22. Kibler stated that Plunkett was paying $400.00 a month for his car and that we were helping him out financially. This is not true, his car was paid for, we sent him money 1 month, when the Army got his pay all screwed up because they got him mixed up with someone else. Besides, if he did have a car payment, it has nothing to do with the investigation. (page 19)

23. Shawn had told us the week before he was killed, that an officer had been giving him a hard time, and he didn't know why.

24. Shawn was very familiar with 45's as we had one like it. He used it many times before entering the Army. He also would have known when it chambered. 25. There were two sets of death certificates issued.

26. On 2-9-95 I received a letter from Robert Dickerson Dept. of Army Personnel and Logistics stating there had been no line of duty investigation into his death. I have a letter dated 4-12-84 from R.G. Ament, Col. stating there is a line of duty investigation.

27. Scott Kibler was interviewed by CID Special Agent Corman (or Gorman), Kibler was suspected of negligent homicide/dereliction in performance of duty. (page 14)

In conclusion, since the gun was held to his head at close range (page 21), his fingerprints were not on the gun, there were no powder burns on his hands, along with the other items above it is quite apparent he did not shoot himself.

It also appears that from Item #9 and the medical examiner report of 10-19-83 it was concluded as an accident before there was an investigation.

PREPARED STATEMENT BY RUTH A. PRESNELL, MOTHER OF SSGT BRETT E.

PRESNELL, USAF

Following is a summary of what I feel to be pertinent information regarding the death of my son, S/Sgt. Brett E. Presnell.

1. On December 29, 1992 at 2:36 a.m. (Japan time) my son called me and we spoke 23 minutes, see bill and letter attached regarding our conversation. As a mother I would have detected any suicidal tendencies in my son's conversation and there were none.

2. On December 29, 1992 at 3:07 a.m. (USA time) Maj. Paul Keresztes, Air Force ROTC Detachment [information redacted and retained in committee files] came to my home with Brazil Police Officer, Linda Airhart, and read a cover letter from Brig. Gen. Michael D. McGinty, Commander Air Force Military Personnel Center (see attached letter). That cover letter states that my son died by self-inflicted hanging and was found hanging outside Club Galaxy. It was later documented that he was found hanging outside the Blue Bird Club at Kinville. It was stated the time of death was 0500 a.m. on December 29, 1992, by a Japanese national.

3. USNI report listed cause of death as hanging, and then revised it stating cause of death "suicide in the line of duty". (Dated 1-27-93) Toxicology reading.

4. Corrected final report of casualty listed cause of death as self-inflected hanging dated 3-22-93.

5. When autopsy report was returned stating toxicology was unsuitable for testing. Lab did not receive specimens for 2 months. (February 23, 1993) Determination made under the influence of alcohol but no toxicology test done because it was unsuitable for testing. One witness stated deceased was drinking coffee and a brown liquid was found in deceased's stomach.

6. Investigation talks about identification was made from dependent's card and reservist card in wallet, yet pictures of items on his person revealed no wallet and no dog tags. Where are these things?

7. On December 21, 1992, a card was mailed to me by Brett and his girlfriend stating he was coming home but not Letecia because of "whats going on". What was going on? I received this card (December 29, 1992) morning after his death.

8.1 made attempt after attempt to obtain information since I was convinced my son did not commit suicide. Remember, I had talked to my son 2 hours before his death for 23 minutes. Then in January 1994, I received a letter from an Air Force locator service in Texas from a mother of a Navy serviceman who was also found hanging 3 weeks after my son's death. Her son had written them a letter describing my son's death and that it was not a suicide. In that letter he states this makes 3 and he had only been there since October 1992. This young man's name is HC3 Scott Beimdiek. His mother's name is Jan Beimdiek, of Moorhead, Minnesota.

Again I want to thank you for the subcommittee meetings you held on behalf of our loved ones and taking time to help us make sure that other family's may never have to go through this as we have.

[Additional information is retained in committee files.]

PREPARED STATEMENT BY WAYNE F. AND NANCY QUICK, PARENTS OF CPT WAYNE F. QUICK, JR., USA

To The Honorable Chairperson and Committee Members.

Mothers and fathers sending their sons and daughters to defend our country expect that they could get killed in combat but never murdered in peace time.

We feel very strongly that the government needs to find a better way to investigate all military personnel deaths. For the military to be ALL VOLUNTEER, there are far too many “SUICIDES”! ARE THESE ALL “SUICIDES”? Something needs to be done NOW to make changes. Our military system as it is now is a SLAP in the face of the AMERICAN PEOPLE!!

