48 Hours - "48 Hours" Presents: Private Needham's War

Episode Date: May 26, 2019

A young soldier suffering from PTSD is accused of killing his girlfriend -- was she another casualty of war?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to this podcast ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app today. Even if you love the thrill of true crime stories as much as I do, there are times when you want to mix it up. And that's where Audible comes in, with all the genres you love and new ones to discover. Explore thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. Listening to Audible can lead to positive change in your mood, your habits,

and even your overall well-being. And you can enjoy Audible anytime, while doing household chores, exercising, commuting, you name it. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free 30-day Audible trial and your first audiobook is free. Visit audible.ca. In 2014, Laura Heavlin was in her home in Tennessee when she received a call from California. Her daughter, Erin Corwin, was missing. The young wife of a Marine had moved to the California desert

to a remote base near Joshua Tree National Park. They have to alert the military. And when they do, the NCIS gets involved. From CBS Studios and CBS News, this is 48 Hours NCIS. Listen to 48 Hours NCIS ad-free starting October 29th on Amazon Music. 48 Hours presents is gonna be with me until the day I die. It's something I carry on my conscience every day. And I just can't believe that this, this is where my life is right now. Like, when I look back when I was younger,

you know, I'd never seen myself at 26 years old, you know, being called a murderer. I started getting in the water when I was probably about eight, and then kind of surfing took over. It was awesome. I had no worries. I had a relaxed job.

I was doing freelance art for a few companies. Anything that I could do that had to do with painting or being artistic or expressive, I was on it. Well there was a point in my life where I was kind of just tired of surfing everyday, working at surf shops, and I wanted something more, so that's what kind of pushed me to join the military. And it strictly wasn't for pride of country or anything like that, it was just to help the guy,

to help brothers in arms, a brotherhood. I was looking for a brotherhood. You go over there with the complete intention of giving your life for somebody else, and I think there's nothing that has more valor or integrity than that. There's times I do sit out there and I wonder where I could have been if I stayed home. I'd be a total different person.

Jackie was a very loving, beautiful girl who loved me, and I loved her unconditionally. Jackie was beaten to death. It was a bloody scene. The pictures show a scene that, you know, most people would think it's a Quentin Tarantino movie. On John's hands, you could actually see the swelling that was caused by his repeated pummeling of Jackie's face. He beat her to death?

Beat her to death. She was a 19-year-old girl, really attractive, you know, a high school graduate, a ton of friends. Everybody said what a sweet gal she was. I was trained to kill. I come home, I can't adjust to the regular civilian lifestyle. I spun out of control. I needed help. You can't let sympathy affect the administration of justice. Simply because someone is serving

your country, you can't use that as an excuse or a pass on unlawful criminal conduct. Unfortunately, with the way I was trained, you know, to react to threats is to neutralize threats. Even when it's someone I love. Have you ever wondered who created that bottle of sriracha that's living in your fridge? Or why nearly every house in America has at least one game of Monopoly? Introducing the best idea yet. A brand new podcast from Wondery and T-Boy about the surprising origin stories of the products you're obsessed with. And the bold risk takers who brought them to life.

Like did you know that Super Mario, the best-selling video game character of all time, only exists because Nintendo couldn't get the rights to Popeye? Or Jack, that the idea for the McDonald's Happy Meal first came from a mom in Guatemala? From Pez dispensers to Levi's 501s to Air Jordans, discover the surprising stories of the most viral products. Plus, we guarantee that after listening, you're going to dominate your next dinner party. So follow The Best Idea Yet on the Wondery app We'll see you next time. Hot shot Australian attorney Nicola Gaba was born into legal royalty. Her specialty? Representing some of the city's most infamous gangland criminals.

However, while Nicola held the underworld's darkest secrets, the most dangerous secret was her own. She's going to all the major groups within Melbourne's underworld, and she's informing on them all. I'm Marcia Clark, host of the new podcast, Informants Lawyer X. In my long career in criminal justice as a prosecutor and defense attorney, I've seen some crazy cases, and this one belongs right at the top of the list. She was addicted to the game she had created.

