Hunter's brother: charges a 'shock'

Spc. Joshua S. Hunter, 20, the Fort Drum soldier accused of stabbing to death two fellow soldiers last week, is funny, bright and wanted to one day work in civilian law enforcement, said his brother who is also a soldier and now serving in Iraq.

"He wanted to eventually be in the FBI or something of the sort," said Cpl. James R. Hunter, 22. The younger man saw the Army as a good first step toward "a career in the government, in some sort of law enforcement."

The murder charges, he said, "came as a great shock to me."

"As a soldier, it sends a lot of questions through my mind," he said, especially about "the kind of treatment he was getting," whether mandatory or optional. Fort Drum has declined to comment on whether Spc. Hunter was receiving any mental health treatment after returning from deployment in Iraq.

Cpl. Hunter spoke by phone Friday evening from Taji, Iraq, where he is serving his second tour of duty with the Army's 4th Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, based at Fort Lewis, Washington. He said he wanted to dispel the idea that his brother is "a monster."

Spc. Hunter's wife and mother have told reporters that the military policeman was traumatized by a 15-month deployment to Iraq from which he returned this past spring. Emily Hunter, the soldier's wife, said, "He saw his best friend get blown up to pieces and he tried to put him back together. He was never right after that."

But a spokesman for the 10th Mountain Division, and soldiers who said they served on that deployment with Spc. Hunter and his alleged victims, said such claims are suspect given the quiet circumstances of the unit's deployment. Not one of its 1,000 soldiers was killed or injured in combat.

Cpl. Hunter said his brother never mentioned having any troubling experiences in Iraq, but then the two didn't talk much about the war and their work. When they did, the exchanges were "vague and brief."

Cpl. Hunter said he had no knowledge of any possible sources of trauma in Spc. Hunter's life.

The last time the two spoke was just before Cpl. Hunter left for his second Iraq tour, in mid-September.

"There really wasn't a lot to it," he said. "We tried to talk about anything but my upcoming deployment. ... We didn't get to talk very often so we both tended to keep it on the light-hearted side."

Cpl. Hunter talked of the brothers' "very religious" upbringing in Ona, W.Va. James A. Hunter, their father, was a preacher at Teays Valley Baptist Church, in Teays Valley, W.Va., until two years ago when he became an insurance salesman. Their mother, Judy A. Hunter, stayed at home to raise the couple's five children until James was 10 or 11. She worked for a time as a sign language interpreter for the deaf and is now a hair stylist.

In addition to James and Josh, the Hunter siblings include two sisters, ages 24 and 27, and a younger brother, age 16.

Cpl. Hunter called Spc. Hunter a "jokester," and said he did fine impressions of Woody Woodpecker and was a fan of comedic actor Jim Carrey.

"Dad drove our SUV and filled it with kids and he would have the whole car laughing," Cpl. Hunter recalled.

In high school, Spc. Hunter played football and had good grades for a time, until he "got lazy and stopped going to class," his brother said. He dropped out and earned an equivalency diploma.

Josh Hunter joined the Army a few months after Cpl. Hunter deployed for his first Iraq tour.

"We passed each other in Kuwait," Cpl. Hunter said, at a time when he was at the end of a 15-month deployment and Spc. Hunter was just beginning his own 15-month stay.

"A month or two after he got back, I deployed again," Cpl. Hunter said. "You can imagine the stress our mother's been under for years."

During his mid-tour leave in late winter or early spring, Spc. Hunter returned to Ona, W.Va., where he rekindled a relationship with the girl he'd dated on and off throughout high school. The future Mrs. Emily Hunter was at the time working at a club in Barboursville, W.Va., Cpl. Hunter said.

"She kind of was a bit of a rebel — I think that's what he liked about her," he said. The two were married shortly after Spc. Hunter completed his Iraq tour.

"My father married them in our living room," Cpl. Hunter said. "Josh was excited, overjoyed with that."

Cpl. Hunter said his brother was feeling stressed about some of the usual worries for a young newlywed. Spc. Hunter had taken online college courses during his deployment in order to meet the entrance requirements for officer candidate school, Cpl. Hunter said. But he quickly seemed to lose steam with that pursuit, Cpl. Hunter said.

Living at 334 Clay St. with his wife in Watertown after coming home from Iraq, Spc. Hunter expressed frustration with his living situation.

"He wanted to move to a nicer neighborhood; he said he felt like he was in the slums," Cpl. Hunter said.

The couple argued, he said. "I thought it was like any other young marriage."

As for the disturbing comments Spc. Hunter posted to his MySpace page — "I am cold and heartless ... I will take down anyone who gets in my way by any means necessary" — Cpl. Hunter said soldiers "have all said stupid stuff like that. It's a mentality that we feel like we're supposed to feel because we're over here."

Spc. Hunter allegedly admitted to a police detective that he committed the stabbings that killed Spc. Diego A. Valbuena and Spc. Waide T. James, according to court documents. He pleaded not guilty last week to two counts of second-degree murder. He is now being held in the Metro-Jefferson Public Safety Building pending a bail review today.

Spc. Valbuena's sister, Natalia Valbuena, said Sunday by e-mail that the family had made his funeral arrangements. After a visitation Tuesday and a 10 a.m. Wednesday service at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, in Palm City, Fla., Spc. Valbuena will be interred at Forest Hills Memorial Park, with full military honors by the Army.