September: U.S. Department of Defense Casualties Report (2008)

Posted on September 30, 2008 by Administrator

09/29/2008: DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Jamel Bryant, 22, NCD, Iraq, Baumholder, Germany

09/29/2008: DoD Identifies Army Casualty: William Hasenflu, 38, Afghanistan, Fort Campbell, Kentucky

09/29/2008: DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Michael Medders, 25, Iraq, Fort Hood, Texas

09/29/2008: DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Ronald Phillips Jr, 33, Iraq, Fort Stewart, Georgia

09/25/2008: Air Force Pilots Missing From The Vietnam War Are Identified

09/24/2008: DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Thomas Brown, 26, Iraq, Baumholder, Germany

09/23/2008: DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Sidney Marceaux Jr, 69, NCD, Kuwait, Warrior Transition Brigade, Walter Reed Army MC, Maryland

09/23/2008: DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Bruno Desolenni, 32, Afghanistan, Oregon Army National Guard

09/23/2008: DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Matthew Taylor, 25, Iraq, Fort Polk, Louisiana

09/23/2008: DoD Identifies Navy Casualty: Matthew O’Bryant, 22, NCD, Marriott Bombing, Islamabad, Pakistan, Fort Meade, Maryland

09/23/2008: Soldier Missing From The Vietnam War Is Identified

09/22/2008: DoD Identifies Army Casualties: Nathan Cox, 35, and Joseph Gonzales, 18, Afghanistan, Fort Hood, Texas

09/22/2008: DoD Identifies Marine Casualty: Jerome Bell Jr, 29, Afghanistan, Twentynine Palms, California

09/22/2008: DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Brandon Farley, 30, Afghanistan, Fort Hood, Texas

09/22/2008: DoD Identifies Army Casuality: Joshua Harris, 21, Afghanistan, Illinois Army National Guard

09/22/2008: DoD Identifies Army Casuality: Bruce Hays, 42, Afghanistan, Wyoming Army National Guard

09/22/2008: DoD Identifies Army Casuality: Mohsin Naqui, 26, Afghanistan, Fort Benning, Georgia

09/22/2008: DoD Identifies Army Casuality: Jason Vasquez, 24, Afghanistan, Illinois Army National Guard

09/22/2008: DoD Identifies Air Force Casualty: Rodolfo Rodriguez, 34, Islamabad, Pakistan, Ramstein Air Base, Germany

09/21/2008: DoD Identifies Army Casualties: Daniel Eshbaugh, 43, Brady Rudolph, 37, and Michael Thompson, 23, NCDs, Iraq, Oklahoma Army National Guard

09/21/2008: DoD Identifies Army Casualties: Corry Edwards, 38, Anthony Mason, 37, Julio Ordonez, 54, and Robert Vallejo II, 28, NCDs, Iraq, Texas Army National Guard

09/19/2008: DoD Identifies Army Casualty: James Wiley, 46, NCD, Afghanistan, New York Army National Guard

09/18/2008: DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Darrick Wright, 37, NCD, Iraq, Army Corp of Engineers, Alabama

09/18/2008: DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Leonard Gulczynski I, 19, NCD, Iraq, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington

09/16/2008: DoD Identifies Navy Casualty: Eichmann Strickland, 23, Afghanistan, Iwakuni, Japan

09/16/2008: DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Ralph Marino, 46, NCD, Camp Arifjan, Kuwait

09/16/2008: DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Michael Murdock, 22, Afghanistan, Fort Hood, Texas

09/15/2008: DoD Identifies Army Casualties: Darris Dawson, 24, and Wesley Durbin, 26, NCD, Iraq, Fort Stewart, Georgia

09/15/2008: DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Michael Slebodnik, 39, Afghanistan, Fort Campbell, Kentucky

09/15/2008: DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Daniel Sexton, 53, NCD, Iraq, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska

09/15/2008: DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Marques Knight, 24, Afghanistan, Fort Hood, Texas

