Last year more military personnel committed suicide than were killed in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to the Department of Defense, 455 troops died in hostile action, and at least 468 active duty and reserve troops died in suspected suicides. It’s a growing problem the armed services have been trying to counter for years. So what does the Pentagon, families and all of us have to do, to stop it from happening? VETS Chief of Staff Amit Magdieli discusses. -RT
14 staggering stats about the invisible wounds of Iraq and Afghanistan:
Manley Hot Springs, Alaska is a remote mountain hide-a-way known for simplicity and solitude. But, that innocent existence is shattered when a newcomer goes on rampage and guns down residents one by one, ultimately taking out one tenth of the town. -Frozen Carnage, Ice Cold Killers (S1,E5)
This week we focus on a heinous & horrific crime as well as the killing spree committed by a wandering “mountain man”. Get ready for scary mysteries Twisted Two’s. -Michael Silka, Scary Mysteries Podcast (July 4, 2018)
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.
Christopher MacCallum was discovered dead at the bottom of a cliff in Oregon on November 20, 2012. Christopher was reported missing by his wife Patricia and her step-sister after disappearing while they were camping at the Applegate River campsite. Investigators could find no one who had motive to harm Christopher so they started digging into his relationship with Patricia. Christopher and Patricia met in 2008. Patricia joined the Army in January 2011 and five months later in December 2011, she was medically discharged. She moved back to Oregon with the children and left Christopher behind; he was waiting until the lease on their San Antonio, Texas apartment was up. It turns out they separated and reconciled a couple times throughout the course of their relationship. Christopher moved back in with Patricia again in September 2012 and she immediately began plotting his murder with her step-sister. Christopher was dead the next month. From all accounts, Christopher was a good man who loved his children and simply wanted to be with them.
Eventually Patricia MacCallum admitted to shooting Christopher multiple times while he lay asleep in his tent. Patricia’s step-sister Amber Lubbers admitted to assisting with the cover-up of the crime. Together they dumped his body off a cliff and told police that he had gone missing. Prosecutors revealed that the motive for the crime was the custody of the children, social security benefits, and life insurance. Patricia admitted to intentionally getting her husband drunk so that once he passed out, she could kill him when he was most defenseless. Christopher’s father Mike MacCallum shared that he believes that Christopher wanted to save the marriage to prevent the kids from going through a divorce and this desire turned out to be a fatal error. Patricia MacCallum was found guilty and sentenced to 50 years in prison. Amber Lubbers was charged as an accessory after the fact, found guilty, and sentenced to 16 months in prison. She served about half her sentence and was released early because of good behavior.
Hard-working fast food manager Missy Berry is found dead in an idling car at a deserted intersection. Kenda discovers suspects from Missy’s past who may have wanted her dead. But a surprise twist in the investigation leads him into uncharted territory. -Drive Thru Murder, Homicide Hunter (S2,E6)
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.
Housewife Elsie Jennes is found dead in the basement of her burning home. Lt Joe Kenda has no leads until Elsie’s son, William, turns up in a police station over 50 miles away, equipped with a suitcase, a pet yellow labrador, and a bizarre story to tell. -The Spy Who Killed Me, Homicide Hunter (S2, E4)
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.
Thomas J. Boyle, Jr. died in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan on June 19, 2012.
“Obviously, suspicions are not proof of wrong doing, but Pauline Boyle has discovered enough evidence to warrant an all-out independent investigation. The problem is that asking the Army to investigate itself is asking the Fox to guard the hen house. The result will always be questionable. The Boyle family does have hard facts that clearly indicates there was an overt attempt to cover-up the circumstances of Thomas J. Boyle’s death.
Was there a military drug cartel that no one wanted to talk about, or was it a conspiracy of some of the soldiers on base to stop the change of command and keep the lieutenant colonel in command for as long as possible.”
Photo: “Lance Cpl. Hollye K. Meeks (left) searches Cpl. Roxanne Cox, after receiving a class on the proper procedures from members of a police transition team. Eight female Marines from different units within 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing volunteered for the Lioness Program to conduct security searches of women crossing into Iraq. Meeks is a motor transport vehicle operator, Marine Wing Support Squadron 374, Marine Wing Support Group 37 (Reinforced), 3rd MAW, and a Houston, Texas native. Cox is a maintenance management specialist, with Marine Aircraft Group 16 (Reinforced), 3rd MAW, and a Cincinnati native.” (22 Aug 2006)
Obituary: Marine Corps Lance Corporal Hollye Meeks, 25, was born July 4, 1986 in Richmond to Randy and Becky (Kunz) Meeks. She passed away June 1, 2012 in Houston. She graduated from B.F. Terry High School and was an accomplished basketball player. She also pole vaulted and ran track. Upon graduation she enlisted in the USMC. She spent time in 29 Palms, CA. and proudly served her country in Syria and Iraq. Hollye is survived by her parents, Randy and Becky; aunts and uncles, Carol and Russell Clayton, Bob and Margaret Kunz, Linda and Duane Segers and Danny and Margie Meeks; birth father, William Brown; 4 half sisters and one half brother; and numerous cousins; Godparents, Marvin “Bud” and Shirley Nordt; and a multitude of good friends; and her dog “Boss”.
ID Go: Kelley Branam lives in Miami’s most exclusive neighborhood. Guillermo Zarabozo lives in its grittiest.It’s improbable that their paths would ever cross.But, in less than 24 hours, their lives will intersect at sea in a fatal encounter. -Fatal Voyage, Fatal Encounters (S1,E4)
Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch all of the 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. Download the ID Go app and binge away. 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 $2.99 a month. It’s a compilation of older seasons but totally worth the cost if you are a true crime addict.
Army veteran Steven Russell, Jr. was convicted of the capital murder of his girlfriend Joy Owen on January 27, 2012. Russell was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors say Russell killed Joy because she tried to leave him. In the middle of the night on November 3, 2009, Russell cocked his gun and fired it four times at Owen with no apparent provocation. The North Little Rock Police Department found Joy Owen’s body around 4:30 a.m. In the course of the homicide investigation, police learned that Russell had received 5-years probation in Clark County, Arkansas for the second-degree domestic battery of another girlfriend in 2008. According to reports, the U.S. Army said Russell was a mechanic stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma and he enlisted in the Army in 2001; the year he left the Army was not available.
Steven Russell’s defense team admitted he killed Owen but blamed the shooting on post-traumatic stress disorder brought on by his war service in Iraq in 2003. The attorneys appealed the decision claiming he “had the dubious task of recovering bodies and equipment after they had come in contact with improvised explosive devices.” But the state Supreme Court disagreed with the defense saying the judge was confronted with conflicting forensic evaluations. While two mental health professionals “found that Russell lacked capacity as a result of mental disease or defect to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law or to appreciate the criminality of his conduct, the court also had before it (another doctor’s) opinion to the contrary.” The Supreme Court upheld a Pulaski County jury’s 2012 conviction of capital murder.
“You would have to believe [Owen] did something that reminded him of his Iraqi war experience … and I can’t make that jump. To me, it was too convenient, and there was too much purposeful action.” –Dr. Brad Diner, psychologist
Robert Hansen was a mild-mannered family man with a passion for hunting. A master at his trade, Hansen sought a more challenging prey – his fellow human. Hansen kidnapped women, set them loose in the Alaskan wilderness, and hunted them down for sport. -Hunting Humans, Ice Cold Killers (S1,E1)
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.
