Article 32 Hearing
Volume 2


July 7, 1970

Specialist Fourth Class Kenneth Mica (MP)

(Specialist Fourth Class Kenneth C. Mica was called as a witness by the government, was sworn, and testified as follows.)

Questions by CPT SOMERS:
Q  Would you state for us, please, your full name?
A  Specialist Fourth Class Kenneth C. Mica.
Q  Your organization?
A  Company A, 503d Military Police Battalion, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Q  And your armed force?
A  U.S. Army.
Q  What were your duties on the evening of the 16th and 17th of February of this year?
A  I was assigned to routine military police patrol, Fort Bragg.  The patrol number was number 33 which is Anzio Acres and Corregidor Courts area.
Q  Are you familiar with Castle Drive?
A  Yes, I am.
Q  Do you know whether 544 Castle Drive is in the Corregidor/Anzio area?
A  Yes, sir, Corregidor Courts.
Q  It is Corregidor.  In patrolling -- well, how do you patrol?  Do you use your vehicle?
A  Yes, sir, a jeep.
Q  In patrol that night did you pass the 544 Castle Drive area?
A  Yes, sir.
Q  About how many times?
A  I'd say at least six or seven times.
Q  Did you note any unusual pedestrians or disturbances in the early morning of the 17th of February in that Castle Drive area?
A  No, sir.
Q  What was the weather like that morning?
A  It was kind of cold.  It was raining.  It rained off and on all night long.
Q  Did you at any time that evening or in that next morning on the 17th have occasion to go specifically to 544 Castle Drive?
A  Yes, sir.
Q  How did that come about?
A  Well, we had been assigned that area to patrol, and we received a call to proceed to 544 Castle Drive to back up our patrol supervisor who was already en-route for possibly a domestic disturbance.
Q  I see.  At this time I hand to you what has been marked Government Exhibit 3 and ask you if you recognize it.  If so, tell us what it is.
A  Yes, sir, this is a brief summary of what took place and what I was involved with at 544 Castle Drive.
Q  Is that a witness statement?
A  Yes, sir.
Q  Whose?
A  Mine.
Q  I see.  I leave it in your hands for possible refreshment of memory.  When you arrived at 544 Castle Drive were there any other MP vehicles there?
A  Yes, sir.
Q  How many?
A  I'd say at least three.
Q  What did you do when you got there?
A  Well my partner and I walked up to the front door.  There was already a few MP's standing up there knocking on the door trying to get in.  We went up to the door and we were standing around there for a few minutes, and at that point someone said to go around back and check around back.
Q  Who said that?
A  I believe it was Lieutenant Paulk.
Q  What did you do then?
A  Well, I started around the side of the house, going towards the back door, and Sergeant Tevere was ahead of me, and as I -- I got about midway around the side of the house, Sergeant Tevere was already coming back.  He yelled to me, "Tell them to get Womack ASAP."  At that point we both ran back around to the back of the house and we went in.
Q  You said he yelled, "Tell them to get Womack."
A  Yes, sir.
Q  Were there any other MP's in the vicinity when he said that?
A  I don't remember seeing anyone.
Q  Were there any that could have heard him say that?
A  Yes, I believe so.
Q  Then you followed him around back?
A  Yes, sir.
Q  What did you find when you got around back?
A  Well, we found the screen door on the house closed.  The inside door was open.  At that point Sergeant Tevere was ahead of me.  He opened the screen door and we went through. We got inside the -- I guess it is a laundry room, the back room there, and we stopped in the doorway.  At that point I saw two bodies laying on the rug, and we paused there for a second.
Q  These bodies, were they male or female?
A  One female, sir, she was lying on her back, and one male lying on his stomach.
Q  Do you know who that male was?
A  Yes, sir, Captain MacDonald.
Q  Did you know that then?
A  No sir.
Q  At the time that you entered that back door, what were the lighting conditions in that bedroom?
A  There was a light on in the bedroom.  It was fairly bright.  I think, I'm not absolutely certain, but I think it must have been the ceiling light, or a light on the dresser.
Q  What did you do then?  After you observed these bodies.
A  I went over; I knelt down next to Captain MacDonald.  He started to moan a little bit and I sort of turned him over, turned his face over.  He said, at that time he said, "Check my kids. How are my kids?"
Q  You said you turned his face over.  How was he lying?
A  He was lying on the right hand side of his wife.  He had his face turned away from me, and his head was sort of on -- I'd say on the top of her shoulder, chest area.
Q  Which shoulder?
A  It would have been her left shoulder.
Q  Okay, you say he turned his head over and you knelt beside him?
A  I turned his head.
Q  You turned his head.  All right, take it from there, please.
A  He said, "Check my kids.  How are my kids?  I heard my kids crying."
Q  What did you do at that point?
A  I got up and I ran down the hallway.  I glanced in both bedrooms.
Q  Now when you say both bedrooms, are you referring to the bedrooms on either side of the hallway?
A  Yes, sir.  I went to the end of the hallway, just glanced briefly into the living room, dining room, turned around and came back to Captain MacDonald.
Q  You did glance into the living room?
A  Yes, sir.
Q  Was there any source of light in that area?
