Man kills wife. Says it's because of Vietnam.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

NationalMatch

Sharpshooter
Special Hen
Joined
Aug 21, 2021
Messages
1,190
Reaction score
2,618
Location
Oklahoma

Charles Bradley's Vietnam defense​

TULSA, Okla. (KTUL) — Convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life without parole, Charles Bradley shares details of his unique defense that fell flat with jurors.

From the perspective of Bradley the tragedy that happened in May of 2022 actually began in January of 1968.

"It was during the Tet offensive," he said.

He was a 20 year-old helicopter crew chief and his base was being attacked.

"I got into the bunker. I had an M-16 with me. And I saw these two shadows appear at the entrance to the bunker, and my thought was, they’re probably not going to come in, they’re probably just going to throw in a grenade," he said.

He started firing, and kept shooting until he was out of bullets.

"And when the last round was fired, they fell in on me. They were dead but I didn’t know that, I thought our fight was continuing. And so I was trying to fight them off. It’s a terrifying, there’s no way I can explain that except it was terrifying," he said.

The experience, he says, would haunt him long after the war was over.

"As I got older and after I left Vietnam, all those dreams kept coming back to me, over and over. And it was the exact same dream," he said.

When he tried seeking help from the VA, he says, all they gave him were pills.

"One of them that they gave me was called Ambien. And Ambien I was still having dreams but I was also up at night doing things that I didn’t have any idea I was doing them the next day. I’m thinking, who left the TV on last night? Well it had to be me. But I don’t remember watching TV during the night. And I’d wash a load of clothes you know and I’m thinking, I don’ t remember doing that, but it had to be me," he said.

And that brings us back to May of 2022.

"I called 9-1-1 and when the dispatcher I told her that apparently I’ve killed my wife," he said.

Charles says he was having one of his Vietnam dreams which turned into a sleepwalking nightmare.

"I didn’t realize it was Sandy, I thought it was a VC and I shot her. I didn’t know I was shooting her I was shooting at a VC but turned out that VC turned out to be Sandy," he said.

The authorities however, thought the reason behind the shooting was much more simplistic.

"The police kept telling me it was because of jealously. And I’m thinking how can anybody say that it was jealously?," he said.

Married for over 30 years, Charles says they had a great relationship.

"You know we had it made. Well Sandy was still working but we were both retired, we had a good income, had a nice house," he said.

Sandy worked for a doctor who did prescriptions for medical marijuana, and they would often travel together to various sites.

"There for a while it was every weekend they did this. And they’d usually leave on a Thursday, come back on a Sunday," he said.

One day, about three years ago, when he was dropping her off at work, he says he saw a kiss.

"She said that he kissed her. It was a kiss to me no matter what. And it takes two to do that. So I confronted her about that and she didn’t think it was funny that I was addressing that, she said that, you know, he’s an 85 year-old man, you know and he’s got a heart condition, got a defibrillator in his chest. So your concerns about any kind of relationship are invalid. So she allayed all my concern about that," he said.

Charles says he put it behind him, and that jealously played no role in what happened.

"And you know, they keep saying that I knew it was Sandy that I was shooting, I would never have done anything like that, I would have never intentionally hurt her at all, and certainly would not have shot her," he said.

A fatal shooting in the middle of the night, with no controversy as to who did it, only why.

"I only wish I could explain and have people believe that Vietnam is still a very real part of my life. And I hate to say that because that was 50 some odd years ago," he said.

https://ktul.com/news/local/charles-bradleys-vietnam-defense#
 

Dmc707

Sharpshooter
Supporting Member
Special Hen Supporter
Joined
Nov 1, 2023
Messages
750
Reaction score
1,712
Location
Norman
I’m as skeptical as the jury was

But- maybe the dude needs (needed- probably too late now) a real sleep study. I hate to speculate on someone else’s trauma but tracking brain waves during sleep and maybe even witnessing the ‘old boy sleepwalking might have helped
 

1mathom1

Sharpshooter
Supporting Member
Special Hen Supporter
Joined
Apr 13, 2010
Messages
1,472
Reaction score
551
Location
Stillwater
I have known several people who have had issues with the timed release Ambien doing weird stuff and not remembering it One dude shaved off half of his beard. Another used his closet as a urinal. I've had no issues with regular Ambien (adjusting to jet lag) but I stay away from the timed release stuff.
 

Glocktogo

Sharpshooter
Supporting Member
Special Hen Supporter
Joined
Jan 12, 2007
Messages
29,899
Reaction score
17,257
Location
Collinsville
The one time I was prescribed Ambien, in the middle of the night I had what I can only describe as a reality shift or break. I was out of bed and had the drawer open where my gun was at the ready. I truly felt I was being attacked and it was my wife that for lack of a better way of saying it, "got me back". I was horrified!

