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Indictment made against American ■ accused of murdering colonel’s son ,Stars and StripesZWEIBRUCKEN, Germany — German prosecutors filed an indictment this week against a 20-year-old American accused of bludgeoning to death the son of a U.S. Air Force colonel last spring.The trial is expected to be held in early December, Thomas Liss-mann, a German prosecutor in Zweibriicken, said Thursday.Lissmanri said he could not release the defendant’s identity until the trial begins.Authorities found the body of Joseph Lawrence Whitehurst, 21, on June 4.German officials said the victim’s father, Dr. (Col.) Lawrence Whitehurst, called authorities June 3 to report his son missing from home in government quarters at Ramstein Air Base.The colonel, commander of the 86th Medical Group at the time, had last seen his son May 30.Based on the missing person’s report, German and U.S. military police located the son’s car later in the day.The car was parked down the street from the Ramstein village outdoor pool, which is on the edge of town in a section buffered by woods that separate it from an air base perimeter fence.Although police found the car, they did not find any trace of theThe case nowwill he tried injuvenile court inyounger Whitehurst until late thenext day.A military police officer returned to the scene after his evening shift and ventured deeper into the woods.There, he found the body on the ground and covered with leaves, according to German police.German investigators said they know little about the defendant.Immediately after he was arrested, German police described him as a homeless man living in the woods in the general vicinity of where the crime occurred.He was not connected with the U.S. military, police said.Investigators also learned that his family left Germany within the last year, Lissmann said.The defendant and Joseph 1Whitehurst got to know each lt;other in nightclubs around Ram- ]stein, Lissmann said. 1The two were sitting around acamp fire in the woods on May 30 fwhen the slaying occurred, the 1prosecutor said. •For an unexplained reason, the ’ defendant grabbed a club and beat Joseph Whitehurst to death, the prosecutor said.The defendant subsequently was arrested as police asked the victim’s friends about the case.During a police interrogation, he confessed to the killing, Lissmann said.The case now will be tried in juvenile court in Zweibriicken; under German law, someone must be 21 or older to be tried as an adult.If the defendant is convicted, the judge can issue a sentence based on either juvenile or adultlaw.Under juvenile law, a defendant can be sentenced to serve up to 10 years in a jail for minors.Under adult law, he can be sentenced to serve five to 15 years in a prison.The judge also could reduce the sentence because a psychiatrist has determined that the defendant suffers from mental problems, Lissmann said.
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European Stars and Stripes
Darmstadt, Hesse, DE
Fri, Oct 29, 1999
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