Jeffrey Digman

[crystaldawn]

He is the Marine Captain that was found shot on his bed and the military quickly dismissed it as a suicide but his parents believe he was murdered. Here's some additional info on the case:

"THE NCIS TRIED TO CONVINCE BILL AND DONNA DIGMAN THAT THEIR SON,
MARINE CAPT. JEFFREY DIGMAN , SHOT HIMSELF IN THE HEAD IN JANUARY
1989, EVEN THOUGH HE WOULD HAVE HAD TO CONTORT HIMSELF UP-SIDE DOWN TO
PRODUCE THE BULLET TRAJECTORY.

THE FAMILY'S FORENSICS EXPERTS FOUND INJURIES ON DIGMANS CHEEK, ELBOW
AND FINGER CONSISTENT WITH A STRUGGLE .

THE BULLET ENTERED INTO THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE HEAD OF THE LEFT HANDED
CAPTAIN.

AND THE FORENSIC EXPERT SAID SOME ONE PROBABLY SHOT DIGMAN AND
REARRANGED HIS BODY.

ONE SUNDAY IN JANUARY 1989, LUCY GARCIA DROVE TO THE AIRPORT IN SAN
JUAN, PUERTO RICO, TO PICK UP HER BOYFRIEND.

MARINE CAPT. JEFFREY DIGMAN HAD ASKED HER TO MEET HIM AS HE RETURNED
FROM HOMELEAVE IN CALIFORNIA. SHE RECALLS MAKING SURE SHE LEFT EARLY
ENOUGH TO MEET HIS PLANE ON TIME, FOR JEFFREY WAS METICULOUS. HE HAD
GIVEN HER PRECISE FLIGHT INFORMATION AND ASKED HER TO HAVE HIS DRESS
BLUE UNIFORM CLEANED FOR AN INSPECTION THE NEXT DAY.

JEFFREY DIGMAN NEVER ARRIVED. HE WAS LYING DEAD ON HIS BED IN
TEMECULA, CALIF., THAT EVENING, SHOT THROUGH THE HEAD WITH A REVOLVER.
THE RIVERSIDE COUNTY (CALIF.) SHERIFF'S OFFICE AND NAVY INVESTIGATORS
LATER SAID THAT DIGMAN - SO DRUNK THAT HIS BLOOD ALCOHOL LEVEL WAS
TWICE THE LEGAL LIMIT - HAD COMMITTED SUICIDE.

THE CASE WAS QUICKLY CLOSED, EVEN THOUGH INVESTIGATORS DID NOT FIND
THE FATAL BULLET, COULD NOT DETERMINE IF THE .44 MAGNUM HANDGUN FOUND
NEXT TO DIGMAN'S BODY HAD KILLED HIM, AND HAD NOT TESTED DIGMAN'S
HANDS TO DETERMINE WHETHER HE HAD FIRED A WEAPON.

IN ADDITION, THE LEFT-HANDED CAPTAIN WAS SHOT ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF HIS
HEAD, AND THE WOUND WAS NOT THE STAR-SHAPED TYPE NORMALLY ASSOCIATED
WITH SELF-INFLICTED GUNSHOTS. EVEN A YEAR LATER, AFTER A SECOND
AUTOPSY REVEALED INJURIES SUGGESTING A STRUGGLE, THE AGENCIES HELD TO
THEIR SUICIDE RULING.

TO LUCY GARCIA- AND TO KIGMAN'S PARENTS - JEFFREY'S ACTIONS IN THE
DAYS AND HOURS BEFORE HIS DEATH HARDLY SEEMED THOSE OF A MAN PLANNING
TO TAKE HIS LIFE.

WHEN SHE SPOKE TO HIM ON THE PHONE A FEW DAYS BEFORE HE DIED, GARCIA
SAID IN AN INTERVIEW, DIGMAN "SEEMED TOTALLY NORMAL, HIS USUAL SELF,
TALKING ABOUT THE THINGS WE WERE GOING TO DO WHEN HE GOT BACK."

