Barbara Keiko Eccleston

(Image from here.)

A Kadena airman admitted in court Monday that he plotted with the wife of a fellow servicemember to murder her husband months before cutting his throat with a hunting knife in an off-base apartment last year.

Staff Sgt. Nicholas Cron, 26, of the 733rd Air Mobility Squadron, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder, premeditated murder and obstruction of justice during the opening day of his court-martial for the Feb. 6, 2011, stabbing death of Tech. Sgt. Curtis Eccleston, 30.

Cron pleaded guilty in November, according to the military judge in charge of the case, as part of an agreement with military prosecutors in order to avoid the death penalty.

Cron’s trial now is focused on his sentence for killing Eccleston in cold blood, according to the court-martial judge advocate. He will receive a life sentence, but the court must decide whether he will be eligible for parole.

The victim’s wife, Barbara Keiko Eccleston, 32, a Brazilian national, has been charged with murderby Japanese authorities. Her trial has not yet been scheduled by the Japanese court.

“In early to mid-November [2010], Barbara Eccleston sent me a text message asking me to kill her husband,” Cron said in court Monday, while reading from prepared testimony. “I made a terrible mistake and hurt many people. I said, ‘Yes.’ ”  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link but this is definitely one cold blooded murder that both murderers should be put away a long time for.  It will be interesting to see what sentence the Japanese courts give Barbara Eccleston compared to what the military gave Cron.

Korea and the United States have reportedly agreed on a plan for US military personnel stationed in Korea who commit murder or rape to be transferred to Korean investigative agencies before they are indicted.

“Korea and the US are deliberating the handing over of implicated US military personnel to Korean investigative agencies before indictment in cases where they have committed a crime such as murder or rape,” said an official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

“[The conclusion] is heading in that direction and an agreement will probably be reached within a month or two.” At present, US military personnel suspected of crimes that were not caught in the act are only handed over to Korean investigative agencies after being indicted by prosecutors, in accordance with Clause 5 of Article 22 of the Status of Forces Agreement between Korea and the US. The inability to secure US military crime suspects early on has brought constant criticism of inadequate initial investigations and a high risk of destruction of evidence.

It appears that crimes where personnel can be handed over before indictment will be restricted to murder and rape from among the list of 12 crimes where, according to regulations in the current agreement, they can be handed over after indictment. It appears that this change will take the form of an “agreed view” by the Korea-US SOFA Joint Committee, rather than an amendment to the agreement itself. The decision has also reportedly been taken to admit as evidence records of statements made before visits by US military representatives.  [Hankyoreh]

If the claims of the SOFA changes is true it for the most part will have little impact because the vast majority of servicemembers accused of murder and rape actually did commit the crimes.  However, I can see this change impacting a very small percentage of servicemembers from getting a fair trial.

Take for instance the case of PFC Mark Feldman.  He was accused of participating in the attempted sexual assault of a off duty policewoman.  The Korean authorities reportedly tried to coerce the other soldier involved in the incident SGT Anthony Basel into lying about the involvement of Feldman to implicate him in the crime in return for a lighter sentence.  Basel refused to lie and implicate Feldman.  The Korean authorities had already been able to get a Korean witness to change his story to implicate Feldman.  Would Basel have refused to lie about Feldman’s involvement if he was immediately handed over to Korean authorities where he didn’t understand what was going on due to language difficulties?  Heck even before this potential SOFA change translation services for accused servicemembers has been spotty at times.  At least if he is initially held in USFK custody every time he is questioned by Korean authorities USFK can ensure he has an interpreter present.  If he was sitting in a Korean jail immediately after the arrest would the Koreans have given USFK enough notice to ensure a USFK interpreter and legal counsel was present before conducting any questioning?  It is issues like this that I think need to have more detail before allowing such a change to the SOFA.

In the policewoman rape case both soldiers ended up being convicted but the conviction was so dubious that the chief Korean judge urged that Feldman appeal the case. Eventually when this case was appealed both GI’s were released much to the anger of the anti-US groups who believe any servicemember accused of a crime is automatically guilty.

The police arrested a 24-year-old American English teacher for sexually harassing a 12 year old boy in a public bath in Busan. The suspect allegedly grabbed the boy’s thigh and genital, and put his genital near the boy’s mouth.  [Marmot's Hole]

You can read his excuse at the link but at least he is not using the “I was drunk excuse” that is popular in Korea.

