On January 5, 1994, twenty-seven-year-old David Cox was found shot to death near Boston. Nearly thirty years later, no one has been charged, and no suspects have been named in the murder of the former United States Marine.

Some believe David, one of the real Few and the Proud, was gunned down for giving a thumbs down to the marine-themed Hollywood blockbuster A Few Good Men.

David Cox

Following his graduating from Needham High School in 1985, Boston native David Cox attained his dream of becoming a United States Marine. After completing his basic training in Parris Island, South Carolina, he was sent to the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.

As one of the thirty men comprising the Rifle Security Company, Windward Side, 2^nd Platoon, David was assigned to guard the area separating the base from Cuba.

David Dreamed Of Being A Marine

In a letter dated June 30, 1986, PFC (Private First Class) William Alvarado, another marine stationed at Guantanamo Bay, wrote to his Senator, alleging marine misconduct at the naval base, specifically the illegal firing of weapons into Cuban territory. He requested a transfer.

Platoon Commander Colonel Samuel Adams learned of Alvarado’s letter but opted not to transfer him. David’s squad leader, Christopher Valdez, contends Adams gave his men an implied but not specifically stated order to carry out a “hazing” against Alvarado. In military lingo, this is called a “Code Red.”

Alvarado’s Letter

Approximately two weeks later, ten marines, including David Cox, entered Alvarado’s room while he was sleeping. For several minutes, the fellow marines hazed their cohort as they stuffed a rag into his mouth and blindfolded and pummeled him. David served as the hazing barber, forcibly cutting Alvarado’s hair.

After roughly five minutes, the hazers noticed Alvarado’s face had turned blue and he was no longer struggling or breathing. The hazing promptly ended and the unconscious Alvarado was rushed off base to a Miami hospital. He recovered, and his fellow marines, including David, were condemned for the hazing and were brought up on various charges.

Christopher Valdez

David’s Squad Leader

David Cox and two other marines refused the Corps’ offer of a military plea bargain. They believed they had done nothing wrong and argued they were following the orders of their superiors.

The trio were willing to take their chances in court, even though that meant the chance of a court martial and the possibility of a twenty-year sentence at Leavenworth Federal Prison.

David Contest’s The Charges

The “obedience to orders” defense had been tried without success in two major cases: by the defendants at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials following World War II and by Lieutenant William Calley for the murder of native civilians in the My Lai Massacre during the Vietnam War.  Adding to David’s difficulty was that Colonel Adams, who was said to have given the implied orders to attack Private Alvarado, denied giving such an order, directly or implied.

At the end of the four-day court martial hearing at Gitmo, however, David was convicted only of simple assault and sentenced to thirty days in jail. Because he had already served thirty-eight days in the brig, the sentence was waived.

David completed his Marine career, serving out his final two years in North Carolina and overseas in South Korea and Panama. He was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps with the rank of Corporal in August 1989, having completed Scout Sniper School.

No Jail Time

Now a civilian, David returned to Needham and later moved into an apartment with his girlfriend, Elaine Tinsley, in Natick, twenty miles southwest of Boston. He worked several jobs, including bartending, trash collecting, and landscaping, and also earned a two-year paralegal degree from Massachusetts Bay Community College.

Honorably Discharged

If you are a movie aficionado, the story of the hazing at Guantanamo Bay may sound familiar.

Playwright Aaron Sorkin learned of the incident from his sister Deborah, a member of the United States Navy Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps who represented some of the marines who accepted the plea deals. Sorkin developed the saga into the play A Few Good Men in 1989. Following the play’s successful fourteen-month run on Broadway, he began to adapt it into a film.

In December 1992, six-and-a-half years after the incident at Gitmo, the movie version of A Few Good Men was released. The legal drama was directed by Rob Reiner and starred a slate of Hollywood heavyweights, led by Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, Jack Nicholson, and Kevin Bacon.

A Few Good Men concerns the court-martial of two United States Marines charged with the murder of a fellow Marine and the tribulations of their lawyers in defending them. Like the Broadway play, the film was a hit, grossing over $140 million and garnering four Academy Award nominations, including that of Best Picture.

A few people, however, were not fans of A Few Good Men.

The Movie Is Released

The film is set at Guantanamo Bay and the victim is PFC William Santiago, who, like the real-life PFC William Alvarado, wrote a letter to officials complaining of illegal firing into Cuban territory. As in the real-life court martial, the key defense element was that the Marines were following implied orders from their superiors.

