Murderer’s employment called ‘an insult’ to Brockton veterans

Murderer’s employment called ‘an insult’ to Brockton veterans

By Justin Graeber
Enterprise Staff Writer
Posted Dec 23, 2011 @ 06:00 AM
Last update Dec 23, 2011 @ 12:07 PM


BROCKTON —
A convicted murderer who had been working in a jail-avoidance program for veterans lied about his military experience during his trial, court records show.

Charles C. Delaney III was convicted of second-degree murder in 1989 for strangling his ex-wife and burying her in a hole he had dug two days earlier behind his Plymouth home. He was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Delaney, who was paroled from prison around 2004, had been working with a federally funded program called Mission Direct Vet, which gives veterans who commit crimes an alternative to jail. The program has offices in courts in Worcester and Lawrence, and had started in Plymouth County at the Brockton Trial Court in July.

However, District Attorney Timothy Cruz terminated the program in Brockton when he learned of Delaney’s involvement.

“Allowing Charles Delaney, a man who fabricated combat experience in order to evade responsibility for the brutal murder of his ex-wife, to work in this program is an insult to veterans,” Cruz said.

Delaney strangled his ex-wife, Pom Song Delaney, with a piece of rope.

His defense team argued at his 1989 trial that he was “flashing back” to an incident in Lebanon where he garroted an enemy soldier. He also told a psychiatrist that in Lebanon he discovered the tortured, mutilated body of a 10-year old boy he had befriended, according to an Appeals Court filing from 1993 that upheld his conviction.

Charles Delaney joined the Army in 1976 after graduating from high school. He served in Lebanon from 1983 to 1984.

“Delaney’s commanding officer in Lebanon could not confirm these incidents or that Delaney, who spent most of his duty in Lebanon in a Beirut hotel, had ever been exposed to hostile fire or combat,” the state Appeals Court said in the ruling.

Delaney also tried to blame his actions on post-traumatic stress disorder from service in Vietnam. However, court documents point out he entered the Army in 1976, well after that war was over.
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