crystaldawn
04-27-2006, 09:27 PM
Do any of you guys remember this case? A VERY strange one about a military policeman found dead under mysterious circumstances and the military had the audacity to call it a suicide. I found an article that talks about it:
"GRIEF AND SHOCK: THAT'S WHAT 40 FAMILIES FELT WHEN THEY WERE TOLD
THEIR RELATIVES IN THE MILITARY DIED OF SELF-INFLICTED WOUNDS. THEIR
PAIN DEEPENED, THOUGH, WHEN THEIR SEARCH FOR ANSWERS HIT A WALL OF
SECRECY.-----THE FACTS CONTRADICT DEATH RULINGS ---ON A LATE WINTER
EVENING IN MARCH OF 1992, MILITARY POLICEMAN CHAD LANGFORD RADIOED THE
SECURITY CENTER AT A SPRAWLING ARMY ARSENAL IN ALABAMA THAT HE WAS
STOPPING TO ASSIST A STRANDED MOTORIST. SECONDS LATER, THE RADIO WENT
DEAD.
AN MP DISPATCHED TO INVESTIGATE FOUND LANGFORDS PATROL CAR, ITS HAZARD
LIGHTS FLASHING AND ITS ENGINE RUNNING, ON A REMOTE GRAVEL ROAD
OUTLINED IN PALE MOONLIGHT. NEXT TO THE CAR, THE MP SAID LATER, HE SAW
" A LOT OF BLOOD."
ON THE ROAD BENEATH THE CAR'S OPEN FRONT DOOR LAY SPEC. 4 CHAD
LANGFORD, DYING IN THE DARK OF A GUN SHOT TO HIS RIGHT TEMPLE.
LANGFORD'S BLOOD-STAINED MP CAP WAS STUFFED IN HIS MOUTH. HIS
HANDCUFFS DANGLED FROM HIS LEFT WRIST. THE LANYARD CORD FROM HIS
HOLSTER WAS WRAPPED AROUND HIS ANKLES, AND HIS CAR RADIO CABLE WAS
KNOTTED AROUND HIS NECK. ---AND LANGFORD'S .45-CALIBER SERVICE PISTOL,
WHICH HAD BEEN FIRED TWICE, LAY UNDER HIS LEFT SHOULDER.TWO DAYS
LATER-DESPITE THE BIZARRE DEATH SCENE AND BEFORE THE COMPLETION OF LAB
TESTS-A MILITARY PATHOLOGIST ISSUED A RULING: ---TWENTY YEAR OLD CHAD
LANGFORD HAD COMMITTED SUICIDE
IN TINY ELK CREEK, CALIF., LANGFORD'S FATHER WAS STUNNED BY THE NEWS.
JUST 10 DAYS EARLIER, JIM LANGFORD SAID, CHAD HAD TOLD HIM HIS LIFE
HAD BEEN THREATENED WHILE HE WAS ON AN UNDERCOVER DRUG INVESTIGATION.
MONTHS LATER, LANGFORD'S GRIEF AND SHOCK TURNED TO OUTRAGE. AN ARMY
REPORT SAID CHAD STAGED HIS OWN DEATH TO MAKE IT APPEAR THAT HE HAD
BEEN MURDERED.
BUT THE REPORT ALSO SAID SOMETHING ELSE: THE ARMY COULD NOT DETERMINE
WHETHER CHAD'S FINGERPRINTS WERE ON THE GUN, OR WHETHER HE HAD FIRED A
GUN AT ALL. AND UNIDENTIFIED FINGERPRINTS WERE FOUND ON HIS RADIO, MP
ARMBAND AND HANDCUFFS.
"I THINK THEY GOT THIS BOY WRAPPED UP IN A DRUG INVESTIGATION THAT GOT
HIM KILLED, AND NOW THEY DON'T WANT TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR IT,"
LANGFORD SAID LAST MONTH, "I THINK THEY'RE COVERING UP SOMETHING BIG
TIME.
IN THE HOURS BEFORE HE DIED, CHAD LANGFORD SEEMED A MAN ROUTINELY
GOING ABOUT HIS 'DUTIES' AND JOB.
TWO WOMEN TOLD INVESTIGATORS THAT LANGFORD CALLED THEM DURING THE LATE
AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING OF MARCH 12, 1992, AND CHATTED AMIABLY.
