Soldier Who Died While Skype Chatting Was Not Shot, Army Concludes
Army found no bullet wound in soldier who died while Skype-chatting with wife.
May 7, 2012— -- A soldier who died in Afghanistan while Skype chatting with his wife in America did not have a bullet wound military officials said today despite the wife's claim that he had been shot.
The Army Criminal Investigative Command came to its conclusion following an autospy on Capt. Bruce Kevin Clark.
"Agents conducting the investigation, found no trauma to the body beyond minor abrasions and a possible broken nose most likely caused from Captain Clark striking his face on his desk when he collapsed," the command's spokesman Chris Grey said in a s statement this morning.
"We do not suspect foul play in the death of Captain Clark at this point in our ongoing investigation," Gray said.
Clark's wife, Susan Orellana-Clark, previously described chatting with her husband on April 30 when the soldier suddenly fell forward and she saw a bullet hole in a closet behind him.
"During the Skype conversation on April 30, 2012, there was no sign that CPT Clark was in any discomfort, nor did he indicate any alarm. Then CPT Clark was suddenly knocked forward. The closet behind him had a bullet hole in it," Orellana-Clark's statement read.
The Skype video link continued for about two hours as Clark's family tried to get help, according to the statement.
"After two hours and many frantic phone calls by Mrs. Clark, two military personnel arrived in the room and appeared to check his pulse, but provided no details about his condition to his wife," she wrote.
The Army's statement today insisted that Clark had not been shot, and that the Army believed that there was no foul play in Clark's death.
"The investigation into the death of Captain Clark will continue and we will consider all available evidence before reaching a final determination," the statement said.
Clark, who was deployed to Afghanistan in March, was flown back Thursday to Dover Air Force Base, according to the AP.
In an earlier statement, the family said Clark was a "model father, husband, family member, U.S. Army Chief Nurse, and American citizen."
He is survived by his wife and two daughters, ages 3 and 9.
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