Joseph Weber IV, US Army Veteran (photo credit: Missing Veterans)
Disabled Army veteran Joseph Weber IV, 28, disappeared near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California on November 24, 2014. Joseph is an Iraq war veteran who struggled with both Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). If you have any information, please contact the Sunnyvale Police Department at (408) 730-7100.
In November 2014, Army soldier Montrell Mayo was convicted at an Army courts martial and found guilty of the pre-meditated murder of Army soldier Kimberly Walker. Kimberly was his girlfriend and stationed at Fort Riley in Kansas. She was visiting Montrell in Colorado because he was stationed at Fort Carson. Kimberly was found dead at a Colorado Springs hotel on February 14, 2013. Authorities found her body tucked into bed and covered in flower petals. After an investigation, Mayo was charged with Kimberly’s murder but during that time frame he fled to Greenville, North Carolina where he had family. In the meantime, Mayo admitted to his Army supervisor that he may have killed Kimberly and shortly after turned himself into North Carolina police. Mayo was arrested and extradited back to Colorado to face a murder charge for Kimberly’s death. At trial, the defense argued that Mayo hit and strangled Kimberly after an argument in the heat of passion. Mayo claimed Kimberly threatened his military career during an argument and he hit her with a glass in response, then unraveled. An autopsy found blunt force trauma, strangulation, and evidence that Kimberly was smothered to death. Therefore the prosecution argued that Mayo deliberately killed Kimberly when he smothered her to death with a pillow after hitting and strangling her. A panel of five military officers sentenced Montrell Mayo to life in prison without parole.
Catherine Walker [photo: Star-Advertiser]In December 2015, Ailsa Jackson admitted in federal court to stabbing the wife of an Army medic she was having an affair with. Catherine Walker was murdered in her home on the Aliamanu Military Reservation in Hawaii on November 14, 2014. As part of a plea agreement, Jackson is expected to be sentenced to 30 to 33 years in prison in exchange for testifying against Sgt. Michael Walker. Walker is accused of plotting to murder his wife for the life insurance. Meanwhile, he was court martialed by the Army and is serving two years for possessing child pornography and soliciting payment for sex. Walker faced a January 2017 murder trial in civilian court but the trial was delayed because a police interrogation video was thrown out by the judge. In September 2019, Sgt. Michael Walker pleaded guilty to second degree murder. Walker is expected receive a sentence between 24-30 years in prison in February 2020.
In the News:
Michael Walker, 36, was also indicted for a second charge of conspiring to kill his wife. -KHON2 News (November 4, 2015)
Walker was charged with first-degree murder, which carries a punishment of life in prison without the possibility of being released. But in the agreement, Walker will be pleading guilty to aiding and abetting to second-degree murder, meaning he could someday be set free. -KHON2 News (September 23, 2019)
Military Spouse Catherine Walker and Sg. Michael Walker, U.S. Army
US Army Veteran Tomas Young (photo by Danny Clinch)
“I write this letter on behalf of those veterans whose trauma and self-revulsion for what they have witnessed, endured and done in Iraq have led to suicide and on behalf of the active-duty soldiers and Marines who commit, on average, a suicide a day. I write this letter on behalf of the some 1 million Iraqi dead and on behalf of the countless Iraqi wounded. I write this letter on behalf of us all — the human detritus your war has left behind, those who will spend their lives in unending pain and grief.” -Tomas Young, Disabled Army Veteran
Read the rest of The Last Letter to Bush and Cheney here.
Tomas Young, who joined the Army in the days after 9/11, was deployed to Iraq where he was shot and paralyzed just five days into his tour of duty. He spent ten years battling his injuries and speaking out against war and injustice before his death on the eve of Veterans’ Day, 2014. “Tomas told me that one of the reasons he joined the Army was to obtain GI Bill funding so he could go to college,” said [Mark] Wilkerson (author of Tomas Young’s War). “He wanted to study creative writing or journalism. After his passing, we felt a scholarship would be a perfect way to honor his legacy.” –Pearl Jam
Body of War, a film by Ellen Spiro and Phil Donahue. It is an intimate and transformational feature documentary about the true face of war today. -The Real News
“An Army veteran vanishes before her college graduation. A massive search turns up nothing, but detectives do find a clue: a cryptic 911 call that helps uncover the truth and exposes a twisted story of unrequited love.” –Mystery in Orange County, Dateline: Secrets Uncovered, Oxygen
Navy Commander Christopher Kalafut, 49, of Oceanside, California died of a non-combat related incident on October 24, 2014 at Al Udeid Air Base in Doha, Qatar. He was found dead in his room. Cmdr. Kalafut was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom on behalf of the Naval Amphibious Liaison Element, Combined Forces Air Component Center at U.S. Central Command. Cmdr. Kalafut graduated from the Merchant Marine Academy in 1987 and entered active duty as an E-2C Hawkeye pilot. He spent some time on the USS Abraham Lincoln and spent six years in the service before leaving and entering the Navy Reserve. He had a civilian job as a pilot for Delta in Atlanta, Georgia. At the time of the DoD press release, the incident was under investigation. The official cause of death is unknown.
