Two former soldiers in their 20’s are facing the death penalty for slicing and dicing a Georgia serviceman to death. The modern American military isn’t what it used to be. Liberal lawsuits have ended the days of iron fisted discipline on bases to the point where there is as much murder and mayhem committed on base and inside the ranks as there is on urban streets.
Former Georgia Soldiers indicted
A federal indictment was just unsealed against two men who used to be soldiers at Fort Stewart, in Georgia. They are accused of planning the murder of 24-year-old Specialist Austin J. Hawke, who’s body was discovered in his on-base housing unit on June 17, 2020.
If convicted, both could get the death penalty. As confirmed by court documents, Byron Booker, 28, of Ludowici and Jordan Brown, 21, of St. Marys are charged in the stabbing death.
Both ex-soldiers are charged with felony murder, assault on an armed services member, burglary, conspiracy to retaliate, and retaliation against a witness.
Booker was the executioner so he also faces premeditated murder charges along with murder of an armed services member. The 21-page indictment recently made public details exactly how the pair plotted the evil deed.
Apparently Hawke wasn’t popular with the former soldiers because he was the reason they lost their careers. Hawke reported Booker to the brass for “poor leadership, poor military performance, and maltreatment of subordinates.”
Since Hawke accused him of “maltreatment,” Booker decided to really show him some. Brown was ready to go along and do his part “in retaliation for Hawke reporting Brown for drug use during his service.”
Two Men Indicted in Death of Fort Stewart Soldier Found Stabbed to Death in Installation Housing: Byron Booker and Jordan Brown, former soldiers, were indicted on charges of murder conspiracy after another soldier was found dead in his barracks room in … https://t.co/JGGBm1LPqf
— FBI Atlanta (@FBIAtlanta) April 13, 2021
Silencing Hawke for good
Booker and Brown decided that the only chance the soldiers ever had of getting back in the good graces of Uncle Sam was to eliminate the source of their inconvenience. There was only one way to make sure the witness wouldn’t testify against them in a military court.
Since Booker was determined to carry out the operation, Brown was willing to help by “providing Booker with a key to access Hawke’s room.” Booker signed up with the Army “in 2015 as a chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear specialist.”
A Department of Justice press release notes that as laid out in the indictment, Booker drove to Fort Stewart from his home nearby and “entered the base on foot before walking to Hawke’s barracks.”
The authorities aren’t saying how he breached security to get on base. It seems the soldiers charged with security weren’t paying attention. Booker walked about a mile to get to where Hawke resided and nobody questioned his presence on the base.
Once inside the apartment, Booker went berserk, “stabbing, cutting, and slashing” Hawke with an edged weapon. The soldiers planned for him to have a change of clothes and shoes handy. “Afterward Booker disposed of the clothing and shoes he was wearing at the time.”
The police picked Booker up shortly after the crime was committed and he’s been chilling on ice in a cell since June 18, 2020, the day after the crime occurred. Brown, on the other hand continued to walk around free until “a U.S. District Court grand jury returned the indictment during its April 2021 term.” Now he’s in jail too.
