Dead Marine Falsely Accused of Felonies (Part I)

Marine Corps attempts to cover up murder by calling a decorated Marine Colonel ‘a crook and felon.’

Colonel Sabow with Arthur Godfry, radio and television personality. Courtesy: ColonelSabow.com

(IRVINE, CA) - The Marine Corps went to great lengths to keep the media out of the investigation into the death of Colonel James E. Sabow. The last thing the Corps wanted was an investigative reporter from one of the major media outlets asking questions about the unexpected suicide to this decorated Vietnam fighter pilot.

The official government decision was death by suicide by an intraoral shotgun blast. Colonel Sabow was found dead by his wife on their patio at MCAS El Toro, CA, on the morning of January 22, 1991. The autopsy was conducted the same day; the death certificate signed by the Orange County coroner the next day. Case closed.

An investigative reporter snooping around El Toro and the clubs frequented by Marines could lead to politically damaging information about CIA proprietary airlines using El Toro as a transit point to fly guns to South and Central America and cocaine into the U.S.

During the 1980s and 1990s Nicaraguan drugs dealers used these aircraft to fly huge amounts of cocaine into the U.S. El Toro and Homestead AFB were two of the military bases used to offload the illegal drugs. Part of the proceeds for drug sales were used to fund the Contra War; the rest went into the pockets of drug dealers.

The influx of cocaine fueled the crack epidemic in the in major urban centers like Los Angles, San Francisco, Miami, New York and Chicago. The widespread use of crack led to the death of an unknown number of mainly black Americans, including innocent children born to mothers addicted to this narcotic.

Former CIA agent David MacMichale described what happened with the covert operation to supply arms and money to the Contras:

"Once you set up a covert operation to supply arms and money, it's very difficult to separate it from the kind of people who are involved in other forms of trade, and especially drugs. There is a limited number of planes, pilots and landing strips. By developing a system for supply of the Contras, the US built a road for drug supply into the US."¹

A media spotlight on the use of El Toro as one of the transit points for weapons and drugs could lead to a Congressional investigation and indictments of those responsible for murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and narco-trafficking. It didn’t take much imagination to see that this scandal could easily result in a major shake-up of the Marine Corps, including forced retirements of senior officers. It became clear very early in my investigation that the Corps would do everything to discourage media attention.

Col James Sabow's brother, Dr. David Sabow, said:

"In March 1991, I learned just how far the Marine Corps would go to prevent me from an contacting the media, slandering Jimmy’s character and reputation in an effort to cower me from talking to the press. But the story had already caught the attention of The LA Times."

LA TIMES ON THE STORY EARLY

The Marine Corps knew very early that the investigation of two senior officers for personal use of military aircraft and the death of Colonel Sabow would attract media attention. This is the not the kind of media interest that spurs recruitment and promotes the exploits of Marines.

In an LA Times news story, “Probe of Officers Reported as Limited to Use of Planes: Military: Fellow Marines express surprise that one of the El Toro colonels committed suicide, apparently over the matter” published on January 25, 1991, Eric Lichtblau and Dan Weikel reported on the investigation of Colonels Underwood and Sabow for the alleged misuse of government aircraft and the surprise of other Marines that Colonel Sabow would take his own life over the alleged allegations:

An investigation into two high-ranking officials at the Marine air base here has focused almost exclusively on their questionable use of military aircraft, a defense attorney said Thursday, prompting surprise among some service personnel that this would be enough to drive one of the officers to suicide Military sources stressed, however, that the number of flights taken by Marine Cols. Joseph E. Underwood and the late James E. Sabow was high enough to attract the attention of the Naval Investigative Service, which probes allegations of criminal wrongdoing.

Ordinarily, officials said the indiscriminate use of planes would be handled internally on the base, without the involvement of the Investigative Service, but the agency has been called into the El Toro investigation. Earlier this month, the inquiry led to the suspension of both Underwood, formerly chief of staff at the El Toro base, and Sabow, an assistant chief responsible for airoperations. Underwood allegedly used a Marine C-12 Beechcraft for out-of-state golfing excursions. Sabow's responsibility included overseeing the use of the Beechcraft. He also allegedly used a plane for personal reasons, sources said. Base officials have issued no formal statement on the nature of the probe, but they have confirmed that one is under way for "official misconduct." On Tuesday, Sabow, 51, a 28-year veteran of the corps, took his life with a shotgun, officials said. Funeral services are scheduled for today. Personnel at the Marine Corps Air Station in El Toro, home of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, and at other Southern California military bases remained in shock Thursday over the suicide of Sabow in apparent connection with the investigation. "I'm more than a little amazed and devastated myself," said Col. Alex Lancaster, an assistant chief of staff for logistics at El Toro. "It's all bizarre to my way of thinking." Marine Maj. Walter Bansley, senior defense counsel at Camp Pendleton and the attorney for Underwood, declined Thursday to say how many trips by his client were in question or where he had gone. The military also has declined to provide such information… Asked whether the allegations extend beyond the use of planes for golfing trips and personal reasons, Bansley said, "Absolutely not." A military source also confirmed that, with the exception of some issues of expense reporting and management, the probe has focused almost exclusively on the single subject.