She just didn't know how to stop. Now, through dramatic interviews and access, I'll reveal the truth behind one of the world's most shocking legal scandals. Listen to Informant's Lawyer X exclusively on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And listen to more Exhibit C true crime shows early and ad-free right now. All right, here she goes.

I feel like a tagged animal. In July of 2009, John Needham was out on bail, but far from a free man. This is a constant reminder of what has happened and what is true reality, no matter how much I try to hide from it or try to escape from it. John was awaiting trial for a crime he found difficult to comprehend, killing a woman he says he loved. You know, she was absolutely precious to me. She still is. Jackie Villa Gomez was 19 when she died.

She had only known John for a few months. Jackie Villa Gomez was 19 when she died. She had only known John for a few months. She'd been a track star in high school and was hoping to break into modeling and acting. This is her at her most natural. I don't even think she's wearing makeup. She's just beautiful. Sarah and Spencer Savino were so close to Jackie, they considered themselves sisters. At odds with her own family, Jackie lived with the Savinos for a year when she was 17. Describe her for me.

She had a really vivacious personality. They call it the Jackie glow. She had this glow about her from her big, bright white teeth and her smile. What did you learn about her life before she came into yours? I learned that her mom had passed away when she was very young. She lived with a grandmother, and her brother was in a very happy home, just didn't feel very loved. I don't think had a sense of real belonging and what like a real family life is like. And she found that with your family? I believe that she did.

But when Jackie graduated from high school and set off on her own, And she found that with your family? I believe that she did. But when Jackie graduated from high school and set off on her own, she struggled on and off with drugs. She had talent, but drifted from job to job. She had her issues with her mom dying very young of AIDS. She's had her drug addictions. She had her issues and I had my issues. I just got back from Iraq and we were both broken people and we kind of mended well. We kind

of helped each other. It was Iraq that broke John. After serving more than a year, he came home shattered, physically and emotionally. He'd been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD. When people asked me how John was, it was kind of like, I don't know. I don't know how John is, because John's not here anymore. It's somebody else. Growing up, Mike Needham often teased his younger brother John, but when John came home from Iraq, Mike grew concerned. John was edgy, had mood swings and flashbacks, symptoms of PTSD. I remember one time I woke him up, and I woke him up out of his sleep because he was crying in his sleep.

And John had got up, and he went to the corner of the room and took off all his clothes and then got into like a fighting stance, like he was going to fight me. And then I had to turn the lights and I'm like, I'm like, John, John, what are you doing? And then he snapped out of it. To make matters worse, John had severe back pain from combat injuries. He was prescribed a fistful of drugs and often downed them with alcohol. John was never a drinker. Before he left, he didn't drink alcohol. But he came back and he would drink and drink and drink. And he was drinking the pain away.

The drinking escalated when Jackie moved in with John. John's father, Mike Sr., lived upstairs. To me, it was throwing gasoline on the fire. I had talked to him and said, you know, it wasn't a good time to have a relationship, and that he needed to concentrate on his own rehabilitation. But Jackie stayed, and their fragile relationship started to crumble. Three days before her death,

Jackie posted this angry message on John's MySpace page. John's father put his foot down. On September 1st, 2008, he insisted it was time for Jackie to go. I said, Jackie, I'm going to give you some money. We are going to get you to like a hotel, motel, and we're going to, you know, we're going to help you get on your feet. She wasn't happy about it at all. She was really, really kind of distraught, upset. The couple wasn't ready to say goodbye. A store security camera captured this image of them holding hands,

buying vodka for what would be their last alcohol-fueled night together. I think that for both of us, we were on a downward spiral, and it got to a boiling point to where, you know, something was going to happen. What it was, whether it was me dying, her dying, someone was going to die. There was a blood spatter on the door jam, the wall, the bathroom door, what we call an like impact pattern, somebody being struck and the blood spraying off of being struck. Homicide detective Joe Gall with the Orange County Sheriff's Department learned the bloodshed was sparked by a jealous rage, Jackie's. Earlier that evening,

Jackie had finally agreed to move out. But just as Jackie was leaving, an old girlfriend, Renee Stoner, showed up to visit John. And soon after, Jackie stormed back in. And Jacqueline was very upset that Renee was there at the house with John. They got into a physical confrontation over that fact. John had separated both of them, and John was restraining Jacqueline while Renee escaped to the bathroom. Eventually, John told her to get out of here. Once outside, Renee called 911, where she described Jackie as the aggressor, not John. At that time, she didn't see any blood. She didn't witness any beating or assault of any kind.