ONE WOMAN SAID SHE SPOKE WITH LANGFORD JUST BEFORE 8 P.M.--- OR
MINUTES BEFORE THE TIME INVESTIGATORS SAID LANGFORD SHOT HIMSELF.
THE WOMAN SAID "SHE DID NOT DETECT FEAR IN SPC LANGFORD'S VOICE AND
THAT HE SEEMED TO BE TALKING NORMALLY," SAID A REPORT BY THE ARMY'S
CID.
ACCORDING TO THE REPORT, THE WOMAN SAID SHE AND LANGFORD ARRANGED TO
MEET AT 1 P.M., WHEN HIS SHIFT WAS TO END.
ANOTHER WOMAN, A COLLEGE STUDENT, TOLD INVESTIGATORS THAT LANGFORD HAD
CALLED THAT AFTERNOON AND ASKED HER TO DROP BY THE MP STATION TO VISIT
HIM THAT NIGHT. SHE SAID SHE CALLED LANGFORD LATER AND SAID SHE
WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO DO SO.
AN MP WHO RODE ON PATROL WITH LANGFORD UNTIL 6 P.M. THAT DAY TOLD
INVESTIGATORS THAT LANGFORD "SEEMED TO BE IN A GOOD MOOD AND EVEN
SEEMED TO JOKE AROUND."
ANOTHER SOLDIER TOLD INVESTIGATORS LANGFORD CALLED HIM AN HOUR BEFORE
HE DIED TO CHAT BRIEFLY AND ASK HOW HE WAS DOING.
EVEN SO, THE CID CONCLUDED THAT LANGFORD HAD STAGED HIS DEATH. IT
BASED THAT CONCLUSION IN PART ON A POST-MORTEM EVALUATION OF
LANGFORD'S MENTAL HEALTH BY AN ARMY PSYCHOLOGIST WHO INTERVIEWED HIS
FRIENDS, CO-WORKERS, AND FAMILY MEMBERS.
THE PSYCHOLOGIST SPECULATED THAT LANGFORD KILLED HIMSELF BECAUSE OF
GIRL FRIEND PROBLEMS AND "EMOTIONAL INSTABILITY." A CID REPORT QUOTED
A FELLOW SOLDIER AS SAYING THAT DAYS BEFORE HIS DEATH, LANGFORD HAD
LAUGHED AND TOLD HIM:"I AM GOING TO DIE."
THE PSYCHOLOGIST CONCLUDED: "IT SEEMS THAT SPC LANGFORD WAS DETERMINED
TO KILL HIMSELF IN A FASHION THAT WOULD SUGGEST HE HAD BEEN MURDERED
IN THE LINE OF DUTY."
AN INQUIRER REVIEW OF THE CID REPORT INVESTIGATIVE FILES FOUND
EVIDENCE THAT RAISED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SUICIDE RULING:
* RESIDUE TESTS OF LANGFORD'S HANDS WERE INCONCLUSIVE AS TO WHETHER HE
HAD FIRED A GUN.
* NO BLOOD OR BRAIN TISSUE WAS FOUND ON THE PISTOL --- EVEN THOUGH
SUICIDE EXPERTS SAY SUCH "BLOWBACK" IS NORMALLY FOUND ON GUNS USED BY
PEOPLE WHO SHOOT THEMSELVES IN THE HEAD.
* WHILE INVESTIGATORS DETERMINED THAT THE SHELL CASINGS FOUND NEAR
LANGFORD'S BODY WERE FIRED FROM THE PISTOL, THEY DID NOT TRY TO
DETERMINE WHETHER THAT GUN FIRED THE BULLET THAT KILLED HIM.
* THE PISTOL WAS FOUND BENEATH THE LEFT SHOULDER OF LANGFORD, WHO WAS
A RIGHT HANDED SHOOTER.
* THE CIVILIAN DEATH CERTIFICATE, INSTEAD OF LISTING LANGFORD'S DEATH
AS A SUICIDE, PUT IT IN THE CATEGORY OF "UNDETERMINED CAUSE."
IN ADDITION, BUTTONS TORN FROM LANGFORD'S SHIRT WERE FOUND ON THE
FRONT SEAT OF HIS PATROL CAR. THE CID REPORT SPECULATED THAT THEY WERE
RIPPED OFF BY EMERGENCY PERSONNEL. WITNESSES TOLD CID THAT LANGFORD
WAS TREATED ON THE ROAD, NOT INSIDE THE CAR.
