ON THE DAY HE DIED IN MISSISSIPPI, AIRMAN ALLEN SHULTS HAD HIS CAR SERVICED. THEN HE DID HIS LAUNDRY. LATER ON, HE CALLED A FRIEND BACK HOME IN KANSAS TO PLAN A PARTY.
A FEW HOURS LATER, ACCORDING TO THE AIR FORCE, 6-FOOT-3 ALLEN SHULTS TIED A SHEET TO A DOOR’S BROKEN HYDRAULIC CLOSURE, LOOTED IT AROUND HIS NECK, AND HANGED HIMSELF. HE WAS DEAD AT AGE 20, ASPHYXIATED IN HIS DORMITORY ROOM AT KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE NEAR BILOXI, MISSISSIPPI, IN JULY 1992.
AT FIRST, ROYAL AND LINDA SHULTS ACCEPTED THE MILITARY’S SUICIDE RULING, ALTHOUGH THEY SAY THEIR SON SEEMED HAPPY WHEN THEY SPOKE TO HIM DAYS BEFORE HE DIED. BUT WHEN THE AIR FORCE REFUSED TO PROVIDE DETAILS — INCLUDING A DEATH DATE FOR ALLEN’S TOMBSTONE—THEY BEGAN TO WONDER HOW HE DIED.
AT THEIR HOME IN ATCHISON KANSAS THE SHULTS DECIDED TO HIRE A PRIVATE DETECTIVE TO INVESTIGATE ALLENS DEATH. WHAT HE FOUND THEY SAID, CONVINCED THEM HE WAS MURDERED.
CHRIS RUSH, A PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR FROM NEW YORK SAYS HE WAS SUPRISED BY THE PAUCITY OF EFFORT AND EVIDENCE THE AIR FORCE PUT INTO THE SHULTS CASE.
” THEY DIDN’T EVEN FOLLOW THEIR OWN INVESTIGATIVE PROCEDURES,” RUSH SAID THIS MONTH.
“THEIR INVESTIGATION EFFECTIVELY ENDED AT 8:PM THE DAY ALLEN DIED.”
ACCORDING TO RUSH THE AIR FORCE:
*DID NOT PERFORM SALIVA TESTS TO DETERMINE WHO SMOKED TWO CIGARETTE BUTS FOUND IN SHULTS ROOM. NEITHER WAS OF BRANDS HE SMOKED. INVESTIGATORS SAID HE WAS ALONE WHEN HE DIED.
*DID NOT CHECK UNDER SHULTS FINGERNAILS FOR POSSIBLE EVIDENCE THAT HE HAD STRUGGLED WITH SOME ONE.
*DID NOT TAKE FINGERPRINTS FROM THE ROOM.
* DID NOT CHECK TELEPHONE RECORDS OF CALLS TO AND FROM SHULTS ROOM ON THE DAY HE DIED.
* MISSED “V” SHAPED CONTUSIONS ON SHULTS NECK THAT WERE NOT CONSISTENT WITH MARKS LEFT BY BED SHEET HANGING.
*DESTROYED THE SHEET USED IN THE HANGING .
RUSH SAID 13 OF 15 PEOPLE HE INTERVIEWED AT THE KEESLER BASE TOLD HIM THAT STATEMENTS ATTRIBUTED TO THEM BY THE AIR FORCE WERE EITHER ENTIRELY FALSE OR TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT.
AFTER INTERVIEWING THEM AND THEN SHOWING THEM THEIR STATEMENTS IN AN AIR FORCE INVESTIGATIVE REPORT. RUSH SAID, ” THEY WERE DUMFOUNDED. THEY SAID: “THATS NOT WHAT I SAID,”.
RUSH SAID HIS INVESTIGATION FOUND CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE THAT SHULTS DEATH WAS CONNECTED TO HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE WIFE OF ANOTHER SERVICEMAN.
THE HEAVILY CENSORED AIR FORCE REPORT SAYS SHULTS AND THE WOMAN HAD ARRANGED A RENDEZVOUS FOR JULY 5 —- THREE DAY AFTER SHULTS DEATH. RUSH SAID SHULTS TOLD A FRIEND THE NIGHT HE DIED THAT THE WOMAN WAS GOING TO DISCUSS A DIVORCE WITH HER HUSBAND.
THE AIR FORCE CONCLUDED THAT SHULTS, AFTER AN EVENING OF DRINKING, KILLED HIMSELF BECAUSE THE WOMAN WAS SPENDING THE WEEKEND WITH HER HUSBAND. IT QUOTED THREE CO–WORKERS WHO SAID SHULTS HAD SEEMED DEPRESSED.
