FORT BRAGG, N.C. – The Army says a Special Forces trainee found dead this summer during a land navigation exercise in North Carolina was bitten by a poisonous water moccasin, also known as a cottonmouth.
The military said Wednesday the autopsy of 20-year-old Pfc. Norman M. Murburg of Dade City, Fla., ruled out heat or dehydration as a cause of death. Murburg was bitten multiple times while training at the Hoffman training area, near Fort Bragg's Camp Mackall.
Soldiers began searching for Murburg when he didn't return from the exercise. His body was found June 10. Authorities met with Murburg's family to explain the autopsy results.
Maj. Gen. Thomas Csrnko, who commands the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center, said the death reinforces the dangerous training for Green Beret candidates.
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