In accordance with: Public Law 103-160 and in the name of our son Capt. Wayne Farrell Quick Jr., [information redacted and retained in committee files] United States Army, deceased. We, Wayne Farrell Quick and Nancy Scott Quick are requesting your review and a new investigation into his death by some Agency other than the military.

Previous investigation work was done by the following, Columbus Police Department, Columbus Ga., Case Number 93000913. United States Army Criminal Investigation Command, (USACIDC)-Fort Benning Ga.; Fort Campbell Ky.; Fort McPhersion Ga.; Camp Casey Korea; Toii Station Okinawa; Department of Defense Inspector Generals Office Special Investigators.

Cobb County Police Department, Marietta Ga., Case Number 93003505. The USACIDC provided investigative assistance to the Columbus Police and the Cobb County Police that included interviewing military associates of our son and providing some records.

No one has taken the time to look at Capt. Wayne Farrell Quick's whole very impressive military record. All efficiency reports are out standing and above average. His awards and decorations are exceptional for only 10 years of service, they include, one Meritorious Service Medal, three Army Commendation Medals Army Commendation Medal for Valor in Combat, one Good Conduct Medal, one Bronze Star Medal, two Overseas Medals, The Army Achievement Medal. His awards inIclude The Combat Infantryman's Badge, Senior Parachutist Badge, Parachute Riggers Badge, Air Assault Badge and Campaign Ribbons for his service in Operation Desert Storm.

Captain Quick was a student at the United States Army Infantry Officers Advanced Course at Fort Benning Ga. He did not attend class on January 5, 1993 due to illness, but had contact with several of his class mates. When he did not show up for class on January 6, 1993, his Company Commander became worried about him. He and Captain Quick had known and worked together for 3 years. On January 10, 1993 he reported Capt. Quick as a missing person to the Columbus Police Department when he could not be located by anyone.

The following paragraphs contain things that we, as Capt. Quick's parents have been able to determine. All of these things should have sent up a red flag for investigators! They were not followed up to the fullest, if at all! WHY? No one can explain this to us in a satisfactory manner.

We have developed a time line from official documents, statements and telephone records.

05 0930 JAN 1993

Cpt Quick missed training, claimed to be ill when called by Lt. Donion.

05 1500 JAN 1993

Cpt Quick went to Capt. LeRoy's quarters to pick up the assignment for the next day.

05 1600 JAN 1993

Cpt Quick left Capt. LeRoy's after receiving instructions for the next days assignment. Capt. LeRoy and his wife stated that Capt. Quick appeared to be sick.

05 1730 JAN 1993

Chrie Jordan Fincher claims to have spoken to Capt. Quick at this time via telephone, she said that he had left his calling card at the Club. None were found at his apartment or in his vehicle. She also said that said he would see her at the Club later that night.

05 2000 JAN 1993

Capt. Mike Nickles spoke to Capt. Quick about being in class the next day. Capt. Quick stated his intentions of being in class the next day. This conversation lasted until 2020 hrs.

05 2230 JAN 1993

Capt. Quick's Upstairs neighbor Mrs. Elena Glavis heard someone talking loud in the parking lot. She looked out and saw Capt. Quick talking loud to two military looking men. Capt. Quick was usually a soft spoken man. One man was where she could see him as clearly as the street light would allow. She thought that the men returned to a low slung car that looked like a sports car. She said that Capt. Quick was being very loud, going around opening and closing his car doors as if locking them. (Note this is a 1990 GMC Suburban and has automatic door locks.) Her roommate said that he did not hear anything because he had already taken his hearing aids out in getting ready for bed, he did see Capt. Quick get something from on the drivers side rear seat floor and give it to one of the men. After that he closed the blinds and went to bed to read. He said that this was about 2330 hrs. Mrs. Galvis said that she was watching Rescue 911 and that this program came on The Family channel at 2300 hrs in Columbus.

05 2335 JAN 1993

Parents call Capt. Quick and talk to him for 10 minutes. He said that he was ill but was getting his uniform and equipment ready for the next days class and that he still had to finish his paper work. His uniform and equipment were found hanging on his desk chair ready to go. Water in his canteens was still fresh on January 11, 1993 when his parents entered his apartment!!

06 0034 JAN 1993

Capt. Quick called Mrs. Rose Mary Nimrow in Clarksville TN. She stated that he said that he had some people after him and he had to get out of town because these people wanted him dead and that he would call her in a few days to get the birth dates of her grandchildren. Capt. Wayne Farrell Quick has never been heard from again by any one.

