Marine Afghanistan Veteran died from drug toxicity from one of his prescriptions

Marine sniper Rob Richards died from drug toxicity: autopsy
Marine Corps Times
By Hope Hodge Seck
Staff writer
December 1, 2014

Robert Richards, who was found dead in his home in Jacksonville, N.C., on Aug. 13
(Photo: Mike Morones/Staff)

The sudden death of a Marine Corps combat veteran after his controversial exit from the military was a result of drug toxicity from one of his prescriptions, according to a newly published autopsy report.

Rob Richards, 28, was found dead in his Jacksonville, North Carolina, home Aug. 13, a year and five days after he was medically retired from the service as a corporal. Richards, a combat-wounded veteran with multiple deployments, had been among a group of Marine scout snipers whose actions came under intense scrutiny after a video surfaced in 2012 depicting them urinating on an enemy corpse in Afghanistan.

Richards disliked the publicity associated with the urination scandal and worked hard to put the incident behind him, but his autopsy report and other medical documents released to Marine Corps Times reveal the scars of combat and the psychological toll his experiences had taken.

Though the injuries qualified Richards for 100 percent medical disability, and the experience left him with depression and post-traumatic stress — he spent a month in a psychiatric facility after discharging a pistol in a Florida hotel room in a frightening moment of disorientation — he volunteered to return to Afghanistan in 2011 with another scout sniper unit attached to 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines. Twelve months after he was wounded, Richards quit his medications cold turkey and deployed for the last time.
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