Fourth soldier sentenced in death of infantryman

<p>A Fort Benning soldier will serve five years probation after pleading guilty for his role in the murder of a fellow infantryman just days after they returned from Iraq following the 2003 assault on Baghdad.</p><p>Douglas Woodcoff of San Antonio, Texas, pleaded guilty Friday to concealing a death in the killing of Spc. Richard Davis.</p><p>Woodcoff, the fourth soldier charged in the death, had testified for the prosecution during the murder trial in which Alberto Martinez and Mario Navarrete were convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison, followed by 15 years. Last month, Jacob Burgoyne, who had previously pleaded guilty to lesser charges for his testimony, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role.</p><p>Woodcoff, who has been discharged from the Army, will get credit for the nearly nine months he served in the Muscogee County Jail before being released on bond. He was also granted first-offender status, which means that if he doesn't commit a probation violation during his probation, he won't be labeled a convicted felon.</p><p>The murder was committed a day after the soldiers returned from a tour in Iraq. All were drinking during a night out in Columbus, when Burgoyne and Davis got into a fight upon leaving a nightclub, testimony revealed. Woodcoff's only charge was concealing the death of a person.</p><p>Martinez, of Oceanside, Calif., drove to a wooded area and stabbed Davis more than 33 times. The soldiers then bought lighter fluid and returned to the woods, where Burgoyne burned Davis' body, according to trial testimony. The body was discovered three months later.</p><p>Woodcoff said he wasn't sure what happened to Davis that night, but suspected the fellow 3rd Brigade soldier was murdered when Davis didn't show up for formation the next day.</p><p>His attorney, Mark Shelnutt, told Muscogee County Superior Court Senior Judge Bill Smith during Friday's hearing that these soldiers were among the first to engage in combat in Iraq and saw some of the bloodiest combat. He said Woodcoff wished he remembered more about that night and that he had alerted authorities.</p><p>"He has expressed great remorse over that," Shelnutt said. "He's remorseful that he didn't say anything."</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x1cd9edc)</p>

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