RUSH ALSO SAID SHULTS’ SUITEMATE TOLD HIM HE THOUGHT SHULTS WAS HIDING A WOMAN IN HIS ROOM WHEN HE SAW SHULTS THERE ABOUT 9:30 P.M. THE MILITARY ESTIMATED THAT SHULTS DIED AROUND MIDNIGHT.
ACCORDING TO RUSH, THE SUITEMATE SAID THE AIR FORCE NEVER ASKED FOR DETAILS ABOUT HIS VISIT TO SHULTS’ ROOM.
RUSH ALSO SAID HE WAS TOLD THAT A DIFFERENT WOMAN — WAS IN THE ROOM WITH SHULTS THAT NIGHT.
THE AIR FORCE REPORT SAID A NOTE WAS FOUND IN SHULTS ROOM THAT READ: “I LOVED YOU BUT I COULDN’T TAKE THE PRESSURE.”THE REPORT SAID A HAND WRITING ANALYSIS WAS INCONCLUSIVE ,
FINDING INDICATIONS THAT HE WROTE THE SIGNATURE ALLEN WENDELL SHULTS ON THE NOTE BUT ” LIMITED INDICATIONS” THAT SHULTS WROTE THE PRINTED MESSAGE.
THE SHULTSES SAY THE HANDWRITING IS NOT THEIR SON’S, AND HE SO DETESTED HIS MIDDLE NAME HE NEVER USED IT.
RONALD F. DECKER, A FORMER AIR FORCE OFFICER OF SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS (OSI) INVESTIGATOR WHO REVIEWED THE OSI REPORT, SAID: “THERE ARE MANY ITEMS THAT OSI APPARENTLY CHOSE NOT TO INVESTIGATE. THIS INVESTIGATIONIS NOWHERE NEAR AS COMPLETE AS IT ‘APPEARS’.”
U.S. REP. JIM SLATTERY (D. KAN.) SAID THE SHULTSES DESERVE A BETTER INVESTIGATION.
“LINDA AND ROYAL SHULTS HAVE CONVINCED ME THAT THE AIR FORCE’S INVESTIGATION NAY HAVE BEEN DESIGNED TO FIT A PREDETERMINED CONCLUSION,” SLATTERY SAID THIS MONTH. “THERE ARE LEGITIMATE QUESTIONS ABOUT WHETHER ALLEN COMMITTED SUICIDE.”
THE OSI REPORT DESCRIBES SHULTS’ ROOM AS NEAT. RUSH SAID THE DEATH-SCENE PHOTOS SHOW GARBAGE, CLOTHING AND OTHER ITEMS STREWN ABOUT, SUGGESTING A STRUGGLE. SHULTS WAS FOUND WEARING A T-SHIRT TURNED INSIDE OUT.
RUSH SPECULATED THAT THE MARKS ON SHULTS’ NECK COULD HAVE BEEN LEFT BY THE WATCHBAND OF SOMEONE CHOKING HIM FROM BEHIND. HE SAID SHULTS MAY HAVE BEEN STRANGLED AND THEN HANGED WITH THE SHEET.
BONITA J. PETERSON, THE FORMER MEDICAL EXAMINER IN JACKSON COUNTY, MISSOURI, EXAMINED THE AUTOPSY REPORT, DEATH SCENE AND AUTOPSY PHOTOS,AND THE MILITARY REPORT. SHE SAID THE NECK MARKS WERE NOT MADE BY THE SHEET.
“I MUST CONCLUDE THAT THE POSSIBILITY OF HOMICIDE HAS NOT BEEN EXCLUDED.” PETERSON SAID IN A REPORT PREPARED FOR THE FAMILY.
RUSH SAID THE AIR FORCE DID NOT PURSUE EVIDENCE— A VIDEOTAPE AND COMPUTER MESSAGES—THAT SHULTS’ DEATH COULD HAVE BEEN RELATED TO HAZING BY AN ILLEGAL BASE FRATERNITY CALLED “GODFATHERS OF KEELSER.”
“THEY RULED SUICIDE FROM THE START,” RUSH SAID. “THEY NEVER CONSIDERED THE POSSIBILITY OF HOMICIDE…….PROVING A HOMICIDE TAKES WORK. SUICIDE IS EASIER.”
