A FORMER Guantanamo Bay commander faces up to 75 years in prison after lying about a fight he had had with a civilian on the night the man died.
Navy Captain John R. Nettleton was convicted on Friday of interfering with an investigation into the death of Christopher Tur, who was found dead in 2015 after it emerged that Nettleton had been having an affair with his wife.
Nettleton had commanded the navy base at Guantanamo, though not the infamous detention where the US holds terrorism suspects, since June 2012.
Tur, who had formerly served in the Marine Corps, moved to the base with wife Lara and their two children to work at the main shopping complex there in May 2011.
He disappeared on a night in January 2015 after an incident at an on-base night club in which he confronted Nettleton and Lara, in front of witnesses, about an alleged affair between the two.
His body was later found floating in the waters off Guantanamo.
An autopsy determined he had died by drowning, but that he also had a cut on his head and fractures to a number of ribs before he entered the water.
Nettleton was not charged over Tur’s death, but he initially told investigators he had not seen Tur after leaving the nightclub, and it later emerged that Tur had gone to his home following the incident and the two had fought.
Nettleton’s daughter is reported to have come downstairs to see Tur standing over her father, who was on the ground.
Tur also phoned a friend and told him he was at Nettleton’s home and that he had “just knocked the skipper out”.
Tur’s blood was later found in the porch of the house and on a paper towel in the back garden.
Nettleton initially told a superior officer that the affair with Lara Tur had not happened, but it was later confirmed by her during testimony.
A federal jury in Florida found Nettleton guilty on charges of obstruction of justice, concealing material facts, falsifying records, and making false statements.
He faces a maximum sentence of 75 years in jail, although is likely to get considerably less.
A date for his sentencing hearing has not yet been set.
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