Murder of Tracie McBride

Crime

On February 18, 1995, 44-year old Louis Jones drove onto Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, Texas, and kidnapped Private Tracie Joy McBride, a 19-year old from Centerville, Minnesota. Jones was looking for his wife, but instead decided to kidnap McBride. McBride was on the telephone with a friend, and in a laundry facility when she was abducted. Two privates attempted to rescue McBride, but Jones rendered one unconscious by hitting him.

Jones took McBride to his house, raped her, and held her in a closet. He forced McBride to use hydrogen peroxide on herself, washed McBride's clothes, and forced McBride to walk on towels in an attempt to conceal the crime by hiding any fibers and other possible evidence. He then drove McBride to a remote area, beat her to death with a tire iron, and deposited the body under a bridge in Coke County, Texas. McBride had been hit in the head at least nine times. Dr. Jan Garavaglia (also known as "Dr. G"), who was at the time of the murder an associate medical examiner in Bexar County, examined McBride's body at a local morgue. Garavaglia stated that the trauma to her head was "worse than most high-impact car wrecks." Jones likely forced McBride to walk to the point where she was killed; only mud was found on her boots, and no scuff marks were present. McBride's body was found clothed in her U.S. Army battle uniform, itself in excellent condition; the clothing had no forensic evidence of rape.

Jones was arrested on March 1. He was questioned by police and confessed to the crime; he then led authorities to McBride's body. Initially, Jones stated that he did not rape McBride. McBride's body was autopsied by Garavaglia at the Bexar County Forensic Science Center in San Antonio, Texas. Due to the unusually cool weather and the placement of the body under a bridge, the body was well preserved. Garavaglia was able to determine that Jones had raped McBride despite Jones's efforts to conceal the rape, and this allowed federal prosecutors to ask for the death penalty. Jones later confessed to a psychiatrist to raping McBride.

Louis Jones, Jr.

Jones, born on March 4, 1950, was a native of Shelby County, Tennessee, and grew up in Chicago. According to testimony presented at his criminal trial, Jones experienced sexual and physical abuse.

He served in the Army for 22 years. Richard A. Serrano of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "It was in the Army where he excelled." His drill sergeant was his ex-wife. Jones, an Army Ranger, participated in the Invasion of Grenada and the Gulf War of 1991. He was the leader of a platoon in Grenada, and he received a Commendation Medal due to his actions during a ground attack in Iraq. He became a master sergeant, and after he left the Army, received an honorable discharge; he retired in 1993, and his last known position was in the Airborne Rangers. At the time of the crime, he worked on base as a bus driver.

Jones had married three times, and he had a daughter, Barbara; he raised her as a single parent. One of his wives, Sandra Lane, was an Army staff sergeant, He became estranged from her; she noted changes in his behavior after he returned from Iraq. Jones had no previous criminal record. Before the killing, he worked low-paying jobs and received low grades in university courses. Jones had raped his ex-wife two days prior to the murder of McBride.

Tracie McBride

Tracie Joy McBride (May 27, 1975-February 19, 1995), a graduate of Centennial High School in Circle Pines, Minnesota, was at the base for advanced intelligence training for a two-week period. McBride aspired to become a music teacher. McBride joined the United States Army after her high school graduation, intending to fund her university education; she hoped to have her degree completed prior to the end of her tour of duty. At the end of her life, McBride was in a romantic relationship with a member of the U.S. Marines. She was assigned to Goodfellow in early February 1995 after completion of her basic training. McBride disappeared 10 days after her arrival.

Trial, appeals, and penalty

Jones, indicted in March 1995, was tried in federal court in Lubbock, Texas, since he had kidnapped McBride from a military base. His specific charge was "kidnapping within special maritime/territorial jurisdiction resulting in death". U.S. Attorney Tanya K. Pierce was the prosecutor. McBride's family supported the prosecutor's decision to seek the death penalty for Jones. The trial was moved from San Angelo to Lubbock due to the news coverage in the former city.

The trial began in October 1995. In his trial, Jones stated that he committed the crime due to trauma he received during his military duties, indicative of the "Gulf War syndrome". Evidence showing brain damage to Jones was presented during the trial. Jones was convicted after two days of testimony and 65 minutes of deliberation from the jury. He was given the federal death sentence.

On June 11, 1996, Jones was entered into the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) as prisoner #999195 under an agreement with federal authorities. The State of Texas housed its male death-row inmates at the Ellis Unit near Huntsville, Texas. On July 13, 1999, he was moved into federal custody, to the newly opened men's death row at U.S. Penitentiary, Terre Haute. He was Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) prisoner #27265-077.

Throughout the appeals process, Jones's lawyer, Tim Floyd, continued to argue that he should be spared the death penalty and have his sentence commuted to life imprisonment because nerve gas from Iraq had damaged Jones's brain. Floyd contacted University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center epidemiology department head Dr. Robert Haley, who published the first major studies related to Gulf War syndrome, and asked him to review his client's medical records; Haley argued that Jones had sustained brain damage and that it "was responsible for the personality changes that contributed significantly to the tragic events of his crime." U.S. senator Kay Bailey Hutchison argued that Jones should have his brain scanned to check for any damage before any death sentence would be carried out. Ross Perot also called for a commutation of the sentence to life without parole. Throughout the appeal process, McBride's family advocated for Jones's execution.

In 1999, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to overturn Jones's death sentence. Jones's final appeal for clemency from President of the United States George W. Bush and his final appeal at the U.S. Supreme Court failed on March 17, 2003. On March 18, 2003, Jones was executed at USP Terre Haute, making him the third federal prisoner executed since federal executions resumed in 2001. McBride's family and a friend attended the execution.

As of 2017, Jones remains the last person executed by the United States federal government.

Legacy

McBride was buried at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minnesota. The Tracie Joy McBride Scholarship Fund and its associated event, Tracie’s Night, were named after her; the fund is primarily managed by her sister, Stacie McBride-Cox.

The episode "Life Interrupted" of the television show Dr. G: Medical Examiner, first aired in 2007, describes this case.

In Human Behavior in the Social Environment: A Macro, National, and International Perspective, author Rudolph Alexander, Jr., wrote that experiences of soldiers during the 2000s Iraq War, in which over 3,700 coming back from the war in 2005 stated that they had fears that they may lose control of themselves or hurt another person and that 1,700 reported believing that they believed they were better off dead and considered hurting themselves, "provide support for Jones's claims."