She just left the scene. But something happened in the few minutes it took deputies to respond. When they found Jackie, she was battered, near death, and would not survive. John was naked, crying, and smeared in blood. Deputies say John charged them, and they had to use a taser to subdue him. There was no evidence to indicate anything other than John's fists were used to beat Jacqueline. And you began your interview with John Needham. Yes, he was still in a hospital gown, and his hands were wrapped in paper bags because we had already decided that we were going to try to extract some evidence from his hands down the road. We didn't want that to be contaminated.

What happened in that room? When Detective Gall and his partner questioned him, John had few answers. She had to do something to set you off to pull the trigger, right? I don't know. You do know, John. I don't know! I don't know! Okay?

I'm a vet. Okay? I have issues. I get set off. John never was able to provide a clear explanation for the killing. He says as he struggled to restrain Jackie, something inside of him snapped. I see it as complete chaos, complete insanity.

And I see myself being uncontrollable, turning into an animal. I never wanted this to happen. In the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Peru and New Zealand, lies a tiny volcanic island. It's a little-known British territory called Pitcairn, and it harboured a deep, dark scandal. There wouldn't be a girl on Pitcairn once and it harboured a deep, dark scandal. There wouldn't be a girl on Pitcairn once they reach the age of 10 that would still a virgin.

It just happens to all of us. I'm journalist Luke Jones, and for almost two years, I've been investigating a shocking story that has left deep scars on generations of women and girls from Pitcairn. When there's nobody watching, nobody going to report it, people will get away with what they can get away with. In the Pitcairn Trials, I'll be uncovering a story of abuse and the fight for justice that has brought a unique, lonely, Pacific island to the brink of extinction.

Listen to the Pitcairn Trials exclusively on Wondery+. Join Wondery in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. As a kid growing up in Chicago, there was one horror movie I was too scared to watch. It was called Candyman. The scary cult classic was set in the Chicago housing project. It was about this supernatural killer who would attack his victims if they said his name five times into a bathroom mirror. Candyman. Candyman? Now we all know chanting a name won't make a killer magically appear, but did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder? I was

struck by both how spooky it was, but also how outrageous it was. We're going to talk to the people who were there, and we're also going to uncover the larger story. My architect was shocked when he saw how this was created. Literally shocked. And we'll look at what the story tells us about injustice in America. If you really believed in tough on crime, then you wouldn't make it easy to crawl into medicine cabinets and kill our women. Listen to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder,

wherever you get your podcasts. John Needham killed Jackie Villa Gomez with his bare hands. But to his father, this crime was not a murder. Should John be held responsible for Jackie's death? Absolutely. Absolutely. But was it murder? No, it was not murder. Was it premeditated? Should John be held responsible for Jackie's death? Absolutely. Absolutely. But was it murder? No, it was not murder.

Was it premeditated? No. Mike argues that if not for John's war wounds, physical and psychological, Jackie would be alive today. Do you think you might be making excuses for your son? Not at all. If you don't have the mental capacity to know the difference between right or wrong, it doesn't make it okay. But it is a different situation than consciously going out and killing somebody.

And that's not what happened. There's a reason why this happened. It's not just because I'm a monster. To make his case, John allowed investigative reporter Michael D. Uana and a team of filmmakers to dig into his life and document the story of his unraveling in Iraq. What other incident in my life, besides being in combat, would contribute to me being a murderer? Heavenly Father, we thank you for this special occasion.

We thank you for bringing us... On this day in the late summer of 2009... Amen. John's extended family gathered at his grandfather's home to show him support before his trial. You can take the soldier out of the war, but you can't take the war out of the soldier. And John is a hero.

John is a hero. I wouldn't say that. John's family knows about courage, having served their country for five generations. This was my great-great-uncle that perished in the Alamo. John's father was in Army Intelligence. His father was in World War II. The Army seemed to be in John's blood.

