- COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) -- Four
soldiers at Fort Benning have been arrested and accused of stabbing to
death a member of their infantry unit, setting the body on fire and leaving
it in the woods just days after their return from Iraq.
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- Police said the soldiers were angry at Spc. Richard R.
Davis for insulting a dancer at a strip club and getting them kicked out
of the place.
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- Davis, 24, of St. Charles, Mo., was stabbed repeatedly
in July. His skeletal remains were found Friday, nearly four months after
he was reported missing. Fort Benning investigators had received a tip
to search the woods near the Army post.
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- Jacob Burgoyne, Mario Naverrete and Douglas Woodcoff
were arrested Friday and charged with murder. The charge was reduced Monday
to concealing a body, but prosecutors said they will press for murder charges.
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- The fourth suspect, Alberto Martinez, is awaiting extradition
from California on murder charges. Police allege that Martinez stabbed
Davis while he fought with Burgoyne and Naverrete. All of the suspects
are 24.
-
- The soldiers belonged to the same company and had returned
to Fort Benning from Iraq just days before the slaying. Their unit is part
of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, which led the assault on Baghdad.
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- Columbus police Detective Andrew Tyner said the soldiers
began arguing after leaving the strip club, and a fistfight broke out in
the woods. After Davis was killed, the soldiers drove to a convenience
store and bought lighter fluid, and at least two of the men set the body
on fire, police said.
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- The three soldiers under arrest in Georgia remained jailed
Wednesday on $25,000 bail.
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- Lanny Davis, the victim's father, said the military listed
his son as AWOL for months after he was reported missing July 14.
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- "He survived Iraq, and then he goes out to party
with people he probably trusted," he said. "The very next day,
he came up missing."
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