Associated Press

October 24, 2006

NORFOLK, Va. - A Sailor pleaded guilty Monday to abducting and killing a Marine corporal he thought had been involved in a gang rape. The rape turned out to be a lie, but the truth surfaced too late. Petty Officer 3rd Class Cooper Jackson, 23, pleaded guilty Monday to premeditated murder, kidnapping, impersonating a Naval Criminal Investigative Service agent and obstruction of justice in connection with the death of Cpl. Justin L. Huff, 23. In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to spare him a possible death sentence. Federal agents had testified at his Article 32 hearing, the military equivalent of a grand jury investigation, that Jackson had been fooled into falling in love with a woman who called herself Samantha and made up a story about being raped by servicemen. "Samantha" turned out to be Ashley Elrod, a 22-year-old hotel clerk on North Carolina's Outer Banks, who testified that she lied about being raped. She said she "might have" told Jackson that one of the Marines was named Huff or Huffman, and she said Jackson called her after Huff was killed. Elrod has not been charged. During his court-martial, Jackson told the Navy judge how he posed as an NCIS agent and took Huff to North Carolina to get information about the purported rape. He said he then slit Huff's throat and buried the body to avoid being caught. "I'd broken several laws and I had a missing Marine with me," Jackson said at his hearing Monday. "Quite frankly, I was scared of the consequences of what would happen, of being caught, more so than I was of the consequences of taking his life." If the judge accepts the plea, Jackson could be sentenced to life in prison with or without the possibility of parole, said his lawyer, Don Marcari. The sentencing phase was to begin Tuesday. Huff, 23, of Indianapolis, was reported missing Jan. 2 after he didn't show up for class at the Navy and Marine Corps Intelligence Training Center in Virginia Beach, where Jackson also was a student. Agents said Jackson, of Boones Mill, confessed when they questioned him Jan. 12. The next day, he led agents to Huff's body in a wooded area in Currituck County, N.C., just south of the Virginia-North Carolina border.

"Hundreds of thousands of American servicemen and women are deployed across the world in the war on terror. By bringing hope to the oppressed, and delivering justice to the violent, they are making America more secure. "
George W. Bush

"Samantha" actually was Ashley Elrod, a 22-year-old hotel clerk on North Carolina's Outer Banks. She testified at the June hearing that she had talked to Jackson by phone and sent him e-mails and that she lied by telling him she had been raped.

She also testified that she "might have" told Jackson that one of the Marines involved in the attack was named Huff or Huffman, and she said Jackson called her after Huff was killed.

Jackson said he cut Huff's throat with a knife twice, explaining in a flat tone, "I wanted to cut him a second time so he would not suffer as much, and he would die faster."

Jackson said he threw Huff's clothes into a Dumpster and tossed the knife over a bridge, then returned hours later to Currituck County, N.C., with a shovel to bury to body.

Cpl. Justin L. Huff was assigned to the Brigade Service Support Group 1, First Marine Logistics Group, Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Pendleton in San Diego County, Calif. He had served two combat tours in Iraq.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SOU_MARINE_SLAIN_VAOL-?SITE=VANOV&SECTION=STATE

 SMSB

"Let's Go Downtown" - Flight of the Intruder
 

http://www.327infantry.org/second/c_co 

Same Mud Same Blood - NBC documentary filmed 1967 RVN, chronicle Frank McGee

JMPMASTR (10/24/2006)

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Never trust a female...

Hmmm, what is your wife's email address?

"Hundreds of thousands of American servicemen and women are deployed across the world in the war on terror. By bringing hope to the oppressed, and delivering justice to the violent, they are making America more secure. "
George W. Bush

JMPMASTR (10/25/2006)

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She doesn't have one!

The only reason you have the gonads to say that. LMAO

Make The Voices Stop! - Paracowboy

"Oh bother," mumbles Pooh as he chambers another round.

CR6 to Cherokeekate - Another poser busted.  One shot one kill should be YOUR motto.  Or is it MOS?