He flew with the reserves less often in recent years. The July deployment, a non-flying position, was seen as a final step before retirement. –Steve Kalafut (father)
Marine Lance Cpl. Sean Neal, 19, of Riverside, California died from a non-combat related incident on October 23, 2014 in Baghdad, Iraq. Lance Cpl. Neal was supporting Operation Inherent Resolve on behalf of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force – Crisis Response – Central Command, whose headquarters element deploys from Camp Pendleton, California. At the time of the DoD press release, the incident was under investigation. The official cause of death is unknown.
When a mother is killed, Lt Joe Kenda wonders if it’s a robbery gone wrong, until a slew of hateful messages surface. Then, patrols discover a body on a roadway after an evident hit-and-run, but the victim’s true cause of death turns the case on its head. -#1 Suspect, Homicide Hunter (S4,E9)
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.
When some brides vowed to love and honor their husbands, they lied. These Deadly Women made a mockery of marital commitment. They only promised “To Have and To Kill”. -To Have and To Kill, Deadly Women (S8, E14)
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.
Skylar Nemetz, US Army, and his wife Danielle Nemetz
48 Hours:
All new: A young wife shot dead — her soldier husband pulled the trigger. Was it an accident or murder? -48 Hours
A young wife shot dead — her soldier husband pulled the trigger. Was it an accident or was it murder?
On Oct. 16, 2014, Danielle Nemetz, 19, was shot and killed by her husband Skylar Nemetz, 20, in their Lakewood, Wash., apartment. Neighbors placed two 911 calls after hearing a gunshot. Skylar was charged with murder, but his defense says it was an accident and that these 911 calls show a distraught and panicked husband, not a cold-blooded killer. -48 Hours
On Oct. 16 2014, Army soldier Skylar Nemetz was taken into custody after he shot and killed his wife, Danielle. He was recorded on camera just minutes after the shooting. Do his statements sound like the words of a distraught husband who accidentally shot his wife or do they sound like the words of a cold-blooded killer? -48 Hours
Skylar Nemetz is on trial for the shooting death of his wife, Danielle. Prosecutors accuse Skylar of killing Danielle in a jealous rage, but Skylar says it was a tragic accident. During jury deliberations, “48 Hours” correspondent Erin Moriarty talks with Skylar as he waits to hear their verdict. -48 Hours
Army soldier Skylar Nemetz is on trial for the shooting death of his wife Danielle. He says it was an accident; prosecutors say it was murder. Skylar’s mother, Danette Heller, says she spent her life savings to pay for his defense. During jury deliberations, Skylar spoke with “48 Hours”‘ Erin Moriarty about his mother’s sacrifice. -48 Hours
In the News:
When a soldier claims he shot his young wife by accident, his mother gives up everything to support him. A jury must decide whether it was an accident, or an act of rage. -CBS This Morning
A young soldier is charged with murdering his wife in cold blood. He says it was an accident and can explain how it happened. Will the jury beieve him? -CBS Evening News
48 Hours: The Soldier’s Wife -CBS Miami
Skylar Nemetz stood trial in his wife’s fatal shooting. After seven days of deliberation, a jury finds Nemetz guilty of manslaughter, putting him away for slightly over a decade. -Crime Watch Daily
Skylar Nemetz has admitted to shooting his wife to death but he claims it was all an accident. The stunning new development to his story. -Crime Watch Daily
Skylar’s actions speak louder than his words. “The strongest evidence, believe it or not, is what he does immediately after the fact.” Skylar didn’t call 911, a neighbor did. And there wasn’t a single drop of Danielle’s blood on him, a clear sign that he didn’t try to save or even comfort her says Deputy prosecuting attorney Jared Ausserer. “He doesn’t render aid. He never checks on his wife. If it was an accident, he’s going to drop the weapon immediately, run over, grab her, assess her. He doesn’t do that.” He [Skylar’s defense attorney] knows the challenge will be convincing 12 jurors that a highly skilled soldier with years of weapon’s training could make such a fatal mistake. Juror and retired Army soldier: “Never point the weapon in the direction of anybody and pull the trigger like that believing that it’s unloaded.” -48 Hours
MILITARY JUSTICE FOR ALL 