The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for cause of death and DIC under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1318, finding that there was no evidence linking any service-connected disability to his death.
The deciding factor: The medical opinions provided did not establish a nexus between the claimed in-service disease or injury (PTSD) and the cause of death (multiple gunshot wounds, law enforcement interaction, desire to commit suicide).
- Claimed conditions
- Multiple gunshot wounds, Desire to commit suicide
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- June 12, 2019
- Citation
- 19145630
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 317 · Granted: 19% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 19145630.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board found that the cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds, not related to service or any service-connected disability. The appellant's claims for DIC based on service connection were denied.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for retroactive election of payment of VA disability compensation in lieu of military retirement pay, effective March 1, 1969. The decision stated that the option to elect such compensation should not be made retroactive.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities render him so helpless as to be in need of regular aid and attendance, warranting an increase in special monthly compensation (SMC) based upon the need of aid and attendance.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for retroactive election of payment of VA disability compensation in lieu of military retirement pay, effective March 1, 1969, as he did not file a timely waiver of his military retirement pay.
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