Friday, October 17, 1997
Dyess airman pleads guilty to bigamy
By BETH HALLMARK / Staff Writer
A Dyess Air Force Base airman pleaded guilty to bigamy at a
court martial this week after admitting he has two wives.
Airman Douglas G. Hamilton, 25, married his first wife in Taylor
County in 1992, court documents show.
Though the two separated and the wife moved to Georgia in 1996,
Hamilton was not legally divorced when he married another woman
earlier this year in Sweetwater. The couple set up house in Waco,
though Hamilton was stationed at Dyess in Abilene.
"He told her he was going to get out of the service this
summer," said Lt. Col. Morris Davis, Dyess' staff judge advocate.
"But the date was actually in 2000."
Davis said Hamilton's second wife also did not know he was
already married.
Hamilton's first wife discovered the infraction in June and
reported it to the Air Force. She found out her husband had married
again after locating copies of bounced checks he had written that
included the new wife's name, court records show.
Hamilton pleaded guilty to the bigamy charge at a special court
martial on Wednesday, the equivalent of a misdemeanor hearing.
He was sentenced to four months confinement for the offense.
The Air Force's maximum punishment for bigamy includes six months
confinement and a bad conduct discharge.
Hamilton may face an administrative discharge after being released
from confinement. He has been on active duty for six years.
Legally, only his marriage to his first wife is valid.
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Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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