From combat to crime

By Sara Burnett, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published February 23, 2008 at 12:30 a.m.

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Kevin Shields

Christopher James

Louis Edward Bressler

Bruce Alan Bastien Jr.

Kenneth L. Eastridge

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Families and authorities are left to ponder tragic questions after fellow soldiers allegedly killed Spc. Kevin Shields and Pfc. Robert Christopher James in Colorado Springs.

Spc. Kevin Shields was midway through his second tour in Iraq when a roadside bomb hit his convoy in May 2007, sending the expert gunner flying from his perch atop a Humvee.

He'd been knocked unconscious before, but this time it was more serious. The Army sent Shields home, then told him he'd seen the last of combat. If he wanted to remain in the Army, a desk job could be arranged.

Shields felt horrible. He'd been with his unit, the Fort Carson-based 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, since 2003. They had served together in Korea and for two deployments to Iraq. Most of his fellow soldiers were still there.

"He just felt like he was letting them down," his grandmother, Madlyn Shields, recalled.

"He wanted to be with his unit."

So it was all the more tragic that a man who survived roadside bombs and the other hazards of combat in Iraq met his death just six months or so after he returned home.

A newspaper delivery person stumbled across Shields' body on a sidewalk on South 16th Street in Colorado Springs early on the morning of Dec. 1, 2007 - his 24th birthday.

He had been shot three times.

Three men were soon charged with the killing: Bruce Alan Bastien Jr., 21; Louis Edward Bressler, 25; and Kenneth L. Eastridge, 24. They, too, had served in Iraq - in the 2nd Brigade Combat Team with Kevin Shields.

And, police say, two of the men - Bastien and Bressler - also killed another soldier four months earlier. Pfc. Robert Christopher James, 23, was shot to death and left in a bank parking lot on Aug. 4.

The irony of the men dying on peaceful soil, combined with the possibility of soldier-on-soldier crime, has sparked widespread attention.

News organizations from The New York Times to National Public Radio have reported from Colorado Springs. TV crews from as far away as France have carried stories.

"To survive combat, then be killed . . . it's horrific," said Karen Linne, Fort Carson media relations chief.

It's also left many people wondering why.

Could the slayings of Shields and James be tied to the horrors of war? Were they the work of three men who were simply looking for people to rob? Or do the cops and prosecutors have it all wrong?

The suspects

A Florida native, Bressler didn't graduate high school but earned a GED, according to police records. On his myspace.com Web page, he posted a photo of he and his wife, kissing, and wrote that his father died during the first of his two tours in Iraq.

Bressler was deployed for the second time in October 2006, but returned in July - several months earlier than his unit - after getting into a fight with an officer, according to testimony during a preliminary hearing earlier this month about the James killing.

He was medically discharged from the Army in November, Linne said.

Court records show Bressler had no criminal history in Colorado before his arrest in connection with the murders.

Eastridge grew up in Kentucky, where he attended 10 years of school, police records show. According to his mother, he followed in the footsteps of his great-grandfather, grandfather and uncles when he joined the military in 2003.

He served two tours in Iraq, earning a Purple Heart after he was injured by an improvised explosive device. His list of awards includes five other medals and a Combat Infantry Badge.

"He's a decorated war hero," his mother, Leeann Eastridge, said from her home in Kentucky.

She also said her son and Bastien suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD, which has caused them to say things that are not true. Much of what authorities know about the crimes comes from statements to police by Bastien and, to a lesser extent, Eastridge.

"It's all lies," she said of the allegations. "Kenny was not involved in it."

When Eastridge came home from his first deployment in August 2005, he told his mother he couldn't sleep, that when he closed his eyes he saw dead bodies, she said. When he went back the second time, he said it was 10 times worse.

"They're all suffering from that combat syndrome, and our government just wants to get rid of them," Leeann Eastridge said. "They make them that way and then they throw them in the garbage."

In 2006, before he deployed to Iraq for the second time, police visited his home twice. The first time his girlfriend said he pointed a gun at her temple; the second time she said he hit her, court records show.

In August 2007, Eastridge was court martialed in Baghdad, records obtained from the Army show, after being caught with a female private in his living quarters and threatening to kill two sergeants, among other things.

He was sent home that month, and administratively discharged in November, Linne said.

By the time Eastridge returned to Colorado Springs, Bressler and Bastien already were there.

Bastien later told police that he and Bressler, and later Eastridge, spent much of their time after leaving Iraq hanging out and drinking heavily.

