Twenty years ago a most bizarre false rape allegation case in the U.S. Navy resulted in the murder of the accuser; but not in the manner you would think.
On May 14, 1996, 31-year-old U.S. Navy Petty Officer Third Class Elise Makdessi, an air traffic controller at Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach met her demise, in a bizarre and unusual twist involving false allegations of rape and sexual harassment at the hands of her co-workers and supervisors. On one occasion she alleged that she had been raped by three co-workers who all took turns.
Petty Officer Third Class Elise Makdessi
About a month, before she was murdered, Elise Makdessi took to making a 20-minute videotape on the couch of her home where she claimed that she had been subjected to acts of rape and sexual harassment, but never named her assailants. She revealed that she had kept their names in a safe deposit box in case anything happened to her or her husband. No safe deposit box or names were ever found.
She is seen on the tape, trembling and occasionally wiping away tears. She alleged that the Navy was protecting her assailants and that superiors told her to keep her mouth shut or risk a demotion.
There’s only one problem. None of it was true.
In a bizarre, elaborate, and deadly plan, her Lebanese husband; Adibeddie Ramez Makdessi, who goes by the name of Eddie, murdered his wife and one of her co-workers, 37-year-old Petty Officer First Class Quincy Brown.
Petty Officer First Class Quincy Brown
Eddie and Elise concocted an elaborate plan for her to make false allegations of rape and sexual harassment at the hands of her Navy co-workers, including Brown. Along with her rape allegations, she also alleged that her complaints to her chain of command fell on deaf ears. To prove it, she took to making the videotape with her husband directing it. Their elaborate plan; at least what Elise thought, was that she would make these allegations, then sue the U.S. Navy for allowing her to be raped and sexually harassed and that her reports to Navy higher-ups were ignored, and hopefully, cash in for some big bucks.
Eddie however, had a different plan.
Eddie Makdessi
Then, on the night of May 14, 1996, prosecutors claim that Elise and Eddie lured fellow sailor Quincy Brown to her home to have sex, and Elise allowed Quincy to tie her to the bedposts. Prosecutors allege that her husband Eddie was hiding in the home, perhaps in a closet while the two engaged in sex and Quincy had ejaculated inside of her, thereby proving that sexual activity had occurred.
When Quincy went to leave, Eddie Makdessi then suddenly appeared and shot him several times in the chest; once directly in the heart, killing him instantly. Prosecutors allege that Eddie then went over to the tied up Elise on the bed and stabbed her to death in the stomach and throat; cleaned the knife, then planted it in Quincy’s hand.
Eddie Makdessi claims that when he and his wife Elise came home from dinner that night, someone hit him from behind; knocking him out and tying him up. When he came to, he claims that Quincy Brown was stabbing his wife, and he went for a gun in a nearby nightstand drawer and shot Quincy in self-defense.
He claims that he was too late to save the life of his wife, who died of multiple stab wounds.
When police arrived, they were suspicious of the circumstances but did not have enough to charge Eddie.
More facts would emerge however in the 10-plus-year investigation as it was learned that a month before Elise was murdered, Eddie had taken out a half-million-dollar life insurance policy on her. Eddie soon collected the half mil as well as Elise’s 200K Navy life insurance policy. So he cashed in with 700K and fled the country. With his money, he traveled the world and re-married and had a daughter. Prosecutors allege that the motive was the insurance money.
The crime scene photographs were later given to a nationally renowned crime scene forensic analyst who; through comprehensive testing determined that Eddie’s version of the story did not match the blood splatter analysis on the crime scene photos.
Additionally, Elise’s female friends and co-workers were interviewed by investigators and all stated that Elise never mentioned to them that she had ever been raped or sexually harassed; EVER.
In 2001, Eddie Makdessi was indicted for the murder, but he was re-married and living in Russia. He was tricked into coming back to the U.S. by a reporter who had been in contact with him, where he would claim that he had evidence; the videotapes where Elise made her allegations would clear him of the murders, and place the blame back on the Navy. He was taken into custody immediately upon disembarking from an airplane. In March of 2006, he was convicted of two counts of murder and sentenced to life in prison. He was also fined 200K.
In this case, the desire to profit from making false allegations backfired and Elise Makdessi paid for it with her life, as well as fellow sailor Quincy Brown; who by all accounts was probably guilty of bad judgment and adultery, but was not a rapist.
Eddie Makdessi’s elaborate get rich plan, using false allegations of rape and sexual assault off the backs of Navy sailors and the U.S. government, and using his wife and then killing her and an innocent man all came tumbling down.
One can only imagine if their original elaborate plan had gone through? Just how many Navy men would have been caught up in the dragnet to rid this Navy unit of the awful, terrible, violent rapists in their midst; repeatedly raping poor-poor Elise; the brave, courageous survivor of violent sexual assault?
Yeah maybe if it was true, but NOPE,,,, IT WAS ALL A LIE!!!
What also came out during this ten-year investigation was the fact that Elise had flunked out of air traffic control school, and Eddie had a history of various insurance scams.
False allegations are nothing new; especially those made to profit from them.
This occurred in 1996, and even back then, well before this recent hysteria of the sexual assault witch hunt began, female service members, and some men, were conjuring up ways to profit from making false allegations of rape and sexual harassment.
A culture in the military existed back in 1996 and has been exacerbated since; and this culture makes it profitable to be a rape victim, regardless if a rape happened.
I understand that there are legitimate sexual assaults in the military, but with the explosion of false allegations, and the current witch hunt in which any allegation equals obtaining a conviction by any means necessary, it seems as though the psychiatric patients are running the asylum.
The pendulum has swung so far into the depths of lunacy and into the Twilight Zone, one wonders if it can ever be brought back.
This one looney plan, however; backfired.
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