Does anyone recall the name of the jump school murder victim in early 1974?

SGT Craig Northacker — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 14:23:11 -0400

I went to jump school in early 1974. There was a young XO who was robbed and murdered while picking up the payroll. Does anyone remember that? I found out when I reported to Bragg and the CID wanted to question me about possibilities. He was a really great person - I was very sorry to hear about it. Lt Calley was under house arrest at the same time. Sort of.

Response by Sgt Wayne Wood made Nov 1 at 2017 2:56 PM

Sgt Wayne Wood — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 14:56:53 -0400

I remember Calley when i was there in ‘72... ‘74 was after my time

Response by CPO Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 1 at 2017 3:15 PM

CPO Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 15:15:28 -0400

I read up on the Lt Calley thing.. Interesting, and a direct representation of following an illegal order. Not unlike Abu Ghraib only the low level people got in trouble. As far as we come it never really changes does it?

I spent some time looking for any payroll thefts on the net best I could come up with was the Wham one in the 1800's. Jesse James hit them a few times too, next large one was U.S. Army Rangers from Fort Lewis rob the Bank of America branch in South Tacoma WA on August 7, 2006.

The only other thing I found was Jeffrey Robert MacDonald a Green Beret who was convicted in 1979 of murdering his pregnant wife and two daughters in February 1970. That happened at Bragg.

Response by SGM Bill Frazer made Nov 1 at 2017 8:16 PM

SGM Bill Frazer — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 20:16:08 -0400

I got to Benning from AIT just after the murder, we got an extra week of ground school, doing nothing but searching the grounds and bagging/tagging anything we came across. I have PSG Bye, bald, ugly and STRAC

Response by SGT Eric Knutson made Nov 1 at 2017 9:37 PM

SGT Eric Knutson — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 21:37:06 -0400

I might suggest looking into the local LEO office, and the local DA office. while he was the XO, are you sure the murder happened on post? the local authorities might have more information if they handled the case, which they would have if the suspect was a townie. Just a thought, good luck.

Response by COL David Turk made Nov 10 at 2017 5:44 AM

COL David Turk — Fri, 10 Nov 2017 05:44:03 -0500

It used to be that the Provost Marshalls office kept a card on every on post police event (involving a MP). I'm sure the cards are archived by now, but they might let you have access under the FIA.

Response by MAJ Ray Carter made Dec 13 at 2017 2:41 PM

MAJ Ray Carter — Wed, 13 Dec 2017 14:41:12 -0500

I went through Field Artillery Officer Basic Course July-October 1973 at Fort Sill with him. Three of us were assigned to Fort Benning. I went to 2/10 FA 197th Inf Bde and the other two 2LT’s went to be Airborne School XO’s.