Marine avoids jail time for burglary
Melissa DeLoach
The Springfield News-Leader

A decorated war hero and recipient of the Purple Heart will avoid jail time for getting drunk and burglarizing several Springfield apartment homes in 2004.

He'll instead be spending time - likely at a veteran's health-care facility - for post-traumatic stress disorder associated with his service in Iraq.

Aaron Wintterle, 26, was sentenced to five years' supervised probation Friday by Greene County Judge Calvin Holden after pleading guilty to two counts each of felony burglary and misdemeanor sexual misconduct.

Holden said he will recommend a veteran's hospital be included as part of the supervised probation.

Wintterle's lawyer, Stacie Bilyeu, said her client suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and "self-medicated" with alcohol to the point of blackouts.

Bilyeu said the post-traumatic stress was not detected until after the Nov. 7 incident where Springfield Police found Wintterle at 1655 S. Ingram Mill Road, knocking on apartment doors between 3 and 4:40 a.m. and calling for a woman named Jenny.

The incident still haunts a mother who lived at the apartment complex and her 16-year-old daughter, who was then 14. Both related their night of "terror" to Wintterle in open court Friday.

"I have never been so terrified in my life. ... My innocence wasn't his to take," the teen said.

Wintterle, who apologized to the victims, will have to pay restitution to them for further medical treatment for counseling.

Wintterle, who has not denied his actions, still claims he doesn't have any memory of the incident.

"The man you see today would not do that," he said. "I'm far from recovering, but you will never see me again."

Wintterle - once voted by fellow Marines as "most likely Marine anyone would want to go to war with," Bilyeu said in court - was honorably discharged after he was shot in the mouth in 2003.

Wintterle, who was a scout sniper with the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, still bears a gaping hole in his teeth from the gunfire.

He was enrolled at Evangel University as a criminal justice major and played collegiate football at the time of the 2004 incident.

Greene County assistant prosecuting attorney Tyson Martin said while Wintterle's military service is commendable, the criminal acts are inexcusable.

"He's no victim," said Martin, who added that he found it ironic that Marines have a code and vow to act with honor.

"He's nothing more than a terrorist."

There's no doubt he needed to be punished, Bilyeu said of Wintterle, but she said "extreme mitigations" - notably post-traumatic stress - were present.

Said Bilyeu: "One day of dishonor versus a lifetime of honor has to matter."