Conviction in Cold Case Murder on U.S. Military Base
An Alabama man was convicted by a federal jury for a murder that happened on a U.S. military base in Germany more than 20 years ago.
Shannon Wilkerson was convicted of second-degree murder, for strangling and beating Amanda Gonzales to death on November 3, 2001, inside her barracks at Fliegerhorst Kaserne, a U.S. Army base in Hanau, Germany.
The 19-year-old Gonzales was pregnant at the time of her death.
Both Wilkerson and Gonzales were members of the U.S. Army at the time. Wilkerson was later discharged, and had been living in Alabama, before being arrested in February 2023.
“The murder of Amanda Gonzales and her unborn child was a horrific act of violence,” said U.S. Attorney Jason R. Coody for the Northern District of Florida. “This decades-long investigation and resulting prosecution demonstrate the unwavering resolve of our law enforcement partners and their commitment to use every tool available to protect Americans, especially those serving our country.”
Prosecutors charged Wilkerson under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, which gives the U.S. federal courts jurisdiction over crimes committed outside the United States by, among others, former members of the Armed Forces who are no longer subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
“Many dedicated law enforcement officers and prosecutors persisted for years, pursuing every available lead and never wavering in their search for evidence to hold the victim's killer to account for his heinous crime,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
Wilkerson is scheduled to be sentenced August 8. He faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.
The FBI New York Field Office investigated this case, with assistance from the Department of Army’s Criminal Investigative Division, which originally investigated the case.