ABOUT 50 MINUTES BEFORE HE DIED, A FRIEND SAID, DIGMAN TOLD HER BY
PHONE THAT HE WAS AWAITING A RIDE TO THE AIRPORT. GEMA PFEIFFER SAID
IN AN INTERVIEW THAT DIGMAN, 30, "SOUNDED COMPLETELY NORMAL, NOT
SUICIDAL."

ALTHOUGH DIGMAN SOMETIMES DRANK HEAVILY, PFEIFFER SAID, SHE COULD NOT
TELL OVER THE PHONE WHETHER HE WAS DRUNK.

WILLIAM DIGMAN, A RETIRED ENGINEER, AND DONNA DIGMAN, A REAL ESTATE
AGENT, REFUSED TO BELIEVE THEIR GUNG-HO MARINE SON TOOK HIS LIFE. THEY
SAID THEY HAVE SPENT ALMOST $100,000 TRYING TO PROVE HE WAS MURDERED.

THE DIGMANS SAY THEY ARE DETERMINED TO REMOVE THE STAIN OF SUICIDE
FROM THEIR SON'S LEGACY. BUT IN DOING SO , THEY HAVE HAD TO CONFRONT
PAINFUL REMINDERS OF HIS VIOLENT DEATH JUST A FEW MILES FROM THEIR
HOME IN CYPRESS, CALIF.

FIRST, THEY HAD TO ENDURE THE EXHUMATION OF JEFFREY'S BODY A YEAR
LATER SO THAT A SECOND AUTOPSY COULD BE PERFORMED BY NAVY DOCTORS.

THEN , IN A BEDROOM OF THE HOME WHERE JEFFREY GREW UP DREAMING OF
BECOMING A MARINE, THE DUGMANS BUILT AN ELABORATE MOCKUP OF HIS DEATH
SCENE. THEY MOVED IN HIS FURNITURE AND BELONGINGS AND PLACED THEM IN
PRECISELY THE SAME POSITIONS AS IN THE BEDROOM WHERE HE DIED.

IN THE MOCKUP, DOWN THE HALL FROM THEIR BEDROOM, JEFFREY'S DEATH WAS
REPLAYED ENDLESSLY. "IT GOT TO WHERE I COULDN'T STAND THE SIGHT OF
THAT BED, "DONNA DIGMAN SAID., "BUT IT WAS SO IMPORTANT IN SHOWING
WHAT HAPPENED, WE JUST LEARNED TO PUT UP WITH IT. WE OWE IT TO
JEFFREY."

ON THE CEILING, BILL DIGMAN SAID, HE MARKED A SPOT COINCIDING WITH THE
HOLE LEFT IN THE CEILING OF JEFFREY'S HOME BY THE BULLET THAT PASSED
THROUGH HIS SKULL AND OUT THE ROOF. THEN HE RAN A STRING FROM THE MARK
TO THE EDGE OF THE BED UPON WHICH JEFFREY'S BODY WAS FOUND.

THE TRAJECTORY INDICATED BY THE STRING PROVED TO HIM, DIGMAN SAID,
THAT HIS SON DID NOT KILL HIMSELF.

"HE WOULD'VE HAD TO PRACTICALLY LEAN OVER AND STAND ON HIS HEAD TO
SHOOT HIMSELF." DIGMAN SAID. " AND HE WOULD HAVE FALLEN OVER ON THE
FLOOR, NOT ON THE BED."

IT WAS THEN, THE DIGMANS SAID, THAT THEY DECIDED TO FIND THEIR OWN
EXPERTS TO INVESTIGATE THE ENTIRE CASE.

THEY HIRED A PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR TO INTERVIEW PEOPLE WHOM THE NAVY
AND SHERIFF HAD NOT QUESTIONED. THEY HIRED THREE OF THE COUNTRY'S TOP
FORENSIC PATHOLOGISTS TO REVIEW AUTOPSY RECORDS. THEY PAID AN EXPERT
IN BLOOD SPATTER PATTERNS AND A CRIME SCENE ANALYST TO PORE OVER
AUTOPSY AND DEATH SCENE PHOTOS.

THOSE PHOTOS, COMBINED WITH A SECOND MOCKUP THE DIGMANS SET UP IN THE
ACTUAL BEDROOM WHERE THEIR SON DIED IN TEMECULA, HELPED CONVINCE THEIR
EXPERTS THAT DIGMAN DID NOT DIE THE WAY AUTHORITIES SAID.

