Local Daughter's Killer Given Military Funeral
By: Robert Bumsted
Updated: October 21, 2012
A Fort Wayne couple is speaking out against the federal government after finding out their daughter-in-law's killer was honored with a military funeral.
Back in May, Alisha Koehl was killed when a gunman, Michael Anderson, opened fire at the Villa Paree Apartment Complex in Indianapolis where Koehl worked in the leasing office.
Koehl and one other employee were killed -- three others were injured by gunfire. Anderson fatally shot himself shortly after when he was confronted by police.
It's not clear what motivated the rampage, and Koehl's family says she had never met Anderson.
But one month after the incident, Koehl's family stumbled across Anderson's obituary, which said he had been buried at the Fort Custer National Cemetery in Augusta, Michigan -- a taxpayer-funded cemetery run by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
"It's a complete dishonor to not only our family directly, but to Alisha's father and brother were also in the military," said Frank Koehl, Alisha's father-in-law.
Upon looking deeper into the matter, Koehl discovered that the burial was actually a violation of federal law.
According to VA rules, any veteran who has committed a capital crime is not eligible to receive a military funeral -- even if he or she committed suicide and was therefore unable to be convicted of the crime.
Koehl's family says they have contacted the VA many times, and wish for Anderson to be moved to a civilian cemetery, but the VA has stopped responding to their inquiries.
WFFT contacted the VA on Sunday. A spokesman said that he was only able to issue the following statement:
"The Department of Veterans Affairs takes seriously its sacred responsibility to honor Veterans and other eligible individuals with final resting places in national shrines.
Back in May, Alisha Koehl was killed when a gunman, Michael Anderson, opened fire at the Villa Paree Apartment Complex in Indianapolis where Koehl worked in the leasing office.
Koehl and one other employee were killed -- three others were injured by gunfire. Anderson fatally shot himself shortly after when he was confronted by police.
It's not clear what motivated the rampage, and Koehl's family says she had never met Anderson.
But one month after the incident, Koehl's family stumbled across Anderson's obituary, which said he had been buried at the Fort Custer National Cemetery in Augusta, Michigan -- a taxpayer-funded cemetery run by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
"It's a complete dishonor to not only our family directly, but to Alisha's father and brother were also in the military," said Frank Koehl, Alisha's father-in-law.
Upon looking deeper into the matter, Koehl discovered that the burial was actually a violation of federal law.
According to VA rules, any veteran who has committed a capital crime is not eligible to receive a military funeral -- even if he or she committed suicide and was therefore unable to be convicted of the crime.
Koehl's family says they have contacted the VA many times, and wish for Anderson to be moved to a civilian cemetery, but the VA has stopped responding to their inquiries.
WFFT contacted the VA on Sunday. A spokesman said that he was only able to issue the following statement:
"The Department of Veterans Affairs takes seriously its sacred responsibility to honor Veterans and other eligible individuals with final resting places in national shrines.
VA works closely with funeral directors to ensure that those we will inter have not committed a capital crime which would make them ineligible for interment. In this instance, records show we were informed by the funeral home that no capital crime was committed and VA proceeded with scheduling the interment and burial.
Cemetery officials at Fort Custer National Cemetery in Battle Creek, Michigan found out about the crime in Indianapolis only after the interment was complete. VA is reviewing this matter.
VA sends its deepest condolences to the Koehl family and all those affected by this tragedy."
