Marine held in soldier wife’s death
FAYETTEVILLE, N. C. — The husband of an Army nurse who worked in the maternity ward at Fort Bragg’s hospital was charged Monday with murder in her death, a day after her body was discovered by authorities.
Marine Cpl. John Wimunc, 23, was also charged with first-degree arson and conspiracy to commit arson in the death of his wife, Army 2nd Lt. Holley Wimunc, of Dubuque, Iowa. Her body was found Sunday, three days after a suspicious fire at her Fayetteville apartment.
In May, Wimunc secured a temporary restraining order against her husband. She told authorities he got drunk and held a loaded handgun to her head and his. At the time of her death, the couple was going through a divorce.
Authorities also charged Marine Lance Cpl. Kyle Alden, 22, with first-degree arson, conspiracy to commit arson and accessory after the fact to first-degree murder. Both were arrested at Camp Lejeune, the Marine Corps base about 130 miles southeast of Fayetteville where they are stationed as combat engineers.
Wimunc’s body was found in a wooded area near the southern border of Camp Lejeune late Sunday afternoon, not far from Alden’s residence. The body had been there several days and there is evidence she was dead upon arrival, said Onslow County District Attorney Dewey Hudson, who wouldn’t elaborate. The men were arrested late Sunday night after police interviewed Alden.
Both suspects are being held without bond in the Cumberland County jail and are scheduled to appear in court today. John Wimunc’s father declined to comment when reached by the Associated Press, but Alden’s mother said her son’s only involvement was giving a friend a ride to Fayetteville.
“He had no idea what was going on. He didn’t do this,” Connie Johnson said in a telephone interview from her home in Pequot Lakes, Minn.
Holley Wimunc, 24, was commissioned by the Army Nurse Corps in 2007. Her first duty assignment was at Fort Bragg, where she worked in the mother and baby unit at Womack Army Medical Center.
Maj. Cliff W. Gilmore, a spokesman with the 2nd Marine Division at Camp Lejeune, said both suspects are assigned to the division’s 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion. John Wimunc has served two tours in Iraq, including one that ended in January. Alden’s mother said he went to Iraq in 2006.
Holley Wimunc’s father in Dubuque, Jesse James, said his daughter was a St. Ambrose University graduate, and excited about nursing and her career in the U. S. Army. She also had a son and daughter.
Wimunc’s death is the third homicide of a young North Carolina- based woman service member in the past seven months.
In January, the body of Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, of Vandalia, Ohio, was found in the backyard of a fellow Marine, Cpl. Cesar Laurean. He fled to Mexico and was captured in April, and is charged with murder in her death.
Last month, the decomposing body of Spc. Megan Touma, of Cold Spring, Ky., was discovered in a motel near Fort Bragg. Authorities have made no arrests in that case, but stressed Monday it has no connection to Wimunc’s death.
