The U.S. military is grappling with a disturbing trend—soldiers are killing themselves at an alarming rate. So far this year, an average of one soldier a day is committing suicide. The suicide rate is outpacing the number of soldiers killed in Afghanistan this year by some 50-percent. -Fox 31 Denver
DENVER – The U.S. military is grappling with a disturbing trend—soldiers are killing themselves at an alarming rate. So far this year, an average of one soldier a day is committing suicide.
The suicide rate is outpacing the number of soldiers killed in Afghanistan this year by some 50-percent. And there have been high-profile cases here in Colorado.
It’s gotten so bad, that the defense department has even set up a suicide prevention office. Soldiers we talk to say the reasons for their life-threatening depression are many.
Air Force SrA Clinton Reeves went missing on April 19, 2012 and was later found dead on the side of the road on May 8, 2012 by Anchorage police. Air Force A1C James Thomas plead guilty to the murder of Clinton Reeves and was sentenced to 32 years in prison. Thomas used a hammer and bludgeoned Clinton Reeves to death. They were both stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER) in Alaska.
Myah Bilton-Smith is a USAF veteran who was sexually assaulted twice in 2012 at Goodfellow Air Force Base in Texas. She reported the attacks to her Command but according to reports the case is still under investigation by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) and no meaningful legal action has been taken as of yet. After the second attack, she requested an expedited transfer (a military sexual assault policy passed in December 2011) but it was denied. Instead she was forced to work alongside her attackers in a training environment where you do not have freedom of movement. She experienced retaliation from her peers and leaders, punishment for minor infractions, and was eventually forced out of the military. She was finally granted an expedited transfer to Joint Base Lewis McChord, one of the most problematic bases in the country.
In 2000, Michelle Theer was an Air Force wife in the military town of Fayetteville until a fatal shooting made her a widow. The investigation into her husband’s death led police to the door of an Army Ranger – taking orders from very unlikely accomplices. -Fayetteville, Sins and Secrets (S2,E3)
Sexy psychologist and doting Air Force wife Michelle begins a swinging affair with Army Sgt. Diamond while her husband, Captain Marty Theer, is away. But all’s fair in love and war, and Marty’s return will remind them that love is a battlefield. -Sergeant Swinger, Scorned: Love Kills (S4,E1)
Oxygen:
A frantic, distraught woman runs into a video rental store screaming that her husband has been shot. -Michelle Theer & John Diamond, Killer Couples
Killer Couples: S8 E5 Preview – Michelle Theer and John Diamond | Oxygen
Killer Couples: S8 E5 After the Verdict – Michelle Theer and John Diamond | Oxygen
Psychologist Debbie Layton-Tholl talks about her experience meeting with Michelle Theer. -Michelle Theer & John Diamond, Killer Couples
A lonely military wife and psychologist go searching for sex on the Internet with deadly results. -Michelle Theer & John Diamond, Killer Couples (S8,E5)
Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch Investigation Discovery programming at your convenience. And for those who do not have cable, you can watch “unlocked” episodes on the ID Go app including the latest premieres. For those who prefer commercial free programming during your binge session, Prime Video has an ID channel: ‘True Crime Files by Investigation Discovery” available for $3.99 a month. It’s a compilation of older seasons but totally worth the cost if you are a true crime addict. Download the ID Go app or purchase ID True Crime Files & binge away.
Court documents show triple murder suspect, Roy Murry, an Iraq war veteran, suffered from post traumatic stress disorder, and now local veterans coping with PTSD are speaking out, wanting to clear the air that, just because you have it, it does not make you a threat to the community. -KXLY 4
“A man opens fire in a national park, killing a ranger who was attempting to stop him after he blew through a vehicle checkpoint. A second man is suspected in the stabbing deaths of four homeless men in Southern California.
Both men, U.S. military veterans, served in Iraq — and both, according to authorities and those who knew them, returned home changed men after their combat service.”
On January 13, 2012, Shannon O’Roark of Texas drove 250 miles to Missouri to kill her estranged husband’s mistress fourty-six year old Dr. Irina Puscariu. Shannon O’Roark Griffin was an aeronautical engineer who worked for NASA training astronauts until she experienced a seizure that put her on definite sick leave. Shannon’s husband was a Colonel in the Air Force who decided he wasn’t ready to retire. Shannon and Col. Roscoe Griffin had been living separately for quite some time and discussed divorce but it appeared Shannon did not want a divorce after twenty years of marriage. Meanwhile, Col. Griffin lost a fellow service member to suicide and it devastated him.
Col. Griffin began seeing Dr. Irina Puscariu, a Veterans Affairs psychiatrist, for help. The professional relationship evolved into a romantic relationship, which is strictly forbidden in the world of psychiatry. Dr. Puscariu put her own career at risk when she chose to date Col. Griffin. Shannon found out thru social media that her husband was seeing Dr. Puscariu when he posted a picture with Irina on Facebook. Col. Griffin also changed his relationship status to “it’s complicated” which to Shannon was rejection, and rejection was the trigger. Col. Roscoe Griffin had no idea what was in store for him when someone is dumped and dangerous.
