Friday, January 21, 2005
The FBI is investigating the fatal shooting in Iraq of a U.S. contractor from Washington County who had accused Iraqi military officials of corruption days before his death. Dale Stoffel, 43, of Monongahela, was shot to death Dec. 8 in a roadside ambush while returning to Baghdad after discussing the corruption claims with coalition military officials at a northern Iraqi military base. Stoffel's business associate, Joseph Wemple, 49, of Orlando, Fla., also was killed.
The killings came after Stoffel alerted senior U.S. officials in Washington that Iraqi Defense Ministry officials were part of a kickback scheme involving a multimillion-dollar contract awarded to his company, Wye Oak Technology, to refurbish old Iraqi military equipment, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.