Arrest made in Navy man's 2009 death at First Landing park

VIRGINIA BEACH

It's been more than a year since a search team found the body of a Navy chief petty officer at First Landing State Park, and police had been investigating the death as a suicide.

Now they believe Gerard Curran's death may have been at the hands of a fellow sailor.

Police arrested Paul Stephen Bricker, a 25-year-old petty officer 2nd class from Norfolk, and charged him with second-degree murder in the case Thursday. He admitted to stabbing Curran, 45, in the chest, according to a document filed this week in General District Court.

According to the Navy, Bricker worked with Curran at the Naval Computer & Telecommunications Area Master Station in Norfolk, where both were electronics technicians. They also served together on the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman from 2005-2007, according to the

Navy's Personnel Command.

It's unclear what led to the stabbing. Police have disclosed little about Curran's death, including what led them to suspect Bricker. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which helped investigate the case, did not return a phone call seeking comment Friday.

Curran's wife reported him missing July 30, 2009, police said. Family members had last heard from him two days prior and said they were afraid he had suffered a heat-related injury while out on a run.

On Aug. 1, 2009, a search team found Curran's body in a ravine off one of First Landing State Park's hiking trails. Police wouldn't say in what condition he was found or how he died, but said they were investigating the death as a suicide.

Curran, a Philadelphia native, had been in the Navy nearly 18 years. He served in Korea and on the guided-missile frigate John L. Hall and had won numerous awards, including the Joint Service Commendation Medal, two Good Conduct Metals and the National Defense Service Medal, according to the Navy.

Bricker is being held in the Virginia Beach Correctional Center pending a bond hearing Tuesday. He declined an interview request.

According to the Navy, Bricker still is assigned to the Naval Computer & Telecommunications Area Master Station. He is originally from Willits, Calif., and enlisted in July 2003.

Pilot writer Jen McCaffery contributed to this report.

Kathy Adams, (757) 222-5155, kathy.adams@pilotonline.com