Joint Base Lewis-McChord Officer Charged with Making Death Threats
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Hemera/Thinkstock(SEATTLE) — A lieutenant colonel from the same military base in Washington state that’s linked to an Army sergeant accused of slaying 16 Afghan civilians was arraigned Tuesday on charges that he tried to hire a hit man to kill his estranged wife and his commanding officer.
Lt. Col. Robert L. Underwood, who is assigned to Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM), allegedly sought to pay someone $150,000 to murder his wife.
Lt. Col. Shawn Reed, the commanding officer who was also apparently a target, had ordered a psychiatric evaluation of Underwood.
Reed says that Underwood was involved in contentious divorce proceedings and that his wife got a military protective order last December when Underwood allegedly intended “to hurt her and her children.”
There are also reports that Underwood told his daughter that he planned to do “something crazy” that “the world would know about.”
Meanwhile, Underwood’s girlfriend told investigators he talked about blowing up the state Capitol in Olympia. She claims he also threatened to kill her when she allegedly came across child pornography on his computer.
Underwood has been charged with three counts of felony harassment for the alleged death threats.
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