Widow: Decorated Marine Husband in Murder-Suicide Plot Suffered PTSD

16 May 2008 // A decorated Marine Corps staff sergeant from Virginia who apparently fatally shot his brother before killing himself at the end of a long police chase in Arizona had served four tours in Iraq (web|news) and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, according to his widow.

Kellee Twiggs spoke with ABC 7/NewsChannel 8 reporter Suzanne Kennedy Friday. She says 36-year-old Staff Sergeant Travis Twiggs changed after his second tour of duty, but she could offer no further explanation for what happened.

Pinal County Sheriff's spokesman Mike Minter said no motive has been established for why Sergeant Twiggs killed his 38-year-old brother Willard "Will" Twiggs and then himself Wednesday.

Nor is it known why both brothers earlier in the week may have tried to commit suicide by attempting to drive their car into the Grand Canyon.

Kellee Twiggs says her husband got worse after his third tour when he lost two very good friends from his platoon.

She said her husband was treated in the psychiatric ward of Bethesda Naval Medical Center and then sent to a Veterans Administration facility for four months. He worked with the Wounded Warrior Regiment and had accompanied a group to Washington a few weeks ago where he met President Bush at the White House.