"THERE IS MORE HARD EVIDENCE AGAINST A DETERMINATION OF SUICIDE THAN
FOR IT, " PATHOLOGIST CYRIL W. WECHT, A FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE
AMERICAN ACADEMY OF FORENSIC SCIENCES, SAID IN AN INTERVIEW. HE
CHARACTERIZED BOTH INVESTIGATIONS AS "NOT AS COMPLETE OR DETAILED AS
THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN."

WECHT ADDED: "THERE IS A LOT OF GOOD, SOLID EVIDENCE THAT SHOWS IT
WOULD HAVE BEEN EXTREMELY DIFFICULT, IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE, FOR A SUICIDE
TO HAVE OCCURRED IN THE MANNER THAT WAS DESCRIBED" BY AUTHORITIES.

A REPORT BY STEPHAN A. SCHLIEBE, A CRIME SCENE EXPERT AT THE
CALIFORNIA LABORATORY OF FORENSIC SCIENCE, WAS LESS EQUIVOCAL:
"JEFFREY DIGMAN STRUGGLED WITH SOMEONE, WAS EITHER ACCIDENTALLY OR
PURPOSELY SHOT, AND WAS THEN PLACED ON THE BED."

THE DEATH SCENE PHOTOS SHOWED THAT JEFFREY'S THUMBS, WHICH WERE
POINTED UP AT HIS SIDE, WERE BLUE, THAT DIDN'T MAKE SENSE, THE
DIGMAN'S EXPERTS TOLD THEM. THE BLUE COLOR WAS CAUSED BY LIVIDITY, OR
THE SETTLING OF BLOOD, THEY EXPLAINED - BUT ONLY IF THE THUMBS HAD
BEEN POINTED DOWNWARD AND AWAY FROM THE BODY.

ACCORDING TO WECHT, THE LIVIDITY AND POSITION OF THE THUMBS STRONGLY
SUGGESTED THAT SOMEONE REARRANGED JEFFREY'S HANDS AFTER HE DIED.

THE DIGMANS ALSO SAW THAT THE PHOTOS SHOWED BLOOD RUNNING STRAIGHT
DOWN FROM HIS EAR. THEIR EXPERTS CONCLUDED JEFFREY HAD REMAINED
UPRIGHT FOR FIVE TO SEVEN SECONDS AFTER HE WAS SHOT.

BUT BECAUSE SUCH A SEVERE WOUND WOULD HAVE CAUSED HIM TO COLLAPSE
INSTANTLY, THE EXPERTS CONCLUDED THAT SOMEONE EITHER PREVENTED DIGMAN
FROM FALLING OR HELD HIM UPRIGHT WHILE LAYING HIM ON THE BED.

THE PHOTOS ALSO SHOWED A FRESH ABRASION ON DIGMAN'S RIGHT
CHEEK-DISMISSED BY THE RIVERSIDE COUNTY CORONER'S REPORT AS A "SMALL"
INJURY THAT DID NOT SUGGEST FOUL PLAY. AFTER THE BODY WAS EXHUMED, A
NAVY AUTOPSY IN 1990 FOUND PREVIOUSLY UNDOCUMENTED INJURIES TO
DIGMAN'S ELBOW AND FINGER.

EVEN SO, THE NAVY SAID DIGMAND HAD COMMITTED SUICIDE.

THE DIGMAN'S EXPERTS DISAGREED.

"THESE INJURIES INDICATE THAT SOME KIND OF AN ALTERCATION TOOK PLACE
PRIOR TO JEFFREY DIGMAN'S DEATH," SCHLIEBE CONCLUDED.

THE DIGMANS HAD ALSO NOTICED A BLOOD STAIN ON THE SHEET SEVERAL INCHES
ABOVE THEIR SON'S HEAD. THEIR EXPERTS CONCLUDED THAT THE BLOOD WAS NOT
SPATTER FROM THE GUNSHOT BUT HAD BEEN SMEARED THERE BY ANOTHER
SOURCE-POSSIBLY A SECOND PERSON WHO HAD JEFFREY'S BLOOD ON HIS OR HER
BODY.

