News
2nd servicemember charged in death of AFN broadcaster
Stars and Stripes
April 23, 2014
Petty Officer 2nd Class Dmitry Chepusov, a military broadcaster, was found strangled to death in the passenger seat of a car during a traffic stop in December 2013. (Facebook photo)
A second American servicemember has been charged in connection with the strangling death of a U.S. sailor in Kaiserslautern, Germany.
Army Spc. Cody A. Kramer was charged on April 14 with facilitating the strangling of Petty Officer 2nd Class Dmitry Chepusov, a Navy broadcaster who was found dead in the passenger seat of a car during a traffic stop Dec. 14. Kramer was also charged with making a false statement about the slaying.
Air Force Staff Sgt. Sean Oliver was charged March 10 with assaulting and murdering Chepusov and other offenses. Both Oliver and Kramer are broadcast engineers assigned to the American Forces Network at Ramstein Air Base, where Chepusov also worked.
An Article 32 hearing — similar to a civilian grand jury — will be held in May to determine whether there is enough evidence against Oliver to warrant a court-martial. A similar hearing for Kramer begins Thursday in Kaiserslautern.
The two suspects’ legal proceedings are being handled by their respective services.
Oliver was stopped by German police in the early hours of Dec. 14 for driving erratically. During the stop, police found Chepusov unresponsive in the passenger seat of Oliver’s car. German medical personnel pronounced the sailor dead at the scene.