LINDA SHULTS, A SCHOOLTEACHER, SAID SHE AND HER HUSBAND, A PRINCIPAL, HAVE SPENT $50,000 ON THE CASE SO FAR. EVEN AS THEY PREPARE FOR THEIR SECOND CHRISTMAS WITHOUT ALLEN, SHE SAID, THEY CLING TO THE HOPE THAT IT IS NOT TOO LATE TO FIND OUT HOW HE DIED.
“IF THIS THING COSTS US OUR SAVINGS AND HOME, IT’LL BE WORTH IT IF WE FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR SON,” SHULTS SAID. “WE OWE ALLEN THAT MUCH.”
THE DAY BEFORE HE DIED, ELECTRICIAN’S MATE WILLIAM TIMOTHY HARRISON WAS INTERROGATED BY NCIS AGENTS. THEY ACCUSED HIM OF STEALING A PISTOL FROM THE ARMORY OF HIS SHIP, THE U.S..S. DEVASTATOR, DOCKED IN INGLESIDE, TEXAS.
ACCORDING TO AN NCIS REPORT, HARRISON WAS KEPT UNDER NCIS SURVEILLANCE IN THE HOPE THAT HE WOULD LEAD AGENTS TO THE GUN AND OTHER ITEMS HE WAS ACCUSED OF STEALING.
EVEN SO, THE NCIS SAYS HARRISON MANAGED TO DRIVE FROM HIS APARTMENT TO A LOCAL PAWN SHOP AND BUY A .45-CALIBER PISTOL FOR $300 JAN. 7. FROM THERE, THE NCIS SAYS, HE WENT TO A WAL-MART AND BOUGHT AMMUNITION.
THEN, ACCORDING TO THE NCIS, HARRISON DROVE BACK HOME AND SHOT HIMSELF IN THE HEAD WITH HIS NEW GUN. THE AGENCY RULED THAT HARRISON COMMITTED SUICIDE BECAUSE HE WAS DISTRAUGHT OVER THE THEFT INVESTIGATION. THE STOLEN GUN NEVER WAS FOUND.
THE REPORT SAYS AN NCIS AGENT CONTACTED HARRISON’S SHIP ON JAN. 7 BECAUSE THERE HAD BEEN “NO MOVEMENT AROUND HIS APARTMENT.” IT SAYS THE AGENTS STAYED IN A CAR AND LET HARRISON’S LANDLADY OPEN HIS APARTMENT TO LOOK FOR HIM WITHOUT TELLING HER WAS SUSPECTED OF STEALING A GUN.
HARRISON’S FAMILY SAYS THE EVIDENCE ASSEMBLED BY THE NCIS DOES NOT PROVE SUICIDE .
“THE SUICIDE RULING WAS CUT AND DRIED BEFORE HIS BODY WAS IN THE GROUND,” SAID HARRISON’S MOTHER, KATHLEEN HOLLER.
THERE ARE MANY QUESTIONS HARRISON’S FAMILY SAYS THE NAVY HAS FAILED TO ANSWER SINCE TIM HARRISON DIED. WHAT THEY HAVE TOLD, THEY MAINTAIN, IS FALSE.
“THEY LIE TO YOU, TRYING TO MAKE THE FACTS FIT THEIR VERSION OF WHAT HAPPENED,” SAID HARRY HOLLER, HARRISON’S STEP-FATHER. “EVERY THING THEY TOLD ME, SITS RIGHT IN MY LIVINGROOM, A LIE.”
HARRISON LEFT MO SUICIDE NOTE. ALTHOUGH SOME FELLOW SAILORS TOLD INVESTIGATORS THAT HARRISON WAS “MOODY” AND HAD “A VIOLENT TEMPER,” THEY SAID HIS BEHAVIOR WAS NORMAL IN THE DAYS BEFORE HIS DEATH.
THE NCIS REPORT NOTES NO “OVERT INDICATIONS OF DISTRESS” IN HARRISON.
KATHLEEN HOLLER SAID HER SON WAS HAPPY WHEN SHE SPOKE WITH HIM ON THE PHONE NOT MORE THAN 24 HOURS BEFORE HE DIED. SHE SAID HE DESCRIBED A RECENT VOLUNTEER TRIP WITH A LOCAL EMERGENCY RESCUE SQUAD, AND MADE PLANS TO COME HOME ON LEAVE THE NEXT MONTH.
HE DID NOT MENTION THE NCIS INTERROGATION, SHE SAID.
A REVIEW OF THE NCIS REPORT SUGGESTS THAT THE SUICIDE RULING WAS PREMATURE.
