'Killer' dad's former army squadmate reveals how they were 'betrayed' amid manhunt over daughters' murders

Daily Mail​

06-06-2025

A former soldier who served with triple murder suspect Travis Decker has shared how his fellow squadmates feel 'betrayed' by the accusations that he killed his three young daughters.
The soldier, who asked to remain anonymous, told how he served with the now 32 year old as part of the 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team while stationed in Italy in 2017.
At the time, Decker had already had his first daughter, Paityn, with his now ex-wife, Whitney. He is now accused of killing Paityn, nine, as well as his younger daughters, Evelyn, eight, and Olivia, five.
The former paratrooper has not been seen since he picked up the girls for a schedule three-hour visit on Friday, and on Monday their bodies were found at a campsite in Leavenworth - 20 miles from their Washington state home. Their wrists had been bound with zip ties and each of them had been suffocated with a plastic bag.
'All of us who served with him feel betrayed and are beyond distraught with the news,' the former squadmember told Fox 13 amid warnings to residents in remote parts of the state on Thursday to 'lock their doors and windows' amid the ongoing manhunt for the former soldier.
They say Decker is considered dangerous, given his extensive military training and propensity for violence.
He joined the US Army in 2012 and served a tour in Afghanistan two years later.
But by 2017, Decker had been removed from the elite Ranger Regiment after he failed to complete Ranger School, his former squadmate said.
By the time he joined the 173rd Airborne Brigade - which is known for conducting specialized airborne operations, including parachute jumps and air assault - he was quiet and a bit of an outcast.
Still, Decker was a hard worker in his unit - and even a bit of a narcissist as he spoke about following in his father's footsteps as a Green Beret and expressed a desire to return to Special Forces, the source claimed.
He said it felt like Decker had something to prove, noting that he spoke about his father a lot - and even worshipped the man.
Yet Decker never did go back to Special Forces, and in 2021 he transferred to the Washington Army National Guard - where he rose to the rank of sergeant.
He was listed as a full-time member of the Army National Guard until 2023 or 2024, when he switched to part-time.
But he stopped attending mandatory monthly drills a little over a year ago, and the Guard is in the process of a disciplinary discharge.
Those who were close with Decker have since said he has suffered from complex PTSD and borderline personality disorder after leaving active military service.
Still, the source said he remained connected with Decker on social media - until the accusations that he murdered his daughters emerged, and Decker deleted nearly all of his social media posts, photos and videos, and unfollowed most of his former Army buddies.
Army paratrooper Travis Decker, right, assigned to 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, is pictured in 2016 during the 173rd Airborne Brigade's Expert Infantryman Badge testing phase at the 7th Army Joint Multinational Training Command's Grafenwoehr Training Area in Germany
It is believed he was not taking medication for the borderline personality disorder when he failed to return the three girls home on Friday, with court documents saying Whitney 'expressed concern' over his alleged deteriorating mental state.
She reportedly told police Decker was supposed to seek mental health treatment and anger management counseling as part of a parenting plan, but there was no sign he had followed through, the documents show.
Whitney also stated in September divorce proceedings that he had been 'struggling to maintain stability' since they separated and it was beginning to affect their daughters.
She said that at times he would have the girls sleep at an armory while he was in the National Guard, despite her objections, according to the Seattle Times.
She further claimed Decker - was prone to 'outbursts' and would come into her house yelling for the girls - would sometimes fail to pick up after promising to do so.
In one instance, Whitney wrote that her youngest daughter, Olivia, called her crying during a visit with Decker and said she could not find her father - before Evelyn came home with welts between her legs.
'I do not want to keep Travis from the girls at all,' Whitney wrote in the court filing. 'To the contrary, I have bent over backwards to facilitate that relationship.
'But I cannot have our girls staying in what is essentially a homeless shelter, at times unsupervised, with dozens of strange men or staying in a tent or living in his truck with him, both in extreme temperatures and unknown areas for their safety.'
Still Whitney reiterated to authorities how she did not believe her ex was dangerous and said he loved his daughters.
She said the girls had a 'good relationship with Decker and enjoy their time with him,' and noted that he had never failed to return the girls before, according to a police affidavit.
Speaking out for the first time on Thursday through her attorney Arianna Cozart, Whitney said she then realized her daughters were in 'substantial danger' when Decker failed to bring them home.
She said se begged police to issue an Amber Alert but was told the case did not meet the requirements, as Decker had custodial privileges and there was no indication that he would harm the girls.
But Whitney has now alleged this 'was a tragedy that could've been completely' avoided had officials intervened.
She believes 'something broke inside' of Decker and that he 'would not have done what he did if he was himself', Cozart revealed in a heartbreaking statement early Thursday morning.
'He clearly had some sort of break and everything that he had been living with, everything that had been bottled up inside of him for so long as far as trauma, just won out,' Cozart told the Seattle Times.
'We may never know if it could've meant the difference between life and death for those girls … but it could've made a huge difference,' Cozart told the newspaper.
She added that a judge recommended in September that Travis undergo a psychiatric evaluation and treatment, but Travis needed an advocate and had no luck getting those services by himself.
'Had Travis been provided the mental health resources that he so badly needed as a veteran, the Amber Alert never would have been the issue. Her babies wouldn't be dead, frankly,' Cozart argued, according to KOMO.
'No one believed Travis was ever capable of this,' she continued.
'He was a loving father. He did love those girls. His behavior really hadn't changed with Whitney, but what she started hearing after they all went missing, some of the red flags happening in other areas of his life, she suspected the worst.'
Whitney had even told police that when Decker went to pick up the girls Friday, he was 'quieter than usual' which was 'out of character' for him.
He had also allegedly been talking about getting rid of his dog due to housing and financial struggles.
By Tuesday, a judge issued a warrant for Decker's arrest and ordered he be held without bail.