PYONGTAEK, South Korea — A soldier accused in the fatal stabbing of an Army sergeant in a barracks at Camp Carroll last month has told authorities he acted in self-defense, according to a military police report obtained by Stars and Stripes.
The Army has charged Pfc. Gregory David Robertson, 24, with murder in the Feb. 19 death of Army Sgt. Kenneth Lamond Kelly. Kelly, 27, died at the base medical clinic shortly after the Saturday night incident.
An Article 32 pretrial hearing is set for 9 a.m. Thursday at the Camp Henry Staff Judge Advocate’s office in Taegu, said Maj. David Doherty, a spokesman for the Army’s 19th Theater Support Command.
Kelly, an Iraq veteran from Goldsboro, N.C., was a supply sergeant with the 293rd Signal Company at Camp Carroll, in Waegwan. His unit held a memorial service for him Feb. 25 at the Camp Carroll base chapel.
Robertson is a computer graphics designer with the 20th Area Support Group at Camp Henry, about a 30-minute drive south of Camp Carroll. He has been in pretrial confinement at Camp Humphreys in Pyongtaek pending his pretrial hearing.
Kelly, according to witness statements to investigators, had banged on the barracks room door and demanded entry to the room. Once inside, he reportedly attacked two occupants, one a female named Collins who was assigned to the room, the other Robertson, who was visiting.
Doherty on Monday said Collins has not been charged in the case and, citing privacy reasons, said he could not further identify her.
Robertson told investigators he drew a knife in self-defense, but had not intended to stab Kelly, according to the report.
Virginia Robertson, the accused soldier’s mother, e-mailed Stars and Stripes a copy of the blotter report, saying she believes it provides a more balanced picture of events than the version released last week by Army officials.
Army officials said Kelly was stabbed while visiting an acquaintance at the barracks, but said they would not disclose further details of the incident — including what, specifically, occurred while Kelly was in the room, and what led up to the incident — until an investigation is completed and a court hearing held.
Doherty on Tuesday said the document Virginia Robertson supplied was the police blotter report of the incident, but added “I have to stress that this is a preliminary report and preliminary reports should not be treated as fact.”
According to the report based on Robertson’s and Collins’ statements, Kelly “demanded to be let into” the barracks room and “began banging on the barracks room door.”
“Collins subsequently opened the door,” the report stated, and later told investigators, Kelly “began to hit her” and Robertson.
“It was further alleged,” the report stated, “that during the course of the struggle, Robertson drew a butterfly knife (locking blade) and stabbed Kelly, who then began to walk away and collapsed.”
The report also provides an account of what Collins and Robertson allegedly told authorities about the incident.
Before agents of the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division arrived at the scene, according to the report, Robertson allegedly “hid the knife in a personally owned bag” and Collins allegedly told him to “lie about the altercation.”
Also on the night of the incident, according to the report, Collins allegedly made a sworn statement to CID that Kelly “had entered her room and collapsed.”
A search of her room “revealed a butterfly knife in a bag” reportedly belonging to Robertson, the report stated.
Collins allegedly gave CID a sworn statement “recanting her original statement, admitting Robertson and Kelly were involved in a physical altercation” but denying “knowing Kelly had been stabbed.”
Robertson was interviewed and allegedly “admitted that he was involved in a physical confrontation with Kelly and admitted to stabbing him,” the report stated.
But “Robertson alleged that he had drawn the knife in self-defense and did not intend to stab Kelly,” according to the report.
Virginia Robertson said she provided Stars and Stripes with the blotter report because it contained key details not included in what Army officials released last week. Her son’s defense lawyer provided her family with the report, she said.
“I just wanted my son to have an equal chance for the facts to be known … I wanted the facts to be known for him, to have a fair trial. And I know the military would be honest in whatever they’ve done and would want everything to be above board,” she said.
