Military murder is an independent project and is not endorsed by the Department of Defense or any military component.

The views expressed are those of the host. The content of this podcast is not meant to be legal or medical advice.

Warning, this episode contains graphic details of murder and is not suitable for young listeners.

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Welcome back, True Crime Army. I am your host, Margo, and this is a True Crime podcast where I focus on crimes committed by military members and veterans.

But don't worry, you don't have to know anything about the military to listen. I promise.

You just have to be a true crime enthusiast. And if that's you, welcome home.

So I haven't really mentioned it a lot, but if you're not already a member of the Military Murder Facebook discussion group,

you need to head over to Facebook.com slash groups slash military true crime to join the discussion now.

And in case you're wondering, it's free. The other day, I hadn't logged on for a few days, and there were all these articles about military folks committing crimes, about suspicious deaths, and the whole nine yards.

Also, many of you have taken to sending me articles about these current cases, but I encourage you to put the links on the Facebook discussion group.

In case you missed it, there are thousands of us out there interested in this particular topic.

So go check it out today, Facebook.com slash groups slash military true crime.

But let's get on with today's show. Today's case is so dramatic in the gut-wrenching kind of way that after it was all said and done, Hollywood decided they needed to get their hands on this story to tell it to the world.

And this wasn't the B-rated movie either, no, no, no. It had the likes of Tommy Lee Jones, Susan Sarandon, and Charlize Theron, play the leads. It's a movie called In the Valley of Ila.

Join me today as I discuss the story of specialist Richard Davis, his disappearance, and what happened after he failed to report to work for four whole months.

Now, let's dig in.

My main sources for this episode include an article titled Death and Disorder by Mark Bowle, a 48 hour special titled duty death dishonor, and an article written in the British news source, The Independent.

I also watched the movie In the Valley of Ila, which is a fictional depiction of what occurred in this case. And I read various Georgia appellate decisions regarding this case.

9-11 was one of those life moments that changed the world. And anyone in the military at the time can tell you that for those who served before 9-11 and those who served after 9-11, life was very different.

One such person serving before and after 9-11 was 25 year old specialist Richard Davis. He was a military brat, both his mom and dad served in the military.

And so early on, he knew he wanted to follow in the family tradition. The military was all he knew and it was all he'd ever know.

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