LANGFORD'S RADIO, ARMBAND AND MP BADGE WERE FOUND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE
ROAD A SHORT DISTANCE FROM HIS BODY. THE CID REPORT SPECULATED THAT
LANGFORD PUT THEM THERE AND THEN DROVE TO THE DEATH SCENE , WHERE HE
SAT DOWN NEXT TO HIS CAR AND SHOT HIMSELF. IT NOTED THAT THE ARMBAND
HAD BEEN CAREFULLY UNPINNED , RATHER THAN RIPPED , FROM LANGFORD'S
UNIFORM.
AS FOR THE TWO BULLETS FIRED FROM THE GUN, THE REPORT SPECULATED THAT
LANGFORD FIRED THE FIRST SHOT TO MAKE IT APPEAR THAT SOMEONE HAD FIRED
AT HIM AND MISSED.
KEEFE, THE FORMER CID INVESTIGATOR WHO REVIEWED THE REPORT FOR THE
INQUIRER, SAID THE EVIDENCE DOES NOT SUPPORT A SUICIDE RULING.
" IT SMELLS BAD, " KEEFE SAID OF THE REPORT.
KEEFE, A PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR IN NEW YORK, SAID THE REPORT INDICATED
THAT INVESTIGATORS QUICKLY ASSUMED THAT LANGFORD HAD KILLED HIMSELF,
THEN SOUGHT EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THAT THEORY.
"IT APPEARS THAT THE CAUSE OF DEATH AND THE MANNER OF DEATH WERE A
FOREGONE CONCLUSION," KEEFE SAID, "THIS IS HIGHLY IRREGULAR."
THE CID REPORT GIVES LITTLE INDICATION THAT INVESTIGATORS ATTEMPTED TO
IDENTIFY OR PURSUE A SUSPECT, ALTHOUGH GATES AT REDSTONE ARSENAL WERE
ORDERED CLOSED JUST AFTER THE SHOOTING.
AN MP SENT TO LOOK FOR LANGFORD TOLD THE CID THAT JUST AFTER THE
SHOOTING, HE HAD STOPPED A CIVILIAN IN A WHITE CAR LEAVING THE AREA
WHERE LANGFORD WAS FOUND, BUT THE MP SAID HE LET THE MAN GO WITHOUT
GETTING HIS NAME OR LICENSE NUMBER.
LAB TESTS LATER CONCLUDED THAT WHITE PAINT FLECKS FOUND ON LANGFORD'S
PISTOL DID NOT MATCH THE WHITE PAINT FROM HIS CHEVROLET LUMINA PATROL
CAR.
ANOTHER MP TOLD INVESTIGATORS HE HAD STOPPED A SOLDIER IN A CAR
LEAVING THE SAME AREA SHORTLY AFTER THE SHOOTING. HE SAID HE LET HIM
GO AFTER THE SOLDIER SAID HE WAS OUT TO "COOL OFF" AFTER A FIGHT WITH
HIS WIFE.
THE MP SAID HE TOOK THE SOLDIER'S ID CARD AND LEFT IT AT A BASE MP
STATION. BUT THE SOLDIER WAS ALLOWED TO RETRIEVE THE ID CARD THE NEXT
DAY WITHOUT ANYONE MAKING A RECORD OF HIS NAME, ACCORDING TO THE CID
REPORT.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE THESE PEOPLE ARE IN LAW ENFORCEMENT," JIM LANGFORD
SAID.
LANGFORD SAID HIS SON HAD TOLD HIM "I'M A DEAD MAN" IF THE PEOPLE HE
WAS INVESTIGATING DURING AN UNDERCOVER DRUG ASSIGNMENT FOUND OUT WHO
HE WAS.
A GIRLFRIEND OF LANGFORD'S TOLD THE CID THAT HE HAD SHOWN HER A
THREATENING NOTE THAT HAD "SOME KIND OF GANG-RELATED SYMBOLS ON IT."
THE CID REPORT SAID NO SUCH NOTES WERE FOUND IN LANGFORD'S BARRACKS
ROOM.
