‘COMPLETELY TOXIC’

Report: California Marine Base Involved in Murder, Drug Ring, Stalking

A base in Twentynine Palms, California, is accused of serving as a hotbed of crime.

In the wake of a Marine officer being arrested for a suspected murder, a U.S. Marine Corps base in Twentynine Palms, California, has come under scrutiny for a spate of other alleged crimes, including a major drug ring and sexual harassment and stalking of female colleagues. Newsweek reports that law enforcement collected a government computer and a military-issued foldable shovel from Curtis Lee Krueger, an officer who lived at the base and is suspected of murdering a man with “blunt force trauma” and digging him a shallow grave in Joshua Tree National Park. Close to 100 students at the base’s Marine Corps Communication­ Electronics School have also allegedly been involved in a drug ring, reportedly using Venmo to pay for LSD and heroin-laced Sour Patch Kids candy. Marines on the base have also allegedly participated in catcalling their female colleagues during fitness tests and stalking their social media profiles. One source told Newsweek that the problems at the base stemmed from its “command climate,” which had allegedly turned “completely toxic.”