Seaman August Provost via MySpace/KTLA

A 29-year-old gay sailor found dead Tuesday at a California Marine Corps base was shot and possibly burned, Navy officials said yesterday, but they say investigators don’t believe that Seaman August Provost of Houston was killed because he was gay.

Provost was found dead about 3:30 am Tuesday by a fellow sailor arriving to relieve Provost who was on sentry detail at Camp Pendleton, a Marine Corps base north of Oceanside, California.

After hearing reports from family and friends that Provost had been harassed by fellow sailors in the weeks before his murder, LGBT activists and two members of Congress called on the Navy to investigate the killing as a possible hate crime.

At a press conference yesterday, a Navy official discounted those reports, but said the investigation into Provost’s death continues.

“There is no evidence or information that suggests this is a hate crime,”  said Capt. Matt Brown, director of public affairs for Navy Region Southwest, San Diego Union Tribune reports.

Provost had been on duty for four hours at a guard station at the entrance to an assault-boat compound on the western side of the base, 10News reports.

Armed with a revolver, Provost, who was assigned to Assault Craft Unit 5, stood watch over the compound's approximately 30 Hovercraft and also watched for fires, Brown said.

Earlier this week, Ben Gomez, president of the San Diego chapter of Veterans for Equal Rights, said he has heard from active-duty members of the military that Provost's death was a hate crime. Citing unnamed sources with access to a report on the seaman's death, Gomez said there was evidence that Provost was slain during or after an argument with another sailor about the victim’s sexuality, 10News reports.

Nicole Murray-Ramirez, chairman of the San Diego Human Relations Commission and a longtime gay activist, said Provost's family told her that personnel on the base had been harassing the junior sailor, who was out to fellow sailors.

Capt. Brown, who spoke during a news conference yesterday afternoon at the Broadway Pier in downtown San Diego, said that the military can't yet confirm whether Provost was harassed in the days leading up to his death.

Navy says gay sailor’s murder was probably not a hate crime [contd.]

Brown confirmed reports that another Camp Pendleton-based sailor is in custody in connection with the killing, but said charges had not yet been filed. He added that another man who had been held earlier as a “person of interest” in the case was released, North County Times reports.

Brown said investigators have not yet identified a clear motive for the slaying, but said a preliminary investigation indicates that Provost was targeted because he was the guard on duty at the Marine Corps base, not because he was gay, Brown said.

“Regardless of the person standing watch in that sentry station, it’s very clear to investigators this crime probably would have been carried out in the same way,” Brown said.

The suspect in the killing is linked by physical evidence and his own statements, Brown said. He declined to say whether the suspect was in Provost's unit, and said that if the two knew each other, it was “peripherally.” He said the suspect was “cooperative” but would not comment on what the suspect had told investigators, North County Times reports.

But Brown also said investigators have not determined whether a robbery or any other crime took place along with the murder.

Brown confirmed that Provost’s killer also set a fire in the guard station, but declined to confirm reports that Provost's body had been burned. Brown called the fire an obvious attempt to destroy evidence.

Provost identified himself as gay on his Facebook and MySpace social network pages, and described 18-year-old Kaether Cordero, of Houston, as “the love of my life”, Navy Times reports.

Provost joined the Navy in March 2008 and was transferred to Camp Pendleton in September 2008 after completing basic training in Illinois, Navy officials said. He had completed three years of college before joining the Navy to help finance his education, and was studying to become an architectural engineer, KTLA reports.

Cordero said that he had been in an off-and-on relationship with Provost for several years. He said Provost's friends in the Navy knew he was gay, North County Times reports.

“People who he was friends with, I knew that they knew,” Cordero said from Houston, according to KTLA. “He didn’t care that they knew. He trusted them.”

“He didn't mind if people knew; I knew his friends in Illinois knew about me,” Cordero said. “All his friends liked him in Illinois; they all went out and had fun.”

When Cordero last spoke to Provost a few weeks ago, the sailor hadn't mentioned any harassment, according to North County Times. But Cordero said he since has learned from Provost's sister that some fellow sailors had been giving him trouble.

He said he can't understand how anyone could hurt Provost, according to North County Times.

“He was very nice; he wasn’t the type to go into anything with a bad attitude,” Cordero said. “If there was an altercation going on, he would be the type to walk away.”

Cordero told Navy Times that Provost “was a fun-loving, caring guy,” who liked to fix cars and work out at the gym.

“He was one of those people that just cared about his family and, most of all, his mother — she was his No. 1 over all,” Cordero said. “Everything he did and made was for her, first.”

Navy officials have completed an autopsy on Provost’s body, Brown said, but complete toxicology tests won’t be available for four to five weeks. He added that a cause of death could be announced sooner, according to the Union-Tribune.

Brown wouldn't say how many times Provost was shot, or with what type of weapon. He confirmed that someone tried to light a fire at the post, but he wouldn't comment on whether Provost was bound, mutilated, or injured in other ways.

“We all don't have the facts,” Brown said yesterday. “We're going to wait until the full investigation is done, and I'm sure that the members of Congress are wanting that, too.”

Two San Diego members of Congress, Reps. Bob Filner and Susan Davis, have urged the military to conduct a full and transparent investigation. Their call is echoed by LGBT advocacy groups.

Filner (D-Calif) a member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, told Navy Times on Thursday he has asked the Defense Department and the House Armed Services Committee to investigate whether Provost’s death was a hate crime, after being contacted by San Diego gay rights groups.

Murray-Ramirez said after Brown’s press conference yesterday that she still has concerns about a possible hate crime.

She said questions remain over the motive and whether Provost's body had been burned, but added that the military “seems to be responding to our concerns.”

Brown called Provost a “rising star,” who was looking forward to more training and his first deployment. He said Capt. Ed Harrington, the commanding officer of Provost's unit, had been in touch with the sailor's family in Houston three times to give them support and updates.

He also said the Navy has made grief counselors available to Provost's fellow sailors.

“We all share in this grief and sense of loss,” Brown said.

Source: Gay sailor’s death called a ‘hate killing’ | Navy Times
Navy: Sailor was shot, suspect in custody | North County Times
Slain sailor shot, also may have had burns | San Diego Union Tribune
Officials: Man Admitted Killing Camp Pendleton Sailor | 10News.com
Gay Sailor's Death Called a 'Hate Killing' | KTLA TV

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