An Article 32 hearing for two Navy SEALs and two Marine Raiders who face murder and related charges in the strangulation death of a Green Beret in Mali last year has been postponed, officials said.
The hearing was scheduled for Tuesday, March 6 in Norfolk, Virginia, but has been postponed with no further explanation or date specified by the Navy Region Mid-Atlantic Judge Advocate General, which will oversee proceedings.
Gunnery Sgt. Mario Madera-Rodriguez and Staff Sgt. Kevin Maxwell along with Navy SEALs Chief Petty Officer Adam Matthews and Petty Officer Anthony DeDolph were scheduled as defendants in the hearing.
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Though details differ, all four men face the same charges — felony murder, involuntary manslaughter, conspiracy, obstruction of justice, hazing and burglary in the death of Army Green Beret Staff Sgt. Logan Melgar, who died in June 2017.
Melgar’s death was not reported publicly until late September 2017. Media accounts identified the SEALs, both members of SEAL Team Six, as allegedly involved early on, but the Raiders’ alleged involvement did not emerge in reporting until earlier this year.
Charge sheets for all four individuals were redacted, but Military Times previously verified the identities of the Marines with the attorneys representing them in their pending cases.
The hearing was first set for December 2018 but postponed to March.
Todd South has written about crime, courts, government and the military for multiple publications since 2004 and was named a 2014 Pulitzer finalist for a co-written project on witness intimidation. Todd is a Marine veteran of the Iraq War.
