JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The list of witnesses to be called at the trial of the former commander of Naval Station Guantanamo Bay includes his daughter and the woman federal prosecutors say he had an affair with.
Capt. John R. Nettleton is charged with obstruction of justice, lying and falsifying records during a military investigation into the death of Christopher Tur, a civilian worker on the naval base.
John Nettleton, who lives in Jacksonville, has pleaded not guilty.
Tur drowned near the base in 2015. According to a federal indictment, he died after a bloody fight with John Nettleton, whom Tur thought was having an affair with his wife. According to the indictment, John Nettleton was, in fact, having an affair with Tur’s wife. An autopsy revealed Tur suffered fractured ribs and a head injury prior to drowning.
John Nettleton is not charged in Tur’s death. Instead, the indictment focuses on the days after Tur disappeared. It says John Nettleton misdirected investigators and failed to mention the physical altercation “or that Tur had been injured.”
A key witness to the fight is John Nettleton’s daughter Julia Nettleton, whose name appears on witness lists for both the prosecution and defense. She was a teenager at the time and overheard the fight between her father and Tur.
According to the indictment, she texted a friend several times as the fight was occurring. “My dad is really drunk and some other dude is here and they’re like getting into a fight downstairs and I’m hiding,” she texted according to the indictment.
Also on both witness lists is Lara Sabonash, formerly Lara Tur, Christopher Tur’s wife in 2015.
Jury selection is set to begin Jan. 6 at 9 a.m.
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