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CNN Live Saturday
Murders in Ft. Bragg Raise Questions About Combat Stress
Aired July 27, 2002 - 12:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RENAY SAN MIGUEL, CNN ANCHOR: At Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, a string of deadly domestic cases is raising questions about combat and stress. Four wives killed were allegedly by their husbands. Three of the men had served in Afghanistan.
CNN's Mark Potter joins us now live from Fayetteville, North Carolina -- Mark.
MARK POTTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good afternoon. Military officials here at Ft. Bragg were shocked when four soldiers were accused of murdering their wives all within the last six weeks, and they say it was a wake-up call that is now prompting a review of their stress management and family counseling procedures, all in an attempt to prevent it from happening again.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
POTTER (voice over): Three of the four soldiers accused of murdering their wives were assigned to special operations and had served in Afghanistan. On June 11, police say one of them, after just returning home from his deployment, shot and killed his wife, then turned the gun on himself. On June 29, investigators say Master Sergeant William Wright, home six weeks from Afghanistan, strangled his wife to death, buried her in a forest, then finally confessed to police.
SHERIFF EARL BUTLER, CUMBERLAND COUNTY: Sergeant Wright led detectives to his wife's body, which he had buried on June 29 in a remote wooded area off Plank Road on the Fort Bragg Military Reservation.
POTTER: On July 9, Sergeant Cedric Griffin allegedly stabbed his wife 50 times then set fire to their home with his two children still inside. The children escaped and their father was arrested. And on July 19, Sergeant First Class Brandon Floyd, who left Afghanistan seven months ago, allegedly shot and killed his wife, then killed himself.
Cumberland County Sheriff Earl Butler wonders whether the stresses of deployment and military life played a role in these tragedies.
BUTLER: Well, I think this could very easily bring about the homicides that we've seen. Now I'm not saying it did, but I think it very easily could have precipitated this type of behavior among these people.
POTTER: Three of the cases occurred in Cumberland County, where another theory is the murders had little to do with military life, but instead were the sad results of longstanding domestic problems.
LT. SAM PENNICA, HOMICIDE COMMANDER: All of them were having a lot of difficulty in their marriage and some of them have had difficulty for a long time or a number of years.
POTTER: Military authorities say they were shocked by the series of murders. While Fort Bragg already offers family counseling programs, the recent tragedies are causing officials to rethink their procedures.
COL. TAD DAVIS, GARRISON COMMANDER: I think that this will provide a renewed emphasis on the part of all of us as leaders who care genuinely and very deeply for each of our soldiers, you know, and their families to make sure that we're doing everything we can.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
POTTER: Now, the Army here at Fort Bragg will be looking very closely at these four homicide cases for any clues of what went wrong and for any ideas on how to prevent it. The Army also plans to continue its family assistance program. In fact, we saw one of those classes under way here today, but in addition, the garrison commander says the military leaders here will also be urged to keep a much closer eye out now for any psychological problems among the troops, and he predicts that these four killings, these tragic homicides here near the base will prompt a change in attitude on this topic not only here at Fort Bragg but throughout the entire U.S. Army -- in fact, perhaps throughout the entire U.S. armed forces. Back to you.
SAN MIGUEL: Yeah, Mark, we'll see if the soldiers out there are actually taking advantage of some of these stress management and anger management courses that are being talked about now. Mark Potter reporting live in Fayetteville, North Carolina, thank you for that report.
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