HARRISON WAS RIGHT-HANDED, BUT A MEDICAL EXAMINER’S REPORT SAID INDENTATIONS ON HIS LEFT THUMB AND FINGERS INDICATED THEY HAD BEEN IN CONTACT WITH THE GUN.HARRISON’S
HANDS WERE SWABBED FOR EVIDENCE THAT HE HAD FIRED A GUN BUT THE NCIS REPORT GIVES NO INDICATION THAT THE WERE TESTED OR THAT ATTEMPTS WERE MADE TO TEST FINGERPRINTS FROM THE GUN.
NO FULL AUTOPSY WAS PERFORMED. THE MEDICAL EXAMINER’S REPORT SAID HE PERFORMED “EXTERNAL EXAMINATION” BUT DID NOT CUT INTO HARRISON’S BODY OR HEAD, AS IS CUSTOMARY.
THE WOUND APPEARED TO BE CONSISTENT TO SUICIDE,” THE ONE-PAGE REPORT SAID.
KATHLEEN HOLLER SAID SHE NOTICED BRUISES ON HER SON’S NECK AND EARS AT HIS FUNERAL . NO SUCH MARKS WERE NOTED IN THE MEDICAL EXAMINER’S REPORT
THE NCIS SAID THE .45-CALIBER PISTOL THAT KILLED HARRISON WAS FOUND LYING ON HIS CHEST.
GENE WHEATON, NOW A PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR, SAID THE PISTOL’S POWERFUL RECOIL SHOULD HAVE SENT IT FLYING ACROSS THE ROOM. WHEATON REVIEWED THE NCIS FILES FOR THE INQUIRER.
THE DEATH CERTIFICATE LISTS THE TIME OF DEATH AS “UNKNOWN,” BUT PLACES IT SOMETIME DURING THE “A.M.” ON JAN.7 . THREE NEIGHBORS SAID THEY HEARD A LOUD “BANG” SOMETIME DURING THE EARLY EVENING; ONE ALSO SAID SHE HEARD SOMEONE “MOVING SOMETHING AROUND”HARRISON’S APARTMENT ABOUT 10 P.M.
THE NCIS REPORT SAID “IT IS REASONABLE TO CONCLUDE “SUICIDE BECAUSE HARRISON WAS “DISTRAUGHT OVER THE AMOUNT OF EVIDENCE COMING TO LIGHT IN THE INVESTIGATION AGAINST HIM.”
THE SHIP’S COMMANDER DISAGREED WITH A FINDING THAT HARRISON HAD “DISPLAYED PREVIOUS SUICIDAL TENDENCIED.” HE OTHERWISE ENDORSED THE SUICIDE RULING.
THE NCIS REPORT NOTED THAT “CERTAIN MINOR CONFLICTS APPEAR IN THE EVIDENCE.” BUT NONE TO “WARRANT COMMENT.”
IN AUGUST, A COMMENT IN A LETTER SENT BY THE NCIS TO THE FAMILY INDICATED THAT ANY POTENTIAL REINVESTIGATION OF HARRISON’S DEATH WOULD RUN INTO SERIOUS PROBLEMS.
BECAUSE THE INVESTIGATION “DID NOT UNCOVER ANY EVIDENCE OF FOUL PLAY,” THE LETTER SAID,
ALL REMAINING EVIDENCE WAS “DISPOSED OF OR DESTROYED.” FIRST . THE NAVY MARENICOLA WHITTLES THAT HER SON DIED WHILE PLAYING RUSSIAN ROULETTE . NEXT, SHE SAID, SHE WAS TOLD THAT HE HAD DIED ACCIDENTIALY WHILE CLEANING HIS GUN. THEN, THEY TOLD HER THE FATAL SHOT WAS FIRED WHILE HE WAS PLAYING WITH HIS GUN.
“THEY DID HALF AN INVESTIGATION AND STOPPED,” SHE SAID. ” AND THEN THEY TELL ME: BELIEVE WHAT WE TELL YOU. CASE CLOSED. THATS IT.
WHITTLES DISPUTES A NAVY RULING THAT HER SON, MARINE CPL. CORNELIUS WHITTLES, ACCIDENTALLY SHOT HIMSELF IN THE HEAD WHILE TOYING WITH HIS GUN IN 1991 DURING GUARD AT THE EARLE NAVAL WEAPONS STATION IN COLTS NECK, N.J.
A BASE SPOKESWOMAN DECLINED TO DISCUSS THE DEATH OF WHITTLES OR THE DEATHS TWO OTHER GUARDS AT THE BASE UNDER SIMILAR CIRCUMSTANCES. ONE OF THE DEATHS ALSO INVOLVED A MARINE CORPORAL -SCOTT JAKOVIC-WHILE THE OTHER WAS OF A CIVILIAN GUARD. A GUARD PLEADED GUILTY OF SHOOTING THE CIVILIAN WHILE “GOOFING AROUND” WITH HIS GUN.
