Soldiers who last saw dead paratrooper facing courts-martial

SPC Enrique Roman-Martinez

You might recall that Specialist Enrique Roman-Martinez was on a camping trip in North Carolina almost two years ago. At some point, Roman-Martinez disappeared. The seven other soldiers he was with gave some strange stories. Then the head of Roman-Martinez washed up, but his body has never been recovered.

Looks like those soldiers are facing a litany of charges, though none yet with the murder of the specialist.

From Army Times;

Seven North Carolina-based soldiers who were camping with a Fort Bragg paratrooper whose partial remains were found along the coast in 2020 are facing courts-martial on conspiracy and other charges.

Eight soldiers assigned to the 37th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, were camping on Cape Lookout National Seashore when Spc. Enrique Roman-Martinez was reported missing in May 2020. Roman-Martinez’ severed head washed up six days later, but his body was never recovered. The manner of his death is listed as a homicide, but no one has been charged with his death.

Court records state that seven soldiers who were the last to see Roman-Martinez alive are all charged with conspiracy and failure to obey a direct order or regulation related to travel during a travel ban, The Fayetteville Observer reported. Several of them face other charges such as using LSD, disobeying a superior or making false statements. Officials have said the charges are unrelated to the death of Roman-Martinez.

All seven have all been arraigned and their trials are scheduled from May to September.

An Army Criminal Investigation Division spokeswoman has said Roman-Martinez’s case remains open, but was moved to “cold case status.”

Category: Army, Crime