Paratrooper Charged in Man’s Death in Panama

In a criminal action arising out of the invasion of Panama, a decorated Army paratrooper has been charged with murdering an unidentified Panamanian man and assaulting three others, military officials said Wednesday.

First Sgt. Roberto Enrique Bryan, a 42-year-old career soldier of the 82nd Airborne Division, was accused of fatally shooting a prisoner who was captured Dec. 23 after a grenade was thrown from a car filled with Panamanians, killing one of Bryan’s men.

The alleged slaying followed a shoot-out in which several occupants of the car, all in civilian clothes, were killed and at least two men were arrested in the incident at a checkpoint, according to Army sources.

Bryan, a native of Panama, also is charged with three counts of aggravated assault for allegedly hitting two Panamanians with the butt of his M-16 assault rifle on Dec. 20--the day that U.S. forces swept at dawn into Panama--and whipping a third man with a section of rubber hose Dec. 21, said Army Maj. Joe Padilla, a Pentagon spokesman. In the invasion-day incidents, Bryan is charged with hitting one man on the head with the M-16 and smashing another man on the hand.

The charges against Bryan stemmed from a probe by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command. The Army command reportedly is investigating 20 other incidents of serious misconduct during and after the Panama invasion.

Military officials would not comment on the status of those ongoing investigations, including one into the possibly accidental shooting of a civilian as two U.S. soldiers fled a Panama City brothel without paying.

Bryan has been appointed a military lawyer. He is not being ordered confined at Ft. Bragg, N.C., the 82nd Airborne’s base, said Maj. Ned Ennis, a spokesman there. Ennis added that Bryan has been relieved of duty and is spending time “crafting his defense.”

The charges are expected to be referred to an investigating officer, who will recommend whether the case should be forwarded to Maj. Gen. James H. Johnson Jr., commander of the 82nd Airborne, who will decide whether to convene a court-martial.

Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the maximum penalty for premeditated murder is death or life imprisonment, dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances and reduction in rank.