Study on Carson vet crime could be out next week

Preliminary findings of a study on violent crimes committed by Fort Carson combat veterans could be released next week, the Army said in a letter released by U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar.

The senator asked for the study in the wake of a string of Colorado Springs killings that involved Iraq war veterans as suspects. In a letter to Salazar, Army Secretary Peter Geren said the study was making headway.

"I will provide you an update on our progress and any preliminary findings by Dec. 15," Geren told Salazar.

Salazar called for the review in October after Colorado Springs police arrested Spc. Robert Hull Marko on suspicion of murder and rape in the death of a 19-year-old woman.

Other troops from Marko's unit, the 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division, were charged in the deaths of two fellow soldiers last year and in the June shooting deaths of a couple placing garage sale signs in their neighborhood.

The brigade returned from Iraq in late 2007 after 15 months of fighting in Baghdad.

Fort Carson officials have said that they're working with Army experts to review every aspect of the killings to determine if there are common factors that can be addressed.

The study is looking at everything from background checks conducted before the soldiers entered the Army to how they were evaluated for mental illness before and after their Iraq service, Fort Carson officials have said.

Post officials including lawyers, doctors and police, have been working for weeks on the probe.

Geren's letter said the Army also brought in a team of outside investigators to look into the crimes.

The team, which includes experts in social work, drug abuse, medicine and mental health, will give recommendations to Fort Carson investigators, Geren said.

Salazar, a first-term Democrat, said he's happy with the work being done at the Colorado Springs post, but wants the scope widened.

"It's not limited to Fort Carson," he said.

Other posts, including Fort Lewis, Wash., and Fort Hood, Texas, have had homicides involving Iraq veterans in the past year.

"To understand patterns linking the actions of a few individual soldiers, the Army should examine similar cases at installations across the country in a thorough, service-wide review," Salazar wrote in a letter sent to Geren Monday.

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Contact the writer: 636-0240 or tom.roeder@gazette.com