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MAs court-martialed in corpsman suicide

Two Navy masters-at-arms are being court-martialed in connection with the death of a Navy corpsman who reportedly shot himself to death in his apartment bathroom while in their custody.

Master-at-Arms 1st Class Mitchell Tafel and MA1 David Rodriguez are both charged with violating a general order, reckless endangerment and dereliction of duty for allegedly failing to properly search and supervise Hospitalman Christopher Purcell after they and four civilian police officers arrived Jan. 27 at Purcell’s on-base apartment at Naval Air Station Brunswick, Maine.

The officers came to the apartment, according to a report released by Brunswick’s civilian police department, because a friend of Purcell’s called to inform them that he had spoken of killing himself and was armed with a privately owned handgun.

The report said Tafel and Rodriguez took charge at the scene. After a brief struggle, Purcell was handcuffed and taken from his apartment, but at some point one handcuff was removed so he could re-enter the apartment to use his bathroom. Brunswick police officers reportedly raised questions about why Purcell had not been properly searched, sources said.

No officer accompanied Purcell, who sources said was so intoxicated that he had trouble standing. Instead, a corpsman who had responded to the scene went with him into the house but not into the bathroom. While Purcell used the bathroom, the corpsman said, he heard a clicking sound, and shortly after that, Purcell shot himself in the chest.

After attempts to revive him failed, Purcell was pronounced dead at the scene

On July 22, Rodriguez pleaded not guilty to violation of a general order and reckless endangerment, but guilty to dereliction of duty. However, military judge Capt. Bruce MacKenzie rejected Rodriguez’s guilty plea due to questions about whether Rodriguez actually believed he had committed the crime in question, according to Navy spokesman Chris Zendan.

Rodriguez will now stand trial for all three violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, but no date has been set for the trial to resume, Zendan said. Tafel, who is charged with the same three UCMJ violations, is scheduled to go on trial Sept. 5 at Naval Submarine Base New London, Conn.

Purcell, 20, of Northbrook, Ill., enlisted in 2005 and worked at the NAS Brunswick Branch Medical Clinic.

Tafel and Rodriguez could each face one year in the brig and be dismissed from the Navy if they are convicted.