His attorney, Richard Bednarski, declined to discuss the case. But during the court hearing, he said Bastien had no indication that Bressler was going to commit either murder.

Bastien, who enlisted in the Army after Bressler and Eastridge, went to Iraq for the first time in October 2006. He earned a Combat Medics Badge before coming home on personal leave in May 2007.

While home Bastien, who is married with a 17-month-old daughter, was arrested for domestic violence. The charge was later dropped, but the felony allegation prevented him from returning to Iraq to complete his deployment.

He was arrested a second time in August, again accused of hitting his wife.

As he was being hauled off to jail on that complaint, detectives were less than four miles away, in the Bank of the Broadmoor parking lot.

They'd found a body there. The young man had been shot execution-style - once in the head, and twice more in the neck. There were no bullet casings, a sign the killer either used a revolver or picked up the casings after the shooting.

The only thing in the man's pockets was a military ID.

$20 for marijuana

Pfc. Robert Christopher James graduated from high school in Ponca City, Okla. After working for a while in a local factory, then Wal-Mart, James enlisted in the Army in June 2006.

He joined his unit, the 183rd Maintenance Company, at Fort Carson in April 2007.

The night he died, James, 23, went with a friend to Antique Billiards, a bar and pool hall. James was passed out behind the bar when the friend, who had left, came back to pick him up, Det. Derek Graham testified at the hearing. Afraid he could be arrested for DUI if he drove onto the post, the friend dropped James off about a quarter-mile from Gate 3 at Fort Carson. He assumed James could make it back to the barracks safely from there.

About the same time, Bastien and Bressler, who were partying at Bastien's nearby apartment, decided to go to the 7-Eleven for cigarettes, Graham said.

On the way, they spotted Robert James.

Bastien and Bressler didn't know James, but they stopped and picked him up, Graham said. They headed toward the Bank of the Broadmoor on Lake Avenue.

With music playing and James in the back seat, unable to hear their conversation, Bressler suggested they rob James, Bastien later told police.

They pulled in the bank parking lot, where Bressler demanded money from James, who nervously started throwing bills toward the front seat, Bastien said.

Bressler, who was armed with a .38 revolver his wife had bought, yelled at James to get out of the car, according to Bastien. As he stood outside, James begged for his life.

"Let me go," he pleaded.

According to Bastien, Bressler shot James once, knocking him to his knees, and then he fired again.

He and Bressler drove away in Bastien's red Audi. Bastien went home, where he got into the fight with his wife. When he got out of jail the next day, he and Bressler took the money they got off James - $15 to $20 - and bought pot, Bastien said.

Detectives spent the next several months trying to figure out who killed James. They questioned the friend he had been with at the bar, the last person known to have seen him alive, but that lead went nowhere.

Then, on the morning of Dec. 1, detectives got a call.

It was an early morning shooting, at close range. The victim appeared to have been robbed. He was a young male, a soldier. And just like the James killing, there were no casings.

Another murder

Kevin Shields met his wife, Svetlana, while he was stationed in Korea. He was a young soldier from Roscoe, Ill. She was from Russia, working as a teacher and a bartender.

They married at the American Embassy. In 2004, while Shields was on his first deployment to Iraq, she gave birth to their son, Andrew.

He returned to Fort Carson early from his second deployment, in May 2007. A few months later, Svetlana was pregnant with their second child. This time, they hoped for a girl.

Nov. 30, 2007, was the eve of his 24th birthday.

Since his wife was pregnant, Shields wasn't planning to hit the bars. But it was the first time since he turned 21 that he was in the United States for his birthday, so Svetlana said he should go out and celebrate.

Shields went to the Rendezvous nightclub downtown, where he ran into Bastien, Bressler and Eastridge, Bastien told police.

The men were so drunk when they left another bar in Bastien's car that they had to stop at least twice to throw up, Bastien said.

At one of the stops, Bressler and Shields began fighting, Bastien said. They threw a few punches before getting back in the car and driving around some more.

Near the 200 block of 16th Street, all the men got out of the car, Bastien said. He told police he saw Bressler shoot Shields from a few feet away. Then he moved closer to him and emptied his gun, Bastien said, according to testimony by Det. Joe Matiatos.

Three days later, police sat down with Bastien, who had told a superior at Fort Carson that he'd been drinking with Shields the night before his body was found.

Bastien started talking.

Mental health defense?

A SWAT team arrested Bressler on Dec. 5 because police were concerned he might be armed. Bastien was arrested two days later. The next day, a Colorado Springs detective picked up Eastridge in Arkansas.