Shannon may have felt like the post meant the last twenty years were horrible and now I am going to replace you. Shannon asked Col. Griffin to go to a counseling appointment with her one last time in an effort to save the relationship. It would be here she would learn her husband of twenty years loved Dr. Puscariu and wanted to continue to see her. After this counseling session is when Shannon decided to go to Missouri and kill Dr. Puscariu. She wanted to obliterate Dr. Puscariu from her life so the problem would go away. She drove 250 miles to Irina’ home in Missouri and shot and killed her four times in front of her own mother, the last shot was to her face.
Shannon then fled the scene back to Texas and was held in custody until she could be extradited back to Missouri for a murder charge. Shannon plead guilty to second degree murder to avoid a trial. She was sentenced to twenty years for second degree murder and twenty years for armed criminal action. Investigators noted that before this incident Shannon had zero criminal history or violent behavior, she didn’t even have a speeding ticket. But when she got rejected by her husband Col. Roscoe Griffin, it would be jealousy and revenge that would drive her to murder the woman who stole her life.
A woman charged in the slaying of a Gladstone psychiatrist will be coming back to Missouri to face first-degree murder charges. -KMBC 9 (January 17, 2012)
Shannon O’Roark-Griffin, charged in the slaying of a Gladstone doctor, returns to Missouri for the first time since her arrest last week. -KMBC 9 (January 19, 2012)
A former NASA training specialist from Texas allegedly drove to Missouri and gunned down her husbandâs mistress after he admitted in therapy that he was not willing to give up the affair. -HLN (December 3, 2012)
Investigation Discovery:
When their love life goes sour these Deadly Women take lethal revenge. They are “Dumped and Dangerous.” -Dumped and Dangerous, Deadly Women (S11,E13)
Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch Investigation Discovery programming at your convenience. And for those who do not have cable, you can watch “unlocked” episodes on the ID Go app including the latest premieres. For those who prefer commercial free programming during your binge session, Prime Video has an ID channel: ‘True Crime Files by Investigation Discovery” available for $3.99 a month. It’s a compilation of older seasons but totally worth the cost if you are a true crime addict. Download the ID Go app or purchase ID True Crime Files & binge away.
The family of slain Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach is hailing recent provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act that profoundly change the way the Department of Defense will handle sexual assault charges.
The Defense STRONG Act has cleared both the House and the Senate and is awaiting President Barack Obama’s signature. Provisions include access to legal counsel for victims and the right to request a base transfer.
Lauterbach’s mother, Mary Lauterbach of Vandalia, said the new law would have made the difference in the case of her daughter, who was denied a base transfer after accusing fellow Marine Cesar Laurean of sexual assault. “Maria would be alive today if the base transfer had been available to her,” she said.
Turner concurred, “In civilian life you have complete control of your movements, and if you’re in an unsafe situation you can remove yourself. In military life, the victim needs permission to take even basic self-preservation actions.”
In the News:
New provisions handed down from the Department of Defense are giving sexual assault victims in the military rights they never had before. It’s all thanks to the fight from Congressman Mike Turner and a local mother Mary Lauterbach. The provisions make certain that a victim has legal counsel throughout the whole process so they understand what their legal rights are and how to protect themselves. The provisions also remove the accused from the situation and not the victim. -WKEF/WRGT (August 15, 2013)
A major hurdle cleared for sexual assault victims in the military. Congress passed a bill that would give victims rights and protection they never had before. The push came after the tragic murder of local marine Maria Lauterbach and her unborn son. Congress approved a bill that would give military sexual assault victims legal counsel and criminalize retaliation against any victim. “If Maria had had this, she would be alive today, it’s very important.” The bill now heads to President Barack Obama for his signature. -WKEF/WRGT (December 20, 2013)
Law protecting military victims of sexual assault discussed. -WDTN-TV (May 1, 2018)
Key changes in military policy
By executive order, communication between victims and victim advocates will now be privileged. Previously conversations between victim and victim advocates can be subpoenaed in court, making victims reluctant to come forward. Pending legislation HR 1540, passed by both the House and Senate, provides for:
Legal assistance for victims of sexual assault. Previously, only defendants in the military have been guaranteed access to a lawyer.
Stricter training guidelines and greater oversight for Sexual Assault Response Coordinators and Sexual Assault Victim Advocates.
Retention of sexual assault records with lifetime access for service members.
The victim’s right to a base transfer or unit transfer. Under the new law, these requests will be expedited, with decisions being made within 72 hours and the bias should be in favor of the victim.
Airman First Class Kelsey Anderson was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam on June 9, 2011. According to media reports, she was found in a locked stall in a second-floor women’s bathroom inside an aircraft maintenance hangar at the base. The military investigation indicated that a few months after Kelsey arrived at Guam, she was stripped of her service revolver over mental health concerns. Although Kelsey’s weapons privileges had been restored about a month prior to her death. The reports stated that Kelsey may have been unhappy after trying and failing to be transferred from Guam or released from military service. Kelsey’s parents had to file a lawsuit in U.S. District Court to get the Air Force to turn over its investigation records. They simply wanted answers for their daughter’s tragic and unexpected, untimely death yet the Air Force concealed the details. Chris and Adelia Sue Anderson received the mostly redacted investigation reports almost two years after their daughter’s death. The final court settlement with the Air Force in September 2013 was for the cost of the attorney they had to hire in their quest to get the information they were entitled to have. It’s unfortunate that this family had to wait two years for answers and even more unfortunate that they were forced to go to court during one of the most difficult times of their life.
