JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — John Nettleton, the former Guantánamo Navy base commander, will face a potentially explosive trial next week as federal prosecutors argue he obstructed justice in their investigation of the suspicious death of a civilian contractor.
In January 2015, at the Guantánamo officers club, Christopher Tur accused Capt. Nettleton of having an affair with Tur’s wife, who was also a civilian contractor. Later, Tur showed up at Nettleton’s home.
The next day, Tur was missing, and when Nettleton ordered a search for Tur, he said Tur was last seen at the officers club, not at his home.
According to an order from U.S. District Court Judge Timothy M. Corrigan, Nettleton did not dispute those facts, though Nettleton has pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of various obstruction-of-justice charges.
The body of Tur, who was a 42-year-old former Marine, was pulled from Guantánamo Bay two days after Tur and Nettleton fought.
The night of the argument, Tur showed up at Nettleton’s house. Tur called someone and said he had “just knocked the Skipper out,” according to court documents, and Nettleton’s own daughter texted multiple people that she heard her father and Tur fighting and then saw her father laying on the floor.
“Um well my dad’s really drunk and some other dude is here and they are like getting in a fight downstairs and I am hiding,” Nettleton’s daughter texted.
Nettleton faces two counts of destroying, altering or falsifying records; five counts of making false statements; one count of concealing material facts and two general counts of obstruction of justice. He could face years in prison.
Nettleton’s attorneys tried to persuade the court that what he told Rear Adm. Mary M. Jackson, who was the commander of Navy Region Southeast in Jacksonville, should not be allowed in the trial, but Corrigan rejected that request.
Corrigan did prohibit prosecutors from “making any statements or implying that Nettleton killed Tur, or statements that because of Nettleton’s actions no one will know what happened to Tur.”
In obstruction cases, the sentencing guidelines can vary based on what criminal investigation was obstructed. If prosecutors argued that a manslaughter or a murder investigation was obstructed, for example, Nettleton could face a longer sentence.
Specifically, federal prosecutors argue Nettleton lied by saying Tur was last seen at the officers club, by saying Tur didn’t come to Nettleton’s house, by concealing that they had a physical fight, by refusing a request to allow a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter to search for Tur, by concealing the affair and by telling Tur’s wife to also conceal the affair.
Nettleton’s attorneys have argued that the charges are repetitive.
At first, Tur refused to tell Admiral Jackson about the fight. Later, when he told her, Jackson told him to tell criminal investigators about it, but he didn’t.
Two days after their fight, Tur’s body was found floating toward Cuba’s waters. An autopsy showed Tur died from drowning but had suffered from broken ribs and a cut on his head before he drowned. In Nettleton’s backyard, investigators found a bloody paper towel. On it, a DNA test revealed it was Tur’s blood.
Nettleton’s attorney said he plans to call on a forensic pathologist who will argue Tur probably died due to alcohol intoxication.
Prosecutors filed charges last year after, according to court documents, a four-year investigation. Prosecutors filed the charges in Jacksonville, they said, because the Guantánamo base is part of the Navy Region Southeast, which is based in Jacksonville. Nettleton’s last known residence, prosecutors said, was also Jacksonville.
The trial is expected to last for weeks, according to one court document.