I think the best thing that I'm capable of doing is being a soldier, and that'll be until the day I die. In March of 2006, John followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather and signed up. He was assigned to Fort Carson, Colorado, to a unit called the 212, nicknamed the Lethal Warriors. One, two, three. Hold. By that fall, he was in Baghdad. I was extremely gung-ho, motivated, you know, shoot, move, communicate, kill kind of a soldier.

And I did exactly what I was told. Every single mission that we went on, when people were, you know, lag, move, communicate, kill kind of a soldier. And I did exactly what I was told. Every single mission that we went on, when people were, you know, lagging and getting kind of tired and not too motivated, I would always be up in their face getting them ready and pumped up for the mission. And so I got known as the need hammer because I was just constantly the first one in the door to pound on things. Just, you know, don't get in my way. We don't have footage of John in combat, but CBS News did have cameras in and around Baghdad at the time he was there, capturing some of the most intense fighting of the war. John served with distinction, earning multiple honors, including a Purple Heart and an Army Commendation Medal for protecting his team during an ambush.

And that was the most intense situation of my life, being ambushed. I remember I was stuck behind a wall that was about this high and being pinned down without my helmet. And just remember feeling the impacts of the rounds hitting the concrete and then watching the whole wall in front of me just explode. He survived multiple IED and grenade attacks. But his bravery came at a price. He suffered concussions, shrapnel wounds, and a fractured back. The very worst was it blasted my head up towards the top of the roof and I hit my head, which we later found out broke my T9 and T10 vertebraes,

knocked me out, and went back on patrol the next day. I went to the hospital and I was told by my command to tell them that everything's fine because if you tell them the truth or if you tell them something's wrong, then they're going to take you out and you want to be away from us? No. But for John, the psychological damage was even worse. or if you tell them something's wrong, then they're going to take you out, and do you want to be away from us? No. But for John, the psychological damage was even worse. It changed me completely. It's still something I think about.

It's still something I dream about. I've seen children's bodies cut up, burnt, mutilated. to see women dead and women named as something that will change you forever. In June of 2007, his unit was ordered to shoot a man suspected of trying to detonate an IED. We engaged and killed him, drug his body into the middle of the streets. Then, according to John, members of his unit did the unthinkable.

They pulled open the cavity of the deceased's head and pulled out his brains, messed with his body a little bit. We put it on top of the Humvee without a body bag and drove it around the city to kind of show everyone this is what happens when you mess with us. Let's go. Come on, come on. Humvee without a body bag and drove it around the city to kind of show everyone this is what happens when you mess with us. I started not to really care anymore. I just tried personally to put myself in the most deadliest positions I can get into.

His emails to his brother Mike became alarming. I could see an emotional slide with him towards the end there. And instead of telling us he was OK, it was more of a matter of, yes, I'm alive. And if I'm alive tomorrow, I'll send you an email. And I said to him, listen, I said, I'll do anything you need me to do. If you want to try to come home, having my son come whole

was the most important thing. There were more staggering blows for John. That same summer, an IED wiped out five of his comrades. And just when John had allowed himself to think about going home, the orders came in extending his tour in Iraq. I lost touch with reality. For weeks afterwards, John tried to numb himself with whiskey. And when that didn't work, Private Needham picked up a gun. I came back to my room, and I pulled out my M9 pistol with my best friend Smith in the room.

And he's like, what the f*** are you doing? And I put it to my head and we wrestle, and the weapon discharges. I pulled out my M9 pistol with my best friend Smith in the room and put the pistol up in the air. I charged it, and he's like, what the f*** are you doing? And I put it to my head and we wrestle, and the weapon discharges. The bullet missed its mark

and put a hole in the barracks wall. It was September 2007. John had been in Iraq for 11 months. I snapped. I completely turned into something I didn't want to be and I didn't want to live anymore. But instead of getting immediate help, Private Needham says he was punished.

They treated him like a captive, like he was an enemy, an insurgent. Basically held him captive in a small room. This soldier from John's unit was in the barracks that night. He's speaking out in support of John, even though he fears reprisal from the Army. I'm curious, though, as to why you agreed to do it. Because the honest to God truth, I just feel like somebody should have said something earlier, and nobody's done it yet, and I just wanted to do right. The soldier says after a few days, John was seen by an Army psychiatrist,

but his isolation continued. For how long? I think it was about a month. And John's commander insisted that he be watched by two soldiers night and day, a task that angered his exhausted comrades. They were trying to embarrass him because he was seeking help? I think they were trying to do more than that.

