The Air Force has scheduled an Article 32 hearing to take place May 12 for Air Force Staff Sgt. Sean M. Oliver, according to Stars and Stripes. The hearing, akin to a civilian preliminary hearing, will determine if there is enough evidence for a court-martial in connection with the strangling death of Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Dmitry Chepusov.
Both Oliver and Chepusov worked for American Forces Network at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Sources close to the investigation have told Home Post that Oliver was dating the estranged wife of Chepusov.
Early on the morning of Dec. 14, as Home Post has previously reported, German police stopped Oliver's car because he was "driving erratically." They discovered Chepusov dead in the passenger seat.
German authorities later performed an autopsy on Chepusov, and ruled the cause of death as “force to the throat.”
The U.S. military is keeping mum on any additional details pertaining to the killing, with Ramstein Air Base spokeswoman Sandra Archer telling Stars and Stripes:
“We won’t further discuss any details because we don’t want to affect or prejudice the outcome of a fair trial."