“THERE SEEMS TO BE A TOTAL BREAKDOWN IN DISCIPLINE,” WHITTLES SAID. “IF THESE YOUNG MEN WERE PLAYING WITH THEIR GUNS, WHY WASN’T SOMETHING DONE ABOUT IT?
THE NAVY’S EXPLANATION FOR THE DEATHS-RUSSIAN ROULETTE OR OTHERWISE TOYING WITH GUNS-HAS BEEN OFFERED TO THE SURVIVORS OF SEVERAL DEAD SERVICEMEN. THE FAMILIES DISPUTE THE MILITARY’S ACCOUNTS.
IN THE NCIS REPORT, WHITTLES’ DEATH WAS LISTED AS ACCIDENTALLY “SELF-INFLICTED.” THE REPORT SAID HIS 9MM BERETTA PISTOL DISCHARGED AS HE HELD IT TO HIS HEAD. SECONDS EARLIER, THE REPORT SAID, WHITTLES HAD COMPARED THE SAFETY FEATURES OF THE BERETTA WITH THOSE OF A WEAPON HELD BY ANOTHER GUARD.
WHITTLES SAYS SHE SUSPECTS THE MILITARY COVERS UP DRINKING AND HORSEPLAY WITH GUNS.
CPL. WHITTLES FIANCEE, TRACY SANDBURG, SAID SHE SPOKE WITH HIM ON THE PHONE LESS THAN AN HOUR BEFORE HE DIED. SHE SAID WHITTLES TOLD HER THAT SECURITY OFFICERS IN THE CONTROL ROOM WITH HIM AT EARLE THAT NIGHT WERE DRINKING AND CLOWNING AROUND.
“SOMEONE WALKED IN, AND OVERHEARD HIM ASK IF HE COULD STASH BEER THERE, ” SANDBURG SAID. “AND HE /WHITTLES/ SAID, “NO. GET IT OUT OF HERE, THIS IS A RESTRICTED AREA.”
SANDBURG SAID WHITTLES PUT HER ON HOLD FOR A MOMENT, THEN CAME BACK ON THE LINE AND SAID HE HAD TO HANG UP BECAUSE A REPORT HAD COME IN ABOUT PRANKSTERS OVERTURNING A CAR.
“WE SAID GOODBYE, AND THAT WAS THE LAST TIME I SPOKE TO HIM,” SHE SAID.
ALTHOUGH THE NAVY REPORT SAYS WHITTLES FIRED HIS GUN WITH HIS RIGHT HAND FOR RESIDUE THAT WOULD INDICATE HE HAD FIRED A WEAPON.
A CIVILIAN AUTOPSY REPORT NOTED: “THERE IS NO IMPRESSION OF THE TRIGGER NOTED ON FINGERS AND THERE IS NO GUNPOWDER NOTED ON THE RIGHT OR LEFT HAND.”
OTHER SECURITY GUARDS IN THE ROOM WITH WHITTLES WHEN HE WAS SHOT WERE NOT TESTED FOR GUNSHOT RESIDUE, ACCORDING TO THE NAVY REPORT. THE REPORT ALSO SAYS INVESTIGATORS WERE UNABLE TO FIND LATENT FINGERPRINTS ON WHITTLES’ GUN.
“HOW DO THEY GET AWAY WITH THESE HALF INVESTIGATIONS?” WHITTLES ASKED, “PEOPLE SHOULDN’T HAVE TO PUT UP WITH THIS….MY SON GAVE THE MARINE CORPS EVERYTHING HE HAD. HE DESERVES BETTER.”
QUESTIONS STILL HAUNT STANLEY AND DELORES WOLF EIGHT YEARS AFTER THE ARMY TOLD THEM THEIR SON SHOT HIMSELF IN THE HEAD WHILE ON GUARD DUTY AT SCHOFIELD BARRACKS IN HAWAII.
STAN WOLF, AN FBI ELECTRONICS SPECIALIST IN NEVADA, IS PUZZLED BY WHAT HE READ IN ARMY CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION COMMAND (CID) REPORT. THE REPORT SAID SEC. 4 RICHARD S. WOLF GRABBED A .38-CALIBER RUGER REVOLVER AND AMMUNITION FROM A FELLOW GUARD DURING A SHIFT CHANGE IN OCTOBER 1985, THEN PUT THE WEAPON TO HIS HEAD AND FIRED.