NONE OF THESE CONTRADICTIONS WAS NOTED IN EITHER INVESTIGATION. IN
FACT, THE AUTOPSY REPORT PREPARED THE DAY JEFFREY DIED-WHEN THE
INVESTIGATION WAS JUST HOURS OLD-CONCLUDED: "NO SIGNS OF FOUL PLAY".

TED L. GUNDERSON, THE FORMER HEAD OF THE FBI OFFICE IN LOS ANGELES,
WAS HIRED BY THE DIGMANS TO REINVESTIGATE THE CASE.

"IT WAS A JOKE-ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS." GUNDERSON SAID OF THE JOINT
CIVILIAN AND NAVY INVESTIGATION.

THE DIGMANS TOOK THEIR ACCUMULATED EVIDENCE TO THE ARMED FORCES
INSTITUTE OF PATHOLOGY IN WASHINGTON, A DEFENSE DEPARTMENT AGENCY. IN
FEBRUARY 1991 - TWO YEARS AFTER JEFFREY DIGMAN DIED-A MEDICAL EXAMINER
AT THE INSTITUTE, RICHARD FROEDE, WROTE THAT "AFTER CAREFUL
EXAMINATION AND MUCH THOUGHT," HE HAD RECLASSIFIED THE DEATH FROM
SUICIDE TO "UNDETERMINED."

EVEN SO, THE SHERIFFS OFFICE AND THE NCIA REFUSED TO CHANGE THEIR
RULINGS. THE DIGMANS CONTINUED TO PRESSURE BOTH AGENCIES WHILE WRITING
LETTERS TO CONGRESSMEN, MILITARY COMMANDERS AND LOCAL OFFICIALS.

LAST YEAR, THE CALIFORNIA STATE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AGREED TO
REINVESTIGATE THE CASE. MICHAEL PRODAN, THE INVESTIGATOR IN CHARGE OF
THE REVIEW, SAID HE HAS STUDIED EXISTING EVIDENCE AND SOUGHT NEW
INFORMATION.

PRODAN DECLINED TO DISCUSS SPECIFICS OF THE CASE, BUT HE SAID HIS
OFFICE WOULD SEND A COPY OF ITS FINAL REPORT TO RIVERSIDE COUNTY
AUTHORITIES."

[Mr. Fuji]

This is one of my favorite cases. No matter how many times I watch it, I am still intrigued by it.

The biggest thing for me is his roommate who went over to his neighbor's house before he entered the house simply because he wanted to make sure there was a witness was there in case something went wrong. That just didn't make sense to me. He had to have known something.

[Awsi Dooger]

A thousand posts and now a thousand caps? I didn't have enough energy to read it anyway, so that cinched the decision.

[crystaldawn]

Originally Posted by Awsi Dooger

A thousand posts and now a thousand caps? I didn't have enough energy to read it anyway, so that cinched the decision.

I copied and pasted so obviously I wasn't going to go through and correct the all caps. You are so intimidated by my 1000 posts Awsi.....

Yes I think his roommate must have known if nothing else that Digman had people after him. Why else would a tough Marine ask his elderly neighbor to escort him into the house?

[marlins3]

I feel sorry fo rhis parents obviously. I will say, however, that his dad is one interesting fellow (and no just because of rug on his head).


I think the guy looks downright scary when he is trying to do a re-enactment of his son's shooting (yes, I believe Digman was murdered), I do think , though, that he dwells on the left-handed issue a bit much. Just because someone is left-handed does not necessarily mean they will hold a gun in that hand (for example, my father is right-handed but always shoot sleft-handed).

[DP1]

Originally Posted by Mr. Fuji

This is one of my favorite cases. No matter how many times I watch it, I am still intrigued by it.

The biggest thing for me is his roommate who went over to his neighbor's house before he entered the house simply because he wanted to make sure there was a witness was there in case something went wrong. That just didn't make sense to me. He had to have known something.

I also found it strange that his roommate, a Marine, didn't want to go into the house alone.

