WASHINGTON — A former U.S. Army commando is being charged with murder in a long-simmering case alleging he tracked down and killed a suspected bomb-maker in Afghanistan.
Army Lt. Col. Loren Bymer said in a statement Friday that Maj. Mathew Golsteyn is charged with killing the Afghan during his 2010 deployment to Afghanistan. Bymer said Golsteyn’s commander determined there was sufficient evidence to charge the former Army Green Beret with the crime.
Golsteyn, who was leading a team of Army Special Forces troops at the time, believed that the bomb-maker was responsible for an explosion that killed two U.S. Marines.
The Golsteyn case has been bounced around since 2011 when he told the CIA in a job interview that he had shot and killed the man. The Army Criminal Investigation Command, acting on information from the CIA, looked into the incident, but could never find anyone to corroborate Golsteyn’s claim and couldn’t find any remains of the Afghan.
The command, however, concluded the soldier committed the offenses of murder and conspiracy based on the interview, according to an Army memo.
The Army revoked Golsteyn’s Special Forces designation and the Silver Star he was awarded for heroism during a Taliban attack on his base.
A Section on 12/15/2018