Police, E-7 tried to help GI in murder-suicide - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Police, E-7 tried to help GI in murder-suicide

CODY, Wyo. — Lovell police and an Army sergeant worked unsuccessfully last year to persuade a suicidal soldier to return to his base in North Carolina, fearing that he might harm himself or others. One week later, the soldier killed his estranged wife and himself.

Recordings of telephone conversations between police and Army personnel, along with a separate report by the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division, offer some insight into the circumstances leading up to the fatal encounter.

They also show that drugs and alcohol may have played a role Nov. 5, when Sgt. Steven D. Lopez, 23, shot Brenda Lee Davila, 22, three times before turning the gun on himself outside Davila’s residence in Lovell.

The records show that Sgt. 1st Class Clinton Ham, Lopez’s supervisor at Fort Bragg, and Lovell Police Officer Robert Bifano struggled to convince Lopez and his family that they were more concerned for Lopez’s safety than his status as absent without official leave from the Army.

The U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command at Fort Carson, Colo., conducted an investigation after the shootings, and issued a final report Feb. 28. The Army released a redacted copy of the report to The Gazette last month after a request filed in April under the federal Freedom of Information Act.

The report by the Criminal Investigation Division states that Lopez, an active-duty sergeant stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., left there Oct. 16 for noncommissioned-officer training in Missouri, but was listed as AWOL when he had not arrived by Oct. 18.

Ham called the Lovell Police Department Oct. 19 and Oct. 20, asking if they had information on Lopez’s whereabouts, but did not mention that the soldier was AWOL.

“It ain’t nothing crazy like he’s missing or whatever. I just want accountability to make sure that he don’t come up there while he’s on his time to do something crazy because I asked him to call me, but he never called,” Ham told a dispatcher Oct. 20.

Ham’s comments, the CID report, statements from family members and text messages from Lopez to Ham all allude to friction between Lopez and Davila.

In a conversation with Ham, Bifano mentions that Davila’s mother said Lopez and Davila had split because of instances of domestic violence.

The Army CID report, however, states that a “search of the centralized operations police system did not reveal any prior domestic-assault allegations or weapons registered to Sgt. Lopez or Mrs. Lopez.”

The report also states that a “review of Sgt. Lopez’s medical records (showed) there were no indicators of post-traumatic stress disorder and he was not prescribed any medication for PTSD.”

Lopez had served in Iraq and Afghanistan before returning to Fort Bragg.

A statement by a member of Lopez’s Army unit whose name was redacted from the CID report states that, “Sgt. Lopez and his wife were pending a divorce for some unknown act of infidelity.”

The attempt at reconciliation was not successful, and the two disagreed over the extent to which Lopez should see his two young children, according to statements by Ham.

Witnesses said that was the issue in a dispute on the day of the shootings, according to the CID report.

Witnesses to the shootings described Lopez as acting drowsy, and a police report lists a plastic bag containing four pills that match the description for generic Xanax (alprazolam), anti-anxiety medication, as being recovered from the scene.

The CID report states that, based on toxicology test results included in an autopsy report, Lopez tested positive for opiates and another drug commonly prescribed for conditions ranging from insomnia to anxiety.

An autopsy report by Dr. Thomas Bennett of Billings dated Nov. 8 lists alcohol ingestion as a “significant condition” for Lopez at the time of death. Toxicology results for Davila were negative.

The CID report notes a text message sent by Lopez to Ham in the days before the shooting that highlights his distress at the ongoing rift with his wife.

“I tried to come here and be the right person for my wife and kids, but I guess I’m not the right person. I’m (messed) up boss. I’m (messed) up,” Lopez wrote.

Lopez also sent text messages expressing thoughts of suicide, according to Ham, raising fears among his Army colleagues that he might harm himself or others.

But Lopez later downplayed those sentiments in messages and conversations with Ham and Bifano, while his family members offered Bifano conflicting opinions of the seriousness of his suicidal threats.

The trail of telephone calls and text messages highlights the difficulty investigators faced in gauging the credibility of Lopez’s threats.

When Lopez had still not returned to base by Oct. 29, Ham asked the Lovell Police Department for help in locating him.

“He’s suicidal, and I don’t want nothing to happen to this young soldier,” Ham told a dispatcher, also noting that neither Lopez nor his family members would return his phone calls.

“I don’t want this dude to commit suicide or to kill his family, you know, and that’s what’s on our minds right now,” he told the dispatcher.

Recordings of subsequent radio transmissions and phone calls from Oct. 29 show that Bifano spent two hours that afternoon trying to locate Lopez. He worked to reassure Lopez and his family that he was not in trouble, and that Sgt. Ham was deeply concerned for his welfare.

Ham confirmed that Lopez was AWOL only after Bifano asked him.

“That’s probably why he’s worried about coming in. He thinks he’s going to get arrested for being AWOL,” Bifano told Ham.

At no point during several phone calls did Ham ask Bifano to arrest or detain Lopez in relation to his AWOL status.

In the afternoon of Oct. 29, Bifano reached Lopez by phone and told him, “Just so you know, you’re not in any trouble. They haven’t put out any warrants or anything for you being gone, so that’s not what it’s about.”

Lopez then met with Bifano at the police station and assured Bifano that he was fine, and that he did not intend to hurt himself or anyone else, according to a conversation Bifano had minutes later with Ham.

At about 12:30 p.m. on Nov. 5, Lopez sent another text message.

“My dad is buying me a bus ticket ASAP since the Army quit (paying) me after six years of my life I gave to it. I’ll call you or someone when I get to the bus stop,” Lopez wrote.

Later that day, Lopez went to Davila’s, asking to see their children, but was refused because of his erratic behavior, according to accounts by witnesses as detailed in police reports.

He left, but returned a short time later with a Ruger .38 Special pistol, which he used to kill his wife and himself.