Death of Montco man in Cuba remains a mystery

Six months after Christopher Tur's body was found in the water off the U.S. Naval Station at Cuba's Guantánamo Bay, the Hatfield native's death remains a mystery.

The Navy is still silent on the cause and manner of the civilian contractor's demise. Investigators have declined to comment on a news report of an affair between Tur's wife and the base's former commanding officer, a claim that attorneys for both parties have said is not true.

Then there's the private autopsy of Tur's body, commissioned by his wife, that concludes his death was caused by "drowning with recent blunt injuries (circumstances unknown)."

The autopsy, conducted by an Easton, Pa.-based pathologist, said Tur's blood alcohol level was 0.24 percent, three times the legal definition of drunken driving. And fresh bruises were found on his lip, scalp, and chest, according to the report.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) has yet to release its own official medical examination. Ed Buice, an NCIS spokesman, said only that the agency's investigation was ongoing.

"We're still working on trying to figure out what happened and what the chain of events were leading up to him being found dead," Buice said.

Tur's Philadelphia-area siblings and mother issued a statement saying they hope the Navy completes its inquiry soon "and that anyone involved will be held accountable."

The attorney for Tur's wife, Lara, who also worked as a civilian contractor on Guantánamo, suggested that her husband might have committed suicide.

Eric Montalvo, based in Washington, said Christopher Tur had a history of mental illness and was taking psychotropic medication. On the night before his death, he said, Tur was drinking at the Guantánamo officers' club and had tried to attack his wife.

"Based upon a history of deteriorating mental health, increasing domestic violence, and substance abuse, he was at high risk for engaging in irrational behavior to include possibly committing suicide," Montalvo wrote in an e-mail to The Inquirer. "His public actions that evening were without excuse and likely to have resulted in his removal from the island."

Montalvo added that he was "unaware of any information which would substantiate that an affair occurred aboard GITMO."

Responding to Montalvo's characterization of Tur, Tur's siblings said only that they welcomed more "public declarations" from the attorneys for Lara Tur and the Navy captain.

The attorney for Guantánamo's former commanding officer, Capt. John Nettleton, also denied any romantic involvement between the commander and Lara Tur.

Nettleton, who is married, was relieved of his duties shortly after Tur was found dead. The Navy said only that an admiral had lost confidence in Nettleton's ability to command. He was reassigned to a base in Florida, where he remains as NCIS continues its investigation, a Navy spokesman said.

The Associated Press quoted unnamed U.S. officials who said in January that agents investigating Tur's death had discovered the affair.

Nettleton's attorney, retired Marine Lt. Col. Colby Vokey, disputed the AP report. He said he did not know exactly why Nettleton was relieved of his duties.

Vokey said the Turs were friends with the Nettletons, and Nettleton had filed paperwork to retire before he was relieved of his command. "There was no affair," Vokey said.

Tur grew up in Hatfield and graduated from North Penn High School in 1991 before he joined the Marines. His siblings and mother live in Bucks and Montgomery Counties.

He and his wife married in 1995 and had two daughters. They moved to Guantánamo Bay in 2011.

Tur, who would have turned 43 this month, worked in loss prevention at Guantánamo's retail stores, which serve several thousand military and civilian personnel. Lara Tur was director of the base's Fleet and Family Services Center, which provides counseling and support to sailors and their families.

In their statement, Tur's siblings and mother praised the efforts of NCIS, as well as federal lawmakers from Pennsylvania who have advocated on the family's behalf. They are Sens. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) and Robert P. Casey (D., Pa.) and Rep. Patrick Meehan (R., Pa.).

The family said it would "relentlessly and vigorously continue to pursue answers regarding Christopher's shocking death."

William Manion, a pathologist who works for hospitals in South Jersey and the Burlington County Medical Examiner's Office, reviewed Tur's private autopsy and said the death could have been an accident, suicide, or murder.

"Was he stumbling around a dock and fell into the water?" Manion said. "Or was he assaulted? Someone could have punched and kicked him and thrown him in the water. We don't know. But it was not a natural death."

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