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Murder of Logan Melgar

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Logan Melgar
Born(1983-05-12)May 12, 1983
Lubbock, Texas, U.S.
DiedJune 4, 2017(2017-06-04) (aged 34)
Bamako, Mali
Buried
Arlington National Cemetery
Allegiance United States
Branch United States Army
Years of service2012–2017
RankStaff Sergeant
Unit2nd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group

On 4 June 2017, United States Army Special Forces Staff Sergeant Logan Melgar was found dead as a result of asphyxiation in the American embassy in Mali's on-site housing, which he shared with other members of United States special operations forces. The incident has been described as either result of a "hazing" or to cover up other crimes committed by the perpetrators.[1][2]

Shortly after Melgar's death, two unnamed members of the United States Navy's SEAL Team Six were flown out of Mali and placed on administrative leave as persons of interest to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.[3][4] By February 2018, the strangulation had prompted a broad internal military audit and investigation of SEAL Team Six, which named the two members who were persons of interest in the homicide and initially focused on analyzing their conflicting statements regarding Melgar's death. While they had stated that Melgar had been intoxicated on the evening of his death, he was determined to have no drugs or alcohol in his system when he died. Melgar was further determined to have had his throat and upper body mutilated in an apparent attempt at a tracheotomy. The two Navy SEALs stated that they found Melgar unconscious and not breathing and that they tried to perform an emergency tracheotomy on him. Upon investigation, one of the men involved subsequently stated that Melgar was choked during a "hazing" attempt gone wrong, in which Melgar was to be strangled to unconsciousness, tied up, and sexually assaulted on video.[5]

A continued focus of the investigation was allegations that Melgar had discovered that the two SEALs had stolen cash earmarked for paying local informants and that he had told the two that he would report that. The two SEALs denied this allegation.[6]

In November 2018, two SEALs, Petty Officer Anthony E. DeDolph and Chief Petty Officer Adam C. Matthews, along with two US Marine Corps Raiders, Gunnery Sgt. Mario Madera-Rodriguez and Staff Sgt. Kevin Maxwell Jr., were charged with the felony murder of Logan Melgar, along with other crimes.[2][7] On 17 May 2019 Chief Petty Officer Matthews was sentenced to one year's detention in a military prison after having pleaded guilty and agreeing to testify in the cases against the other defendants.[8] On 7 June 2019 Staff Sgt. Kevin Maxwell Jr. was sentenced to four years' detention after having pleaded guilty.[9] On 23 January 2021, Petty Officer Anthony E. DeDolph was originally sentenced to ten years detention after pleading guilty[10] (the sentence was vacated on appeal[11][12] with DeDolph to undergo re-sentencing). On 1 July 2021, Madera-Rodriguez was convicted of involuntary manslaughter as well as conspiracy to commit assault and battery, conspiracy to obstruct justice, hazing and making false official statements.[13] He was sentenced to a reprimand, reduction in paygrade to E-1, performing hard labor without confinement for 90 days, and confinement for six months. [14]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Navy SEAL pleads guilty in hazing death of Special Forces soldier in Mali". washingtonpost.com.(subscription required)
  2. ^ a b "Navy SEALs and Marines charged with murdering Green Beret in horrific hazing incident: Prosecutors – ABC News". ABC News.
  3. ^ Schmitt, Eric (29 October 2017). "2 Navy SEALs Under Suspicion in Strangling of Green Beret in Mali". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  4. ^ Nichols, Hans; Gains, Mosheh (13 November 2017). "Witness: Navy SEAL Said He 'Choked' Green Beret Who Died". NBCNews.com. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  5. ^ Lamothe, Dan (5 June 2019). "Troops charged in Green Beret's death in Mali planned to record him being sexually assaulted, Marine says". The Washington Post. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  6. ^ Cole, Matthew (7 February 2018). "U.S. Military Launches Broad Investigation of SEAL Team 6 After Green Beret Killing in Mali". The Intercept. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  7. ^ Ackerman, Kevin Maurer (15 November 2018). "Navy SEALs, Marines Charged With Green Beret Logan Melgar's Murder". The Daily Beast.
  8. ^ "Navy SEAL gets prison time for role in Green Beret's hazing death". 17 May 2019. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  9. ^ "Marine Sentenced to 4 Years for Role in Logan Melgar Homicide". Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  10. ^ Lagrone, Sam (24 January 2021). "SEAL Sentenced to 10 Years in Death of Green Beret Logan Melgar". U.S. Naval Institute. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
  11. ^ United States v. DeDolph, No. 202100150 (N.M. Ct. Crim. App. 2021-11-15).
  12. ^ "Military court throws out sentence for Navy SEAL convicted in the death of Green Beret". Stars and Stripes. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  13. ^ "Military News Marine Raider Convicted of Involuntary Manslaughter, Hazing in Green Beret's Death". www.military.com/. 2 July 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  14. ^ https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2021/07/12/marine-raider-gunny-busted-to-private-but-no-discharge-in-green-beret-hazing-death/
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