BÖBLINGEN, Germany — Police have located the rental vehicle used by a Special Forces soldier to flee custody after he was convicted in a court-martial of kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault of a German woman. The soldier remains at large.
A manhunt for Sgt. 1st Class Kelly A. Stewart, 36, began Thursday morning after he failed to show for the sentencing phase of his trial. Late on Wednesday, a court-martial panel in Vilseck found him guilty of several charges in relation to an August 2008 incident. A soldier who was sharing an on-post hotel room with the convicted soldier told the court Thursday that he awoke around 7:30 a.m. and found Stewart was missing, along with his Class A uniform, wallet, two cell phones and the rented Audi.
Despite his absence, Stewart, who trained fellow Special Forces soldiers at the International Special Training Center in Pfullendorf, was sentenced to eight years in prison and a dishonorable discharge.
David Court, the civilian attorney who represented Stewart, decliined to comment on his client’s state of mind and was cautious when asked if he thought Stewart would be found.
“Do I have a crystal ball?,” Court said. “I can tell you this. There was evidence presented in court that [Stewart] had the highest level of [Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape] training.”
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2 comments:
I'm very surprised he was free awaiting sentencing in a crime like that.
Who was in charge of keeping him in jail pending sentencing, Kenny MacAskill?
Stupid, just stupid.
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