The AP is reporting new details about the death of former NFL player Pat Tillman, who was killed under suspicious circumstances in Afghanistan in 2004:
Army medical examiners were suspicious about the close proximity of the three bullet holes in Pat Tillman’s forehead and tried without success to get authorities to investigate whether the former NFL player’s death amounted to a crime, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.
“The medical evidence did not match up with the, with the scenario as described,” a doctor who examined Tillman’s body after he was killed on the battlefield in Afghanistan in 2004 told investigators.
The doctors – whose names were blacked out – said that the bullet holes were so close together that it appeared the Army Ranger was cut down by an M-16 fired from a mere 10 yards or so away.
Henry Waxman’s Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing in late April, nearly three years to the day that Tillman was gunned down in Afghanistan, examining how the military spun the circumstances of Tillman’s death (the Pentagon originally claimed Tillman was killed by enemy fire during an ambush). Waxman is not letting the issue drop. He has scheduled a hearing next week that will zero in on what senior Pentagon officials knew about Tillman’s death and when they knew it. Among those called to testify is former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. No word yet on whether Rummy will accept the invite, but check back here for coverage of the hearing.