In interviews, police say, Bastien and Eastridge mentioned the gun used in the killings - a .38 revolver. It was a detail police had never released publicly.

Lawyers for the three men won't comment on what defense they may use.

But Assistant District Attorney Robin Chitum said during the court hearing she expects "serious mental health defenses" to be raised as the case proceeds.

During two tours in Iraq, the mens' unit saw its share of horrors, from body parts scattered along roadsides to dead children whose bodies went unclaimed to the loss of their fellow soldiers, family members say.

Bressler has been diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, said Ed Farry, his attorney.

Farry is adamant that his client's PTSD diagnosis doesn't equal guilt. It's a myth that soldiers with the disorder are more likely to kill, he said.

"If anything, he's probably less likely," Farry said.

During the court hearing, Farry suggested Bastien and Eastridge conspired to name Bressler as the trigger man in both murders. The men may have thought Bressler would be the most believable killer because of his PTSD, Farry has said.

The two murders may not be the last of the charges against the men. Detectives testified they believe the men were involved in three other crimes: two drive-by shootings, and a stabbing of a woman who survived.

'We don't understand'

Madlyn and Ivan Shields traveled to Colorado Springs to attend a memorial service for their grandson at Fort Carson.

Members of Shields' unit stood before his photo, helmet and rifle and remembered him as the guy who kept their spirits up in Iraq, who built computers from parts so they could communicate with loved ones at home.

While in Iraq, Shields had set out to talk to loved ones of his own - two sisters and a brother he'd never met.

The kids were born after Shields went to live with his grandparents, but social services took them away and they were adopted by another family.

Facing the possibility of death in war, Shields hired a private investigator to find them. He began talking to their adoptive mother, who says she agreed that the four siblings could meet over Christmas.

Shields died before they got the chance.

But on a snowy day in December, when the family said goodbye to Shields in their hometown of Roscoe, Ill., his siblings were among the mourners.

"I'm sure he loved the fact they were there," his mother, Debra Pearson, said.

Family meant a lot to Shields, she added. He learned to play golf and bowl from his grandfather, and his growing up in their house kept his grandparents young.

He was looking forward to a new job at Hewlett-Packard, where he could put his knack for computers to use. In July, he would have been a dad again.

All of which makes his death even harder to take.

"It would have hurt us if he'd have gotten killed in action," Madlyn Shields said. "But to come back here and be killed . . . we don't understand it."

burnetts@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5343

Two deaths and too many questions

Two soldiers are slain on U.S. soil. Three soldiers are considered suspects and arrested. Below are the alleged participants in this tale, which has sparked the interest of the nation.

The victims

Spc. Kevin Shields, 24

* Military service: As a member of Fort Carson- based 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, he was halfway through his second tour in May 2007 when he was injured and sent home.

* Found dead: Dec. 1, 2007, on a sidewalk on South 16th Street in Colorado Springs after he ran into the suspects - who served with Shields on the same combat team - at the Rendezvous nightclub. According to Bruce Bastien, Shields and Louis Bressler fought before Bressler allegedly shot Shields several times at close range.

Pfc. Robert Christopher James, 23

* Military service: Joined his unit, the 183rd Maintenance Company, at Fort Carson in April 2007

* Found dead: Aug. 4, 2007, in the parking lot of the Bank of Broadmoor on Lake Avenue in Colorado Springs. James encountered the suspects Bastien and Bressler after a friend had dropped him off about a quarter-mile outside Gate 3 of Fort Carson. The suspects are accused of robbing James of $20 and shooting him execution-style.

The suspects

Louis Edward Bressler, 25

* Military service: Served two tours in Iraq, but returned early, in July, from his second tour after getting in a fight with an officer.

* Discharge: Was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and received a medical discharge from the Army in November.

Bruce Alan Bastien Jr., 21

* Military service: Earned a Combat Medics Badge while serving in Iraq. He returned home on personal leave in May 2007.

* Discharge: After two arrests for domestic violence, Bastien was prevented from returning to finish his deployment. Eastridge's mother said that Bastien has PTSD.

Kenneth L. Eastridge, 24

* Military service: Earned a Purple Heart and five other medals during his two tours in Iraq.

* Discharge: While at home, police had contact with him twice for domestic-violence incidents. He was court-martialed in August 2007 in Baghdad and discharged in November. His mother said he has PTSD.

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Comments

February 23, 2008

7:03 a.m.

