Retired captain killed in Seattle child sex sting had 40-year career in U.S. Navy

Navy doctor killed in SPD child sex crime sting

The suspect gunned down by police in a Southcenter hotel has been identified as retired Navy doctor Bruce Coval Meneley.

SEATTLE - FOX 13 News uncovered new documents surrounding the man police killed during a child sex sting operation in South Seattle.

Seattle Police say Bruce Meneley thought he was meeting an 11-year-old and a 7-year-old at the DoubleTree on Southcenter Parkway. Body camera footage shows the person identified as Meneley by the King County Medical Examiner pulling a gun out as soon as officers open the door to contact him.

New documents FOX 13 News obtained from the U.S. Military show Meneley’s official history with the Navy. Meneley enlisted in 1975 and retired in 2016, holding powerful positions in several different countries during that time.

According to the Navy records, Meneley’s last duty station was Fort Sam Houston, Texas, with the Defense Medical Readiness Training Institute. He was stationed there from 2014 to 2016.

According to probable documents FOX 13 Seattle obtained from Kitsap County, a little more than a year after Meneley retired, he was arrested in a human trafficking sting operation.

The records say Meneley took out money, and expected to have unprotected sex with a prostitute for $110. However, Meneley was actually talking to investigators posing as sex workers.

During the arrest, Meneley admitted to contacting several other sex workers in the past, and paying for sex at least one other time within the last year. Investigators said Meneley’s number popped up in at least two other sting operations, but he was never arrested.