Corps Fraud Probe Disclosed : El Toro Marine Clerk Is Charged in Slaying

A Marine Corps law clerk has been charged with fatally stabbing Pfc. Kevin Berrigan last month, allegedly to keep Berrigan from testifying against him in a payroll fraud investigation at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, a military spokesman said Friday.

Cpl. Richard L. Plummer, 21, of Milwaukee, Wis., was being held at Camp Pendleton on charges of premeditated murder, obstruction of justice, forgery, misappropriation of government funds and other charges relating to the fraud case, according to Master Sgt. Jack Michalski, a spokesman for the base’s public affairs office.

“Berrigan had also been charged in the wrongful appropriations case and, in an attempt to reduce his sentence, had agreed to provide evidence against Plummer,” Michalski said.

Berrigan’s body was discovered March 20 on the floor of a barracks room he shared with three other Marines. Investigators said he had been stabbed about 70 times in the neck and chest and that the knife was still embedded in his body when it was discovered at about 11 p.m. by a Marine who bunked in a nearby room.

Plummer, a law clerk who enlisted in the Marines in 1982, was arrested the following day. He has remained in custody since the stabbing but was not charged with Berrigan’s slaying until Friday, Michalski said.

Conspiracy Charged

Military investigators are charging that Plummer, Berrigan and a third Marine, Pfc. C. A. Meace, had conspired to alter payroll records and records dealing with housing allowances. Michalski said he did not know the magnitude of the fraud except that one of the charges against Plummer was the misappropriation of $1,197 in government funds.

Meace was sentenced March 12 to a bad conduct discharge and one month’s confinement at hard labor at Camp Pendleton, Michalski said. Meace also was reduced in rank to private and ordered to forfeit $200 per month for five months.

Michalski said the filing of charges against Plummer is expected to conclude the fraud investigation. “We believe they were the only three involved,” he added.

Plummer will face a Section 30 hearing, at which time a staff judge advocate will recommend to Brig. Gen. William A. Bloomer whether there is sufficient evidence to bring Plummer before a general court-martial, Michalski said. Plummer would then be tried before a Marine court of five to nine officers, who would determine both his guilt or innocence and the sentence. Under military law, Plummer could be sentenced to death if convicted.

Enlisted 2 Years Ago

Berrigan, a 21-year-old body-building enthusiast from Wells, Me., enlisted in the Marine Corps two years ago after dropping out of the University of Maine.

He had telephoned his family the day he was killed to wish his 16-year-old sister, Brea, a happy birthday. “He was looking forward to coming home on leave in June because he enjoyed the beaches, here and in California,” another of Berrigan’s sisters, Robin, said Friday. “He seemed really happy.”

The family learned of the charges against Plummer when telephoned by a reporter Friday afternoon. Berrigan’s father, Edward Berrigan, who was stationed at El Toro in 1957-58, had asked U.S. Sen. William Cohen (R-Me.) to conduct an investigation into his son’s death.

Body Cremated

Cohen’s press aide, Mary Beth Carozza, said the senator “has confidence that the Marine Corps will keep him (apprised of) the investigation.”

Berrigan’s body was cremated and he was given a military burial last weekend in Maine.

Berrigan’s mother, Christina Berrigan, said, “The things that have been written about my son . . . this is a very, very small community, and it’s been very, very rough. We are still in a period of mourning here. I hope you can understand that.

“The Marines say they will tell us everything, that they will make a full disclosure of what happened to my son. I want to give them that chance.”