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forwhatitis writes:

All three of them need to fry. There are thousands of returning war heros who don't commit crimes. To blame it on the war is a cowardess, cop-out. The actual number of discharged veterans who commit these types of crimes is actually less than the per-capita number of private citizens who commit similar crimes. That, in and of itself, is reason enough to return guilty verdicts. The fact that our military has to accept low-life, losers who are typically high-school drop outs and otherwise punks, is unfortunate. They give those who are upstanding, patriots doing a deed for their contry a bad name. RIP Kevin and Chris. Rot in your own hell Eastridge, Bastien and Bressler.
February 23, 2008

7:23 a.m.

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GWBushwacked writes:

The acts are inexcusable, however it is impossible to tell exactly what effect combat has had on their mental state. It will be interesting to see if they are found fit to stand trial. Nonetheless, if found mentally incompetent, they will still serve time, maybe in a pscyhiatric lock down facility.

Not every human being is fit to engage in warfare, unfortunately our government does not care.
February 23, 2008

8 a.m.

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Radar writes:

Forwhatitis, Froward69, yes it is unfortunate the the Army has accept thes type of morons, however the Navy, and Air Force require a HS diploma, I'm not sure about the Marines, or Coast Guard. But like you said to blanket blame it on the war is wrong. War changes everyone, it is just matter to what degree, This is sad, and they should be put to death for this, nothing is worse that turning against a fellow combat veterian, especially from the same unit. Nospmisjo, those are about the dumbest things I've read so far. The Military has been a great experience for me and my family, as for the illegal mexicans what do they have to do with the article? To service in the armed forces in the U.S. you have to take and oath of loyalty to the United States... by choice. i might add. Illegals are not loyal to anything or anybody except themselves.
February 23, 2008

9 a.m.

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HolierThanThou writes:

These are heinous crimes committed by criminals whose killing skills were boosted by the US Army.

Although most Americans probably don't care and don't want to know, this is just a small taste of what we've been dishing out in Iraq.

Bush is a deserter. His daddy pulled strings so that GWB dodged service in Viet Nam. Then Bush walked away from his obligations to the champaign squadron of the Texas Air National Guard. They earned the "champaign" designation for being a collection of rich kids who tended to be dodging tours involving enemies shooting at them.

That kind of dishonorable leadership spreads poison from the top down.

We're better off having civilian leaders with no pretensions of military heroism, people who can count casualties and visualize the human suffering behind the numbers.

A crime like this shows us the suffering behind the number 2. Now do the math for Iraq (160,000 to 600,000+ killed more wounded) and the rest of America (6000+ killed more wounded).
February 23, 2008

noon

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fortyfive writes:

to the q...i'm glad to see that you have calmed your unwanted and unfounded comments to be more directed to the facts. thanks
February 23, 2008

3:17 p.m.

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RoseDesiree writes:

I am appalled at some of the comments left here. I am afraid to say, the for all of Bush's faults, I am not sure we can blame him for these murders. These are incidents of individuals that are f-ed up. And as far as the military being lowlife, drop out punks.... Those lowlife drop out punks are bigger men than anyone I know... I take personal offense to that comment, it's BS. Have you served? Have you woken up every morning at 5am, come home late to your family, and done it all with pride, and managed to balance it all?
I am not impressed with the quality of people leaving comments here.
February 23, 2008

4:07 p.m.

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Darwin writes:

You're right RoseDesiree, most of those posting with their negative complaints about the military never had the guts and ability to serve in the military. Having served myself, I know that 99.9% of those serving are good and honorable men and women. As pointed out by forwhatitis, the criminal rate per capita is much lower than the general population. Thanks to our troops and God bless them.
February 23, 2008

5:45 p.m.

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arby writes:

RoseDesiree & Darwin
I totally agree with you. The punks writing above don't have the cahones to serve our country. And I find it disgraceful for them to lump all military personnel under one umbrella when they don't have a clue. Besides that, what happened to "Innocent until proven guilty". Hmmm, maybe that's how Hitler got started. You think? That would never happen here in the home of the brave and the land of the free. Would it?
February 23, 2008

6:07 p.m.

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RoseDesiree writes:

And you know what, for that matter, even those who could be considered high school drop outs, that were not the smartest of their school, they could be sitting on their behinds taking welfare and unemployment checks like thousands of people do. Instead, they are working the hardest job in the world. I think that earns them a little more respect. And imagine not even being 25 years old and doing three tours in Iraq, or as a woman, give birth, and a month later go to Iraq, never knowing if you are gonna come back and see the baby you just had. I think those "losers" have more of my respect than you.

I am not saying that these actions are validated, or ok in any manner what-so-ever, but get off your high-bloody-horses and think before you speak.
February 24, 2008

1:10 a.m.

