An amendment to the annual defense budget bill would order Arlington National Cemetery to dig up and remove the remains of a former U.S. Navy officer who raped, tortured, and murdered a junior sailor.
The Washington Post reported that during last week’s meeting of the House Armed Services Committee, Representative Jackie Speier (D-CA) offered a proposal that would order the Army and Department of Veterans Affairs to remove Andrew J. Chabrol’s remains from the biggest military cemetery in the country by no later than September 30, 2023.
The amendment orders the Army and Department of Veterans Affairs to remove Andrew J. Chabrol’s remains from the largest military cemetery in the US by September 30, 2023.
In 1993, Chabrol, 36, a former Navy lieutenant who murdered and rape an enlisted woman because she complained about his advances was executed for the murder of Melissa Harrington, an enlisted sailor serving in his Virginia Beach Navy unit. Chabrol was put to death in the electric chair at the Greensville Correctional Center.
The proposal stipulates that Chabrol’s remains would be delivered to his family unless no one is able to be reached or claim them in which case they would be disposed of “as the Secretary of the Army deems appropriate.”
In a recent Washington Post article, the goal of removing Charbol’s remains from Arlington has been a part of a veteran-led effort for several years.
Harrington reported the former Navy lieutenant to her command for stalking and harassment, according to court testimony during Charbol’s trial. Despite not receiving any serious repercussions from the military, Charbol planned retaliation as part of what he called “Operation Nemesis,” which was detailed for months in his journal.
On July 9, 1991, Charbol kidnapped Harrington from her home. He then tortured and raped her before, in his own words, “going wild” and strangling her to death.
In 2018, Navy veteran Judi Farmer learned about Harrington’s tale and started an online petition as well as two emails to Arlington requesting the disinterment of Charbol’s bones.
Farmer received a response from an Arlington representative earlier this year stating that the Army lacked the legal right to excavate Charbol’s bones.
The victim’s widower Joe Harrington and other Navy veterans who served with her joined Farmer in making public the story.
Before bringing long-delayed justice to Harrington, Farmer recognized the defense bill change and said she was “cautiously optimistic” about the legislation being included and passing through the House and Senate.
In reference to Arlington’s holiday traditions, Farmer said, “Then her friends that mourn her, and husband that mourns her, can know that [Chabrol] won’t get a flag every Memorial Day, he won’t get a wreath on Christmas. He won’t be honored.”
Speier said she had learned about the situation and was compelled to take action.
“It was appalling to me to think that an officer in the Navy could sexually harass, then kidnap, then rape, and then murder a sailor and get buried at a national cemetery, which is supposed to honor our war heroes and our dead,” Speier said during a recent interview via Stripes.com. “So he has no place in that cemetery.”
Sources: Dailywire, Washingtonpost, Stripes
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