[Clockworkhigh]

Originally Posted by crystaldawn

Yes I think his roommate must have known if nothing else that Digman had people after him. Why else would a tough Marine ask his elderly neighbor to escort him into the house?

Exactly. The marine knew something was amiss. Jeffrey by all accounts was strictly to the book on things. It would be weird to see him miss his plane.

This doesn't mean the marine is guilty - far from it - I think if anyone would know secret stuff about the marines and who would be after him it would have been his roomate.

This is clearly a homicide. Another honest man dying from an apparent dishonest man

[mattc]

Originally Posted by Clockworkhigh

Exactly. The marine knew something was amiss. Jeffrey by all accounts was strictly to the book on things. It would be weird to see him miss his plane.

This doesn't mean the marine is guilty - far from it - I think if anyone would know secret stuff about the marines and who would be after him it would have been his roomate.

This is clearly a homicide. Another honest man dying from an apparent dishonest man

Yeah I always felt it was very strange too. The segment said that Jeffrey should have caught his plane 15 mins earlier, and that the roommate was alarmed that his car was in the driveway. But, planes are delayed all the time, and merely seeing his car and a light on upstairs shouldn't have caused him to be scared to go in the house?

It just seems that he might know more than he is telling, like maybe he was suspecting that Jeff would kill himself, or suspecting that there were people out to get him. I don't know.

I do, however, feel that this most likely was a suicide. I feel for the parents, as they don't want to accept the fact that their son killed himself, but the evidence they came up with is not very strong: Used left hand to shoot even though he is right handed (as was stated above, that doesn't mean anything). Also, the whole case rests on the bullet trajectory, but remember, he was drunk at the time, and as long as he was leaning down with his elbow on his knee, the bullet would follow such a path. Finally, they found small abrasions on his check and his elbow.. Hell, at any given time, I probably have a few abrasions on myself.

[hostedbyrobertstack]

I have always thought that he was murdered...I really don't think there is any way that this is suicide. However, I do feel that it was the perfect opportunity for someone to murder him and set it up as a suicide, as he had just been stationed somewhere that he did not want to go...which may make people think he was despondent and committed suicide.

The thing I found funny is that they kept saying his "San Diego" home, etc... So I had always tried to find information on where his house was to see if I could find more info. Turns out, as posted above, he lived in Temecula, which is actually about 45 mins from San Diego, and more in between LA/SD. Always found that interesting and had wondered why they had made it that way in the story.

[mattc]

Originally Posted by hostedbyrobertstack

I have always thought that he was murdered...I really don't think there is any way that this is suicide. However, I do feel that it was the perfect opportunity for someone to murder him and set it up as a suicide, as he had just been stationed somewhere that he did not want to go...which may make people think he was despondent and committed suicide.

The thing I found funny is that they kept saying his "San Diego" home, etc... So I had always tried to find information on where his house was to see if I could find more info. Turns out, as posted above, he lived in Temecula, which is actually about 45 mins from San Diego, and more in between LA/SD. Always found that interesting and had wondered why they had made it that way in the story.

Im just curious why you think so strongly that he killed himself? Am I missing something? I'm not finding the evidence presented that he committed suicide very strong.

[Clockworkhigh]

Originally Posted by mattc

It just seems that he might know more than he is telling, like maybe he was suspecting that Jeff would kill himself, or suspecting that there were people out to get him. I don't know.

I didn't find it all too weird. If Jeff was unpopular with the crooked members of the Marines that were into drugs then I am sure he mentioned that to his roomate that someone could be after him. Plus his roomate was in the Marines too, no doubt about it these guys have a better sense of awareness compared to you or me. They've seen some ugliness in mankind and like a cop their first reaction is to plan for the worst hope for the best.

[kadrmas15]

Yes, I never understood why they said San Diego home either. Digman as everyone knows lived in Temecula, California which is actually about 50 miles north of downtown San Diego. However it is only a stone's throw from Camp Pendelton where Digman was stationed before he was transferred to San Juan, Puerto Rico. The base Digman was assigned to in Puerto Rico was shut down several years ago and converted into an airport.

