAID.
THE NCIS QUOTED SALLY SABOW AS SAYING SHE SAW “A LOOK OF TERROR” IN SABOW’S EYES THE MORNING HE DIED. SHE DENIES SAYING THAT.
“IF I HAD THE SLIGHTEST HINT THAT HE WAS DESPONDENT, I WOULD NEVER HAVE LEFT HIM ALONE,” SHE SAID. “HE WAS ANXIOUS ABOUT THE ALLEGATIONS, OF COURSE, BUT HE WAS PERFECTLY FUNCTIONAL AND NORMAL.”
COL. SABOW’S COMMANDER EXPRESSED DOUBT THAT SABOW WOULD KILL HIMSELF OVER MINOR ALLEGATIONS THAT A MILITARY PLANE IN WHICH HE RODE DELIVERED STEREO SPEAKERS AND POSTERS TO HIS SON AT AN AIR FORCE BASE. SIMILAR CHARGES WERE SUCCESSFULLY BROUGHT AGAINST THE TOP TWO COMMANDERS AT EL TORO, WHERE SABOW WAS THIRD-IN-COMMAND UNTIL HE WAS SUSPENDED 10 DAYS BEFORE HIS DEATH.
ONE OF THOSE COMMANDERS TOLD THE NCIS:”IT IS ILLOGICAL THAT COLONEL SABOW WOULD TAKE HIS LIFE SOLELY ON THE BASIS OF EVENTS IN THE VERY EARLY STAGES OF AN INVESTIGATION.”
THE SABOWS SAY THEY HAVE SPENT MORE THAN $100,000 TRYING TO PROVE THAT JIM SABOW DID NOT KILL HIMSELF. THEY SAY HE WAS A STRAIGHT-ARROW MARINE, A PROUD OFFICER AND VIETNAM WAR HERO WHO EXEMPLIFIED THE BEST OF THE CORPS.
IT PAINS THEM, THEY SAY, TO BE DECEIVED AND BULLIED BY THE VERY MARINE CORPS THAT JIM SABOW LOVED SO DEEPLY.
“THE DISGUST I NOW FEEL TOWARDS THE MILITARY IS OVERWHELMING,” DAVID SABOW SAID. “WHAT THEY’VE DONE TO THIS FAMILY IS SICKENING.”
SALLY SABOW SAYS SHE FEELS BETRAYED.
“I USED TO BE ONE OF THE MOST PATRIOTIC PEOPLE IN THE WORLD,” SHE SAID. “NOW I WON’T PLEDGE THE FLAG. I WON’T SING THE NATIONAL ANTHEM. MY FAITH IN MY COUNTRY IS DESTROYED.”
