Marine Gets Life Sentence for Murder Linked to Payroll Fraud

A Marine law clerk accused of murdering Pfc. Kevin Berrigan to prevent him from testifying in an investigation of a payroll fraud at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station was sentenced by a military judge Wednesday to life in confinement, a base spokesman said.

Cpl. Richard L. Plummer, 22, of Milwaukee, Wis., had pleaded guilty a day earlier to charges of murder, wrongful appropriations and conspiracy to commit wrongful appropriation, the latter two charges stemming from the payroll fraud, according to Lt. Timothy Hoyle, a base spokesman.

Plummer’s plea came less than two weeks before a scheduled Aug. 12 court-martial on the charges. The press was not given prior notice of either Monday’s hearing when Plummer entered his plea or Tuesday’s sentencing hearing. Hoyle said he did not know the identity of the judge who sentenced Plummer, and neither the military defense nor prosecuting attorneys could be reached for comment.

Hoyle said the matter will be reviewed by the base commander, Gen. William Bloomer, who can suspend “certain parts” of Plummer’s sentence but cannot recommend the maximum sentence of death. Plummer also can appeal the sentence to a military court in Washington, Hoyle said, but it was not known if he would do so.

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 72 times with an 8-inch knife that was found embedded in his body.

The day before he was killed, the 21-year-old Marine from Wells, Me., had agreed to plead guilty to charges stemming from the payroll fraud investigation, sign a statement implicating Plummer and testify against Plummer, according to testimony at an April military hearing by base attorney Capt. John Canham.

Berrigan, Plummer and Pvt. C.A. Meace were accused of altering payroll records in December, 1984, enabling Plummer to obtain an unauthorized $1,197 allowance for off-base housing. Meace pleaded guilty to fraud charges and was sentenced March 12 to a bad conduct discharge and one month’s hard labor at Camp Pendleton.

Plummer worked in the base law center and Berrigan and Meace were employed in the disbursing office.

Along with life in confinement, Plummer was given a dishonorable discharge, reduced in rank to private and barred from receiving any military pay.