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rj1967 writes:

If Ft Carsons boys are "all that" how come the clubs in CS that are having all kinds of police trouble are over flowing with Army kids?? How come Ft Carson has officers on babysitting duty every weekend cuz the DUI rate for troops is off the charts?? Sounds like a gene pool problem to me.
February 24, 2008

6:35 a.m.

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gratefulweb writes:

Let them fry! especially bressler. what a piece of white trash. good thing these guys are off the streets.
February 24, 2008

9:45 a.m.

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Retread writes:

Can you say PTSD? You had better learn it folks...We have a lot of GIs getting out of the service with several deployments in their history.
February 24, 2008

5:04 p.m.

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GWBushwacked writes:

rj1967 -you are right. No one wants to join the military and who could blame them right now. It used to be more of a way to pay for college for many who could not afford it. Yes, many respectable men and women do and have served. However, the military will take any warm body now- including those in gangs. I am trying to remember the article but they were saying in the article that American gang spray tags were showing up in Baghdad. There was a man they mentioned in the article who died in Iraq, but was killed by fellow servicemen because he was having his "jump-in" before he got back to America
February 25, 2008

12:06 a.m.

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gethoht writes:

I'm sick of all the "support the troops" nonsense that gets pushed around america these days. Being a patriot has nothing to do with blindly following what your "leader" tells you to do. Being a true patriot is seriously questioning your governments actions with true objectivity and without a sense of blind nationalism or jingoism(most americans don't even know what these terms mean). Serving in the military in an unjust war doesn't automatically make you a patriot. Americans should wake up and realize the principles this country was founded on. American democracy is founded on a basic distrust of government, period. That's why there are checks and balances, and the bill of rights. It seems that most modern americans have no sense of history at all, especially of their own country. Alot of this has to do with how the history books are written, and the fact that in terms of the "first world" countries, the american education system is considered pretty much a joke. Most brits have a better sense of american history than americans do. There's a word for all of you out there that don't objectively criticize your government, they're called fascists(look it up in wikipedia if you don't know what that word means). I see more and more fascists every day in this country and it's almost embarrassing. Wakey wakey america, it's time to awaken from your slumber, pull yourselves out of your TV induced stupor and realize what is actually going on.
February 25, 2008

3:05 p.m.

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RoseDesiree writes:

But, Gethoht aren't you going against your own thing, I mean the troops are seperate from Bush. Talk to most troops and they themselves don't particularly care for Bush and they will straight up tell you that, and the families of soldiers are the same. Supporting your troops is seperate from supporting your president. I haven't seen any comments here that a "blindly following" their leader. Just speaking up for troops that are themselves being blanketed with a generic term. Which is BS, you can't blanket a population like that. I support the troops because I know what you have to give up when you go to war. I am not, and never was a soldier, but I am a loved one, someone that had to sit home and worry. I don't know, I am tired and not terribly focused, but.... Still, I don't think supporting your troops can be considered fascism.
May 30, 2008

12:19 p.m.

Suggest removal

BBHOMIE writes:

It really shocks me that someone who calls them self an American can sit here and say that the ARMY accepts low life's, losers, HS drop outs, and punks these so called punk's as you put it have fought for you and your loved ones and you have the nerve to actually put them down well that’s just unfathomable to me. You say that blaming it on the army is a cop out and cowardly I am assuming you have never had a best friend leave for Iraq and then when they have finally returned home the have come back as a completely changed person. Bastien, who is my best friend left for Iraq with so many dreams and goals and also leaving behind a new born baby girl only a month after she was born. I use to look into his eyes and see so many things and when he returned home from Iraq I looked into his eyes and saw nothing at all. There are leaders and followers in this world and unfortunately in this case there was a leader and two followers. I would also like to say since when does everyone believe what they hear see or read in the media all these reporters and writers write you things that you want to hear and never the things you need to hear. I am not trying to say what these boys have done is right it is very wrong. For those who say that these boys need to rot in there own hell, imagine if one of these boys were your brother, friend, father, cousin, or uncle I am sure if they were you would not have any of these hateful things to say to these boys who have put there life in the hands of the ARMY to go over seas with out a guarantee if they will ever come back home. The war has stolen me of my best friend a person that I once knew better than I knew myself is now a complete stranger sitting behind bars. I am so sorry for the families who have lost there sons in this tragedy my condolences go out to you and your family

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From combat to crime

By Sara Burnett, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published February 23, 2008 at 12:30 a.m.

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