Military leaders vowed this week to curb sexual assaults by and against U.S. soldiers after the release of a new report revealing that violent sex crimes committed by Army personnel nearly doubled since 2006. The majority of reported sex crimes occurred on U.S. soil, the Army said.

A U.S soldier committed a violent sex crime every six hours and 40 minutes in 2011, a rate far above that of the general population, the report found.

“This is unacceptable. We have zero tolerance for this,” Gen. Peter Chiarelli, Army vice chief of staff, said at a press conference Thursday. “Army leaders take sexual assault seriously.”

Chiarelli said the Army was confronting the problem by stepping up surveillance of barracks and cracking down on drug and alcohol abuse, a key factor in sexual assault.  [Huffington Post]

Most of the articles in the media report that there was roughly 3,200 sexual assaults were reported by servicemembers in 2011.  This is a huge increase from the 2,039 sexual assault allegations between 2009-2010.  Considering all the sexual assault training and programs put in place in the past 5 years is it any wonder that the reports have gone up?  I am willing to bet that servicemembers spend more time receiving sexual assault training than time at the range in recent years.  So of course the reports are going to go up and it shouldn’t be looked at as a bad thing.

What I found most interesting after reading a number of mainstream media articles about this report none of them mention how many servicemembers were convicted of sexual assaults after having allegations made against them.  According to McClatchy who is really the only mainstream media source doing actual journalism on this issue, between 2009-2010 only 147 of the 2,039 allegations led to a sexual assault or rape conviction.  If you read the series of “Military Injustice” articles published by McClatchy in recent weeks they clearly show that the reason for the low conviction rate is because commanders are increasingly prosecuting any allegations of sexual assault despite flimsy evidence because they don’t want to be accused of being soft on rape:

Such results are provoking cynicism within the armed forces that the politics of rape are tainting a military justice system that’s as old as the country itself.

“In the media and on Capital Hill, there’s this myth that the military doesn’t take sexual assault seriously,” said Michael Waddington, a former Army judge advocate who now defends the cases. “But the reality is they’re charging more and more people with bogus cases just to show that they do take it seriously.”

McClatchy’s review of nearly 4,000 sexual assault allegations demonstrates that the military has taken a more aggressive stance. Last year, military commanders sent about 70 percent more cases to courts-martial that started as rape or aggravated sexual-assault allegations than they did in 2009.  [McClatchy]

Despite this clear evidence of over prosecution of sexual assaults a member of Congress wants to establish what appears to be a kangaroo court in order to get more convictions:

Rep. Jackie Speier, a California Democrat, said in an interview the day of Panetta’s announcement that the military culture has “run amok” and the rules for handling sexual abuse need an overhaul. She has introduced a bill that would create a separate system within the military to investigate and prosecute sex crimes.

Currently, a victim’s commander might be part of the decision-making process. That creates a conflict of interest; the commander could suffer career damage if a subordinate is victimized; the commander could be a friend of the suspect; or the commander could be the suspect, Speier said.  [Associated Press]

A military culture that has “run amok”?  I wish some one in the media would ask her to explain that remark.  Is she insinuating that military leaders advocate for its servicemembers to rape each other?  If so I find that deplorable coming from a member of Congress.  I believe there isn’t an institution in America that has done more to address sexual assault than the military.  What other organization does as much sexual assault training and has as many programs in place as the military?  As McClatchy reported the vast majority of the sexual assaults happen between two drunk acquaintances:

 It’s often the toxic ingredient of a military rape allegation: binge drinking. Many times, the woman knows the man and was drinking alcohol with him. Lots of it.

As a result, she says she doesn’t remember the entire encounter because she was drunk. Sometimes, she’s not even sure herself whether she was sexually assaulted. The man says it was consensual. No other witnesses can say either way.  [McClatchy]

The military is not the only place where drunk people have sex and afterwards have unclear memories of what happened or he said she said situations.  It seems like the military is the only place though that a member of Congress wants to establish a court to convict people in.  Why isn’t there a special court to try civilians in for sex crimes?  Better yet as you will see below why aren’t these same politicians trying to create unconstitutional laws to convict civilians of sex crimes?