What could have been done to prevent this? What kind of mental health services were offered to Kelsey? Why did Kelsey want to leave Guam and/or get out of the military? Why was she upset after finding out that she was not able to transfer or get out of the military? What were the extenuating circumstances that made Kelsey feel like she had no options other then suicide? Is this a suicide? After so many families have come forward with concerns that their loved one was murdered despite a ruling of suicide, do we know for sure that this was a suicide? It happened in Guam. There is absolutely no one to hold the Air Force accountable in that setting. There is no way to ensure that the Air Force investigated the scene as both a potential homicide or suicide. It’s as simple as what the Air Force says happens is what happened. Every government entity should have a mechanism by which they are held accountable. Where does a grieving parent turn to when they do not agree with the military investigator’s or medical examiner’s findings? Who holds the individual branches or Department of Defense accountable? The only body of people that can hold the military industrial complex accountable is the US Congress and even they struggle. Time and time again we hear accounts from service members and families that contacting their congressional Representative or Senator did not help. Some help, some don’t, and some never call you back. Every level of government should have accountability of some kind because this country was founded on the principles of checks and balances in our system.
“Enlisting U.S. Sen. Jim Risch‘s office for help still didn’t yield results.” -Chris & Adelia Sue Anderson
In an interview the Andersons’ lawyer emphasized that the prolonged wait and anxiety of suing the federal government in a last-ditch effort for information intensified the couple’s pain after the loss of their daughter. He empathized as a father of three and shared that he could not imagine losing a child thousands of miles away and not knowing what happened to her. No parent should have to wait nearly two years before the government decides to produce the information they deserve to have.
The grieving parents of a 19-year-old Idaho woman who died serving her country thousands of miles from home say the U.S. Air Force won’t give them information about the circumstances of her death. -NewsMedia24
Air Force veteran Joshua Hilberling, 23, fell to his death from a 25th story window during an argument with his wife Amber on June 7, 2011 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Amber was arrested and charged with murder after admitting to family on police video that she pushed and killed Josh. A couple week’s earlier, Joshua had filed for a protection from abuse order after a domestic violence incident and as evidenced by his packed bags, it appeared that he was leaving the couple’s shared residence the day that he died. Amber was charged with first degree murder but found guilty of second degree murder; she was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison. Dateline NBC covered the case and the public learned that Amber’s family believe she was wrongly convicted. As a result, Amber’s defense attorney filed an appeal but it was denied. On October 24, 2016, prison officials announced that Amber Hilberling died by suicide (hanging) in her cell. The estate of Amber Hilberling filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Oklahoma Department of Corrections claiming they didn’t do enough to prevent the suicide, however in 2019 that lawsuit was dropped. In an interview with Corey Taylor, Amber’s mother said her daughter was innocent, Josh and Amber were co-combative and this was a terrible accident, and she believes her daughter was murdered in prison.
Joshua and Amber Hilberling (Photo: Reality Tidbit)
In the News:
Amber Hilberling, the 19-year-old accused of pushing her husband out of a 25th story window, appeared in court Wednesday for a preliminary hearing. -KJRH -TV | Channel 2 (September 7, 2011)
Court documents show Hilberling tested positive for marijuana Dec. 22 and Dec. 28 after being released from jail weeks earlier. -KJRH -TV | Channel 2 (January 7, 2012)
A young pregnant newlywed is accused of pushing her husband out the window of their 25th floor condo, killing him. -HLN (August 22, 2012)
Hilberling court records released 5pm. -KJRH -TV | Channel 2 (April 12, 2013)
The judge in the Amber Hilberling murder trial has released dozens of pictures and video of Amber Hilberling in a police interview room. Amber Hilberling was found guilty of 2nd degree murder on March 18th. -KRMGTulsa (April 12, 2013)
The Oklahoma Department of Corrections is investigating after they found Amber Hilberling dead in her prison cell this morning. -KJRH -TV | Channel 2 (October 25, 2016)
The estate of Amber Hilberling is dropping its lawsuit against the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. -News On 6/KOTV (April 17, 2019)
Dr. Phil:
Parents of Amber Hilberling, who was recently found dead in her prison cell, recall what they claim was a struggle to get details about their daughter’s death. -Dr. Phil (November 14, 2016)
The mom of Amber Hilberling, who was recently found dead in her prison cell, describes her daughter’s demeanor in the days leading up to her death. -Dr. Phil (November 14, 2016)
Up Close with Corey Taylor:
This interview is with Rhonda Whitlock Amber Hilberling’s mother. In this video Rhonda exposes what she believe happened to her daughter even up to her death in prison. -Corey D Taylor (February 3, 2018)
MILITARY JUSTICE FOR ALL 
