SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany — A court-martial jury on Friday found Airman 1st Class Grant Harrison not guilty of unpremeditated murder after witnesses gave conflicting testimony about a confrontation between two airmen and Michael Ovsjannikov, who was stabbed to death near his home.

The verdict came following deliberation that began Wednesday evening. Harrison, a transient aircraft journeyman with the 726th Air Mobility Squadron, also was found not guilty of aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon and obstructing justice.

He faced a maximum punishment of life in prison and had been confined at the military jail in Sembach since Aug. 20, 2023, one day after Ovsjannikov’s death.

Ovsjannikov, 28, was a high-level martial arts athlete who was well-known in the community, according to testimony.

When the verdict was read, the victim’s family members displayed little reaction. Others sitting in the gallery behind the defense table cried quietly.

Government prosecutors told the jury in closing arguments Wednesday that the murder charge against Harrison boiled down to “who had the knife” the night Ovsjannikov was killed, calling several witnesses who testified to seeing Harrison with a knife in the hours preceding Ovsjannikov’s death.

Harrison, 26, confessed to the stabbing in his initial interviews with law enforcement, lawyers for the defense and government acknowledged while discussing a procedural matter with military judge Col. Jennifer Powell.

The confession was suppressed in an earlier ruling, according to the discussion, and the jury was never made aware of it during the proceedings.

The murder weapon was described as a Benchmade black folding knife that was found in the daylight hours after Ovsjannikov’s death in the Lieser River, underneath a bridge that led back to Harrison’s residence in Wittlich. The knife still had Ovsjannikov’s blood on it.

Harrison’s defense lawyers said the crux of the case wasn’t who had the weapon, but rather who used it.

Grover Baxley, Harrison’s civilian defense attorney, argued that eyewitness testimony of the fight itself, crime scene analysis and DNA evidence pointed to Staff Sgt. Robert Cain II as the one who killed Ovsjannikov.

The government, he said, went after “the wrong guy.”

“You are faced with two competing theories: It’s either Sgt. Cain or Airman Harrison. … When you have this much evidence of a credible alternate theory, it is impossible to get beyond a reasonable doubt,” Baxley said.

Cain worked in the same squadron with Harrison, whom he described during testimony as his former best friend.

Cain received nonjudicial punishment in December last year for his role in the crime, and the Air Force would not disclose the terms of his punishment.

Cain received immunity in exchange for cooperation with the government, an agreement that means he can’t be prosecuted for anything he said in court except for lying under oath.

On the evening of Aug. 18, 2023, friends gathered at Harrison’s place in Wittlich for drinks before walking to Pig Fest, an annual street fair, according to testimony.

At around 2 a.m., only four were left in the group: Harrison, Cain and the woman he later married, and the wife of another airman.

They headed to a bar for one last round of drinks before closing when they encountered Ovsjannikov, according to court testimony.

Black-and-white security camera footage from a clothing store that was played for the jury shows the group walking by shortly before the stabbing.

Cain’s wife testified that Ovsjannikov unexpectedly and without provocation spit at her.

She testified that she didn’t know Ovsjannikov, despite the statement of a witness who said he saw the victim talking to her the night before while she was with Cain and Harrison at a local bar. 

Ovsjannikov was leaning against a wall with two other men, she said. Cain’s wife said she pretended to spit back at Ovsjannikov when he jumped up and came toward her.

She said she was scared Ovsjannikov was going to attack her. Cain intervened and stood between her and Ovsjannikov, she said.

That’s when the fight started, Cain testified. Ovsjannikov punched him in the temple, he testified, and he saw “bright white lights,” dazing him.

The next thing he remembered was waking up on his back with Ovsjannikov on top of him and Harrison standing close by with a knife, he said.

Cain that night was wearing a black baseball cap, a shoulder bag with a zippered pouch and a silver chain, details which were key to the defense’s case.

Dmytro Mynka, who trained under Ovsjannikov several months before his death, was at the scene.

“It was a person with black shorts and a cap, and he stabbed Micha with a knife,” Mynka testified in court, referring to Ovsjannikov by his nickname.

He said that the man who stabbed Ovsjannikov also had a shoulder bag and that he thought the man took the knife from the bag.

Mynka added that he had been drinking alcohol that night, and the government asked him whether he could be getting Harrison and Cain mixed up.

“I don’t think so … This stab moment is very clear in my memory,” Mynka replied.

The government called Mynka “the outlier” in the case. His memory can’t be trusted because he was so traumatized by what he saw, said prosecutor Lt. Col. Christie Jones, noting that he was described by other bystanders at the scene as hysterical.

Mynka was the only person to testify who claimed to have witnessed the actual stabbing.

In closing arguments, Jones said Ovsjannikov was a trained martial arts fighter, yet he “had not one defensive wound on his body, because Airman Harrison came from behind and no one saw him do it.”

Ovsjannikov received four stab wounds, the most serious to his back and one side of his abdomen. 

The only blood of the victim found on Harrison was a speck on the rubber insole of Harrison’s left shoe, a sample that also included the defendant’s blood, according to court testimony.

Adelheid Steffen, another defense witness, said she saw what looked like two men wrestling down a narrow road while leaving the street festival.

There were only two people directly involved in the fight, but she said a third person was walking around near the two and “he was out of his mind.”

Marius Schaefer, who said he was Ovsjannikov’s best friend and training partner, said following the trial that he’s convinced Harrison is guilty.

He believes Mynka did not have a clear memory of the fight because he was drinking. But he said it’s possible Cain killed Ovsjannikov.

“For sure it is one of them,” he said of the two. But in the end, he said, Ovsjannikov “will not come back to life,” regardless of who goes free.

German and U.S. officials examine criminal cases involving German citizens and U.S. personnel to determine jurisdiction before prosecution.

Service members typically get tried under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, while civilians end up in German court, according to a 2023 Army statement.

previous coverage

• Court-martial begins for Spangdahlem airman accused of killing martial arts instructor
• US airman from Spangdahlem base charged in killing of German at street fair