A MILITARY MEDICAL EXAMINER CONCLUDED THAT WOLF, 20, KILLED HIMSELF “WHILE PLAYING RUSSIAN ROULETTE.”
BUT AN ATOMIC ABSORPTION TEST REVEALED NO TRACES OF GUNPOWDER ON WOLF’S HANDS, WHICH SHOULD HAVE BEEN COVERED WITH POWDER RESIDUE FROM FIREING THE GUN. THE ARMY REPORT SAYS MEDICAL PERSONNEL WASHED WOLF’S HANDS BEFORE SWABBINGS COULD BE TAKEN FROM THEM.
THE AUTOPSY FOUND NO EVIDENCE OF POWDER BURNS IN WOLF’S HEAD WOUND. SUCH BURNS ARE NORMALLY LEFT IN SELF-INFLICTED WOUNDS.
THE WOLFS SAY DEATH SCENE PHOTOS SHOW BLOOD SPATTERS ON A WALL BEHIND WOLF NO HIGHER THAN 25 INCHES. BUT THE ARMY REPORT SAID WOLF, WHO WAS 5-FOOT-10, WAS STANDING WHEN HE SHOT HIMSELF WITH A ROUND THAT TRAVELED UPWARDS THROUGH HIS HEAD. WHY THEN, STAN WOLF WONDERS, WERE THE BLOOD SPATTERS SO FAR BELOW HIS SON’S HEAD?
THE AUTOPSY REPORT MAKES NO MENTION OF “BLOWBACK”-BLOOD AND TISSUE-THAT SHOULD HAVE COVERED WOLF’S HAND.
AND A KEY WITNESS, WOLF’S SECURITY PARTNER, GAVE CONFLICTING VERSIONS OF WOLF’S DEATH.
SPEC. 4 LYDIA MCCORKLE FIRST SAID WOLF GRABBED HER GUN AND A SINGLE ROUND, THEN LOADED THE ROUND AND SPUN THE HUN’S CYLINDER.
MCCORKLE LATER AMENDED HER STATEMENT AND SAID SHE DID NOT SEE WOLF EITHER LOAD THE ROUND OR SPIN THE CYLINDER.
BECAUSE OF DISCREPANCIES BY MCCORKLE AND OTHER WITNESSES, THE ARMY REOPENED THE CASE IN SEPTEMBER 1986, BUT REACHED THE SAME CONCLUSION: WOLF SHOT HIMSELF.
MCCORKLE SAID WOLF TOLD HER JUST BEFORE HE PULLED THE TRIGGER. “RUSSIAN ROULETTE? I HAVE A ONE-IN FIVE CHANCE.”
ASKED BY INVESTIGATORS WHY SHE THOUGHT WOLF HAD SHOT HIMSELF, MCCORKLE SAID: “I DON’ T BELIEVE HE WAS SUICIDAL…..I BELIEVE HE WAS JUST SHOWING OFF.”
TO STAN WOLF, THE FORENSIC EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THAT SOMEONE OTHER THAN HIS SON FIRED THE GUN. UNTIL THE ARMY RECONCILES THE CONFLICT BETWEEN THAT EVIDENCE AND WITNESSES’ STATEMENTS, HE SAID, HE WILL NOT BELIEVE HIS SON SHOT HIMSELF.
“I KNOW ONE THING,” HE SAID. “IT DIDN’T HAPPEN THE WAY THEY SAID IT DID,”
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MORE THAN TWO YEARS HAVE PASSED SINCE CATHERINE JAKOVICS ELDEST SON PHONED HER WITH DEVASTATING NEWS: HER YOUNGEST SON, SCOTT, WAS LYING NEAR DEATH IN A HOSPITAL. HE HAD BEEN SHOT IN THE HEAD.
BY THE NEXT NIGHT, OCT. 13,1991, LANCE CPL. JAKOVIC WAS DEAD, FIVE MONTHS SHORT OF HIS 21ST BIRTHDAY.
NUMB WITH GRIEF, JAKOVIC LISTENED AS NAVY OFFICIALS TOLD HER THAT SCOTT ACCIDENTALLY HAD SHOT HIMSELF WITH HIS OWN WEAPON WHILE ALONE ON GUARD DUTY AT EARLE.
IT WAS ALL THERE IN BLACK AND WHITE, ON A SINGLE TYPED SHEET CALLED REPORT OF CASUALTY FORM DD-1300, FILLED OUT JUST NINE DAYS AFTER SCOTT DIED: “SELF-INFLICTED GUNSHOT WOUND TO THE HEAD.”