A  There was a light on.  I believe it was either the kitchen or the dining area.
Q  Did you see any mud or foreign debris on the floor of hall which traversed and the living room?
A  No, sir.
Q  If it had been there in the hall or on the living room, could you have seen it?
A  I believe I would have seen it in the hallway.  As far as the living room, I believe I could have in maybe an eight to ten foot radius of where I stopped; I believe I would have seen it.
Q  And did you see it?
A  No, sir.
Q  Did you see any wet spots or stains in that area?
A  No, sir.
Q  When you looked in the side bedrooms, briefly, what did you see?
A  Well, sir --
Q  In which order did you look?
A  I looked in the left one first.
Q  To your left?
A  Yes, sir.
Q  As you were going down the hall?
A  Yes, sir, as I was going down the hallway.  I saw what appeared to be a female, appeared to be dead in bed there.
Q  How far did you go in that room?
A  I didn't go in, sir.  I glanced into the one on the right.  I noticed approximately the same thing.
Q  Where were these -- were they children?
A  Yes, sir.
Q  Where were these children physically, on the floor?
A  On the bed, sir.
Q  After having glanced into the -- well, when you glanced into the living room, dining room, kitchen area, did you notice any particular disarray or upset in the dining room area?
A  Not the dining room.
Q  Did you notice such upset or disarray in the living room?
A  Yes, sir, in the living room there was a coffee table overturned.
Q  How was it lying, on its top, or --
A  On its edge.
Q  On its edge.  After you had glanced in the living room, dining room area, what did you do then?
A  Well, I immediately turned around and went back down to the master bedroom, and knelt back down beside Captain MacDonald.
Q  And what did you do there?
A  Well, I tried to talk to him to find out what had happened.  At this time he began to tell me that -- he began mumbling that there were four of them, kept mumbling acid is groovy, and he also told me, "I can't breathe, I need a chest tube."
Q  Did you know what a chest tube was?
A  No, sir.
Q  What did you do?
A  Well, I began giving him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
Q  How long did you do this?
A  Well, the first time I'd say it was appropriately a minute, maybe a minute and a half.
Q  What happened?
A  Then he seemed to lose consciousness.  I gave him mouth-to-mouth a short time.  He seemed to regain consciousness again, at which time then again asked, "How are my kids. Check my wife.  I heard my kids crying.  I tried to feel my wife's pulse and I couldn't find it," and after that he began to lose consciousness, seemed to go out.
Q  What do you mean he would seem to go out?
A  Well, he would, he would start quivering, his teeth were chattering, and his eyes would just close and he would seem to black out.
Q  Did he become limp?
A  Yes, sir.
Q  And what did you do then?
A  Well I gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
Q  How long this time?
A  I'd say about thirty seconds or so.
Q  And then what?
A  Well, Captain MacDonald came to consciousness again, and I tried to get some more information from him.  Also Captain MacDonald, during this whole time was struggling with me.
Q  Struggling with you in what way?
A  Well, he was trying to reach for his wife, trying to push me off and telling me, "Forget it.  I've got to check my kids."  I told him, "Don't worry, sir, someone is down there taking care of them."
     Again he told me, he says, "Look at my wife."  He said, "I tried to find her pulse and I couldn't find it."
Q  Now you were talking about struggling.  Were you talking about just what he was saying?
A  Well, no, sir, he was trying to push me away and I imagine trying to get to his wife, trying to get up to check on his kids.
Q  I see.  Were you permitting him to do this?
A  No sir, I was trying to restrain him.
Q  Why?
A  Well, he had been injured and I didn't want him up walking around.
Q  You didn't want him to further injure himself.  Is that what you are saying?
A  Yes, sir.
Q  How many times did you administer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation?
A  I'd say at least three times, possibly more.
Q  What was the longest period at any one time that you administered it?
A  Approximately a minute and a half.
Q  How long did you stay with Captain MacDonald?
A  I stayed with Captain MacDonald until the medics came and took him out of the house.
Q  Then during this period you were in the master bedroom.  Is that correct?
A  Yes, sir.
Q  Where was Mrs. MacDonald during this time?  Or the female that was lying there?
A  She was lying to my left, sir.  I was between her and Captain MacDonald.
Q  Did you in any way move the body of the woman?
A  No, sir.
Q  Did you see anyone move that body?
A  No, sir.

CPT SOMERS:  I have no further questions.

COL ROCK:  Counsel for the accused, in view of the expeditiousness of this portion of the hearing, if you feel you desire now to reconsider, or would you prefer to wait until the morning?

MR. SEGAL:  My preference would to be to start cross examination in the morning, sir.

COL ROCK:  All right.  You are advised that you will discuss your testimony with no person other than counsel for either side until tomorrow morning.  You are excused.

(The witness saluted the IO and departed the hearing room.)

COL ROCK:  If there are no further matters to come before the hearing at this time, we adjourn until 0830 in the morning.

(The hearing adjourned at 0631 hours, 7 July 1970.)