US Pilot Avoids UK Trial After Strangling After Military Justice Deals With Case
British academic Sarah Steele’s account of being drugged and assaulted by an American fighter pilot, Capt Jacob Wulfson, was heard not in an English crown court, but at a court martial on a US airbase. Despite the alleged crime occurring off-duty and in the UK, proceedings followed US military law, with a jury of male air force officers stationed at the same base. Wulfson’s defense lawyer aggressively questioned Steele’s credibility, painting her as financially motivated. Ultimately, Wulfson was found guilty of strangulation but acquitted of rape, receiving a six-month sentence from his peers, a decision that deeply impacted Steele, who described the court martial as a “degrading” experience.
John Q. Hosedrinker