I think that they were trying to get it so that everyone turned against him. Did they? I think nearly everybody did. We asked the Army for a response. The Army declined, but 48 Hours obtained a sensitive Army document through the Freedom of Information Act that shows John Superior did not see his action as a suicide attempt.

Instead, he was recommended for a general courts marshal for being drunk, firing his weapon in the barracks. And according to the document, this wasn't the first time John had gotten himself into hot water. Months earlier, Needham, quote, got into trouble with pills, drugs, and alcohol, and he had been demoted for it. John's story is quite complicated.

There are many twists and turns in his story. Michael D. Uana wrote about John's case for Salon.com and came on board as a consultant for CBS News. He says he talked to many soldiers in John's platoon. They don't have a lot of sympathy for the fact that he might have been suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder. When word reached Mike Needham, he scrambled to get his son out of Iraq. And I just started making phone calls, Pentagon, anybody would listen to me. After weeks of calls, John was sent to Walter Reed Army Medical Center

in Washington, D.C. There, his condition was considered serious enough to hospitalize him for post-traumatic stress disorder. They had really good doctors at Walter Reed. But John was at Walter Reed for barely a month when he was abruptly transferred to Fort Carson in Colorado. John was receiving psychological care at Walter Reed, but then he was being taken out of that care against his own will and against the will of his family. Had that not happened, Mike Needham strongly believes this story might have ended here, that his son would never have gotten to the point

of beating a young woman to death. There's no doubt about it, and I'm convinced of that. He should have been in a hospital. Mike Needham saw the move to Fort Carson as more punishment for his son. John was put back on duty, and a court-martial still hung over his head. Although he received medical care, John told his father he was under acute stress and getting worse. I love my son and I knew the condition he was in. I saw him as needing help. He was sick, very sick.

So Mike fought hard and managed to get his son transferred to a military facility in San Diego, closer to home. In the months that followed, John bounced in and out of a string of hospitals, clinics, and doctor's offices. Despite the fact that he had a problem with alcohol, his list of medications grew. He was prescribed drugs to treat his pain, depression, insomnia, and PTSD.

The effects were obvious. There was like a timeline throughout the day where you could tell what medication John was on. There was times where he was in a good mood. There was times where he was just sleeping. There was times where he wouldn't say a word for hours on end. I was worried about the prescriptions, and I told him quite a few times, you've got to do something about this. But no amount of medicine could push a rack from John's thoughts.

Feeling the weight, he sent a letter to Army brass detailing the events he saw as war atrocities committed by his unit. They pulled open the cavity of the deceased's head and pulled out his brains, messed with his body a little bit. John offered this photo as evidence. We've had to blur it because it's so graphic. It's a gloved hand holding what appears to be a brain. We put it on top of the Humvee without a body bag and drove it around the city to kind of show everyone this is what happens when you mess with us. John says he told

Army investigators everything he knew. They took it all down, said thank you for your information. I never heard anything about it again. But the Army document obtained by 48 hours shows an investigation was launched into Needham's allegations of war crimes. This document by the Criminal Investigation Command is redacted and incomplete. 111 pages were withheld. But in the information provided, soldiers who were questioned about this photo gave responses similar to this one. Quote, we didn't have any body bags that day, so we had to put him on the hood of the vehicle for transport. Another described the gloved hand as picking up brain matter so no kids or dogs can play with it. The report concluded, quote,

the offense of war crimes did not occur. And with no explanation, the court-martial hanging over John's head quietly went away. In July of 2008, nine months after being medevaced from Iraq, Private John Needham was given a medical discharge. But he would never receive all the medals listed on his papers. And they just basically kind of kicked him to the curb. Days after his paperwork came through, John met Jackie.

