The mysterious death of US Army Staff Sgt. Logan Melgar is under scrutiny after the Green Beret, who was killed by strangulation, reportedly declined to accept money from a dubious scheme.
A Daily Beast report, sourced from five service members in the special-operations community, says that a portion of funds used to pay informants in Mali for intelligence were allegedly pocketed by members of the elite SEAL Team Six. The SEALs’ actions were reportedly discovered by Melgar, who eventually turned down the money when he was offered a cut.
Prior to his death, Melgar reportedly told his wife of the problems he had with two of the SEALs, and was going to elaborate further when he went home, the Daily Beast said.
Following Meglar’s death, suspicions were raised after two SEALs alleged Melgar was participating in combative exercises, the military’s version of martial arts, while drunk, the report continued. However, Melgar’s autopsy report said that there were no drugs or alcohol in his system, a former military official said to the Daily Beast.
The New York Times first reported that two SEALs were being investigated, due to the circumstances of the incident. According to The Times, investigators were looking into whether Melgar was strangled, and his superiors believed foul play may have been involved. Melgar’s death was determined to have been “a homicide by asphyxiation,” according to military officials cited by The Times.
The two SEALs were reportedly flown out of Mali and placed on administrative leave, shortly after Melgar’s death.
Melgar, a 34-year-old Texan, deployed to Afghanistan twice. He was assigned to Mali with the 3rd Special Forces Group to help train locals and support counterterrorism operations.