THE REPORT ALSO SAID INVESTIGATORS CHECKED WITH MILITARY AND CIVILIAN
POLICE AND FOUND NO RECORD THAT LANGFORD WAS INVOLVED IN UNDERCOVER
DRUG WORK.
THE REPORT DID QUOTE THREE FELLOW SOLDIERS AS SAYING LANGFORD HAD
TRIED AND FAILED TO ENLIST THEM IN A SCHEME TO ROB A PX PAYROLL
ESCORT. THE SOLDIERS SAID THE PLAN, WHICH THEY SAID THEY TOLD LANGFORD
WAS "A STUPID IDEA," NEVER GOT PAST THE TALKING STAGE.
THEY SAID LANGFORD PROPOSED HAVING ONE OF THEM SHOOT HIM WHILE HE WAS
WEARING A BULLET PROOF VEST--TO MAKE IT APPEAR THAT HE HAD PUT UP
RESISTANCE.
UNSATISFIED WITH THE CID INVESTIGATION , JIM LANGFORD SAID , HE WENT
TO ALABAMA IN NOVEMBER 1992 AND POSTED A $25,000 REWARD FOR
INFORMATION LEADING TO A MURDER CONVICTION.
HE SAID A HUNTSVILLE ALABAMA MAN TOLD HIM THAT A LOCAL DRUG DEALER HAD
PAID TO HAVE A MILITARY MAN KILLED.
WHEN HE PASSED ON THE MAN'S CLAIM TO THE CID, LANGFORD SAID, THE
AGENCY REOPENED THE CASE. BUT IN MAY, HE SAID, THE CID TOLD HIM THE
NEW PROBE HAD COME TO THE SAME CONCLUSION: SUICIDE.
MILLER, THE CID SPOKESMAN, SAID THE AGENCY COULD NOT DISCUSS SPECIFIC
CASES. HE SAID ALL CID DEATH INVESTIGATIONS ARE THOROUGH AND
PROFESSIONAL, AND UNDERGO RIGOROUS REVIEW WITHIN THE ARMY.
LANGFORD SAID HE WILL CONTINUE TO PRESS FOR ANSWERS, BUT HOLDS OUT
LITTLE HOPE.
"I'D HAVE BETTER LUCK BEATING MY HEAD AGAINST A WALL," HE SAID.
"GRIEF AND SHOCK: THAT'S WHAT 40 FAMILIES FELT WHEN THEY WERE TOLD
THEIR RELATIVES IN THE MILITARY DIED OF SELF-INFLICTED WOUNDS. THEIR
PAIN DEEPENED, THOUGH, WHEN THEIR SEARCH FOR ANSWERS HIT A WALL OF
SECRECY.-----THE FACTS CONTRADICT DEATH RULINGS ---ON A LATE WINTER
EVENING IN MARCH OF 1992, MILITARY POLICEMAN CHAD LANGFORD RADIOED THE
SECURITY CENTER AT A SPRAWLING ARMY ARSENAL IN ALABAMA THAT HE WAS
STOPPING TO ASSIST A STRANDED MOTORIST. SECONDS LATER, THE RADIO WENT
DEAD.
AN MP DISPATCHED TO INVESTIGATE FOUND LANGFORDS PATROL CAR, ITS HAZARD
LIGHTS FLASHING AND ITS ENGINE RUNNING, ON A REMOTE GRAVEL ROAD
OUTLINED IN PALE MOONLIGHT. NEXT TO THE CAR, THE MP SAID LATER, HE SAW
" A LOT OF BLOOD."
ON THE ROAD BENEATH THE CAR'S OPEN FRONT DOOR LAY SPEC. 4 CHAD
LANGFORD, DYING IN THE DARK OF A GUN SHOT TO HIS RIGHT TEMPLE.
LANGFORD'S BLOOD-STAINED MP CAP WAS STUFFED IN HIS MOUTH. HIS
HANDCUFFS DANGLED FROM HIS LEFT WRIST. THE LANYARD CORD FROM HIS
HOLSTER WAS WRAPPED AROUND HIS ANKLES, AND HIS CAR RADIO CABLE WAS
KNOTTED AROUND HIS NECK. ---AND LANGFORD'S .45-CALIBER SERVICE PISTOL,
WHICH HAD BEEN FIRED TWICE, LAY UNDER HIS LEFT SHOULDER.TWO DAYS
LATER-DESPITE THE BIZARRE DEATH SCENE AND BEFORE THE COMPLETION OF LAB
TESTS-A MILITARY PATHOLOGIST ISSUED A RULING: ---TWENTY YEAR OLD CHAD
LANGFORD HAD COMMITTED SUICIDE
IN TINY ELK CREEK, CALIF., LANGFORD'S FATHER WAS STUNNED BY THE NEWS.