It is because of people like Representative Speier that the US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces ruled a change made in the UCMJ back in 2006 in regards to military sexual assaults to be unconstitutional and has overturned convictions because of this.  If you can believe this, the court had to overturn the change to the UCMJ because it put the burden on the defense to prove the accused servicemember is not guilty instead of on the prosecution to prove the guilt of the accused.

Trying to crack down, Congress six years ago changed sexual assault provisions by shifting the burden of proof to defendants who were claiming the sex was consensual, and it made it easier for prosecutors to claim an alleged victim was incapacitated because of intoxication.

“One of the reasons we made the effort to change (the law) was to get prosecutions,” Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif. said at the time.

But in a February 2011 ruling that dismissed the conviction of former Travis Air Force Base enlisted man Stephen Prather, judges declared that shifting the burden of proof as Congress did was unconstitutional. The ruling following harsh denunciations of the law by myriad military judges.

“This law has messed up a lot of people’s lives,” Prather, who now lives in Houston, told McClatchy earlier this year. “My life is ruined, all for something that should have never been a crime to begin with.”  [McClatchy]

A basic fundamental right of being an American citizen that you are innocent until proven guilty was denied to servicemembers by their own Congress.  Once again this is deplorable.  Quietly though the Congress has changed this unconstitutional law:

Congress is quietly giving itself a do-over on the military sexual assault law it botched the last time around.

The changes included in a massive defense bill attempt to correct Congress’ own mistakes, which baffled military judges called “arguably absurd,” “almost incomprehensible” and ultimately “unconstitutional.”

But unlike their last ill-fated effort, when lawmakers trumpeted their revisions to the military’s criminal code, this rewrite is flying below the political radar. Discreetly folded into the middle of a 1,844-page defense bill, the new changes have never been debated publicly.

“It wouldn’t have been such a mess had Congress decided to hold some real hearings before enacting this legislation,” said Eugene Fidell, a former military attorney who now teaches military law at Yale Law School. “I don’t have any confidence in what they’re going to do. It’ll be guesswork or luck if Congress gets this right.”   [McClatchy]

You would think that an issue as important as sexual assaults in the military would at least get some hearings but it appears to do so would cause certain politicians to admit they were wrong about the 2006 UCMJ changes and instead have quietly slipped this into the latest defense bill.  Hopefully there won’t be any unintended consequences as we saw with the 2006 changes but if you read the McClatchy article lawyers say the latest change is better, but still not perfect.

Overall the thing to keep in mind when reading anything about military sexual assault statistics is that they are inflated compared to the civilian statistics for the reasons shown above not because of PTSD crazed criminals wanting to rape the first woman they see.  The media and certain politicians should not further stigmatize people who suffer from PTSD with such accusations without valid proof to back it up.  The military takes sexual assaults very seriously and anyone claiming otherwise is out of touch with today’s military culture.   Those who are accused of sexual assault should receive due process with the expectation that they are innocent until proven guilty and be severely punished if found guilty.

A TV news report about the arrest of a Thai “new half” (ladyboy?) who was arrested for scamming Japanese tourists.

The suspect approached a Japanese tourist on the streets of Bangkok, claiming to be a Korean tourist who had lost her passport and money. She said she would soon be receiving money from family in Korea, but needed to use the Japanese man’s bank card. After taking a considerable amount of money from the man’s account, she disappeared.

Thai police arrested her for a similar scam, in which she had told another Japanese man that she was a tourist from Singapore. It was later determined that she was also responsible for the “Korean” scam. In both instances, she had used broken English to convince the unsuspecting Japanese tourists that she was a non-Thai person who needed their help.  [Japan Probe]

How come I can’t help but believe that someone could not be stupid enough to fall for this scam and that there is more to this story?

An Army officer who carried nunchucks, built a fake bomb and forced an evacuation at an Oklahoma Army base was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison Thursday.

First Lt. James Joseph Dabrowski, 28, also must pay about $19,000 in restitution after pleading guilty and being sentenced in an Oklahoma City courtroom on a charge of making a hoax regarding an explosive device, according to the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma.

Dabrowski sprang his hoax April 21 at Fort Sill, near Lawton, when command officials met with him concerning his conduct in an office at Snow Hall.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read the rest at the link, but I wonder why he was tried in a federal courtroom instead of by court martial at Ft. Sill where the crime occurred?  Anyway read the whole thing at the link, but clearly there is something mentally wrong with this lieutenant.