However San Diego was not Digman's home town, in fact, Digman's parents live or lived in Cypress, California and Digman grew up there. Cypress, California is actually in Orange County, California and Los Angeles County borders it to the west. So Cypress is actually closer to Los Angeles by far than San Diego. Cypress is about 25 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles and roughly 100 or so miles north of downtown San Diego.

Plus they made it seem like his parents lived 'nearby' when in fact Cypress is about 40, 45 miles west, northwest of Temecula. Temecula itself is in Riverside County, not San Diego County. That is why even watching the segment when they made it sound like he lived in San Diego, yet the investigator was from the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, so I knew UM screwed up on the details. Temecula is close to Digman's former base Camp Pendelton, it is roughly 10 to 15 miles northeast of the base.

I for one always believed Digman was murdered too. It seems whenever the military is involved they are always very content to write suspicious deaths off as suicide. However in this case, while there were things that on the surface might make it look like suicide, there is just as much that argues this is a murder. The big things for me that pointed to murder, were the physical evidence. The blood going down in a perfect straight down angle from his ear. If he had shot himself he would have fallen right back and the blood would not have been like that. Plus, the bullet trajectory, Digman would have had to practically be leaning over off the bed to fire the gun in the way it was fired and have the bullet wind up where it was found. I mean this is not a magic bullet to where he can straight back but yet the bullet winds up in a completely different location than it should have been found in based on the position his body was found in.

I mean I have never heard a credible explanation from law enforcement about how the bullet ended up where it ended up yet Digman is flat on his back, with his legs sticking straight out and evenly out and his feet flat on the floor and his farm flat and lying at his sides. It just seems like he was posed that way. I mean the way where that bullet, where it ended up, if Digman shot himself, then Digman should have fallen forward and to the floor, not fallen straight back and had his feet, legs and arms be in perfect position.

It was well known amongst Jeff Digman's friends, family, acquaintances, basically anyone and everyone that knew him, knew that he was less than happy about his transfer to Puerto Rico. It seems he was not expecting that transfer and I have always found it curious how he was abruptly transferred from Camp Pendelton to about as far away as you can get from California and remain in the United States, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Now at the time Digman died, 1989, the following Marine Corps bases were open in this country. Sorry for being a bit tedious but I have always wondered myself about that transfer. Marine Corps Air Station El Toro in Irvine, California which was closed in 1999. Marine Corps Air Station Tustin in Tustin, California which was also closed in 1999. Marine Corps Barracks Adak in Adak, Alaska which was closed in 2004. Also the Marine Corps Station in San Juan, Puerto Rico which was closed in 2005.

Now the bases that were open then and that are open now. Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, California. Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, California. Marine Corps Logistics Base in Barstow, California. Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, California. Mountain Warfare Training Center in Bridgeport, California. Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany, Georgia. Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kane ohe Bay, Hawaii. Marine Corps Base Camp Lejune in Jacksonville, North Carolina. Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in Beaufort, South Carolina. Marine Corps Base Quantico in Quantico, Virginia. Henderson Hall in Arlington, Virginia. Marine Barracks, Washington D.C. in Washington D.C. Camp H.M. Smith in Aiea, Hawaii. Camp Allen in Norfolk, Virginia.

But to me, I think whoever killed Digman knew him, knew he would be back, and decided to finish him off. Digman was a well known heavy drinker so while the BAC in his blood .24 which today would be 3 times above the legal limit for driving but for someone that drink heavily on a routine basis like Digman, while he would certainly be drunk, he would not seem as drunk as he really was due to the fact he had tolerance to a degree.

But my guess, he was watching the Super Bowl, hanging out at home, probably a bit depressed, not exactly anxious to go back to a place he did not want to go to in the first place and was hitting the sauce pretty good. But I just do not think he would be calling people including calling a friend of his 50 minutes before the presumed time of death and tell her that he was 'waiting for a ride to the airport' and then out of the blue go boy, you know, I am kind of bored, this is taking a while, got nothing else to do, better commit suicide. I mean that is kind of absurd to think that.

Another question is, what airport was Digman flying out of to go back to San Juan? I would presume the San Diego International Airport. Now San Diego International Airport is right in downtown San Diego so Digman or whoever was giving him a ride would have to drive about 50 miles to get there. The John Wayne International Airport in Santa Ana which is about 30 miles west of Temecula. However my guess he flew into and out of San Diego Airport as that has much more traffic and flies to more places. I am sure he did not fly out of Los Angeles International Airport as that is about 80 miles from Temecula.