09/13/2008: DoD Identifies Navy Casualty: Jason Freiwald, 30, Afghanistan, Naval Special Warfare Development Group, Virginia

09/13/2008: DoD Identifies Navy Casualty: John Marcum, 34, Afghanistan, Naval Special Warfare Development Group, Virginia

09/10/2008: DoD Identifies Marine Casualty: Jesse Melton III, 29, Afghanistan, Okinawa, Japan

09/10/2008: DoD Identifies Marine Casualty: Nicholas Madrazo, 25, Afghanistan, Okinawa, Japan

09/09/2008: Missing WWII Soldier Is Identified

09/08/2008: DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Vincent Winston Jr, 22, Afghanistan, Fort Hood, Texas

09/08/2008: DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Michael Dinterman, 18, Afghanistan, Fort Hood, Texas

09/08/2008: DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Jordan Thibeault, 22, NCD, Iraq, Baumholder, Germany

09/08/2008: DoD Identifies Army Casualities: Kenneth Mayne, 29, and Bryan Thomas, 22, Iraq, Fort Hood, Texas

09/05/2008: DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Gregory Rodriguez, 35, Afghanistan, Ansbach, Germany

09/04/2008: DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Patrick May, 22, NCD, Iraq, Fort Hood, Texas

09/04/2008: Three Missing WWII Sailors Are Identified

09/01/2008: DoD Identifies Navy Casualty: Joshua Harris, 36, Afghanistan, Naval Special Warfare Development Group, Virginia

09/01/2008: DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Steven Fitzmorris, 26, Iraq, Fort Carson, Colorado

09/01/2008: DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Jorge Feliz Nieve, 26, NCD, Iraq, Fort Hood, Texas

09/01/2008: DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Carlo Alfonso, 23, Iraq, Baumholder, Germany

Army Sgt. Christina Smith Murdered by Richard Smith & Matthew Kvapil; Both Fort Bragg Soldiers Sentenced to Life in Prison (September 30, 2008)

Posted on September 30, 2008 by Administrator

image1-4 — Sgt. Christina Loehrke Smith, U.S. Army

Army Sgt. Christina Smith was stabbed to death on September 30, 2008 in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Sgt. Smith was stationed at Fort Bragg with her husband Richard Smith, also a soldier. After an investigation, Fayetteville authorities learned that Richard Smith hired Army soldier Matthew Kvapil to kill Christina. Richard Smith set up the murder by asking Christina to take a walk with him. Matthew Kvapil was hiding in the bushes waiting for the pre-planned moment to attack her. Both soldiers were arrested and charged with the first degree murder. Civilian prosecutors sought the death penalty for both soldiers in this case. In 2012, Richard Smith and Matthew Kvapil plead guilty to Christina’s murder and were sentenced to life in prison instead. Christina Smith’s death was the fourth murder involving military personnel in North Carolina in 2008. Pregnant Marine Maria Lauterbach disappeared from Camp Lejeune in 2007 and her remains were found in early 2008. She was murdered by fellow Camp Lejeune Marine Cesar Laurean. Fort Bragg Army Lt. Holley Wimunc was murdered by her Marine husband John Wimunc on July 19th. And pregnant Army soldier Megan Touma was murdered by her lover Edgar Patino, a married Fort Bragg soldier, on June 21st.

“In a way, it’s surprising that there aren’t more bodies piling up at military bases all over this nation” –The Fayetteville Observer (October 16, 2008)

In the News:

Steve Loehrke received Ohio’s first Military Sacrifice License Plate at the special license plate’s unveiling ceremony, June 9, 2015, at Ohio Department of Public Safety Headquarters, Columbus, OH. Steve is the proud father of fallen soldier Sgt. Christina E. Loehrke Smith and U.S. Boarder Patrol Agent Steven Loehrke. (June 21, 2015)