A Canadian has turned himself in to Korean police and confessed to murdering his Korean girlfriend three years ago. Police quoted the 38-year-old identified only by the initial S. as saying he decided to turn himself in because he was riven by remorse.

The man walked into Yongsan Police Station on Monday and confessed to the murder of the university student, who was 21 at the time. He said he returned to Korea to apologize to the bereaved family and to face the consequences, according to police.

The woman was drowned near Dongjak Bridge on March 23, 2009. Police questioned the Canadian at the time, but he told them her death was an accident. He said she went into the water to retrieve a tennis ball and then drifted into deeper water. He said he pulled her out and tried to resuscitate her but she died.

Since an autopsy discovered no signs of foul play, the case was logged on May 21, 2009 as an accidental drowning.

The Canadian came to Korea in 2001 and taught English, but returned to his home country after the incident. He then taught English in China. He told police he sought solace in religion but continued to be haunted by voices and the memory of his girlfriend as she died.

He returned to Korea on Saturday and met an American pastor he knew and confessed his crime. He also met his late girlfriend’s mother and told her as well.  [Chosun Ilbo]

You can read the rest at the link but this guy says that he killed his girlfriend because she refused to marry him.  Considering the age difference between the two that shouldn’t have been to surprising but he killed her anyway.

Does anyone else find it ironic that despite all the talk of PTSD crazed GI’s, that an English teacher has most recently killed a Korean than a GI?  The last GI murder of a Korean was by Christopher McCarthy when he murdered an Itaewon prostitute back in February 2000.  There actually hasn’t been a murder of a Korean since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began back in 2001.  In fact a Korean has murdered a GI more recently than vice versa when Major David Berry was murdered in broad daylight in Itaewon by a deranged Korean man in June 2000.

A South Korea appeals court Thursday rejected a U.S. soldier’s plea to reduce his 10-year prison sentence for the brutal rape of a Korean girl, saying he subjected the 17-year-old to “unimaginable” horror during the attack.

Seoul High Court Judge An Young-jin told Pvt. Kevin Flippin that while the three-judge panel took into consideration the soldier’s remorse for what he did, and that this was his first offense in South Korea, the sexual assault was too “perverted and sadistic” to reduce his prison sentence.

In upholding the sentence, the judges rejected Flippin’s argument that his state of intoxication should be considered, as is often the case in South Korean courts.

While they understood the soldier was drunk at the time of the attack, “That will not be an excuse for your offense,” given that he “tortured” such a young girl, An said through a translator.

Flippin, 21, who said nothing during Thursday’s brief hearing, can appeal his case further, but it was not immediately clear whether he will do so.

At a Seoul High Court hearing earlier this month, he told the appeals panel, “I know that I did a very bad thing … (but) I think 10 years is a little too much.”  [Stars & Stripes]

Kwak No-hyun returned to his duties as Seoul education chief Thursday following his suspension while he was on trial for bribery. Kwak was fined 30 million won (US$26,400) by the Seoul Central District Court for bribing a rival candidate to drop out of the 2010 election for the capital’s education superintendent seat.

With the ruling the liberal educator was released from a three-month detainment to resume his duties as the superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education.  [Yonhap]

Near the end of 2011, an unidentified party illegally obtained and disclosed personal information from customers and friends and credit card data of some of our subscribers. We are working closely with law enforcement officials in an ongoing federal investigation, and we have commissioned security consultants to investigate this serious privacy breach. We are determined to prevent it from ever happening again. Read apersonal note from Stratfor CEO George Friedman on the attack.

He blames the rapid growth of the site for the oversight with the credit card info and now the info is being stored on a third party site that specializes in securing such information.  What I found most interesting is that the attack was initially blamed on the group Anonymous but Friedman makes no claims that the group was really the ones responsible for the attack.  I am beginning to think that maybe someone was hired to silence STRATFOR and blame it on Anonymous.  That means it would have to be someone with an interest in silencing the company.  I think a possible candidate could be the Mexican drug cartels.  I haven’t found anywhere on the web that provides the amount of detailed information on the drug wars in Mexico than STRATFOR.  They easily have the money and motive to launch an attack.  STRATFOR often reports on developments in China so maybe they could be a candidate as well.  Anyone have any other guesses on who would have the money and motive to launch such an attack?