JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Navy captain accused of interfering in the death investigation of a civilian worker at U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay is angling to suppress much of the evidence against him.
John Nettleton, former commanding officer at Gitmo, has been charged with obstruction of justice, lying and falsifying records during a military investigation into the death of Christopher Tur.
Tur drowned near the base in 2015, according to a federal indictment, after a bloody fight with Nettleton, whom he thought was having an affair with Tur's wife.
Nettleton, who lives in Jacksonville, pleaded not guilty.
This week, his attorneys filed multiple motions to suppress evidence in the case – including the indictment itself, which they call “one-sided” and “unfair.”
Attorneys also filed motions to suppress, among other things, blood evidence discovered at Nettleton’s home; any testimony that Nettleton's son destroyed his father's iPhone after he learned of the criminal investigation against his father; and the testimony of an officer who said Nettleton spoke about Tur as if he were already dead, well before his body was found.
“They are going to try to chip away at the indictment,” Tur’s brother Michael Tur told First Coast News. “We understand they are doing their job, but this is all new to us. Obviously, we did not expect any of this.”
Tur’s sister Aline Byrnes agreed.
“It’s like having a Band-Aid ripped off every time something like this comes out. We’re getting used to it, but it still stings," she said.
Nettleton and Tur fought the night Tur disappeared, according to the indictment. An autopsy revealed Tur suffered fractured ribs and a head injury prior to drowning.
Nettleton was not charged in Tur’s death. In fact, one motion filed this week asks the court to prohibit prosecutors from making “any statements which imply [Nettleton] killed Tur or that the result of [Nettleton’s] is that we’ll never know exactly what happened to Tur.”
Such statements, his lawyers argue, would be “totally irrelevant and unfairly prejudicial.”
First Coast News reached out to Nettleton’s lawyers for comment, but did not immediately hear back.
In the indictment, prosecutors say Nettleton failed to tell investigators about his brawl with Tur. The indictment also says Nettleton slowed or misdirected search efforts.
Byrnes initially believed that Nettleton was would be charged with more than obstruction.
“Originally, I was told it was going to be [a] manslaughter [charge], but that’s not the way it turned out,” Byrnes said. “They [military investigators] kicked it back to the Department of Justice.”
The DOJ indictment was filed in January 2019. Tur died in January 2015.
Tur’s sister says she’s been assured by federal prosecutors that they will fight the recent suppression motions, but no official responses have been filed.
The trial is set for Jan 6, Michael Tur says, almost exactly five years after his brother’s death.
“Until justice is served,” he said, “we will simply have to endure it.”