Civilian employee at Eagle Base
dies after stabbing; suspect arrested
By Sandra Jontz,
Bosnia bureau
EAGLE BASE, Bosnia and Herzegovina — A 27-year-old civilian, who
worked at Eagle Base to help soldiers taking college courses, was stabbed to death Sunday.
U.S. military police at Eagle Base arrested the person suspected of
killing Robert Ruiz, a University of Maryland employee, officials said Monday.
Ruiz worked in the registrar’s office and helped admit soldiers
into the university’s program in Bosnia, said Maj. Tim Houchlei, a base spokesman.
The stabbing did not take place on Eagle Base, Houchlei said, who
added he did not know where the incident happened.
The suspect brought Ruiz to one of the base’s gates at 1:30 a.m.
Sunday, said Capt. Will Manley, a base spokesman.
Military police immediately arrested the person, and medical
personnel began treating Ruiz, who was pronounced dead at 4:41 a.m. Sunday, according to a
base press release. While an autopsy is pending, initial reports indicate Ruiz died from
stab wounds.
The suspect is being held at a correctional facility on the base,
Houchlei said. No charges have been filed and officials declined to release additional
details because the incident is still under investigation, Houchlei said.
Army officials denied requests to let Stars and Stripes speak with
Ruiz’s co-workers on Eagle Base.
Ruiz joined the staff of University of Maryland University
College-Europe in February 2000 and worked as a part-time field representative at the
Brussels office. He was transferred to the Tuzla office in March 2000.
Before working for the university, Ruiz was in the U.S. Marine Corps.
He served as an embassy guard in Niamey, Niger, from 1996 to 1997, and then as an embassy
guard in Brussels, Belgium, from 1997 to 1999.
He had earned an associate of arts degree in general studies from
UMUC-Europe in May.
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