I locked my gun in the safe and slept in the living room the rest of the night. The next morning I called my Doc and told her I'd never take Ambien again. My wife thinks I have mild PTSD. Maybe I do and maybe I don't, but the only time in my life I've truly felt paranoid and out of control, was that night.

If the jury had evidence of an affair by the wife and/or other reasons to convict, I'd have to take it on faith they made the right call. If I were on that jury and he was documented to have PTSD and was on Ambien at the time of the shooting, I'd have enough doubt to question whether I could vote to convict.
 

THAT Gurl

Sharpshooter
Special Hen
Joined
Mar 25, 2020
Messages
8,663
Reaction score
21,153
Location
OKC
I have known several people who have had issues with the timed release Ambien doing weird stuff and not remembering it One dude shaved off half of his beard. Another used his closet as a urinal. I've had no issues with regular Ambien (adjusting to jet lag) but I stay away from the timed release stuff.

Grumpy did some weird stuff too, but he was on the regular Ambien. Last time he took any was the night he woke up buck naked in the garage "looking for something". It was the dead of winter and a walk-in freezer would have been warmer than our garage. Have no idea how long he was out there but his feet were absolutely frozen, and his lips were turning blue. His teeth didn't stop chattering for quite a while.

My favorite Ambien story is this one:

Grumpy was working hoot shift. That's why he was taking Ambien -- trying to sleep during the day. Anyway, he would come home, have some breakfast, take his meds, get undressed and go to bed.

This morning he took his meds, and then got his breakfast. I look over to see him sitting in his recliner, in full uniform, feet up, sound asleep.

With a piece of bacon hanging out of his mouth like a limp cigarette. 🤣🤣

So ... I take his plate out of his lap, get him standing up and start trying to help him to bed. Good thing we have a long narrow hallway, otherwise I would have NEVER managed getting him to the bedroom.

ALL the way down the hall he kept saying "I wanna go to the kitchen. I need some more bacon." Or some variation on that theme. He was so unsteady he couldn't walk without help. 🤣 Literally CRYING like a toddler who's been told "no more candy", in the middle of the hallway. 🤣🤣🤣🤣

I FINALLY got him to the bedroom where he sat down on the edge of the bed, looked me dead in the eye and then just slow-motion fell back onto the bed. 🤦🤣🤣🤣

Ok, so now he's laying flat on his back in the middle of the bed, with his legs hanging off the edge of the bed, IN FULL UNIFORM -- bulletproof vest, combat boots and all. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

You guys have not lived until you've tried to take combat boots and a bulletproof vest off of what amounts to a dead body and then get it to get up in a bed "proper".

He has absolutely no recollection of any of this little as adventure. Except he woke up later that afternoon with bacon in his mouth! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
 
Last edited:

okcBob

Sharpshooter
Supporting Member
Special Hen Supporter
Joined
May 17, 2020
Messages
6,358
Reaction score
10,782
Location
okc
Vivid dreams, behavior changes & hallucinations are listed side effects of ambien. Also, taking it on an empty stomach has more of a response than with food.
 

HMCS(FMF)Ret.

Sharpshooter
Special Hen
Joined
Jun 13, 2010
Messages
2,892
Reaction score
1,799
Location
Norman, Oklahoma
I totally believe what this guy is saying. They have websites dedicated to Ambien stories. I have a friend who went to bed, then woke up standing in his kitchen surrounded by bags of groceries everywhere. He was single at the time so he had no need for all the groceries. Never remembered anything about driving to the store or buying groceries.
I took it once. Made me want to kill myself. Fortunately I knew that was a side effect of the medication. I would never let any of my family take Ambien. I can’t believe they let it stay on the market.
 

John6185

Sharpshooter
Supporting Member
Special Hen Supporter
Joined
Oct 27, 2012
Messages
9,891
Reaction score
10,718
Location
OKC
I don't care if one had abuse as a child, was picked on by other school children, went through a miserable marriage or Vietnam, if the guy committed murder then there is a price to pay and past history has absolutely nothing to do with the crime. If past history was culpable or related, we could all use it. as an excuse to harm someone or do something harmful.
 

jakeman

Sharpshooter
Special Hen
Joined
Jan 31, 2010
Messages
4,596
Reaction score
6,689
Location
Blanchard, America
I totally believe what this guy is saying. They have websites dedicated to Ambien stories. I have a friend who went to bed, then woke up standing in his kitchen surrounded by bags of groceries everywhere. He was single at the time so he had no need for all the groceries. Never remembered anything about driving to the store or buying groceries.
I took it once. Made me want to kill myself. Fortunately I knew that was a side effect of the medication. I would never let any of my family take Ambien. I can’t believe they let it stay on the market.


One of my ex wives took it for a while. It made her a whole lot more mean than she was normally, which made it sorta untenable.

It was a bad time, and she had no memory of most of it, but one morning she asked me if she had said something ugly the night before or had she been dreaming. I confirmed her behavior, and she quit taking it.

I agree, they need to take that **** off the market.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom