Vice Admiral's death ruled suicide

Navy probe rules vice admiral’s death a suicide

By: Geoff Ziezulewicz
June 11, 2019

The three-star admiral found dead in his home last year in Bahrain took his own life, according to a copy of the service’s preliminary inquiry into his death.

Vice Adm. Scott A. Stearney, then the commander of U.S. 5th Fleet, was found dead in his Bahrain home in December. (Marine Corps)

The body of Vice Adm. Scott Stearney, the 58-year-old commander of U.S. 5th Fleet, was found on the afternoon of Dec. 1 in his residence in Janabiya, according to the three-page preliminary inquiry obtained by Navy Times.

The heavily redacted document cites a Naval Criminal Investigative Service probe and concludes that a “timeline of events and witness statements” revealed “his intent to commit suicide.”

“No information uncovered during the subsequent NCIS investigation, including multiple interviews and forensic analysis of VADM Stearney’s electronic devices, contradicted this finding.”

The inquiry determined that Stearney’s death occurred in the line of duty and was not due to his own misconduct.
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