JUST 10 DAYS EARLIER, JIM LANGFORD SAID, CHAD HAD TOLD HIM HIS LIFE
HAD BEEN THREATENED WHILE HE WAS ON AN UNDERCOVER DRUG INVESTIGATION.
MONTHS LATER, LANGFORD'S GRIEF AND SHOCK TURNED TO OUTRAGE. AN ARMY
REPORT SAID CHAD STAGED HIS OWN DEATH TO MAKE IT APPEAR THAT HE HAD
BEEN MURDERED.
BUT THE REPORT ALSO SAID SOMETHING ELSE: THE ARMY COULD NOT DETERMINE
WHETHER CHAD'S FINGERPRINTS WERE ON THE GUN, OR WHETHER HE HAD FIRED A
GUN AT ALL. AND UNIDENTIFIED FINGERPRINTS WERE FOUND ON HIS RADIO, MP
ARMBAND AND HANDCUFFS.
"I THINK THEY GOT THIS BOY WRAPPED UP IN A DRUG INVESTIGATION THAT GOT
HIM KILLED, AND NOW THEY DON'T WANT TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR IT,"
LANGFORD SAID LAST MONTH, "I THINK THEY'RE COVERING UP SOMETHING BIG
TIME.
IN THE HOURS BEFORE HE DIED, CHAD LANGFORD SEEMED A MAN ROUTINELY
GOING ABOUT HIS 'DUTIES' AND JOB.
TWO WOMEN TOLD INVESTIGATORS THAT LANGFORD CALLED THEM DURING THE LATE
AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING OF MARCH 12, 1992, AND CHATTED AMIABLY.
ONE WOMAN SAID SHE SPOKE WITH LANGFORD JUST BEFORE 8 P.M.--- OR
MINUTES BEFORE THE TIME INVESTIGATORS SAID LANGFORD SHOT HIMSELF.
THE WOMAN SAID "SHE DID NOT DETECT FEAR IN SPC LANGFORD'S VOICE AND
THAT HE SEEMED TO BE TALKING NORMALLY," SAID A REPORT BY THE ARMY'S
CID.
ACCORDING TO THE REPORT, THE WOMAN SAID SHE AND LANGFORD ARRANGED TO
MEET AT 1 P.M., WHEN HIS SHIFT WAS TO END.
ANOTHER WOMAN, A COLLEGE STUDENT, TOLD INVESTIGATORS THAT LANGFORD HAD
CALLED THAT AFTERNOON AND ASKED HER TO DROP BY THE MP STATION TO VISIT
HIM THAT NIGHT. SHE SAID SHE CALLED LANGFORD LATER AND SAID SHE
WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO DO SO.
AN MP WHO RODE ON PATROL WITH LANGFORD UNTIL 6 P.M. THAT DAY TOLD
INVESTIGATORS THAT LANGFORD "SEEMED TO BE IN A GOOD MOOD AND EVEN
SEEMED TO JOKE AROUND."
ANOTHER SOLDIER TOLD INVESTIGATORS LANGFORD CALLED HIM AN HOUR BEFORE
HE DIED TO CHAT BRIEFLY AND ASK HOW HE WAS DOING.
EVEN SO, THE CID CONCLUDED THAT LANGFORD HAD STAGED HIS DEATH. IT
BASED THAT CONCLUSION IN PART ON A POST-MORTEM EVALUATION OF
LANGFORD'S MENTAL HEALTH BY AN ARMY PSYCHOLOGIST WHO INTERVIEWED HIS
FRIENDS, CO-WORKERS, AND FAMILY MEMBERS.
THE PSYCHOLOGIST SPECULATED THAT LANGFORD KILLED HIMSELF BECAUSE OF
GIRL FRIEND PROBLEMS AND "EMOTIONAL INSTABILITY." A CID REPORT QUOTED
A FELLOW SOLDIER AS SAYING THAT DAYS BEFORE HIS DEATH, LANGFORD HAD
LAUGHED AND TOLD HIM:"I AM GOING TO DIE."