Two months later, John was accused of murder. And her friend would break the news to the Savino sisters that Jackie was gone. And she came over and she's like, it's true. Still hurts. It still hurts. So I went upstairs to my mom and I was like, it's true, Mom, she's dead. In July of 2009, ten months after Jackie's death, John Needham was still being treated for PTSD. He went to the VA Medical Center in Long Beach to see if he also had brain damage. I think they're going to find out that there's going to be some probably microscopic bleeding inside my head,

maybe some scar tissue from the explosions and firefights that I've been in. In fact, the test confirmed that John did have traumatic brain injury, or TBI. When you have trauma to the head, you can cause permanent damage to regions of the brain. Dr. Richard Friedman is a professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College. Which can cause various kinds of problems in terms of control of emotion, control of behavior, personality change. As John saw it, it was another piece of evidence that he was not in his right mind the night he killed Jackie. TBI is something that affects you totally as a person, as a whole. Everything from memory to speech, to hearing,

to being able to pay attention. So I believe that that's gonna play a big part of my case. He would need all the help he could get. He was facing 25 years to life for murder. Somebody died and John killed them. I don't think it was murder. I think it was, if anything, manslaughter. Mike has never wavered in the defense of his brother since the night of the killing. I'm a vet, okay? I have

issues. I get set off. I don't think he was aware of what had taken place to begin with. He had clearly gone through some things and brain injuries that obviously affected how he was. But Mike, many soldiers see combat, but they don't come home and kill their girlfriends. Sure, but there's plenty that have too. I thought he had a good defense. In this particular instance, I don't think we're gonna have any problem

with a PTSD defense. It's gonna be our defense. That you're facing the potential of life in prison so they will give more than enough time to investigate and so John's public defender Michael Becker felt he had a strong case he tell the jury about John's multiple combat injuries and medications and medications. You okay? You alright?

Yeah, I'm good. Okay. With post-traumatic stress at the top of a long list. Prosecution is going to say that John got drunk and he killed his girlfriend out of a drunken rage. That's exactly what they're going to say. I couldn't be further from the truth. And that's why I'm waiting for my day in court, waiting for the truth to come out.

That's the whole reason why we're doing this. There were two Johns. There was the John that when he was sober, and then there was the John when he drank. Orange County Prosecutor Steve McGreevey's take on the crime was exactly as expected. He says John was drunk and killed Jackie in anger. McGreevy says you can see John's rage in the interrogation tape. I don't like your vibe and I don't like the way you are talking to me. I don't care what you like. Of course you don't. And you see the different phases of John Needham, starting with very restrained and in control to the very volatile, angry side that unfortunately Jackie saw on the night of the murder.

Well, you know, the first part of this interview you said you're a completely under control guy, but then in the last five minutes you've told us you went off on the death— I think you choose to murder! How do you expect me to react? Restraint? McGreevey doesn't buy the PTSD defense. Yes, he was being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder. Whether or not he had it, we don't know.

Some of the things that we have learned from people who served with him, that John indicated that he was faking this illness to avoid court-martial. Your overall opinion of John Needham? I think there's no question that he had psychiatric illness. Dr. Friedman is not involved in the case, but he has treated many patients with post-traumatic stress disorder. We hired him to independently evaluate John's medical records. He says the central symptom of PTSD is re-experiencing the trauma, known as the flashback. What triggers it is anything that vaguely comes close to the initial trauma. So, for example, let's say you were in an explosion from an IED in the war. And you hear a car outside your window at night, and it misfires.

What will happen is you react as if you're right back in that initial situation where you were threatened and traumatized. So do you believe, I mean, I know you weren't there, but do you believe John Needham suffered a flashback at the time of the murder? Anything is possible. If he felt threatened in any way, it's possible that he experienced a flashback. John's fellow soldier believes it's not only possible, it's likely. You believe he killed Jackie because of PTSD? I think that he wouldn't have done it

if he hadn't deployed with us, so yes. What makes you so confident? Because it changes who you are, and those kind of experiences weigh heavy on people. In fact, John is not the only soldier from the 212 to take a life back home. Between 2005 and 2008, 14 soldiers from Fort Carson, including Private John Needham,

were charged or accused of homicide or attempted homicide. And the Army couldn't help but take notice. This is truly serious and we take it as such. In October of 2008, I asked the Army Surgeon General, Lieutenant General Eric Schumacher, to send a team to Fort Carson in response to concerns about an apparent clustering of violent behavior at Fort Carson. The studies surveyed more than 650 Fort Carson soldiers who, like John, had experienced high-intensity combat while deployed.

