Fellow soldier arrested in 2 stabbing deaths, police say

By Yvonne Kalawur,
CNN
December 2, 2009 9:16 p.m. EST

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A Fort Drum soldier has been arrested in the deaths of two fellow soldiers found stabbed in an apartment near the upstate New York military base, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said.

The suspect, Joshua Hunter, 20, is being held at an undisclosed location in Ohio after being charged with two counts of second degree murder, Undersheriff Tim Dowe told CNN.

The sheriff's office identified the victims as Spc. Waide T. James, 20, of Cocoa, Florida, and Spc. Diego A. Valbuena, 23, of Port St. Lucie, Florida.

The two men were found dead with multiple stab wounds Tuesday in an apartment at Meadowbrook Apartments in LeRay, New York, Dowe said. The complex houses mostly military families near the main entrance of Fort Drum, he said.

The motive is unknown at this time, Dowe said.

Sheriff's deputies were called to the apartment complex after the soldiers were reported missing for duty, but the sheriff's office could not say when that report was filed.

James and Valbuena, who joined the Army in 2007, worked as motor transport operators with the Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 10th Mountain Division, according to a Fort Drum press release. Both had served in Iraq, it said.

Police and Fort Drum officials would not release information about the suspect, including his rank or relationship to the victims.

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