Ryan Mays

Government, Defense to Make Closing Arguments in Bonhomme Richard Arson Case

USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) sits pier side at Naval Base San Diego on July 16, 2020. US Navy Photo

NAVAL BASE SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Through two days of testimony, defense attorneys sought to disarm the government’s case against a young sailor accused of setting a fire that led to the destruction of an amphibious warship in 2020.

The attorneys called on over a dozen witnesses to refute the Navy’s contention that Seaman Recruit Ryan Sawyer Mays deliberately set a fire inside the former USS Bonhomme...

https://news.usni.org/2022/09/29/government-defense-to-make-closing-arguments-in-bonhomme-richard-arson-case

Defense Begins for Accused Bonhomme Richard Arsonist

An MH-60S Knight Hawk helicopter from the ‘Merlins’ of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 3 and fire boats assist in US Bonhomme RIchard firefighting efforts on July 13, 2020. US Navy Photo

NAVAL BASE SAN DIEGO, Calif. — The government’s prosecution against a young sailor accused of arson, which ultimately destroyed an amphibious warship in 2020, centers on one shipmate’s claim he saw that sailor where the fire started shortly before it was reported.

That’s the picture Navy prosecutors painted...

https://news.usni.org/2022/09/26/defense-begins-for-accused-bonhomme-richard-arsonist

Trial Begins for Alleged Bonhomme Richard Arsonist

An MH-60S Knight Hawk helicopter from the Merlins of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 3 provides aerial firefighting support to fight the fire aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) on July 14, 2020. US Navy Photo

NAVAL BASE, SAN DIEGO, Calif. – To military prosecutors, the fire that led to a 2020 conflagration that destroyed a multi-billion dollar amphibious warship was “a mischievous act of defiance” by a young sailor angry that he dropped from Navy SEAL training.

Bu...

https://news.usni.org/2022/09/19/trial-begins-for-alleged-bonhomme-richard-arsonist

Attorneys Argue Over Graffiti Confessions, Alternative Suspects in Bonhomme Richard Fire Criminal Hearing

USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) sits pier side at Naval Base San Diego on July 16, 2020. US Navy Photo

NAVAL STATION SAN DIEGO, Calif. – While firefighting crews and sailors massed at Naval Base San Diego’s Pier 2 to attack a fire spreading across former USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6), a small fire scorched a mattress on another amphibious assault warship berthed a mile away.

That fire, on a rack in troop berthing aboard Wasp-class USS Essex (LHD-2), was extinguished by a petty officer, leaving the...

https://news.usni.org/2022/08/19/attorneys-argue-over-graffiti-confessions-alternative-suspects-in-bonhomme-richard-fire-criminal-hearing

Experts Criticize ATF, Navy Finding on Cause of Bonhomme Richard Fire; Case Against Sailor Pending U.S. 3rd Fleet Decision

A San Diego Federal Fire firefighter rests after combating a fire aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) on July 12, 2020. US Navy Photo

SAN DIEGO – An expert in electrical engineering told a Navy court that an electrical short in a forklift or some faulty batteries could have sparked the fire that ultimately scuttled the former USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6), countering the Navy’s acceptance from a federal fire investigation that a disgruntled sailor deliberately set it.

A...

ATF Investigator: Bonhomme Richard Fire Deliberately Set, No Direct Physical Evidence Points to Accused Sailor

Fire aboard USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) at Naval Base San Diego on July 12, 2020. US Navy Photo

SAN DIEGO – The fire that eventually destroyed much of the former USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) likely was deliberately set to ignite cardboard boxes in a stowage area packed with assorted items that fire investigators ruled out as the ignition source, a federal fire investigator testified in a Navy court Monday.

Matthew Beals, a special agent with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and...

https://news.usni.org/2021/12/14/atf-investigator-bonhomme-richard-fire-deliberately-set-no-direct-physical-evidence-points-to-accused-sailor