Measure Banning Military Funerals for Capital Offenders Advances

HAGERSTOWN, Md. -- A proposed ban on military funerals for veterans convicted of capital offenses is gaining momentum.

Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, D-Md., announced her support Tuesday for a proposed amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill that would bar the remains of such individuals from military and veterans' cemeteries. Veterans convicted of a state or federal capital offense also would be ineligible for military honors such as a flag-folding ceremony and the playing of "Taps" in private cemeteries.

The proposal stems in part from the placement in Arlington National Cemetery in July of the remains of Russell Wayne Wagner, 52, a Vietnam veteran convicted of murdering an elderly couple in Hagerstown 1994. The victims' children complained, prompting a review of military funeral rules.

The amendment offered Monday is identical to a bill introduced in October by Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho. By also offering it as an amendment to the defense bill - this time with bipartisan support - the sponsors hope to succeed one way or the other.

"It's kind of a multi-pronged strategy here," said Jeff Schrade, a Craig staff member. He said the proposed amendment is among about 200 competing to be among about two dozen that will be attached to the Senate version of the defense bill.

Mikulski also has a separate, albeit less restrictive, bill pending on the issue. She expressed hope for strength through unity: "Working together, I think the proposal has a greater opportunity to be accepted, and we can begin to right this wrong."

Congress passed a law in 1997 prohibiting people convicted of federal or state capital crimes and sentenced to death or life imprisonment without parole from being interred at Arlington and other military cemeteries. The proposed amendment would strike the language pertaining to the type of sentence the person received.

The 1997 law was aimed in part at preventing convicted Army veteran Timothy McVeigh, who carried out the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, from being buried in Arlington after he was executed.

Wagner, who died in prison in February, would have become eligible in 2017 for a parole review hearing. Although he was eligible for military honors under the law, the children of his victims, Daniel and Wilda Davis, say he doesn't deserve to rest among the nation's heroes.

Craig said the language in the amendment also would bar BTK killer Dennis Rader of Kansas from receiving a military funeral.

The American Legion opposes expanded restrictions on military funerals, spokeswoman Ramona Joyce said.

"We've got to stop this cherry picking in veteran's benefits," she said. "When you've got veterans who have earned their benefits through honorable service and then later commit a capital murder, that's unfortunate, but that person has still earned the benefit for a military burial."

Capital crimes are those punishable by the death penalty. Beside murder, federal law authorizes execution for espionage, treason, bank-robbery-related kidnapping and mailing of injurious articles with intent to kill. Some states allow the death penalty for certain drug offenses, sexual assaults and aircraft hijacking.