In two shootings by Iraq vets, war stress blamed

In Las Vegas, Matthew Sepi was on his way to get a beer, but he tucked an assault rifle inside his black trenchcoat just in case. In Lawrence, Mass., Daniel Cotnoir brought out his 12-gauge shotgun. Both pulled the trigger. Now Sepi faces murder and attempted murder charges while Cotnoir is charged with attempted murder.

In the otherwise unrelated cases, family, friends and even law officers are looking to the influence of wartime horrors on the two veterans.

Flashbacks, nightmares, a struggle to reconnect to an old life - these are all signs of post-traumatic stress disorder that many soldiers suffer from. The Army's surgeon general has said 30 percent of U.S. troops surveyed have developed stress-related mental health problems just months after returning home. A New England Journal of Medicine study found almost 1 in 6 soldiers showing symptoms of mental stress.

Sepi and Cotnoir both reportedly sought help. Some question whether the military is doing enough to aid soldiers.

Just 5-feet-3 and 120 pounds, Matthew Sepi was small but tough and disciplined, a great soldier, his old Army roommate said.

After joining the Army in May 2002, Sepi, a Navajo Indian, left for Iraq in April the following year. Along with his company from Fort Carson, Colo., the specialist was on the front lines, going on missions and raids and doing traffic control.

"Every day you're trying to dodge `winning the lottery,'" said former Army Spc. Shay Price, Sepi's roommate at Fort Carson. "It wasn't a constant battle every day, but you know, it's like a terrorist war. It's very tactical out there. There's no army to fight."

If the grinding war bothered Sepi, he didn't let on. He seemed fine and never mentioned any problems to his colleagues. But that was Sepi's way. He kept his feelings to himself.

"I was with him every day," said former Army Pfc. Justin Nelson, Sepi's "battle buddy." "Being with someone that long you never notice a slow, progressive change. You never know if they're changing or not."

When he was honorably discharged in May, Sepi eventually moved to Las Vegas and struggled to find a job. He worked as a day laborer, but told police that when a pallet fell to the ground, he was so bothered by it he could not function for an hour.

"He was nervous," his sister Juli Sepi said from her Winslow, Ariz., home. "If there were loud noises he would definitely look around and make sure every area was secure. When I was with him, I slammed a door and he kind of was freaking out."

His mother reportedly said her son sought counseling, but was put on a waiting list, though that could not be confirmed.

Sepi talked to his sister about the rundown neighborhood he lived in, how people would eye him in the alley by his apartment complex.

"He just didn't feel safe," she said.

On July 31, just after 1 a.m., with the temperature near 90 degrees, Sepi picked up his trenchcoat and assault rifle and made his way down the alley to a convenience store. A man and a woman said something to him, but he doesn't remember what, Sepi told police. After drinking a beer, he walked back through the alley and saw the same couple.

They yelled for him to get out of the alley, he told police. What happened next is unclear, but Sepi claims the man fired a gun at him, so he pulled out his rifle and started shooting. In an ambush, that's what he was trained to do, he said.

The woman, 47-year-old Sharon Jackson, was shot dead; 26-year-old Kevin Ratcliff was injured.

"Who did I take fire from?" Sepi asked a detective.

Police found a 9 mm pistol and three bullet casings in the alley, which they believe belonged to Jackson or Ratcliff. They haven't said who they think fired first; Ratcliff has also said he fired in self-defense.

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