The Curious Case Of Col. Shue

An Air Force Widow Is Determined To Prove Her Husband's Death Was No Accident

(CBS)  This story originally aired on April 18, 2009. It was updated on Oct. 24.

In the spring of 2005, Air Force Colonel Philip Michael Shue was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.

Shue was 54 when a violent car crash took his life two years earlier. His vehicle struck some trees alongside a Texas interstate highway, not far from San Antonio.

But even as his widow, Tracy, accepted the traditional tri-folded American flag in his honor and even as she left a single white rose on his casket in his memory, she and those closest to him spoke of one final mission for truth.

"Phil, know this. That while you rest, the mission for truth will continue and it will be accomplished," his cousin, Ron Shue said at the service.

It all began 15 years before, in 1988, when Tracy, then an Air Force nurse, was assigned to Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.

"I liked him. I like him as a person. He was a great doctor… everybody loved him," Tracy tells "48 Hours Mystery" correspondent Troy Roberts.

Tracy and Phil, a psychiatrist, soon began dating. Phil was separated and was going through a difficult divorce.

"He didn't talk a lot about his first wife other than to say there was not any love in the marriage," says Tracy.

In 1993, with the divorce finalized, Phil and Tracy decided to marry. Tracy says they had a great life together.

"I don't think in my whole life I have ever met somebody who had such passion for life and just enjoyed the simple things," she tells Roberts. "He just -- he would walk into a room and he would just light it up. And people loved him. He brought nothing but joy into my life. I was very happy."

Five years later, in 1998, Phil was reassigned to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. He and Tracy bought a house in nearby Boerne.

Nina Willard is Tracy’s nearest neighbor, and her closest friend.

"Well, Phil had that Midwestern, very low-key, soft-spoken - mild-mannered, very laid back. And Tracy was a born and bred New Yorker, a little bit more demonstrative, I guess, you could say," she says with a laugh.

The friendship developed over the next five years of Phil and Tracy’s marriage. Willard had mixed feelings in 2003, when Phil decided to retire from the Air Force. "Well, we were sad to see 'em go," she says.

Phil and Tracy had already found their dream house in Alabama -- a big place, with a pond in back.

"It was a new adventure. A new chapter in his life," Tracy says. "I mean, life was just very, very exciting at that moment."

Just one day after putting down a deposit on their new home, early on the morning of April 16, 2003, the colonel dressed in his fatigues and brought Tracy her customary first cup of coffee.

"We had coffee in bed - typical morning. [A] normal day, other than he was getting to work a little early to do some paperwork," she recalls. "We sat there and talked. We talked about the house. And he kissed me goodbye and left and said, 'I love you.' And those were the last words he said."

Two hours later, Col. Shue was dead.

"That car caved in on the driver's side and he suffered major head trauma as a result and was apparently killed instantly," explains Lieutenant Roger Anderson, who saw pretty quickly that this was more than a car crash.

"They could see that the T-shirt underneath had been ripped open from the chest to the naval. There was a 6-inch vertical gash in the man's chest and that both nipples had been removed," he says.

Anderson says there was another very unusual set of findings.

"They could see on his right wrist what appeared to be duct tape… both wrists actually were wrapped with duct tape in the similar way, both dangling ends. There was also duct tape at the top of his boots," he explains.

It would take a year of investigation, but in time, all of the agencies involved - the local and state police, even the Air Force - would come to agree that the death of Col. Philip Shue, a psychiatrist, was actually the end result of his own bizarre psychological breakdown: a deeply disturbed Shue had committed suicide.

"The case is bizarre," says Dr. Vincent Di Maio, who was the chief medical examiner of Bexar County, Texas. His office performed the autopsy.

Physical Autopsy
Read the findings of the Bexar County, Texas Medical Examiner's Office

Of any knowledge of Phil Shue's emotional state in the weeks leading up to his death, Di Maio says, "The information that was provided to the office was that he had been having some problems. He had seen some of his colleagues for depression or panic attacks."

Di Maio believes the injuries found on Shue's chest are self inflicted.

"You believe that Dr. Shue mutilated himself and went to these bizarre lengths to commit suicide?" Roberts asks.

"Well, based upon the information that was provided, that's the only conclusion," Di Maio replies.

The district attorney convened an investigative grand jury - 12 citizens sworn to secrecy - and asked them to consider the case.

"The grand jury found no evidence of any crime, and believed that the ruling of suicide should stand," says Anderson.

Tracy Shue is determined to prove her husband did not commit suicide, but, in fact, was murdered.

"I couldn’t allow such an injustice to have happened not only to a wonderful person, but a person that I loved," she says.

Of the duct tape on her husband's wrists and ankles, the excised nipples and the gash in his chest, Tracy says she believes that Phil had been abducted and tortured. "What other explanation could there be?"

But if Shue had been kidnapped and then bound and tortured, and then somehow managed to escape, Di Maio wonders, why didn't he seek help?

"I mean, if you had been tortured like that, and you had broken free, where would you go? You would go to either the police or a hospital. But he was driving away from San Antonio and the hospitals. He passed three of the exits to his own town, Boerne. He had a working cell phone. I mean, this action is not consistent with someone fleeing an assailant."

