Navy SEAL under investigation for death of Green Beret is former MMA fighter
One of two U.S. Navy SEALS currently under investigation for the death of a U.S. Army Green Beret has been identified as a former professional mixed martial arts competitor.
Petty Officer Anthony E. DeDolph is being investigated along with a still unidentified SEAL Team 6 teammate, for the death of Army Staff Sgt. Logan J. Melgar, a Green Beret with the 3rd Special Forces Group.
Melgar died in June in Bamako, Mali, where he was assigned to the U.S. embassy.
The circumstances around Melgar’s death are still unclear, but investigators from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service are trying to determine whether his strangulation was accidental or intentional.
According to a report from Matthew Cole of the Intercept, “DeDolph and his teammate initially claimed they found an unresponsive Melgar in the apartment they shared early in the morning on June 4, tried to revive him, and finally brought him to an emergency clinic in Bamako, where Melgar was pronounced dead, according to a military official and a person familiar with the case, neither of whom were authorized to publicly discuss an open investigation.
“The two SEALs were removed from their assignment in Mali and put on administrative leave. At that time, Army criminal investigators viewed them as witnesses. Three months later, a medical examiner concluded that Melgar died of ‘homicide by asphyxiation,’ or strangulation, according to three military officials familiar with the autopsy report.
“It was only after the autopsy that DeDolph and his teammate claimed the three roommates had been “grappling” at roughly 5 a.m. in their apartment, when Melgar was put in a ‘chokehold.’ Grappling and chokeholds are techniques often used in MMA. DeDolph and his teammate eventually told investigators that Melgar passed out while they were grappling, and they tried to resuscitate him before taking him to the medical facility, according to the military officials.”
Currently no arrests have been made but investigators are still trying to determine what happened.
According to Tapology.com, DeDolph held a professional MMA record of 1-5-1. All of his fights were recorded between 1999 and 2001.