Congressman May Ask Federal Inquiry Into Marine’s Death

A New York congressman, fearing that Orange County authorities may be bungling the investigation into the beating death of an El Toro Marine, threatened Friday to ask the Justice Department to investigate if no one is charged with the slaying.

Andy Kennedy, an aide to Rep. George Hochbrueckner, said Friday that the Long Island Democrat was concerned that county officials may not be aggressively investigating the death of Staff Sgt. Richard W. Bottjer.

“It just doesn’t sound like this case is moving along like it should,” Kennedy said in Washington. “We’re definitely going to get involved if we believe people are purposely stumbling. To what level we’ll get involved I don’t know. (But) if justice is not served, we will not hesitate to go to federal authorities.”

Bottjer, an aviation specialist at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, died April 7 in a brawl outside Baxter’s bar in Fullerton. Police said he and another Marine fought with two Cal State Fullerton football players.

Two Players Suspended

The players, quarterback Carlos Siragusa, 21, and wide receiver John Gibbs, 22, have been suspended from the Titan football team pending the outcome of the investigation.

Fullerton Police Capt. Donald Bankhead said Friday that the investigation would not be completed until Tuesday. At that time, Deputy Dist. Atty. Melvin L. Jensen will decide whether to file charges.

Bottjer’s parents, who live in Long Island, have complained that local officials appear too willing to acquit the Cal State players of responsibility in their son’s death.

“They seem to be saying my son started all this,” said the victim’s father, Ralph Bottjer, a Navy quality control specialist. “They don’t seem real concerned about finding out who is guilty. They seem to want to blame my son, and that’s not right.”

Kennedy said the congressman became interested in the case because Bottjer was originally from Long Island and his parents still live there. Moreover, he said, Hochbrueckner was concerned that Orange County police may be trying to protect local football players.

“The congressman is pretty shocked with what limited knowledge he has of this case,” Kennedy said. “He thinks there may be a possibility that a Marine may have been unjustly treated because he is a Marine.”

Fullerton Police Capt. Bankhead said he had not heard from the congressman’s office.

“All they have to do is call us,” he said. “Once we hear from the congressman, we will discuss this matter with him.”

Sgt. Tony Hernandez, a police investigator, said: “We are not a political entity, and hopefully we can do our work independently of the congressman. All we are asking for is time and patience to present the case to the district attorney’s office. There is nothing worse than misinformation.”

Ralph Bottjer had planned to return home to Long Island Friday but decided to remain in the area until next week to see how local officials proceed.

Noting that he spent seven years as an auxiliary police officer in Smithtown, N.Y., Bottjer said he had some experience in “seeing how professional police departments operate. They conduct themselves professionally, and I haven’t seen anything this (Fullerton) police department has done that has been professional.”

According to Kennedy, the congressman was empathetic to the plight of an enlisted man because he had been in the Navy himself as a young man. “His first reaction was that enlisted men are always treated in a suspect manner by local authorities,” Kennedy said.

At Cal State Fullerton, Coach Gene Murphy strongly cautioned his football players to stay out of bars and nightclubs and to watch their conduct while the investigation continued.

Falling short of barring the players from going to bars, Murphy said he strongly advised them that “they had better watch what they do. That’s good common sense. . . .”

“They (the players) are under the microscope,” Murphy said. Reacting angrily to media coverage of the marine’s death, he added that for the players, “It’s guilty until proven innocent.”