Thursday, Aug. 4, 2005 | 10:58 a.m.
A man who said he served in Iraq with the former U.S. Army specialist who is charged with murder and attempted murder in connection with a Sunday-morning shooting in Las Vegas says the defendant is level-headed but "tenacious when threatened."
Shay Price, 27, who was an infantryman in the same unit as Matthew Sepi, said Sepi is "a good kid -- a small-town kid."
He also praised Sepi as a good soldier and said that there was no evidence that his experience in the military and in combat was any harder on him than others.
"I'd go testify as a character reference" if a trial took place, Price said.
Sepi is charged with fatally shooting 47-year-old Sharon Johnson and wounding Keven Ratcliff, 26.
Sepi, 20, allegedly shot the two victims as he was returning to his apartment after going to the store to purchase beer at around 1:30 a.m. Sunday. He was walking in an alley behind the 200 block of New York Avenue when he was allegedly confronted by Ratcliff and Jackson.
Ratcliff was armed with a handgun and fired a round at Sepi, according to a police report. Sepi, who was armed with an assault rifle that he had concealed under a dark trench coat, told police he returned fire, killing Jackson and wounding Ratcliff, according to the arrest report.
After Metro Police arrested him on Sunday, he told the officers that he was carrying the assault rifle because someone had threatened him with a knife previously in the same alley where the shooting took place, which is across the street from his apartment, according to the police report.
Price, who lives in Phoenix, said that given what he knows about Sepi from various combat missions they conducted together, Sepi probably wouldn't have fired on anyone unless he was fired upon first.
Price also said that Sepi was "tenacious when threatened."
"I'd be a little high strung too if I was 5 foot 3 (inches) and 120 pounds," he said, referring to Sepi's size.
Price said that ultimately he was impressed with Sepi as a soldier.
"There was nothing but precision out of him," he said. "He took it (the military) seriously. You could count on him."
Justin Nelson, 22, served for two years -- one in Iraq -- with Sepi and has a similar impression of him.
Nelson, a private first class who was discharged in February and now lives in the Phoenix metropolitan area, said that Sepi was always prepared in tense combat situations and that he always felt secure with Sepi on missions.
"If something was going to happen, he would always come out on top," Nelson said.
Nelson served in the 1st squad of the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division with Sepi. He said they served together in the U.S. and in Iraq for about one year. While in Iraq, they spent most of their time in Balad, Iraq, about 60 miles north of Baghdad, but had performed missions throughout all of Iraq, including along the border of Iran.
He said they conducted many missions together, including raids and searches on Iraqi houses to find suspected insurgents.
The U.S. Army Human Resources Command released information confirming that Sepi served in Iraq with the Army. He received numerous awards, including the National Defense Medal and Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary and Service medal.
The U.S. Army Human Resources Command also confirmed that Nelson served in the same Infantry Division as Sepi in Iraq and at home.
Nelson said Sepi "is not the type of guy who would shoot someone without being threatened."
If Sepi had been threatened by someone with a knife, he would have subsequently been prepared to protect himself, Nelson said.
"He would know in the back of his mind that he would not (let himself) be (put) in a similar situation," he said.
Since Nelson was discharged from the Army in February, he spoke with Sepi half a dozen times, the most recent in May, he said.
Sepi never sounded out of sorts and Nelson noticed no distinct changes since he was discharged and returned to civilian life, Nelson said.
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