THE PSYCHOLOGIST CONCLUDED: "IT SEEMS THAT SPC LANGFORD WAS DETERMINED
TO KILL HIMSELF IN A FASHION THAT WOULD SUGGEST HE HAD BEEN MURDERED
IN THE LINE OF DUTY."
AN INQUIRER REVIEW OF THE CID REPORT INVESTIGATIVE FILES FOUND
EVIDENCE THAT RAISED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SUICIDE RULING:
* RESIDUE TESTS OF LANGFORD'S HANDS WERE INCONCLUSIVE AS TO WHETHER HE
HAD FIRED A GUN.
* NO BLOOD OR BRAIN TISSUE WAS FOUND ON THE PISTOL --- EVEN THOUGH
SUICIDE EXPERTS SAY SUCH "BLOWBACK" IS NORMALLY FOUND ON GUNS USED BY
PEOPLE WHO SHOOT THEMSELVES IN THE HEAD.
* WHILE INVESTIGATORS DETERMINED THAT THE SHELL CASINGS FOUND NEAR
LANGFORD'S BODY WERE FIRED FROM THE PISTOL, THEY DID NOT TRY TO
DETERMINE WHETHER THAT GUN FIRED THE BULLET THAT KILLED HIM.
* THE PISTOL WAS FOUND BENEATH THE LEFT SHOULDER OF LANGFORD, WHO WAS
A RIGHT HANDED SHOOTER.
* THE CIVILIAN DEATH CERTIFICATE, INSTEAD OF LISTING LANGFORD'S DEATH
AS A SUICIDE, PUT IT IN THE CATEGORY OF "UNDETERMINED CAUSE."
IN ADDITION, BUTTONS TORN FROM LANGFORD'S SHIRT WERE FOUND ON THE
FRONT SEAT OF HIS PATROL CAR. THE CID REPORT SPECULATED THAT THEY WERE
RIPPED OFF BY EMERGENCY PERSONNEL. WITNESSES TOLD CID THAT LANGFORD
WAS TREATED ON THE ROAD, NOT INSIDE THE CAR.
LANGFORD'S RADIO, ARMBAND AND MP BADGE WERE FOUND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE
ROAD A SHORT DISTANCE FROM HIS BODY. THE CID REPORT SPECULATED THAT
LANGFORD PUT THEM THERE AND THEN DROVE TO THE DEATH SCENE , WHERE HE
SAT DOWN NEXT TO HIS CAR AND SHOT HIMSELF. IT NOTED THAT THE ARMBAND
HAD BEEN CAREFULLY UNPINNED , RATHER THAN RIPPED , FROM LANGFORD'S
UNIFORM.
AS FOR THE TWO BULLETS FIRED FROM THE GUN, THE REPORT SPECULATED THAT
LANGFORD FIRED THE FIRST SHOT TO MAKE IT APPEAR THAT SOMEONE HAD FIRED
AT HIM AND MISSED.
KEEFE, THE FORMER CID INVESTIGATOR WHO REVIEWED THE REPORT FOR THE
INQUIRER, SAID THE EVIDENCE DOES NOT SUPPORT A SUICIDE RULING.
" IT SMELLS BAD, " KEEFE SAID OF THE REPORT.
KEEFE, A PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR IN NEW YORK, SAID THE REPORT INDICATED
THAT INVESTIGATORS QUICKLY ASSUMED THAT LANGFORD HAD KILLED HIMSELF,
THEN SOUGHT EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THAT THEORY.
"IT APPEARS THAT THE CAUSE OF DEATH AND THE MANNER OF DEATH WERE A
FOREGONE CONCLUSION," KEEFE SAID, "THIS IS HIGHLY IRREGULAR."
THE CID REPORT GIVES LITTLE INDICATION THAT INVESTIGATORS ATTEMPTED TO
IDENTIFY OR PURSUE A SUSPECT, ALTHOUGH GATES AT REDSTONE ARSENAL WERE
ORDERED CLOSED JUST AFTER THE SHOOTING.