SUSPICIOUS OF FOUL PLAY

Early on, Dr. David Sabow, a board certified neurologist and younger brother of Colonel Sabow, had become suspicious of foul play due to a number of inconsistencies. These included no suicide note, no fingerprints on the shotgun, the small amount of blood found on the grass next to Jimmy’s body, the open hostility of the pathologist who had performed the autopsy, and the very quick decision to call his death a suicide.

Jimmy was a devout Catholic and Dr. Sabow said he knew that he would never consider suicide, leaving Sally without a husband and the two children without a father.

Dr. Sabow flew out to El Toro immediately on learning of Jimmy’s death. Intraoral gunshot wounds are the most mutilating wounds that can be sustained. When there is no exit wound, mutilation is even more severe due to rapidly expanding gases within the confines of the skull. This results in evisceration and pulpification of the brain.

Consequently, he expected to see an extremely bloody death scene with the scenario of a self-inflicted intraoral shotgun wound Moreover, in the suicide scenario, Jimmy was alleged to have been seated in a patio chair while holding the shotgun barrel in his mouth with his left hand, and with the butt of the gun placed on the ground next to his right foot. This would place the Jimmy’s mouth over his torso and thighs. Yet there were no bloodstains, except for several small drops, on the front of the Jim.

Dr. Sabow had expected to see a large volume of dry blood left on the grass in the backyard from the intraoral shotgun wound. However, the naval medical officer who was called to the scene estimated the blood loss was approximately 50 cc, hardly more than the volume of a shot glass. Dr. Sabow’s examination of the crime scene showed very little blood, supporting the naval medical officer’s assessment.

Dr. Sabow shared his concerns with Cheryl Baldwin, the NIS Special Agent in charge of the crime scene investigation. Baldwin told him that the NIS was an independent investigatory agency, did not work for El Toro Commander and would issue their independent report at the completion of their investigation. They agreed to share information and he let her know that he had no intention of going to the media unless circumstances warranted it. If this happened, he readily agreed to inform her.

For several weeks after the death of Col Sabow, Dr. Sabow was on the phone for 7 and 8 hours a day, calling everyone he knew to learn everything he could about the Marine Corps and MCAS El Toro. Dr. Sabow said he became ever more suspicious when relevant documents, including a copy of the autopsy report were denied him by both Dr. Aruna Singhania, the pathologist who performed the autopsy, and the Marine Corps. Dr. Singhania refused to discuss the situation with him. She knew he was a medical doctor so this made no sense to him. Was there something she didn’t want him to see in the autopsy report?

The NIS told him they didn’t know the results of the autopsy. He knew that was a lie. The autopsy was performed the very same day of Jimmy’s death and the death certificate signed the next day.

He shared his concerns with General A. K. Davis, retired Deputy Commandment of the Marine Corps and friend of Colonel Sabow, who told him that the night before he died that Jimmy told him that he had done nothing wrong and would press for a court martial if formal charges were filed.

In the meantime, Dr. Sabow had received several calls from Eric Lichtblau of The LA Times. After the lack of cooperation from NIS and the Marine Corps, he agreed to an interview. Based on his informal agreement with Cheryl Baldwin, he called her to let her know that he planned to meet with Eric Lichtblau of the The LA Times. This was in early March 1991. Baldwin passed the information on to the Marine Corps.

Dead Marine Falsely Accused of Felonies (Part I)

Bob O’Dowd is a former U.S. Marine with thirty years of experience on the east coast as an auditor, accountant, and financial manager with the Federal government. Half of that time was spent with the Defense Logistics Agency in Philadelphia. Originally from Pennsylvania, he enlisted in the Marine Corps at age 19, served in the 1st, 3rd, and 4th Marine Aircraft Wings in 52 months of active duty in the 1960s. A graduate of Temple University, Bob has been married to Grace for 31 years. He is the father of two adult children and the grandfather of two boys. Bob has a blog site on former MCAS El Toro at mwsg37.com. This subject is where Bob intersected with Salem-News.com. Bob served in the exact same Marine Aviation Squadron that Salem-News founder Tim King served in, twenty years earlier. With their combined on-site knowledge and research ability, Bob and Tim and a handful of other ex-Marines, have put the contamination of MCAS El Toro on the map. The base is highly contaminated with TCE, trichloroethelyne

You can email Bob O’Dowd, Salem-News.com Environmental and Military Reporter, at this address: consults03@comcast.net