President Donald Trump will review the case of a former U.S. Army Green Beret charged with the premeditated murder of an Afghan while serving in 2010, he tweeted Sunday morning.
At the request of many, I will be reviewing the case of a “U.S. Military hero,” Major Matt Golsteyn, who is charged with murder. He could face the death penalty from our own government after he admitted to killing a Terrorist bomb maker while overseas. @PeteHegseth @FoxNews
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 16, 2018
The case centers around former U.S. Army Major Matt Golsteyn, who captured a suspected Taliban bomb-maker in 2010. Golsteyn and his men said the captured bomb-maker refused to cooperate with interrogators and that under their rules of engagement they had to release him.
Golsteyn said that he and his men suspected the Taliban bomb-maker of masterminding the deaths of U.S. Marines killed the day prior and that a local tribal elder had identified him as a known militant. The former U.S. Army Major later told investigators that he conspired with one of his men to kill the bomb-maker and bury his body.
Golsteyn admitted in a 2016 Fox News interview that he killed the bomb-maker, prompting renewed interest in the case. Following the interview and subsequent re-opening of the investigation the Army charged him with premeditated murder earlier this week.
Golysten’s commander “has determined that sufficient evidence exists to warrant the preferral of charges against him,” a U.S. Army spokesman said Friday, adding “Major Golsteyn is being charged with the murder of an Afghan male during his 2010 deployment to Afghanistan.”