AN MP SENT TO LOOK FOR LANGFORD TOLD THE CID THAT JUST AFTER THE
SHOOTING, HE HAD STOPPED A CIVILIAN IN A WHITE CAR LEAVING THE AREA
WHERE LANGFORD WAS FOUND, BUT THE MP SAID HE LET THE MAN GO WITHOUT
GETTING HIS NAME OR LICENSE NUMBER.
LAB TESTS LATER CONCLUDED THAT WHITE PAINT FLECKS FOUND ON LANGFORD'S
PISTOL DID NOT MATCH THE WHITE PAINT FROM HIS CHEVROLET LUMINA PATROL
CAR.
ANOTHER MP TOLD INVESTIGATORS HE HAD STOPPED A SOLDIER IN A CAR
LEAVING THE SAME AREA SHORTLY AFTER THE SHOOTING. HE SAID HE LET HIM
GO AFTER THE SOLDIER SAID HE WAS OUT TO "COOL OFF" AFTER A FIGHT WITH
HIS WIFE.
THE MP SAID HE TOOK THE SOLDIER'S ID CARD AND LEFT IT AT A BASE MP
STATION. BUT THE SOLDIER WAS ALLOWED TO RETRIEVE THE ID CARD THE NEXT
DAY WITHOUT ANYONE MAKING A RECORD OF HIS NAME, ACCORDING TO THE CID
REPORT.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE THESE PEOPLE ARE IN LAW ENFORCEMENT," JIM LANGFORD
SAID.
LANGFORD SAID HIS SON HAD TOLD HIM "I'M A DEAD MAN" IF THE PEOPLE HE
WAS INVESTIGATING DURING AN UNDERCOVER DRUG ASSIGNMENT FOUND OUT WHO
HE WAS.
A GIRLFRIEND OF LANGFORD'S TOLD THE CID THAT HE HAD SHOWN HER A
THREATENING NOTE THAT HAD "SOME KIND OF GANG-RELATED SYMBOLS ON IT."
THE CID REPORT SAID NO SUCH NOTES WERE FOUND IN LANGFORD'S BARRACKS
ROOM.
THE REPORT ALSO SAID INVESTIGATORS CHECKED WITH MILITARY AND CIVILIAN
POLICE AND FOUND NO RECORD THAT LANGFORD WAS INVOLVED IN UNDERCOVER
DRUG WORK.
THE REPORT DID QUOTE THREE FELLOW SOLDIERS AS SAYING LANGFORD HAD
TRIED AND FAILED TO ENLIST THEM IN A SCHEME TO ROB A PX PAYROLL
ESCORT. THE SOLDIERS SAID THE PLAN, WHICH THEY SAID THEY TOLD LANGFORD
WAS "A STUPID IDEA," NEVER GOT PAST THE TALKING STAGE.
THEY SAID LANGFORD PROPOSED HAVING ONE OF THEM SHOOT HIM WHILE HE WAS
WEARING A BULLET PROOF VEST--TO MAKE IT APPEAR THAT HE HAD PUT UP
RESISTANCE.
UNSATISFIED WITH THE CID INVESTIGATION , JIM LANGFORD SAID , HE WENT
TO ALABAMA IN NOVEMBER 1992 AND POSTED A $25,000 REWARD FOR
INFORMATION LEADING TO A MURDER CONVICTION.
HE SAID A HUNTSVILLE ALABAMA MAN TOLD HIM THAT A LOCAL DRUG DEALER HAD
PAID TO HAVE A MILITARY MAN KILLED.
WHEN HE PASSED ON THE MAN'S CLAIM TO THE CID, LANGFORD SAID, THE
AGENCY REOPENED THE CASE. BUT IN MAY, HE SAID, THE CID TOLD HIM THE
NEW PROBE HAD COME TO THE SAME CONCLUSION: SUICIDE.
MILLER, THE CID SPOKESMAN, SAID THE AGENCY COULD NOT DISCUSS SPECIFIC
CASES. HE SAID ALL CID DEATH INVESTIGATIONS ARE THOROUGH AND
PROFESSIONAL, AND UNDERGO RIGOROUS REVIEW WITHIN THE ARMY.
LANGFORD SAID HE WILL CONTINUE TO PRESS FOR ANSWERS, BUT HOLDS OUT
LITTLE HOPE.
"I'D HAVE BETTER LUCK BEATING MY HEAD AGAINST A WALL," HE SAID.