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The recent deaths of Army Delta Force member William J. Lavigne and Army veteran Timothy Dumas, being investigated as homicides, have returned attention to another death, the fatal shooting of Special Forces soldier Mark Leshikar.

Leshikar was killed in March 2018 by Lavigne, his best friend, known as "Billy" to Leshikar's family. Though the shooting was officially ruled as justifiable homicide, many questions remain.

Military Matters co-host Jack Murphy talks with Leshikar's sister, Nicole Rick, and widow, Laura Leshikar, about Mark's life and death and the mysteries left unsolved.

The two men were close — "Mark and Billy just clicked," Mark's wife, Laura Leshikar, said.

But Billy "seemed to be a little more tormented by a lot of the things that he was asked to do or had to do with his job," said Rick, who believes Billy, though he never said it explicitly, needed help.

Missing evidence, Lavigne's changing account of what happened that day, redacted reports and a witness who's only now able to speak out in this episode of Military Matters.

Follow Jack Murphy on Twitter @jackmurphyrgr and Rod Rodriguez @rodpodrod.

The full transcript of the podcast can be found here.

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militarymatters@stripes.com

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