06 0300 JAN 1993

Georgia State Trooper Tommy Brown sees Capt. Quick's 1990 Suburban parked near Akers Mill Rd. in Marietta. He did not think much about it because of the type of vehicle and in a construction site. Trooper Brown made contact with Cobb County Police after he learns that that this vehicle belonged to a missing person. This was done on January 11, 1993. He had shined spotlight on the vehicle but did not get out of his patrol car and check it. When this was pointed out to investigators, they did not pay any attention to it! This information was taken from their report.

06 0630 JAN 1993

Capt. Quick does not report for duty!

This time line is important because it does not match two of the statements made to the Columbus Police. Two women (dancers) Chrie Jordan Fincher and Pam Shriver claim to that Capt. Quick was at the Platium Club from about 2200 hrs January 5, 1993 until 0130 hrs January 6, 1993, until closing time. These women claim that all three of them drove separate cars to Cherie's apartment where they got into her car and went to downtown to another club to buy cocaine. Capt. Quick did not use drugs and would not let anyone around him use them in his presence. The club they were going to was closed when they got there so they went back to Fincher's apartment and arrived there at some time after 0200 hrs. They state that Pam Shriver got into her car and left. Capt. Quick supposedly spent the night at Chrie Fincher's apartment according to her. She claims that he was still asleep when she woke up at about 1400 hrs on January 6, 1993 and she woke him up. She claims that Capt. Quick went out and got them breakfast and returned, with three eggs for her and an omelet for himself and hash browns which she ate half of. Capt. Quick then left at 1430 hrs according to her. These women no longer live in the Columbus area! Captain Quick's body was found in the Chattahoochee River on 25 April 1993, about one and one half miles from where his vehicle was found. The food that was found in his stomach during the autopsy was described as strips with the consistency of turnips, oriental food. This is the same type of food that we found in his crock pot and bowls in his apartment on January 11, 1993. Strange?

Captain Quick was killed by a single press gunshot to the chest. He wag probably killed with his own 9mm pistol which has never been found. Also not found was his billfold, silver watch, gold neck chain, college class ring or silver identification bracelet.

The odd thing about the shirt and jacket that he was wearing when he was killed is, the shirt has a bullet hole in it but the jacket that was zipped up to a point higher does not. No one has ever been able to explain this in a satisfactory way to us. His father was shown a picture of the shirt and jacket at UASCIDC office a Fort McPhersion by two agents, the shirt and jacket had been smoothed out, not like the autopsy pictures. These pictures and the jacket have never been seen again. No one knows what happened to them.

It is one thing to die for your country and government in combat, but it is entirely SHAMEFUL to be killed while in service and your country and government not try to find the truth of your death.

We will not go away and we will not rest UNTIL WE HAVE ANSWERS!!

ADDENDUM TO PREPARED STATEMENT BY WAYNE F. AND NANCY QUICK, SR.

To the Honorable Chairperson and Committee Members: With great astonishment, my wife and I could not believe what Brigadier General Daniel A. Doherty, the other military branches, and the Inspector General for the Department of Defense had to say. Each may have believed what they were saying was true, but we know it all was not. These people may have been told what they wanted to hear. General Doherty stated that the United States Army Criminal_Investigation Command (USACIDC) works well with civilian police departments. Because of our case, the disappearance and death of U.S. Army Captain Wayne F. Quick, Jr., we know that this is not true. We were asked by the Columbus Georgia Police not to talk to the Criminal Investigation Detachment (CID) at Fort Benning, Georgia. We did work with them, the CID, because our daughter-in-law, who is on active duty in the U.S. Army, told us to talk to CID. Our case was treated by both the civilian police and CID from the beginning as a suicide even before his body was found.

Two civilian police departments, that worked on our son's case, stated that the CID would withhold certain information and would only give the police departments the information they wanted them to have.

After our son's body was found, the suicide conclusion still persisted even though there was no bullet hole in his leather jacket. The jacket was zipped up to the neck line, nine inches above the hole in his shirt and chest. Even the DOD investigators tried to argue the point that this was a suicide.

The U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command did not provide us with either of the case reports from the civilian police. We obtained these on our own. Each of these cases were in excess of one hundred pages. Over twenty CID agents worked on this case world wide, but none of the statements were included in the civilian reports, only comments. We also had to write several letters to obtain a highly censored CID report that had been closed for over a year. According to General Doherty's report page 8, we were to have a Casualty Liaison Officer. We did not have one. Also we learned of a toll free telephone number in General Doherty's report for families to use when communicating with CID, this was our first knowledge that there was such a number available to us.