Related Links:
Army releases name of Fayetteville stabbing victim
Christina E. Loehrke Smith, Sergeant, US Army
Autopsy: Soldier fought attacker
Vigil highlights military women’s deaths
Fayetteville vigil to remember recent military murders
Soldier: Sgt. wanted wife slain
Suspect: Husband requested wife’s death several times
Husband of Slain Soldier Arrested in her Death
Husband arrested in soldier’s death; police find knife
Husband Held In Female Soldier’s Stabbing
Husband, 2nd man held in female soldier’s stabbing
Third female soldier killed; husband charged
Soldier’s Husband Charged with her Murder
Husband charged in N.C. soldier’s slaying
Fort Bragg soldiers appear in court on murder charges
‘My Daughter’s Dream Became a Nightmare’: The Murder of Military Women Continues
Murder of Military Women
The Fort Bragg Murders
Death on the Home Front
Prosecutors seek death for soldier accused in wife’s stabbing death
DA seeks death penalty in slaying of Fort Bragg soldier
2 Plead Guilty in Soldier’s Contract Murder
Two Sentenced for Fayetteville Murder for Hire Death
Former Army Soldiers Plead Guilty To 2008 Murder
Former Bragg soldiers get life in contract killing
Sentencing brings closure to friends, Family
Hundreds participate in Hero’s Ride to support military
Bill changes eligibility for Military Sacrifice license plate
New Ohio license plates honor service members who die outside of combat
New plate honors military who have died outside combat zone
Steve Loehrke receives first Ohio Military Sacrifice License Plate
Violent Crime, Non Combat Death & Suicide at Fort Bragg, North Carolina
What the DoD Doesn’t Want You to Know: 50 Shocking Military Homicides in the Last 30 Years
30 Domestic Abuse Cases in the Military That Ended in the Murder of Female Partners
House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel: Hearings on Domestic Violence in the Military (September 18, 2019)

Ex-Marine & Police Officer Robert McClain Convicted of Rape, Torture & Kidnapping of Wife & Lover, Sentenced to 20 Years & 4 Consecutive Life Terms (2008)

Posted on September 28, 2008 by Administrator

Robert McClain, US Marine Corps Veteran

In July 2012, ex-Marine and police officer Robert McClain was sentenced to 20 years and four consecutive life terms for brutalizing his wife and her lover in an hours long attack on September 28, 2008 in Irvine, California. Once McClain learned of his wife’s affair, he asked her to introduce him to her new boyfriend because he wanted to meet the man who would be around his children. Unbeknownst to her, McClain brought knives and guns to the meeting so he could punish both victims because of their affair. According to his wife Summer Lang, McClain was extremely jealous, controlling and violent during the marriage. When he learned his wife wanted to divorce him after 12 years of marriage, he planned the attack on her and her lover, Michael Heflin. McClain was convicted of several felonies including rape, torture, and kidnapping. Although Michael Heflin survived the attacks, he was beaten and stabbed multiple times, resulting in permanent brain damage and other life long injuries. Summer was tortured, kidnapped, and raped but managed to escape after Robert McClain fell asleep.

“What’s scary about this case is if he can do that to his wife he can do that to anybody.” -The Orange County Register

Related Links:
Man beaten in Irvine to require facial reconstruction
Deputy charged in sexual torture
Los Angeles sheriff’s Deputy Robert McClain
Ex-Sheriff’s Deputy Was Sane When He Raped And Tortured Wife, Her Lover
Former sheriff’s deputy Robert McClain goes on trial in brutal torture case
Woman testifies of torture by former deputy
Former sheriff’s deputy’s wife testifies: Husband tried to force me to castrate lover
Defense: Wife of ex-deputy accused of torture lied
Robert McClain Guilty of Torture and Sex Assaults on Wife and Her Lover
Ex-L.A. County sheriff’s deputy convicted of mayhem, torture, rape
Prosecutor: Former L.A. deputy tortured wife, her lover
Ex-deputy gets 4 life terms for torture
Jury: Ex-deputy sane during torture, rape
Jury: Ex-deputy sane when he tortured, assaulted wife, her lover
Wife of former sheriff deputy testifies her husband tried to force her to ‘castrate her boyfriend after two hours torturing the pair’
Robert Avery McClain, Deputy-Turned-Sadistic Torturer, Leads the Prison McChain Gang
Deadly Affairs: Swan Song (Amazon Video)
Deadly Affairs: Swan Song (Investigation Discovery)