About 40% of them had been involved in a violent episode with another individual after returning home. For example, choking someone, beating someone. Forty percent. That's a very high figure. The team's findings made headlines when the Army acknowledged there appears to be a link between the stress of combat and soldiers' crimes back home. But officials were quick to point out combat stress doesn't cause violence. It's just one factor of many. We cannot point to one issue or risk factor that would result in misconduct of this magnitude. So against this backdrop, John prepared to face the jury.

So part of me is pumped up to get this, let's get this done, you know, do me my punishment. We were in the final stages of trial preparation, and we were ready to go. And Jackie's closest friends, Spencer and Sarah Savino, vowed to be there every step of the way, promising that Jackie would never be forgotten. And that people do love her and that she was a person, and to give that person a name and a life, she can't speak for herself anymore. But John would never get his day in court.

And I instantly had this feeling that something was wrong. I just knew it. I like it. As of right now, I'm trying to live minute by minute. I'm trying to take it day by day and being as positive a person as I can. By early 2010, as his trial date neared, John's pain became unbearable. Back surgery in California failed to provide relief. And he was in constant pain. I mean, when he had sobered up, he could barely walk.

In desperation, John went to a hospital in Tucson, Arizona for yet another operation. He recuperated at his mother's home. She and John's father divorced long ago. He loved Arizona. John felt like he was back in Iraq. He was in the desert, he had his boots on, and he was happy, ironically. Shortly after surgery, Mike drove from California to lift his brother's spirits. I remember I came in and he was sleeping, and I grabbed his big toe and I wiggled it.

And he woke up and he put a smile on his face. He didn't know I was coming. And he's like, oh, man, you're here. And I was like, yeah. I was like, go back to sleep. I was like, we'll see each other in the morning. And he's like, okay, cool, cool. After a few hours of sleep,

Mike woke up to find John's door locked. It was early in the morning on February 19, 2010. And I knock on it. I say, John. I didn't hear a response. And I hit the door. It broke. I found him on his knees, laying across the bed. And I said, John, John. So I'm pumping on his chest and breathing into his mouth. And he takes one large breath in. And then he breathes out. and I said, John, John. I'm slapping him on the face, John.

I think he's back, he's not. And that was his last breath. He died right there in my arms. John Needham was 26 years old. We were numb. You can never get over, as a parent, losing one of your children. Just sitting here looking at the beach reminds me of my son John. I will love him for the rest of my life.

It was an overdose of painkillers that killed John. The question is whether it was an accident or suicide. To produce a level that was as high as his, there must have been an ingestion of a significant amount of opiates, which makes an accident unlikely. With John gone, no one will ever really know. His autopsy reads, undetermined. Here you have this tough military guy, you know, a decorated veteran that's been through hell and back. And then you find him dead on his bed. a decorated veteran that's been through hell and back,

and then you find him dead on his bed. It's like you make it through grenades, you make it through gunshots, you make it through this, you make it through that. You go through the worst of the worst combat you could possibly experience, and then you die like that. Prosecutor McGreevey says John may have been a good soldier, but he needed to be held accountable for what he did to Jackie.

He never imagined the case would end like this. There is a level of frustration that we couldn't bring Mr. Needham to justice and get justice for Jackie. Despite losing one of her closest friends, Sarah Savino has come to see Jackie's death and John's in a different light. He suffered a host of mental problems because of his time at war. Do you have any sympathy for him?

I do, and I think that's part of why I've been able to forgive him and move forward. I've always said, like like how we lost Jackie, his family also lost a son and they lost him in a very different way. I do think that the war and the government and all of that plays a huge part in what happened. He didn't get the proper care and help that he needed and I wish that he had because if he had maybe this wouldn't have happened. There was no military funeral for Private Needham. A small family service marked his passing. A few of his comrades will remember him for the lives he saved in Iraq. Others will remember him for the

life he took at home. I think there's a lot more that everyone could have done. The Army and family. There's a lot more everyone could have done for John. I think John was a casualty of this war. And so was Jackie. Both of them. We reached out repeatedly to the Army for an official response to John's story. The Army declined to comment.

Michael Needham died last year at age 63.