There are good Army Regulations, but they are not followed in all cases. Regulations require that a Line of Duty Investigator Officer be appointed within 5 day after death (AR 600-8-1). The LOD Officer was not appointed until 22 months after our son's body was found.

The person conducting a psychological autopsy should have to follow the Army regulations exactly. In our son's case, they did not follow regulations. Nobody talked to the spouse, the parents, siblings or long time close friends. The person conducting the psychological autopsy utilized statements from the CID case files only. Unless psychological autopsies are done properly these reports are useless.

Senator Kempthorne, you did not ask the right questions about drugs. You should have asked about drug trafficking and the theft of weapons and equipment. We believe drugs, weapons and equipment trafficking are a major problem within the military services. We also believe the common denominator among most of the cases seems to be knowledge about some illegal goings-on within the military system. Because our armed forces are all volunteer and controlled as opposed to civilian life, should there not be less suicides in the armed services. With there being more noncombat deaths in the armed forces, should CID schooling include more education on death scenes and how to handle the processing.

Since we know cases are not being solved because of jurisdiction rights and a lack of full cooperation, the problem needs to be addressed. Could there be a special task

force with military and civilian investigators working together. Something has got to be done about this issue! All of us that belong to Until We Have Answers and other families of non-combat deaths need your help. We can not have closure until we have the full truth about our children's death.

[Additional information is retained in committee files.]

PREPARED STATEMENT BY LINDA HALLIGAN, MOTHER OF SSGT MARC REPETTI,

USMC

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee: Please be advised that I am Marc Repetti's mother. I have tried to be patient with the military since the loss of my son Marc, but I think 1,486 days (over 41⁄2 years) is asking too much of myself or my family.

My first request for information on my son's death took 12 years for a response. Everything seems to take forever. Obviously, all my son's years of dedicated service and devotion (almost 10 years) doesn't mean anything.

If this had happened in the private sector I truly don't feel that we would have been treated with such a lack of respect and compassion.

Please review the deficiencies in the investigation of my son Marc Repetti.

The following deficiencies are noted from the previous investigation:

a. A ruling of "suicide" was made 10 days after death, a full 5 months prior to the investigators receiving the results of the lab/residue tests.

b. Investigators issued the ruling of "suicide" without establishing intent. In fact, what was clearly established was Repetti's intent to return from the security check and finish a pizza for breakfast. Overall, investigators failed to establish from all interviews any possible suicidal motive or anyone who thought it possible.

c. Investigators seldom deviated from a set list of questions to Repetti's coworkers and no consideration was given to why none of them heard the shot in an otherwise empty building.

Investigators failed to develop what Repetti was doing prior to death or why it took 2 hours before his co-workers questioned his absence. In fact, he was only sought out by one individual who wanted to speak with him about leave.

Investigators failed to develop the fact that Repetti's keys, cover and log book were found down stairs.

d. Investigators failed to develop statement made by Sgt. Urso that there was a conspiracy against Repetti by two or three of the Marines whom Repetti had been instrumental In having discharged from the Marine Corps, not long before his death. In particular, one of those Marines [Albraugh] is said to have been on base the night Repetti died, but there is no follow-up with Albraugh or the others.

e. Investigators failed to constructively develop the following:

All ballistic evidence was destroyed by the Marine Corp 7 months after death and the gun was turned over to Command.

There were no fingerprints on the gun or the ammo clip.

Autopsy report said there were no blood splatters on Repetti's hand. Exhibit [2] has Repetti spending some time the night of his death in the weapons room, either handling or firing, explaining positive nitrate. Other explanation is defensive gesture.

Repetti was right-handed. No consideration was given to the unusual trajectory and entry of the bullet for a right-handed person. The entry, trajectory and exit wound is more consistent with someone shooting down or over Repetti.

After exiting the base of the skull, the bullet [flattened] goes into the wall (porous material), comes back out the same hole and is found between Repetti's legs.

Right-handed Repetti was found with his right hand encompassing the butt of the weapon and his left hand fingers laying on the barrel of the weapon. No recoil of gun. Further, Repetti lived long enough for his lungs to fill with blood yet no spontaneous reflex dislodged the gun during that time.

Exhibit [3] states he gave Repetti [on the day of death] Motrin and a muscle relaxer, but later says that Repetti told him he had only taken two Motrin. Autopsy report does not mention pills; however, shows trace THC [a synthetic active constituent of marijuana currently in limited clinical