A former decorated Special Forces soldier has been charged by the Army with premeditated murder following an investigation after he allegedly told the CIA he had killed a suspected Taliban bombmaker in 2010.
Army Maj. Mathew Golsteyn first confessed during a polygraph test with the CIA when applying for a job with the agency that he murdered the man, prompting the Army Criminal Investigation Command to start examining the case in 2011.
“CPT Golsteyn stated he had no qualms about what he did because he couldn’t have lived with himself if [the suspected bombmaker] killed another Soldier or Marine,” an Army investigator’s summary of Golsteyn’s polygraph test said, according to the Washington Post.
Army documents obtained by the Post indicate that two days before the alleged murder, two Marines working with Golsteyn’s unit were killed by an explosion and Golsteyn claimed he and others found similar materials necessary to make a similar explosive device to the one that had killed the Marines during home searches.
The suspected bombmaker was taken back to Golsteyn’s base and ran into an Afghan tribal leader who had been helping Golsteyn’s team. The interaction sparked concern that the Afghan leader’s life was in jeopardy, causing Golsteyn to allegedly shoot the suspected bombmaker.
The Army Criminal Investigation Command’s probe was closed in 2014, and Golsteyn received an official reprimand. His Silver Star was also revoked.
But the case was reopened months after Golsteyn appeared on Fox News, where he claimed he was concerned that the man would target Afghans who were assisting U.S. troops if he was released.
No date has been determined for his first hearing in a military court.
Golsteyn graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. in 2002.
