Another soldier . . . thinks their behavior was spurred on by months of fighting and killing in the war.

THE consistently good “48 Hours Mystery” which rarely fails to satisfy, has come up with another very baffling crime that may be over, but isn’t finished – the murder of Richard Davis, a 25-year old veteran of the Bosnian and the Iraqi wars.

Davis, the product of a military family – mom was an army nurse, dad a career military policeman who was wounded in Vietnam – managed to make it through his tour of duty in Iraq as a combat soldier, but wasn’t so lucky once he returned to the U.S. He disappeared one day later.

Correspondent Erin Moriarty interviews the men who not only served with Davis in Iraq, but the four who were with him when they shipped home together and most importantly were with him on the night he disappeared.

Since Davis wanted to surprise his family by showing up on their door without telling them he had shipped back home safely, they were unaware that their son had even landed. Although they were very close and he spoke with his parents often on the phone from Iraq, it wasn’t until the Army called looking for him – they’d listed him as AWOL – that his parents knew he was missing.

Shocked that their son was not only back in the U.S., but that he was AWOL and missing, Lanny and Remy Davis sprung into action.

When the Army failed to investigate his disappearance for nearly two months, the senior Davis drove cross country to Ft. Benning, Ga. to demand answers.

They finally opened an investigation, and spurred on by a tip, investigators found Richard Davis’ bones in the woods. The coroner determined that he’d been stabbed upwards of 33 times.

The investigation then shifted to his brothers-in-arms – the four soldiers who were with Davis the night he disappeared.

After a night of drinking, they headed to a strip club where Davis allegedly insulted a stripper and starting acting rowdy and erratic, according to the other soldiers.

One of them admits to beating Davis up in the parking lot. Then the four supposedly got back in the car where the arguing apparently continued. Then the driver pulled over, they all got out, and another soldier who wasn’t even involved in the fight allegedly stabbed Davis to death. The four then got back in the car, went to a convenience store, bought lighter fluid, went back to the woods and set the body on fire.

Lanny Davis doesn’t buy it. Two of the men with his son on the night of his murder allegedly raped an Iraqi woman, and Davis believes his son was murdered for what he knew. Another soldier, cleared of all charges, thinks their behavior was spurred on by months of fighting and killing in the war.

Moriarty takes you through the investigation, the trial, and the verdict – a verdict that seems, by the way, maddeningly off the mark. Very good, very thorough reporting which makes for a great night of good, old fashioned investigative TV.

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“48 Hours Mystery: Duty, Death, Dishonor”

[***] (Three stars)

Tonight at 10 on CBS