Air Force Colonel Accused of Rape Kills Self

A high-ranking Air Force Space Command officer who was charged with rape and other crimes was found dead in his Colorado home after civilian police received a report of a suicide, officials said Monday. The body of Col. Eugene Caughey, 46, was found Sunday at his off-base home in Colorado Springs, city police said. Authorities haven't said how he died. The officers who found him dead were responding to a report of a suicide, Colorado Springs police Sgt. Tim Stankey said. Caughey was relieved of his duties in June 2015 after the rape investigation began, the Air Force has said. His court-martial was scheduled for Oct. 17, the AP reports.

Caughey, who joined the Air Force in 1993, had been vice commander of the 50th Space Wing at Schriever Air Force Base outside Colorado Springs. The unit operates military communications and weather satellites, as well as global positioning system satellites, which have broad civilian and military uses. Caughey was accused of raping a woman in late 2014 or early 2015. He was also charged with adultery, indecent filming or photography, dereliction of duty, and conduct unbecoming an officer. Prosecutors accused him of photographing his exposed genitals while in uniform and groping women twice. (More Air Force stories.)