The marines involved in the hazing of Private Alvarado were angered that Hollywood was making millions of dollars telling a fictionalized version of the events which painted them in a negative light. The movie had an accidental murder and dishonorable discharges for the two fictional marines. In reality, no one died, and no one was dishonorably discharged.

David Cox, in particular, was angered by the portrayal of him and his fellow marines as villains and killers.

One Of The Few And The Proud

Is Angered By A Few Good Men

Following the release of A Few Good Men, David and five fellow former Marines, including Squad Leader Christopher Valdez, sued Castle Rock Entertainment, the movie production company that produced the film.

The lawsuit, filed in federal district court, alleged, among other things: invasion of privacy, civil conspiracy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The Marines claimed the filmmakers “stole [their] real life story, changed a few names and passed it off as their own creation.”

Lawsuit Launched

Elaine left for work at 8:30 a.m. on January 5, 1994. David was home, nursing a sore back.  When Elaine phoned home at noon, she received no answer.  On the answering machine was an un-played message from David’s UPS supervisor telling him they were going to hire him full-time. David had been hired as a temporary driver for the 1993 Christmas season.

When Elaine returned home at 5:30 p.m., she found the apartment empty. David’s 1988 Ford was still in the driveway, with the keys in the ignition. His un-cashed paycheck from UPS was on the dashboard, and his nine-millimeter gun was in the glove box. Nothing was out of place in the apartment.

Another message had been left by David’s UPS supervisor. It, too, had not been played. David was certain to have answered the phone had he been at home in either instance when the supervisor called because it was the call he was hoping for as he wanted to be hired full-time. Because neither message had been played, he had likely left the house before noon, when the first message was left, and had not returned home.

Having still heard nothing from David by evening, Elaine reported him as missing.

Elaine Tinsley 

David’s Girlfriend

On April 2, three months later, David’s body was found by a canoeist nearly a mile into a wooded area on the banks of the Charles River in Medfield, approximately five miles from his apartment. The locale was a common hunting area between two gun ranges where the sound of gunshots would not have caused alarm.

Crime Scene Photo

David appeared to have been killed execution style, having been shot four times, three times in his torso and once in the back of his neck. Three nine-millimeter shell casings were found in the ground. His cash and credit cards were still in his wallet, ruling out robbery as a motive.

Because no signs of a struggle were found in David’s home, police believe he left the residence willingly with someone he knew on January 5, the day he was last seen. This person is believed to have driven David to the remote locale where he and an unsuspecting David walked into the woods. Police believe at no point did David believe he was in any danger as no signs of a struggle were found at the scene.

It is believed the killer was someone local who had a knowledge of the wooded area from where the sound of gunshots was common.

David Is Found Shot To Death

David liked to gamble and had had a recent string of bad luck, but police do not believe his debts of $1,100 to several bookies were large enough to be targeted for murder. Drugs have also been ruled out as a factor.

Many, including David’s military lawyer Donald Marcari, believe his murder is related to his lawsuit against Castle Rock Entertainment over the depiction of the marines in A Few Good Men. David had spoken candidly about the lawsuit and critically of the film and United States Marines’ actions at Guantanamo Bay on radio talk shows. No evidence, however, has been found to support the theory.

Marine-Related Murder?

Steve Cox believes his brother’s murder may be related to his work at UPS. A couple of months before David disappeared, he had told Steve that a supervisor and another driver were involved in some illegal activity, which he believed was theft.

As with the military angle, however, investigators have found no proof to corroborate the theory.

Steve Cox

David’s Brother

One aspect of David Cox’s murder that puzzles investigators is that he was wearing his camouflage marine attire, his United States Marine field jacket and hooded sniper jacket when he was killed. Two investigators, both former Marines, say they do not like wearing Marine gear in public. David’s mother and siblings say he had the same sentiments.

It is also odd that David was found wearing sneakers because eight inches of snow had fallen in the Natick area the previous day. It is believed he walked into the wooded area voluntarily, but it is unknown why he was not wearing his boots.

Crime Scene Photo

Nearly twenty-nine years after David Cox was found shot to death in the cold New England woods, his murder remains a cold case. Investigators believe he was killed by someone he knew well and trusted.

If you have any information on the murder of David Cox, please contact the Massachusetts State Police 508-894-2584.

The Murder Of The Former Marine Is Still A Mystery

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/46121580/david-vernon-cox#

SOURCES:

• Baltimore Sun
• Boston Herald
• Boston Globe
• Boston 25 News
• Unsolved Mysteries

 

I know you hope to learn the truth of David’s Cox’s murder, but there is always the possibility that . . .