John Wylie Needham, a decorated Iraq War veteran accused of killing a female friend in San Clemente in 2008, has died, prosecutors said.
Needham, 26, died Feb. 19 in Pima, Ariz., the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release. The cause of death is unknown, and Arizona authorities are investigating, the release said. Needham had been out of custody on $1 million bond, online court records show.
According to the online magazine Salon.com, Needham died about 10 days after back surgery at a hospital in Tucson, Ariz.
Needham was charged Sept. 2, 2008, with the murder of Jacqwelyn Joann Villagomez, 19.
According to prosecutors, Needham had been drinking while watching television with Villagomez in his San Clemente home Sept. 1, 2008, when another female friend of Needham’s arrived. The two women became involved in a physical fight, which was broken up by Needham. The other woman left and Needham called 911 to report the altercation, prosecutors said. Needham then severely beat Villagomez, resulting in her death the following morning, according to prosecutors.
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Michael Becker, a senior deputy public defender who represented Needham, disputed the prosecution’s version of events. Witnesses said that Villagomez was asked to leave Needham’s home before the other woman arrived, then returned uninvited and attacked her, Becker said. The other woman called 911 after Needham separated the women, Becker said. When police arrived, they were granted access to the home by Needham and his father and discovered Villagomez dead in John Needham’s first-floor bedroom, Becker said.
Family members said Needham, who had been discharged from the military less than two months before the alleged murder on grounds of disability, had been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. He was taking medications for pain and psychological problems.
Becker said that evidence would have been presented that Needham suffered from severe PTSD and traumatic brain injury.
Needham earned a Purple Heart, Army Commendation Medal and Combat Infantry Badge during his tour in Iraq, according to an Orange County Register article at the time the murder charge was filed.
Needham’s father, Michael John Needham, was accused of threatening to kill a friend of Villagomez’s at his son’s arraignment Sept. 26, 2008. Michael Needham was found not guilty by a jury on July 2, 2009.
Contact the writer: 714-704-3705 or agalvin@ocregister.com
