WARNING: This article contains descriptions of sexual assault
A Freedom of Information Act request has led to the disclosure of the 2019 investigation into claims made by the deceased Ashley Massaro of an alleged sexual assault while on a tour with WWE in Kuwait.
Massaro took her life on May 16, 2019, and led to lawyer Konstantine Kyros posting an affidavit by Massaro, which included the allegation that she was drugged and sexually assaulted by a man that Massaro said represented himself as a U.S Army doctor with a female standing guard to allow the assault to take place.
WWE stated in May 2019 that it did not know about the allegations by Massaro. This was refuted by John Laurinaitis through his lawyer, who stated his client was aware but denied that there was a cover-up.
The Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFSOI) launched an investigation immediately on May 24, 2019, with NCIS assuming the investigation on June 28, which included multiple interviews conducted.
They concluded that they could not locate the alleged scene of the crime and that all investigative leads had been exhausted and the case was closed on January 27, 2020.
There were several revelations in the investigation report, which POST Wrestling has reviewed.
On August 26, 2019, a representative from K&L Gates (the law firm where Jerry McDevitt practices and has represented WWE for decades) was interviewed and stated that Massaro insisted on taking part in a photoshoot after the alleged assault took place. The firm included ten photos from the shoot, which were dated July 3, 2006, and would have been the day after the alleged assault.
[REDACTED] advised that subsequent to the release of MASSARO’s affidavit, he requested researched the allegation and found a blog posted online by WWE wrestler and USO participant [REDACTED] titled [REDACTED] detailing the events of 03Jul06, which is the date of the alleged rape of MASSARO, Enclosure (A) pertains. [REDACTED] noted that [REDACTED] mentions MASSARO insisted on attending a photo shoot with troops after her release from the medical clinic which is inconsistent with the narrative in her affidavit wherein she reports being taken to her hotel room where she went to sleep and remained until it was time for the tour to move to the next destination on the tour schedule. [REDACTED] stated he was able to obtain photographs of the photograph session mentioned in [REDACTED] blog, which included MASSARO. [REDACTED] provided RA with 10 photographs he stated were from the event as well as a photo arroy of the 10 photographs with file names that indicate they were taken on 03Jul06, Enclosure (B) pertains.
There was also confusion regarding the location of the alleged assault, which had been believed to have been at Ali Al Salem Air Base, but Massaro’s medical record stated she was treated at Camp Patriot, Aerial Port of Demarcation, Troop Medical Clinic – 90 minutes away from the base:
On 16JUL19, RA contacted who was confident the LSA captioned in this investigation was not located at Ali A1 Salem. AFOSI agents conducted their own research and were able to retrieve medical records. noted the acronym for the location of services on the medical record was “CP APOD TMC.” deduced that to be Camp Patriot, Aerial Port of Demarcation, Troop Medical Clinic. Camp Patriot is a separate location approximately a one and a half hour drive to the south on the east coast of Kuwait. He stated the medical facility also could possibly be located in Kuwait City.
Many of the interviews failed to provide any substantive information due to a lack of memory of a WWE tour or Massaro’s allegations in general.
The most noteworthy was an interview with the physician assistant, who treated Massaro and was interviewed on June 25, 2019.
He had a clear memory of treating Massaro and included a diagram of the set-up of the facility and where he treated her. He was called in on a Sunday to treat a civilian (Massaro) and she was complaining of abdominal and pelvic pain.
The assistant stated Massaro was accompanied by a male civilian, who “seemed to be acting skittish and strange” and didn’t fit the description of any of the WWE personnel on the tour, noting he was “in his thirties…perhaps had a mustache, and was well built.”
He noted that Massaro appeared drowsy, but she was not falling asleep or slurring her words but recalled someone in the facility possibly asking if Massaro was high. The assistant was unsure if this was the case.
He noted that Massaro seemed lucid during the question portion of the exam, and she agreed to a pelvic exam. Reporter David Bixenspan has done some reporting on this aspect of the case and the questionable practice of conducting a pelvic exam if there were previous concerns about Massaro’s state and appearing drowsy and someone questioning if she was high.
The assistant did confirm that there was a banging on the door to check on Massaro, which Massaro mentioned in her affidavit but had differing details regarding what happened after the banging on the door.
From the report:
[REDACTED] stated that during the exam with the female Corpsman in the room, [REDACTED] banged on the door and was calling MASSARO’s name and asking her if everything was okay. [REDACTED] stated he had to stop the exam briefly so that MASSARO could respond. [REDACTED] stated that MASSARO responded and said that everything was fine and she was having an exam done. [REDACTED] stated that MASSARO seemed nonchalant when she said everything was fine and the manager stopped banging on the door and did not knock again.
From Massaro’s affidavit:
Finally, (WWE rep) Gary (Davis) returned and was banging on the door. The man and woman yelled “one minute” and threw a dirty quilt on me as I was lying naked on the table, and when Gary entered the room he attempted to ask them what was going on but they immediately stormed out. At the time, my body was still limp and my speech impaired, so Gary wrapped me in the quilt and carried me out to the Humvee outside and took me back to my hotel room and then put me in my bed, as I needed to sleep. Gary said to call when I woke up and that he, or one of the others we were traveling with, would come back to get me.
The assistant added in his interview that he did not recall administering any drugs or medication for Massaro and “did not see MASSARO crying or upset during the exam, incapacitated, or anything that would have made him think that she had been sexually assaulted”.
The NCIS investigation attempted to speak with the Officer in Charge (OIC) of the clinic where Massaro was treated. The Officer in Charge stated he did not want to be interviewed and they would have to subpoena him. It was noted he was not a suspect. Eventually, a list of questions was submitted and five days later, the Officer in Charge stated he would not provide any further information and there was a non-response to the list of questions.
The investigation was closed on January 27, 2020, but the results were not publicly released until this past Friday.
Tim Marchman of Vice News was the first to report an NCIS investigation being conducted after Massaro’s suicide.
