A Marine Corps staff noncommissioned officer who was accused of being involved in the death of his spouse last year was charged on Friday with premeditated murder -- nearly seven months after the alleged incident took place, according to the service.
The Marine Corps charged Staff Sgt. Alonzo Alcantara of Cookeville, Tennessee, on March 21 with five total charges "in the death of his spouse," which include not only premeditated murder, but murder with the intent to kill or inflict great bodily harm, manslaughter, aggravated assault and obstructing justice, a spokesperson for his unit said in an emailed statement Tuesday.
According to the charges and previously reported information, Alcantara allegedly killed his spouse Sept. 1 aboard Marine Corps Base Hawaii, or MCBH; the Naval Criminal Investigative Service launched an investigation into the incident at the time, alongside the Honolulu Police Department.
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The service did not release details on the deceased, but the spokesperson for 1st Marine Aircraft Wing based in Okinawa, Japan, Maj. Joseph Butterfield, added that Alcantara remains in the custody of the Marine Corps.
"These charges are accusations of wrongdoing, and the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty," Butterfield said. "The Marine Corps extends its deepest condolences to the family and friends affected by this tragic incident."
Alcantara is assigned to Marine Wing Support Squadron 174, a subordinate unit to 1st MAW located in Hawaii. His military occupational speciality, or MOS, is as a small arms repairer/technician, Butterfield said.
Alcantara will face a court-martial, though the timing of the legal proceedings was unclear as of Wednesday. His case information was not available on the Navy and Marine Corps trial docket schedule.
Military.com previously reported that Alcantara had been in custody for more than a month without charges, and the Marine Corps did not provide details at the time about his name, rank and job, among other information often released after such incidents.
A legal expert explained that law enforcement and prosecutors have to balance the integrity of the investigation with public transparency in an effort to ensure the legal process is free from witness bias or other issues.
"They don't want to jeopardize their investigation," retired Marine Lt. Col. Gary Barthel, founder of the Military Law Center and a lawyer with years of experience in both military and civilian legal cases, told Military.com last year.
"It's not unusual in the military or even the civilian sector that, when an offense is under investigation, law enforcement is usually not going to talk about what information they've recovered or where they are in their investigation because ... there may be witnesses that they interviewed or other witnesses that they have yet to interview, and if they start making comments about the investigation and the facts and circumstances, it may have an impact on the credibility of the information that they get," he said.
It was unclear if Alcantara has legal representation. Military.com attempted to reach him via a publicly listed contact Wednesday morning but was unsuccessful.
Related: Hawaii Marine Detained After Dependent Death Still Not Charged More than a Month Later
