Soldier accused of murdering his pregnant wife at Ft. Campbell

FOX 17 ^ | October 7, 2021 | Jordan Whittington

[Morgana]

Ft. CAMPBELL, Ky. (WZTV) — A Ft. Campbell solider has been arrested and charged with murder for allegedly killing his pregnant wife.

A spokesperson says the incident happened on base on Sept. 27.

Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Santiago, 33, was taken into custody on Sept. 28 for the death of Meghan Santiago. He's been held at the Grayson County Jail pending an investigation by the U.S. Army Criminal Division.

Santiago was formally charged with murder on Wednesday.

[Morgana]

Will he be sent to military or regular prison for this?

[MNJohnnie]

He is headed to the military prison at Ft Leavenworth.

[blueunicorn6]

Says it happened on post.

Military trial.

Military prison if sentenced.

[blueunicorn6]

Don’t know why they’d be holding him at a county jail, though.

[Veggie Todd]

Isn’t Sgt. 1st Class an E-7? If so, an E-7 at 33 years old sounds pretty good. But I don’t know a lot about Army ranks, so I’m just guessing.

[enumerated]

If he argues that he did it to abort the child, perhaps instead of sending him to prison, they will give him a medal.

[Tailback]

SFC is an E-7 in the Army.

[datura]

Child most likely conceived while he was on deployment overseas.

Trust me - coming home to that causes things like this.

[\/\/ayne]

Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Santiago, a 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) soldier, was charged in connection with the death of his wife Meghan Santiago, as well as with the injury of their unborn child, Army officials said Wednesday.

Santiago, a signal support systems specialist, was taken into custody on September 28 and held at the Grayson County Jail pending an investigation by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID).

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Maybe not. Ft Leavenworth is overcrowded and has been for some time. He’ll definitely end up in the federal prison system but Leavenworth itself is not guaranteed.

[Scrambler Bob]

Hey!

It was an abortion.

[dakine]

Yes - I made E-7 at 33 - normal progression for the military...

[seowulf]

A double abortion; one late term.

[Libloather]

Who ordered the code red?

[eastforker]

If he joined at 18yo, that would be 15 years service. Also depends on MOS such as one of the combat arms and when and how long deployed.

[ro_dreaming]

Reminds me of the book/movie "Fatal Vision".

Fatal Vision focuses on Captain Jeffrey R. MacDonald, M.D. and the February 17, 1970 murders of his wife and their two children at their home on Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In 1979, MacDonald was convicted of all three murders and sentenced to life in prison. McGinniss was hired by MacDonald, prior to the start of the criminal trial, but he later became convinced that MacDonald was guilty, and the book supported MacDonald's conviction.

The book sold well, and gave rise to a miniseries of the same name on NBC the next year. The book led to MacDonald suing McGinniss, a case that was settled out of court. The book and its conclusions were challenged by several subsequent publications.

[Svartalfiar]

Isn’t Sgt. 1st Class an E-7? If so, an E-7 at 33 years old sounds pretty good. But I don’t know a lot about Army ranks, so I’m just guessing.

If you get in at 18, and don't have any major mess ups or extra-fast promotions, you should be able to hit SFC by 33, easy. Very dependent on MOS slot availability and other factors though. Also, this is assuming 100% active duty, as Guard/Reserve promotions get craaazy slow once you're going for E5. Lots of 10-year E4s simply because the slots above just aren't open in your MOS.

3-4 years to get to E5.
Another ~3 years to get E6.
E7, as I said above, varies greatly but you need a minimum 6 years time in service. Generally at least 3 years as E6.

So, someone who gets in at 18 can generally make SFC by the time they're 30. Even by 25 if you get real lucky.