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An Unofficial Site
Of
United States Military
Sexual Offender
Conviction Records
Not Associated With The U.S. Military Or Government
Graves faces a minimum sentence of life in prison for felony murder, and maximum sentences of 20 years each for attempted rape and assault while attempting to commit rape.
Graves, who pleaded not guilty and didn't testify during the three days of evidence presentation, showed no emotion when the verdict was announced.
Lt. Bryant, an honors graduate of Princeton University, had been at the base for only a month when she was killed about 3 a.m. July 10th. She was a newly commissioned second lieutenant, paying back an ROTC scholarship.
Early in the morning of July 10, Lieutenant Bryant and another female soldier went to the Stilwell Lounge, a bar in the basement of Moon Hall, one of the two nondescript dormitories in which the traditionally very separate world of officers and enlisted personnel merged temporarily for participants in the six-week summer R.O.T.C. program. Crossing a Social Line
There, prosecutors assert, Sergeant Graves approached Lieutenant Bryant, perhaps to ask her to dance -- the kind of social encounter between an officer and enlisted person, or non-com, that has traditionally been almost unheard of.
She asked him to leave her alone and headed for nearby Hardy Hall, where she and Sergeant Graves lived a few doors apart. She then called her boyfriend in California, using a public telephone in the second-floor corridor rather than the private phone in her room to avoid disturbing her roommate.
Her boyfriend later recalled that the phone went dead in mid-sentence. Within moments, prosecutors will maintain, Sergeant Graves had dragged Lieutenant Bryant into his room or grabbed her as she went by and was trying to rape her. She apparently broke free and reached the corridor. Neighbors then heard a scream, followed by three or four shots. One of her terrified dormitory mates, barricaded behind doors, looked through a window and saw a van drive away with its headlights off.
Graves was married, with two children at home.
In room 206, Graves had tied bootlaces on the bed so he could restrain her, Schmidt said. But as they entered the room, she made a break for freedom, dropping an earring in the process, and ran into the hallway. That's where she was shot.
Gunshot residue was found on Graves' left hand and the steering wheel of the van he was driving. Graves is left-handed. But a cup found in his room had his fingerprints and no residue. He checked into the room late the night of the killing, and the cup evidence indicates he fired a weapon that night.
Some of Bryant's hair was found in Graves' shoes and socks.
Former Sergeant 1st Class Ervin Graves was convicted by a military jury of killing 2nd Lieutenant Lisa Bryant with 4 blasts from his .357-caliber Magnum. Graves also was convicted of attempted rape. Graves' life sentence was automatic.
Lisa Nicole Bryant
Sgt. 1st Class Ervin Graves, 34, was found guilty in the shooting death July 10, 1993, of 2nd Lt. Lisa Bryant in their Ft. Bragg dorm. He also was convicted of felony murder, attempted rape and assault while attempting to commit rape.
The jury deliberated for about 2 1/2 hours before returning its verdict.
Graves faced a minimum sentence of life in prison for premeditated murder. Because the verdict was not unanimous, he could not receive the death penalty. He could be eligible for parole in 10 years.
A military jury can convict a person on a two thirds vote. Results of the balloting are secret, a military official said.
Lisa Nicole Bryant
Second Lieutenant U.S. Army
Attempted Rape And Murdered At Ft. Bragg
When People Are Trained To Become Cold Calculating Killers - Cold Calcuating Killers Is What They Become