But yeah, bottom line, the investigation was not handled very well. I mean Digman died off base. So why was the NCIS even investigating this? It seems that once the NCIS got involved suddenly all the civilian authorities would believe was that it was suicide even though there was not really any credible evidence to support that. Digman was unhappy about the transfer but it seems he was adjusting to Puerto Rico, he had a girlfriend he enjoyed and was adjusting to Puerto Rico. I just think the transfer caught him off guard and that he felt it was retaliation for him doing his job properly when he was at Camp Pendelton.

[kadrmas15]

But yeah I did find it strange how a Major in the Marine Corps, the guy that was Digman's house mate would be so concerned when he had no reason to believe that Digman was even dead let alone hurt yet when he gets home he goes and gets an elderly neighbor to go into the house with him? I mean seeing Digman's car in the drive way with the garage door up and a light on upstairs is not cause for most people to believe something is amiss. So while I do not believe the Major killed Jeff Digman I do think he knows more than he is telling.

But basically, it seems the NCIS and the Riverside County Sheriff's Department did what I would say was at best an incomplete investigation. I am not sure if the RCSO just went along with what the NCIS wanted or what? It sounds like the coroner who did the autopsy was not a civilian coroner like it would have been for any one else that died in Riverside County but the Navy insisted on doing the autopsy. There were many things they missed in the first autopsy and they labeled it suicide without any real evidence to support that conclusion other than pure conjecture. Why was an autopsy not done by the civilian coroner in Riverside County? After all, Digman died in a house off the base, he did not die on base so why was the military doing the autopsy?

It just seems from the get go that the NCIS was hell bent on making this suicide. I have seen the military do this in other cases, Chad Lankford, Billy Ray Hargrove and Mike Carmichael, Ralph Seigler to name a few. But like I said, the NCIS seemed hell bent on making this a suicide and that neither they nor the Riverside County Sheriff's Department (that detective's toupee was almost as bad as Digman's fathers) never considered this anything other than suicide. Thus, because they developed tunnel vision and never really investigated, the opportunity to investigate possible suspects ceased.

[justins5256]

I watched this again last night and while I originally believed that Digmin was murdered, I don't see too much that is inconsistent with suicide. The most telling evidence that it was suicide was the presence of gun shot residue on Digmin's hands which indicated he had fired a weapon. Also, it isn't mentioned whether the gun found belonged to Digmin but I think we can safely assume it did because had the gun's origins been unknown, surely it would have been mentioned as further evidence of murder.

Although Digmin was left handed, it was briefly mentioned that GSR was discovered on both his hands, so he could have used his right hand, or used both hands to inflict the wound. I also fail to see how he automatically would have had to end up on the floor. Is it possible that the recoil and force of the bullet entering his skull could have knocked him to his left and back on to the bed?

The only remaining troubling aspects of this case are the missing safe and the missing diary pages. The family assumes this had something to do with Digmin's position at the time which involved drug testing other soldiers. However, there is no way to say when the safe and diary pages went missing. Perhaps they were stolen by some criminal element who became aware of Digmin's death and sought to do away with evidence that might pertain to his drug testing. Perhaps Digmin tore the pages out of the diary himself for an unknown reason, and this went unnoticed by his girlfriend. It didn't appear she actually read or closely examined the diary (at least based on the re-enactment).

Finally, one of the family's "experts" was the late retired FBI agent Ted Gunderson. This guy has quite an interesting reputation. He is known for his investigations into government coverups and has made all sorts of accusations involving Satanic cult involvement in many levels of of the US government, child sex trafficking involving people in Washington, etc. Some of his beliefs are pretty "out there" to be kind.

[TheCars1986]

I'll have to rewatch this one, but IIRC there was never really a clear cut motive given as to why anyone would want Jeffrey dead. And didn't his girlfriend say he had became despondent shortly before his death? And wasn't his roommate away at the time of his death? I think he waited for his roommate to be away from the house, when he knew he would be alone, so he could kill himself.