Love is in bloom for a young marine and his wife, until a musician sweeps in, leaving behind lies and treachery. Passion and jealousy will explode into murder. -Discovery ID

Army SSG Renee Deville Found Unresponsive in Hospital Room at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (September 1, 2008)

Posted on September 1, 2008 by Administrator

SSG Renee Deville, U.S. Army (Photo: Army.mil)

Army SSG Renee Deville, 44, died unexpectedly while in treatment at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on September 1, 2008. SSG Deville was being treated for wounds in the line of duty in Iraq when her husband found her unresponsive in her hospital room. SSG Deville was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom when she was injured. The Department of Defense did not list SSG Deville on the monthly casualties report and the official cause of death is unknown.

“Staff Sgt. Renee Antoinette Deville, an Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran recovering from complex injuries at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, died Sept. 1 in her room at the Mologne House. She was 44. Deville was found unresponsive by her husband, who began CPR and called for help. Walter Reed Emergency Services personnel transported the Soldier to the Walter Reed Emergency Department, where she was declared dead at 5:10 a.m.” ~Walter Reed Army Medical Center Public Affairs Office

Related Links:
SSGT Renee Antoinette Deville | Find A Grave
4 wounded warriors graduate from BNCOC
First Warrior Transition NCO Class Graduates
Walter Reed Army Medical Center Public Affairs Office
Non Combat Deaths of Female Service Members in the U.S. Military (Iraq)
Military Policy and Legislation Considerations for the Investigations of Non Combat Death, Homicide, and Suicide of US Service Members

Civilian Jacqwelyn Villagomez Died at the Hands of Boyfriend and Retired Army Private John Needham (2008)

Posted on September 1, 2008 by Administrator

Jacqwelyn Villagomez

Honoring Jacqwelyn Joann Villagomez, 19, who tragically died on September 1, 2008 at the hands of Army Private John Needham, a medically retired soldier struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury. Although John was charged with her murder, he died on February 19, 2010 shortly before the trial of an apparent overdose on painkillers.

Related Links:
Woman, 19, dies after apparent beating in condo
‘Mentally unstable’ Iraq veteran arrested in death of girlfriend, 19
Iraq vet charged with killing girlfriend is found dead in Arizona
Former Carson soldier Needham, charged in slaying, dies in Arizona
Private Needham’s War: A soldier is accused of killing the woman he loves
Deadly duty for Fort Carson
‘Lethal Warriors’ in Iraq, Linked to String of Crimes Back Home
John Needham Back in Court
Iraq War Vet’s Dad Accused of Threatening Victim’s Friend
Was PTSD to blame? Mystery over troubled Iraq veteran who killed girlfriend and was found dead after overdosing 18 months later
Soldier in “Coming Home” series dies after surgery
Iraq veteran accused of murder has died
Troubled Iraq vet charged with murder dies
Military Whistleblower Ends Up Dead
A Focus on Violence by Returning G.I.’s
The Hell of War Comes Home: Newspaper Series Documents Murder, Suicide, Kidnappings by Iraq Vets
John Needham, Iraq Veteran, Accuses Army Of War Crimes
New Photos Released of Iraq Atrocity, With Documents and Video
Are they both victims? Veteran Suffering Traumatic Brain Injury Beats Girlfriend to Death, Kills Himself
Army Ranger John Needham Exposes Possible American War Crimes in Iraq, and is Punished For it
Project Censored Recommends: Video “On the Dark Side in Al Doura, A Soldier in the Shadows” Addresses Soldier’s War Crimes Allegations & Iraq Atrocity Photos
On the Dark Side in Al Doura – A Soldier in the Shadows
“48 Hours” preview: Private Needham’s war

MILITARY JUSTICE FOR ALL

No affiliation with the Department of Defense or any of the Armed Forces.

Monthly Archives: September 2008