Shock update in case of Navy officer's wife found strangled to death inside hotel room in Japan
A US Navy officer is facing a possible court-martial after he was arrested and charged with murder in the death of his wife, who was found strangled in a Japanese hotel room last fall.
Lieutenant Commander Christopher Olsen was also charged with obstruction of justice after a preliminary hearing on Wednesday at Naval Base San Diego, according to Commander Paul Macapagal of Naval Forces Japan.
The harrowing case involves the death of Olsen's wife, Jessica 'Jesse' Arguinzoni Olsen, 37, whose body was discovered on October 28 in a hotel room in Fukuoka - about 80 miles from Sasebo Naval Base.
Jesse was found bleeding and unresponsive in a room believed to be at Hotel SOL in the city's Chuo district, Kyodo News reported October 29.
'We don't know the reason or the story, but something set off her husband, Chris, and he became so mad that he struck her and strangled her,' Jesse's sister, Dominique Arguinzoni, told 12 News.
Her body was returned to her family on November 16 and showed signs of severe trauma - head injuries, a broken jaw and fractured hyoid bones, suggesting strangulation, Arguinzoni told Stars and Stripes.
The couple met at SUNY Oswego and married in 2009, according to Arguinzoni.
Jesse worked as a substitute teacher at a US base school, Ernest J. King Middle School, in Sasebo, where Christopher was stationed from November 2022 to December 2023.
Olsen, enlisted in the Navy in April 2014, served aboard the USS Chief and USS New Orleans before his current posting to the Naval Surface Group Southwest in San Diego.
'We had no idea they ever had issues,' Arguinzoni said. 'None of her friends, even her best friend, had an inkling. However, thinking back, my parents and I realized she had pulled away from us by reducing communications from every week to every other month or so.'
Dominique slammed the Navy's handling of the family notification, which came shortly after midnight on October 28, Arguinzoni told Stars and Stripes.
'There was no in-person visit, no support team, no effort to ensure they were physically or emotionally able to process the news,' she said.
'We were simply told Jesse was dead - and that her husband LDCR Christopher Olsen was a person of interest.'
Nearly seven months later, the family still hasn't received Jesse's belongings.
'We want to grieve,' Arguinzoni added.
'We can't even wrap up her stuff, and it's been very frustrating because the little bit of information we get, it throws us back into when they first called us and told us she was gone.'
A community has since rallied around the fallen teacher as a public group 'Justice for Jesse Olsen' has been created with an aim to 'build up her legacy again.'
'She was a remarkably strong woman, full of joy, humor, and individuality. Jesse lived her vibrant life to the fullest and still had so much ahead of her. She was taken far too soon,' the page reads.
'The pain and injustice of what Jesse and her family endured will not be forgotten or forgiven. #JusticeforJesseOlsen #JesseOlsen #FRSH2DF.'
Olsen was charged with second-degree murder and obstruction of justice. He is in the brig until his May 7 trial in San Diego, California, 12 News reported.
He faces a possible court martial as well and could face a dishonorable discharge, confinement, or capital punishment, according to Stars and Stripes.
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