New Details on Army Specialist Megan Touma’s Homicide
I had just gotten home from working on a medical story in Raleigh. My flight into Atlanta was slightly late due to weather, but I was home in time for a little dinner and relaxation before bed.
My focus was on the story I just shot and how I was going to structure the words and pictures about this three-year-old girl who had cerebral palsy. I was surfing the Internet and not really paying attention to the TV when my blackberry started buzzing. I half ignored it. We always get press releases and not so urgent announcements from various companies and organizations. But something told me instead to ignore the reality show I was watching long enough to see what junk or email I would be deleting. I was shocked to see that this e-mail wasn’t a ribbon cutting ceremony for a new library in Alabama or some statement from a political campaign.
This e-mail was from the Fayetteville Police Department in North Carolina. It was marked urgent and looked very serious. The headline read “Megan Touma Case- Arrest of Edgar Patino.” The Fayetteville Police Department made a break in a month old murder case and it was a big one. The story shook this community known for it’s military roots with Fort Bragg smack inside the city limits.
Back in June Army Specialist Megan Touma, just 23 years old, was found dead in her Fayetteville Motel Room. She was in the bathtub, badly decompsed and seven months pregnant when police found her. The headlines and non-stop media coverage had locals asking lots of questions. When her death was ruled a homicide, everyone wondered who could do such a thing? Not only to a vibrant young woman but also to an unborn child…someone who never even had the chance to make an enemy in this world.
I read more on my blackberry. Behind bars and charged with her death was a fellow soldier 27 year old Edgar Patino. He was arrested at his Fayetteville home on July 29th. A call from my bureau chief brought the instructions I was expecting. Be on the first flight to Fayetteville in the morning.
A press conference this morning gave us the details and some answers to questions that had looming over this small city for several weeks now. Not only did Patino know Megan Touma, he admitted to being the father of her unborn child. We also heard that Patino is married to another woman and was the last person to enter her motel room. Police also unraveled the mystery to a chilling letter that was sent to them and the local paper shortly after the body was discovered. The author of the letter claimed responsibility for the death, eluded to the work of a serial killer and contained a symbol that resembled that left behind by the Zodiac killer in San Francisco in the late 1960’s. The community worried, was this the work of a serial killer? Police announced this morning what they always suspected. Lots of evidence pointed to Edgar Patino as the author of that letter. He had purchased a typewriter the day before the threatening letters were mailed in Fayetteville. Police believe Patino drafted the letters to throw their investigation.
Today, Patino faced a judge, first degree murder charges and the death penalty. We watched the feed from the courtroom under a tent that was shading us from the hot North Carolina sun. In between live shots and my blackberry going nuts with messages from the assignment desk and show producers, we talked about the fast breaking developments. Many of the FOX crew had been here when the murder was discovered and wondered if the investigation would ever move forward.
As I write this waiting in our truck for our 7 pm and 10 pm live shots at the Cumberland County Detention Center, the hot sun has given way to a rain shower. Kind of symbolic that this small military city maybe can get a fresh start…a cleansing tomorrow knowing that a killer may have been caught. Just like all of us, Patino is innocent until proven guilty. But in their press briefing today, the police and the prosecutor seemed very confident that they had enough evidence to prove that guilt.
The community may get a fresh start, but this painful process is hardly over for Megan Touma’s family and the soldiers who knew and loved her. You also have to wonder how this will impact Edgar Patino’s family. A couple of women pushing strollers across the court parking lot were being followed by news cameras as they hurried to a van. Were they Patino’s family or friends? They wouldn’t answer reporter questions. If they do know Edgar Patino how will this effect them?
My blackberry is going off again. It’s my travel schedule for my trip home tomorrow. This story will develop and we will keep an eye on it, but I have to turn my attention to the medical story and the three year old girl with cerebral palsy. That story airs Sunday night and I have a lot of work to do when I get back to the office. But one thing is for sure as I start on another script and shift my focus in another direction, I am sure I will not forget the name Megan Touma. It’s these kinds of stories that stick with you for a long time.
Brooks Blanton has been with FOX News since July of 2006 as a producer based out of the Network's southeast bureau in Atlanta. Prior to working for Fox he was a senior producer, investigative producer and assignment editor for stations in Phoenix, Arizona. He has covered many impacting stories such as the deadly track of the Super Tuesday storms that ripped across Arkansas and Tennessee in February 2008, the deadly shootings at Virginia Tech and the celebrations in Miami when Fidel Castro gave up power over Cuba. 
