Archive for Thursday, September 04, 2008
Iraq war veteran charged with girlfriend’s murder
John Wylie Needham was arrested Monday at his San Clemente condo, where his girlfriend, Jacqwelyn Joann Villagomez, was found severely beaten. He is being held on $1 million bail.
An Iraq war veteran accused of beating his girlfriend to death in his San Clemente condo was charged this morning with murder.
John Wylie Needham, 25, was arrested late Monday by Orange County sheriff’s deputies, who found his 19-year-old girlfriend, Jacqwelyn Joann Villagomez, in his bedroom severely beaten. She was died a few hours later.
Needham had answered the door naked and had to be subdued with a Taser after deputies responded to a report of an argument.
Needham, who was wounded in combat while serving in the Army in Iraq, returned with severe mental problems, his family said, including nightmares that left him screaming.
“I’m falling apart by the seams,” he wrote in a rambling post on his MySpace page.
Needham was awarded a Purple Heart for a combat injury in Iraq last year, which left him with shrapnel in his legs and back. He had been to the hospital, taken pain medication and seen therapists. Family members said they knew he was struggling but didn’t foresee him turning violent.
Villagomez was an aspiring model who grew up in Turlock, in the Central Valley, and graduated from El Toro High School in Lake Forest.
Needham is being held on $1 million bail and is scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 26.
- Report to Congress: Gulf War syndrome is real
- Automakers' pain felt far beyond Detroit
- After more than 400 lawsuits, disabled man can sue no more
- CSU may cut future enrollment by 10,000
- Lincoln and the myth of 'Team of Rivals'
- Soccer team helps Westmont College rise from ashes
- Price of Southern California homes falls 41% from peak
- Museum has thousands of sports memories on display
- Small spark can mean disaster for home
- How Paramount let 'Twilight' get away
- Carona trial witness says he used perk to win DUI suspect's release
- Democrats opt not to reprimand Joe Lieberman
- At Arnold Schwarzenegger's behest, Rob Lowe woos Chinese officials
- Stevens loses Alaska Senate race
- Four days, 11 homicides, several police investigations
- Bonfire built by students caused Montecito fire, sheriff says
- 500 police officers replaced in Tijuana
- Wildfires: Did low water pressure hinder the fight?
- Recall specter hangs over high court as it considers Prop. 8 challenges
- The Koran, punk rock and lots of questions