THE QUICK RULING ATE AWAY AT JAKOVIC. IT WAS SO UNLIKE SCOTT TO DO SOMETHING SO IRRESPONSIBLE, SHE THOUGHT: HE WAS SO CAREFUL WITH GUNS. AND SHE KNEW FROM HIS VISITS HOME THAT HE WANTED OUT OF EARLE, WHERE HE TOLD HER THAT COMMANDERS OVERLOOKED SECURITY VIOLATIONS AND DRUG USE BY SERVICEMEN.
THE MORE JAKOVIC PRESSED THE NCIS FOR INFORMATION, THE MORE IMPLAUSIBLE THE OFFICIAL VERSION OF EVENTS SEEMED TO HER: A WEAPONS EXPERT WITH NO HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGICAL OR DISCIPLINE PROBLEMS SUDDENLY SHOT HIMSELF AT A BUSY GUARD STATION IN THE MIDDLE OF THE
AFTERNOON-AND NOBODY SAW IT.
WHAT JAKOVIC DIDN’T KNOW WAS THAT , JUST 10 HOURS AFTER HER SON’S DEATH, A MARINE GUARD HAD TOLD AN NCIS AGENT THAT HE HAD SEEN MARINE PVT. EDWARD MARKOVITCH PUT A HUN TO JAKOVIC’S HEAD MINUTES BEFORE THE SHOOTING. THE NAVY DID NOT REVEAL THAT INFORMATION FOR FOUR MONTHS.
FINALLY, IN FEBRUARY 1992, THE NCIS SAID THERE HAD BEEN A WITNESS TO JAKOVIC’S DEATH AFTER ALL: PVT. MARKOVITCH. THE NAVY CHARGED MARKOVITCH WITH INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER IN CONNECTION WITH JAKOVIC’S DEATH.
THERE WAS ANOTHER, UNRELATED CHARGE AGAINST MARKOVITCH: COCAINE USE.
AFTER MILITARY TRIAL LAST YEAR, MARKOVITCH WAS CONVICTED OF THE DRUG CHARGE. BUT HE WAS ACQUITTED OF MANSLAUGHTER, IN PART BECAUSE NAVY AGENTS FAILED TO PROPERLY READ HIM HIS RIGHTS AND LOST CRUCIAL PAPERWORK.
THE NCIS THEN LET STAND THE ORIGINAL RULING THAT JAKOVIC HAD SHOT HIMSELF-WHILE PLAYING RUSSIAN ROULETTE WITH A 9MM AUTOMATIC.
“APPARENTLY, THERE ARE NO FACTS-JUST THE NIS VERSION OF FACTS,” JAKOVIC SAID RECENTLY, STILL NOT CERTAIN EXACTLY HOW HER SON DIED.
DURING TWO MILITARY HEARING FOR MAKOVITCH, HELD IN PHILADELPHIA IN 1992, JAKOVIC LEARNED THE FULL SCOPE OF THE NAVY’S BUNGLED INVESTIGATION. ACCORDING TO TESTIMONY.
NCIS AGENTS ALLOWED MARKOVITCH TO DRINK A SODA AND GO TO THE BATHROOM BEFORE SWABBING HIS HANDS FOR POSSIBLE EVIDENCE THAT HE HAD FIRED A WEAPON. A GUNSHOT RESIDUE TEST WAS INCONCLUSIVE.
AN NCIS AGENT ALLOWED A MARINE TO HANDLE THE GUN THAT KILLED JAKOVIC, THUS TAINTING A CRUCIAL PIECE OF EVIDENCE.
NCIS AGENTS BASED THEIR INITIAL RILING THAT JAKOVIC HAD KILLED HIMSELF LARGELY ON A PANICKED PHONE CALL BY MARKOVITCH MOMENTS AFTER THE SHOOTING, IN WHICH HE TOLD A SUPERIOR THAT JAKOVIC HAD “SHOT HIMSELF”.
MARKOVITCH ADMITTED TO A SUPERVISOR MINUTES AFTER THE SHOOTING THAT HE AND JAKOVIC HAD BEEN “MESSING AROUND” WITH THEIR WEAPONS AND THAT HE HAD DRAWN HIS OWN GUN, THE SUPERVISOR SAID. JAKOVIC WAS ‘VERY CARELESS WITH HIS PISTOL,” WARRANT OFFICER HAROLD EVAN SAID.
