SEALs, Marines Charged With Murder in Death of Green Beret

They reportedly plotted to haze Staff Sgt. Logan Melgar, leading to his death
By Luke Roney,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 15, 2018 7:28 PM CST
SEALs, Marines Charged With Murder in Death of Green Beret
Stock image.   (Getty Images/Ruskpp)

Four members of the US armed forces are facing a slew of charges in connection with the 2017 death of an Army Green Beret in the African nation of Mali. Among the charges leveled against Petty Officer Anthony E. DeDolph and Chief Petty Officer Adam C. Matthews, both members of SEAL Team Six, and two unnamed Marine Raiders are felony murder, conspiracy, obstruction of justice, burglary, hazing, and involuntary manslaughter, the Daily Beast reports. Officials say the SEALs and Marines broke into the room of Army Staff Sgt. Logan Melgar at embassy housing in Bamako in June 2017, restrained him with duct tape, and put him in a chokehold, strangling him while “perpetuating a burglary,” NBC reports. The SEALs reportedly tried to resuscitate the 34-year-old Melgar and also tried to open an airway by opening a hole in his throat.

According to the Daily Beast, which has reported extensively on the case, there was an “ongoing disagreement," between Melgar, who was part of a six-person intelligence team, and the SEALs "over the SEAL’s professionalism.” Sources say the SEALs would bring prostitutes to the house and were stealing cash meant to recruit local informants. “The place ran like a frat house,” a source told the site. The SEALs and Marines hatched the plot to haze Melgar on June 4, 2017, and attacked him around 5am. They ultimately took Melgar to a medical facility, where he was declared dead. Later, the four engaged in a cover-up, per the Military Times, including sharing information about what they told investigators, withholding information from investigators, and getting rid of alcohol kept in the room. (More Navy SEALs stories.)

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