Murder of Tracie McBride

On February 18, 1995, 19-year-old American soldier Tracie Joy McBride was kidnapped, raped, and murdered by 44-year-old American soldier Louis Jones Jr. in Texas. Jones abducted McBride from Goodfellow Air Force Base and raped her at his house before bludgeoning her to death under a highway bridge in Coke County. He had, on another occasion, sexually assaulted his ex-wife Sandra Lane and was arrested on March 1, and the ensuing police investigation found that he was also responsible for raping and murdering McBride. Jones was tried and convicted in the U.S. federal court system for kidnapping resulting in death; his crime was a federal case since it had begun on a military base. The rape was the prime aspect to the murder, making it a capital offense. Following his initial denials, Jones eventually confessed that he had raped McBride in addition to murdering her, and was sentenced to death. He later tried to contest his sentencing on the grounds that he had been suffering from Gulf War syndrome, but his appeals were rejected. Prosecutors argued that Jones had displayed violent tendencies even before the Gulf War, citing four incidents in which Jones had beaten up army colleagues.

On March 18, 2003, the 53-year-old Jones was executed by lethal injection.

Mark Miller of Newsweek characterized Jones' case as unusual due to his Gulf War syndrome defense strategy.