LANCE CPL. JEROME BARRY HAD TOLD THE NCIS THE DAY JAKOVIC DIED THAT HE HAD SEEN MARKOVITCH HOLD A GUN TO JAKOVIC’S HEAD MINUTES BEFORE THE SHOOTING. “I KNOW JAKOVIC PRETTY GOOD, AND I CAN SAY THAT IT WAS UNUSUAL TO HEAR THAT HE WAS PLAYING AROUND WITH HIS GUN, BARRY SAID.
IN AUGUST 1992, MARKOVITCH’S ROOMMATE TOLD THE NCIS THAT MARKOVITCH HAD TOLD HIM HE HAD ACCIDENTALLY SHOT JAKOVIC AFTER THE TWO DISCUSSED RUSSIAN ROULETTE SCENE FROM THE FILM DEERHUNTER.
LANCE CPL. TODD HARRIS SAD MARKOVITCH TOLD HIM THAT MARKOVITCH AND JAKOVIC WERE “MESSING AROUND” WITH THEIR WEAPONS WHEN MARKOVITCH ASKED WHETHER JAKOVIC THOUGHT THE GUN ON A TABLE HAD A BULLET IN THE CHAMBER.
“HE (MARKOVITCH) TOLD ME HE THEN RACKED THE SLIDE BACK AND FORWARD. THEN ASKED JAKOVIC AGAIN, IF THERE WAS A ROUND IN THE CHAMBER…., HARRIS SAID IN A STATEMENT, “MARKOVITCH THEN POINTED THE WEAPON AT JAKOVIC AND SAID “LETS FIND OUT.” HE TOLD ME HE THEN PULLED THE TRIGGER.” SHOOTING JAKOVIC IN THE HEAD.
MARKOVITCH’S CIVILIAN ATTORNEY, GARY ROGERS, SAID LAST WEEK THAT HARRIS’ WAS FULL OF HOLES” THAT THE NAVY DECIDED NOT TO CALL HIM AS A WITNESS. MYERS SAID PROSECUTORS COULD NOT PROVE THAT JAKOVIC’S HANDS OR THAT THE TWO GUARDS HAD PLAYED RUSSIAN ROULETTE.
MARKOVITCH WAS CONVICTED OF NEGLIGENT DERELICTION OF DUTY, FINED $1,500, AND REDUCED IN RANK.
MYERS ACCUSED THE NAVY OF MAKING MARKOVITCH AS SCAPEGOAT TO COVER UP WEAPONS VIOLATIONS AT EARLE.
“THEY HAVE CONDONED DERELICTION AT EVERY LEVEL OF THAT COMMAND,” HE SAID IN COURT. SEVERAL MARINES TESTIFIED THAT SUPERIORS TOLERATED GUN HORSEPLAY AND SECURITY BREACHES.
ASKED FOR COMMENT, THE SPOKESWOMAN AT EARLE SAID IT WAS BASE POLICY NOT TO DISCUSS SECURITY PROCEDURES.
“THIS IS HORRENDOUS,” JAMES W. KEEFE. I SPENT 21 YEARS AS AN ARMY CRIMINAL INVESTIGATOR, SAID OF THE NCIS INVESTIGATION AFTER VIEWING THE CASE. “THERE IS NO WAY THIS IS SELF-INFLICTED DEATH.
KEEFE SAID THE NAVY BOTCHED THE CASE BADLY THAT PROVING WHAT REALLY HAPPENED BE DIFFICULT. “THE HANDLING OF EVIDENCE IS ATROCIOUS,” HE SAID.
TODAY, CATHERINE JAKOVIC SAYS SHE IS MORE ANGRY AT THE MILITARY THAN AT MARKOVITCH WHO SHE SAID “PUT HIS HEAD IN MY LAP AND BAWLED LIKE A BABY” AT SCOTT’S FUNERAL.
“MY SON IS DEAD AND GONE AS FAR AS THEY ARE CONCERNED,” SHE SAID OF THE NAVY. “THEY WON’T CHANGE THAT SELF-INFLICTED RULING SO THEY CAN CLOSE THEIR CASE.”
IN HER MIND, SHE SAID , HER SON’S CASE WILL NEVER BE CLOSED. THE INDIGNITIES NEVER SEE NO END.
IN APRIL, SHE SAID, THE MILITARY DENIED THE FAMILY’S CLAIM FOR SCOTT JOKOVIC’S 51,200 DEATH BENEFIT. IN A TERSE LETTER, THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS GAVE A REASON:
“THE VETERANS DEATH WAS DUE TO HIS OWN WILLFUL MISCONDUCT.”
