Woman charged with tampering in death of Vanessa Guillen on Fort Hood base

Cecily Aguilar, 22, is facing federal charges of tampering with human remains in connection with the homicide of soldier Specialist Vanessa Guillen at Fort Hood, Texas. Photo courtesy of the Bell County Jail

July 4 (UPI) — A new federal criminal complaint says missing soldier Pfc. Vanessa Guillen was killed by a fellow soldier at Fort Hood, Texas, and his girlfriend helped to dismember and hide the body.

Cecily Aguilar, 22, the estranged wife of a former Fort Hood soldier, is in custody in Bell County Jail in connection with the homicide of Guillen, 20, who disappeared from the base April 22. She faces charges of tampering with evidence.

Specialist David Robinson, 20, died by suicide Wednesday, shooting himself with a pistol after police confronted him about Guillen’s death in Killeen, Texas. Robinson had fled Fort Hood the day before as investigators from the Army Criminal Investigation Division command closed in.

“Robinson was an armorer who worked in the building adjacent to the building where Spc. Guillen worked and he was in no way in Spc. Guillen’s chain of command,” said Damon Phelps, senior special agent of Fort Hood CID on Thursday.

Texas Rangers arrested Aguilar in connection with Guillen’s death and said Aguilar helped Robinson dismember Guillen’s body and hide the remains.

The federal complaint alleges that on April 22, in the armory where she worked, Robinson struck Guillen with a hammer multiple times, killing her. Robinson put Gillen’s body in a large “tough box” and then called Aguilar to help him dispose of the body, investigators allege.

Aguilar told investigators the two dismembered Guillen’s body and then tried to burn the remains, but “the body would not burn completely, so the two buried remains in three separate holes.”

Investigators, acting on a tip, found human remains earlier this week near the Leon River near Belton, Texas.

Guillen’s disappearance was investigated by Army investigators, the Texas Rangers, the FBI and the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force.

Family attorney Natalie Khawam said Thursday that the family believes the remains are those of Guillen, who grew up in Houston.

Guillen’s family said at a news conference Wednesday that Robinson had sexually harassed her and she was planning to file a complaint against him.

“She reported it to her friends. She reported it to her family. She even reported to other soldiers on base, but she didn’t want to do a formal report because she was afraid of retaliation and being blackballed, and she, like most victims, just tried to deal with it herself,” her sister, Lupe Guillen, said.

Fort Hood investigators said they would investigate sexual harassment claims.

“All sexual harassment allegations are being investigated in this case,” Maj. Gen. Scott Efflandt said in a press conference Thursday, “as they are in every other instance.”

Guillen was promoted posthumously to specialist due to her time in service, according to the Fort Hood website.

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