THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 10, 1995 TAG: 9506100266
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
A fresh look at an unsolved murder paid off for the Navy in many ways, leading to the creation of a new investigation squad, the reopening of a scenic Caribbean port to ship visits, and a solution to the case.
Six Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents were honored Friday for their work in solving the 1993 murder of a Navy officer from Norfolk, shot during a robbery attempt in St. Thomas, one of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The case had languished for nearly 18 months until the agents started working on it. In 30 days, they had their suspects.
Special Agent Joe D. Kennedy, one of six NCIS agents assigned to the special task force, said three Virgin Island men now face up to 25 years in prison for the shooting death of Navy Lt. Robert Dana Bartlett on June 15, 1993 in St. Thomas.
Bartlett, along with Coast Guard Lt. j.g. Patrick Gardella and Navy Petty Officer Michael R. Nendze, were shot and beaten in an attempted robbery within sight of their ship, the Norfolk-based cruiser Yorktown.
The Yorktown had made a port visit to St. Thomas; all three men were using a public telephone near the dock when they were attacked. Bartlett was shot in the head at point-blank range and died nine days later. Nendze was shot in the back. Gardella was severely beaten with a bat.
The initial investigation was conducted by NCIS agents, local Virgin Island police and federal authorities.
``They followed the normal leads, but didn't turn up anything,'' said Kennedy. ``The local police tried as best they could, but they don't have a lot of assets.''
For the next 17 months, no headway was made on the case.
``But it looked solvable,'' said Kennedy. ``It was on an island with 60,000 people. . . . So we assembled a team to really go down and brainstorm it, to try to put the pieces together.''
The team consisted of agents with homicide and undercover experience. They also brought in five Virgin Island investigators and a U.S. marshal.
Working in two-man teams, sometimes undercover, they found an informant who had firsthand knowledge of the crime and worked with him to find the others.
``There was no physical evidence. They got rid of the guns. Threw them in the ocean,'' said Kennedy.
The efforts paid off Jan. 31, when the task force made its first arrest. Two others were picked up later. One is a juvenile and, under terms of a plea agreement, is to receive five years in a federal detention center. The others, 19 and 20 years old, are to serve 25 and 20 years, respectively, under the same agreement, without chance of parole. The plea agreement contained various charges, including murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and conspiracy to murder. Sentencing is to be within 30 days.
The investigators' team approach has led to a new unit within the Navy criminal investigative arm, called the ``Cold Case Squad,'' which will look again at unsolved crimes, mainly homicides, or crimes not affected by the statute of limitations.
``The Virgin Island task force was Cold Case No. 1,'' NCIS Director Roy D. Nedrow said at the awards ceremony. ``Now we are actively pursuing numbers 2, 3, 4 and 5.''
The Navy also announced Friday that it will resume port visits to St. Thomas, allowing the Norfolk-based destroyer Laboon to stop there for three days next week.
That ship will be the first to visit since the frigate Gallery was allowed to stop in St. Thomas for three days in late November. Security for that visit was heavy, officials said.
All future port stops in St. Thomas will be on a case-by-case basis, with advance teams providing security. Sailors will have to return to their ship at night and are encouraged to walk in groups of four. Certain high-risk areas have been placed off limits.
``We lost a very wonderful naval officer from my staff,'' Adm. William J. Flanagan Jr., commander-in-chief of the Atlantic Fleet, told the agents Friday as he presented them the Meritorious Civilian Service Medal.
Honored were: Kennedy, of Washington D.C.; David A. Sempsrott of Mayport, Fla.; Mark D. Ridley, of Mayport; Christopher J. McGady, of Mayport; Roberto Rivera, of Charleston, S.C.; and Michael Donnelly, of Washington D.C.
Kennedy turned attention away from the award.
``It doesn't mean a whole lot to me,'' he said. ``His wife still has to live without her husband. No matter what we did, we're not going to bring him back.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
CHRISTOPHER REDDICK/Staff
These Navy agents solved a 1993 murder of a Navy officer, and their
efforts are paying off.
From left, Michael Donnelly, Roberto Rivera, Christopher McGady,
Mark D. Ridley, David A. Sempsrott and Joe D. Kennedy.
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