CAMP HANSEN, Okinawa — A Navy dental technician on Camp Hansen had his throat slit because other members of a shoplifting ring thought he would inform on them, a Marine investigator testified Wednesday.

At the military’s version of a preliminary hearing for one of four defendants charged in the death of Seaman Adam J. Palecco, Special Agent Michael Cote testified Palecco’s throat was slit when he was attacked by three other dental technicians the night of Feb. 2. He said Palecco was partially decapitated and had an eye gouged out by his attackers, who stabbed him 17 times in a parking lot near the food court and movie theater on Camp Hansen.

They then dragged his body to a drainage tunnel, Cote testified, where it was discovered two days later.

Wednesday’s hearing, called an Article 32 pretrial investigation, was held for Marine Lance Cpl. Jesika I. Jenkins, who was identified as the girlfriend of the leader of the alleged shoplifting ring. She is the first of four people to have the charges considered by a commissioned officer under Article 32 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

The officer will review the evidence and then make a recommendation to the defendant’s commanding officer whether to proceed with a court-martial, deal with the case in a nonjudicial forum or dismiss the charges.

Jenkins, of Duval, Fla., is charged with murder, failing to obey a lawful order or regulation, dereliction of duty, making false official statements, being an accessory after the fact, aiding and abetting, concealing evidence and receiving stolen merchandise.

Jenkins, assigned to Headquarters and Service Battalion as a camp guard, displayed little emotion while listening to the three investigators called by the prosecutor.

According to their testimony, Jenkins did not take part in the actual murder but may have had prior knowledge that her boyfriend, Seaman Audley G. Evans II, intended to kill Palecco.

The prosecution also asserts she failed to report the crime despite listening to Evans, of Royal Palm, Fla., and the two others charged in the case — Seaman Robert L. Person Jr. and Seaman Tiffany Marie Brooks — discuss the incident after Palecco was killed.

Prosecutors say Jenkins gave Evans an alibi, gave him comfort and helped him by passing along what she knew, as a camp guard, about the ongoing investigation.

Also, they accuse her of using her gate guard position to let Evans leave Camp Hansen while on “liberty risk” status.

During the investigation, Cote testified, boxes of items reportedly stolen from base exchanges were seized from Evans’ barracks room.

Cote testified that Palecco had been charged — along with Evans and another Navy dental technician, Darryl R. Trappier — with stealing merchandise from the Army and Air Force Exchange on Kadena Air Base. Trappier, convicted on Feb. 1, was sentenced to eight months in the brig and a bad-conduct discharge.

Palecco, of Hackettstown, N.J., was to be tried on Feb. 4, the day his body was found. Cote said Evans, Person and Brooks had been identified as being part of the ring.

“They were all co-workers at the dental clinic on Camp Hansen,” Cote said, adding that Trappier passed word to Evans that Palecco was going to testify against him at his court-martial.

“Evans had a reputation that he was from the streets and that he didn’t approve of what he considered rats or snitches and he was going to gut him,” Cote said. He said Evans, Person and Brooks all gave statements admitting to killing Palecco after evening muster at the dental clinic.

Palecco, Evans and Person were friends, Cote said. Evans and Person were roommates and shared a common bathroom with Palecco.

According to their statements, Person walked Palecco to Brooks’ car when Evans, hiding nearby, seized him from behind.

Brooks and Person told investigators Evans slit Palecco’s throat, according to Cote.

“Then both Person and Brooks assisted in stabbing Palecco,” he said. An autopsy showed Palecco was stabbed 17 times and “nearly decapitated.”

“Then the three dragged him approximately 94 feet to another location in the grass where they stabbed him more and Brooks mutilated his eye,” Cote said. “Then they dragged him down an embankment into a ditch and then into the drainage tunnel.”

Palecco’s body was discovered by four Marines walking home from The Palms club complex late on the night of Feb. 4.

Also testifying Wednesday were Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents John Connell and Shane Reichenberg, who said Jenkins gave them conflicting statements on Feb. 12 and Feb. 15. Connell said Jenkins told him Evans talked to her about teaching Palecco a lesson while making a slashing motion across his throat with his hand.

“But she said she considered him to be full of hot air,” Connell said.

Reichenberg said Jenkins told him she heard Evans, Person and Brooks talk about killing Palecco. She said they later returned to her room and discussed how they’d carried out their plan.

During cross-examination by Jenkins’ lawyer, Navy Lt. Michael Luken, Reichenberg said Jenkins told him she was afraid of Evans and did not report the crime because “she didn’t want to end up like Adam Palecco.”

No pretrial hearing dates have been set for Brooks, of Carthage, Miss.; Person, of Turrell, Ark., or Evans.