"There's just no way," says the Shue's neighbor, Nina Willard. "He wouldn't have done that. He wouldn't have done it to Tracy."

[hercule1122]

Thank you Col-Af for your inane comments.You have some sort of agenda and I don't care to debate you- you would never win ! Shue was deeply disturbed, and his wife has not clean hands since she dated him while he was married, so continue to fantasize. The result was clear to most people.

[Justice4rall]

Everyone I know that has watched this show and has followed the story in the news can't believe any normal, intelligent authority could call this a suicide -- it is an obvious murder!!! By documenting as suicide, the Kendall County thought they could cover-up their incompetent "investigation". Unfortunately, Colonel Shue's wife was more intelligent than the Kendall County authorities and exposed their incompetence. My heart and prayers go out to Tracy Shue and her family. I know justice will be done and the case solved, but not through any efforts by Kendall County.

[COL-AF]

Interesting comment. However, if a thorough investigation had actually been done in the case, it would have been easy to find out. The fact is there was never an investigation into his death, as pointed out by the 48 hrs detective.

[COL-AF]

In reading over Mr. Young's (Nancy Shue's nephew) comments. I question the fantasy Nancy Shue had about her "happy marriage" with her womanizing husband. Sounds like a contradiction to me. How could she have had a "wonderful marriage" with a man who, she maintains, cheated on her all the time? Sounds like something is seriously wrong with her perception of a good marriage. Maybe, as long as he came back to her after his affairs, she was OK with the arrangement. I guess when he met Tracy, he didn't come back that time. Kind of reminds me of the Betty Broderick story. Additionaly, after looking at her taking the 5th over and over and over, who would blame him. She doesn't look like the nice person you describe to me. She doesn't even look like she could have been his wife; more like his mother!

[COL-AF]

Hercule ... I am uncertain about your credentials in psychiaty; although you may have undergone treatment for some emotional condition. To the average person, there is no reason for anyone to plead the 5th if you are innocent. Spin it any way you want, but it is just common sense. The same common sense that should tell you it would be impossible for an individual to inflict that type of injury on themself. The Medical Examiner made one story up after another trying to make the pieces fit his conclusion. In the end his theory fell apart because it could not be supported by the evidence. That should be what our justice system is about, shouldn't it? Check out the latest series of articles in the Fort Worth Star Telegram on the Texas Medical Examiner's System. The story of Colonel Philip Shue is just one more injustice in the State of Texas.

[hercule1122]

The presentation of this case was poorly done--but it was clear that the previous wife was being accused by the repeated responses by the exercise of the 5th . This man was delusional- he was being treated for depression and who knows what else. I don't think he was the great person portrayed as lighting up a room when he entered- this is a trite comment which means nothing to me. How many times have I heard that comment! And his current wife's self-serving statements bear no relevance. As a doctor , I know a few things about psychiatry and its practitioners and especially those who are in treatment themselves.

[zandt05]

Nancy...
You are seen.Know that there is an immense amount of compassion out here for one who stands tall within great strife...an immense amount of compassion for you.Your example is empowering.Thank you

[MrYoung71]

I see alot of people making assumptions over a situation they know nonething about. Phil Shue was my uncle and Nancy is my aunt. What alot of people don't realize is that Col. Philip Shue was a womanizing ***** monger... He was always cheating on Nancy from the time they started dating as teenagers, and though "Tracey" will never admit to it... she was at one time the 'other woman' while Phil and Nancy were happily married. I remember when all that went down, long before he drove his car off the highway. Nancy had nonething to do with Phils demise... he set that chain of events into affect long ago. Yes, someone may have been out to get him, but I would imagine that 'someone' was a jilted husband of one of his MANY affairs he had been pursuing at the time. Nancy is the most kind, thoughtful, giving human being you could ever meet... her husband Don (although a strait forward, tell it like it is kind of guy) is also one of the nicest, giving, unshelfish people Nancy could ever hope for. Our family has invited Don into it with open arms, he's charming, funny, and just an all around great guy... we love him. Tracey needs to move on and enjoy the money she has so shelfishly worked to get at Phils' demise.

[AxBxC]

If Colonel Shue was a womanizer wouldn't he continue womanizing while married to Tracey?

I wonder if he was having an affair on her.

[riley6106]

"her husband Don (although a strait forward, tell it like it is kind of guy) is also one of the nicest, giving, unshelfish people Nancy could ever hope for"

why doesn't he like shell fish?

[bajajohn1]

Did anyone do a crime scene investigation at the Shue's home? Seems like Tracy remained in bed with her coffee, while he dressed and went to work. Isn't it possible someone could have jumped the Colonel as he got into his car? Seems like a lot of loose ends in this story. We are talking two hours where he allegedly left his home with hopes of the future and a new retirement home, to having his breasts cut off and being gagged and bound with duct tape. Very strange case indeed!

[COL-AF]

No one in the film industry wanted to touch the story, "In the Valley of Elah". The film was nominated for Academy Awards, but most people have never heard of it. The promotional budget for the film was 2M when other films released, in 2003, averaged 60M. The story was based on real life event, but was watered down, to the point where much of it became fiction.

The book relating to the murder, "Murder in Baker Company" will be a more throrough depiction of the story.

The military is very concerned about homicides in the ranks. Remember Pat Tillman!