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Andru Hunter
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Andru Hunter
You know, of the two murdered female soldiers this year, both were pregnant by married men. Although murder is never justified I wonder why we are shocked and just can’t understand why, when these things happen. Bottom lines are never uncovered or reported in most news stories now days. There are taboos reporters never mention and if facts are not PC you avoid them. These two murders were both at the hands of hispanics. What about this argument that women in the Military are totally professional…is having affairs with married soldiers being professional, male or female? No…these are not PC topics so I suppose you will never cover them. Just do the emotional stuff and don’t get to the roots of the problem, the reasons for murder in these cases. The victim is mourned and the murderer hated but don’t expose anything concerning our liberal society that leads to these situations. The real victims were the unborn, the only innocents involved. But then, we kill unborn babies every day in this country so why get too upset over that….We can legally kill the unborn and adultery is winked at. Women are great for the Military. Looks to me like your busy, important lifestyle as a reporter was the most important part of your story, at least to you. It certainly wasn’t the bottom line we were hunting for however. But then, who, what, when, where and why went out the window years ago in the news industry…didn’t they. We aren’t surprised that the murder of women is increasing in this county. Until we get serious about getting to the bottom line it won’t be stopped. The truth is tough to come by in the news anymore. It doesn’t make one popular.
Thanks for all the updates. A lot of times these tragedies have profound effects on a person, and it makes you feel very sad and heartbroken. Have a great day.
I also hope justice will be served for this young woman, that that guy will get the death penalty.
I read the name Edgar Patino, I thought no way it must be a coincidence. I was Edgar Patino’s squad leader when he came to Germany in 2004. He was one of my best soldiers. He was very quiet and respectful. He didn’t swear or drink. He was married and was the last person I could see being unfaithful to his wife. I left Bamberg in 2005 for another duty station. I recently returned to Germany and ran into Patino at the PX on another German post in December. He was the first of my old soldiers for me to run into since returning to Germany. He told me that he was getting ready to move to Fort Bragg and that he had decided to go to PSYOPS. We talked for about an hour and caught up on old acquaintances. He told me that he was going out with another of my old soldiers that night. We exchanged email addresses and I wished him luck in his new assignment. I received one email from him a month later, but when I responded, his account was no longer open. Yesterday evening I again checked the news and saw they had released the photo. There he was, one of my former soldiers being arraigned for the murder of a woman who was pregnant with his child. My thoughts and prayers go out to Mrs. Patino and the Touma family. I also pray for Edgar. I don’t know what happened to that well mannered motivated soldier that I used to know, but obliviously something changed.
Brooks ~ Good reporting…I am glad that they finally have some one in custody.
Brad ~ These stories do make a person feel heartbroken and sad…it doesn’t matter if they are in the military or not…
Annie-Your email is well received in some ways, I agree that reporters (myself being a former one) do gear stories so that people find them engaging. That is simply part of the business. If people don’t relate and aren’t engaged, they don’t like or don’t read the articles and then you’re out of a job.
Part of your email’s meaning was difficult to get though. So what’s the bottom line? You didn’t really spell that out either. If I was deducting, I would say you were inferring that in some way the cheaters ask for, or even maybe deserve what they get? Not sure about Maria Lauterbach or Megan Touma, but are you sure they knew the men were married? And even if they did, does that mean they signed on the dotted line to be murdered?
Also curious as to your thoughts on why murders of women are increasing in this country….not everyone is cheating with married men…maybe we should ask Drew Peterson?
I commend you on an excellent written story as well as great reporting! I felt as if I were there seeing through your eyes. What a tough job the media must have staring at the armpit of the world every day! I commend you all on keeping the rest of us informed as we sit in our comfort zones, able to turn off the media device of choice when the tough gets too tough. All too often I am sure you lose sleep or become troubled over a story given you to report on, yet your carry out your duty. Murder, children dying of disease, natural disaster, war; you’re a much stronger person than most. It has been said that you can’t please all the people all the time. BRAVO for a tough job well done!!!
Annie, not sure where you were going with that tid-bit but I am here to tell you it’s not a new epidemic of women being murdered at the hands of a lover. It has happened for centuries and not just by Hispanics or military men or minorities. These types of crimes are usually a crime of power and passion, not ethnicity. Does the whose and wherefores of it all change the fact that two people were murdered and countless lives were changed forever? I think all elements of this story were present. The real root of the problem is the human race is not perfect, a fact that doesn’t require rocket science or reporting for that matter. I thought a main point of this story is that life has to carry on, new stories roll in and out no matter what happens to an individual. Life goes on! Celebrate it often and cherish all the good things we are given.