Courtney Shelton

"I don't know what to believe any more, doctor. I hope that you weren't involved..."

- Courtney's last words

 is a major character in L.A. Noire. He is a former Navy Corpsman serving with the United States Navy and Marine Corps, having fought in Outworld alongside Lieutenant Cole Phelps and Sergeant Jack Kelso as a field medic. Shelton is one of the main antagonists during the Drug desk.

Biography
At Outworld, Shelton served as field medic, often diving into the thick of battle to rescue wounded Marines while armed with only a .45 handgun and a medical kit. However, on some occasions he was unable to save some of the critically wounded Marines, hence euthanizing them painlessly by overdosing them with morphine. On one occasion he was caught doing so by Lieutenant Cole Phelps, who was outraged by these killings.

Shelton served in Phelps' unit along with Jack Kelso and was present at the accidental atrocity caused by Phelps, as he ordered flamethrower carrier Ira Hogeboom to burn an enemy hideout. However, the cave turned out to be an improvised hospital for Outworld civilians. Tormented and guilt-ridden by the anguished cries of the dying men, women and children, Phelps ordered his men to shoot them. After humanely killing the civilians, Shelton, in disgust and frustration, shot Phelps in the back of the back for his hypocrisy. Before leaving the cave behind, Kelso warned Shelton and the others to never speak of the incident ever again.

While Phelps was shipped home early for his wound, Shelton and the rest of his unit remained in Outworld until the war was over. As they were shipped aboard the SS Coolidge back to the U.S., they read in the newspapers about Phelps' promotion in the LAPD, causing everyone to reflect on their mediocre job prospects to return home to. Shelton, however, suggested that they steal the ship's cargo of surplus morphine and sell it back in the States on the streets. Although an act of treason, Shelton's intention was to help his fellow Marines gain a good share of money for their unsung efforts in the war. However, Kelso argued against the idea, praising everyone as heroes already and warned Shelton and his soon to be conspirators that they would lose his respect if they went through with it. Despite this, they committed the theft and returned home to distribute the stolen morphine.

Events of L.A. Noire
Shelton enrolled into medical school to become a doctor. He was skipped ahead into the second year of his studies because of his experiences in the war. Shelton met and sought help from psychiatrist Dr. Harlan Fontaine, seeking therapy of his war buddies suffering from battle fatigue, particularly Ira who had developed severe Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Fontaine offered Sheldon a part-time job to work at one of his clinics and after some time, Sheldon and Fontaine develop a mentor-student relationship and later friendship, with Shelton loyally following and trusting Fontaine.

Shelton established a business relationship with Lenny Finkelstein for the morphine distribution. Shelton gave one third of the shipment of morphine and wanted to distribute it legally to clinics and hospitals, although the morphine eventually ended up being peddled to drugs addicts. The trafficking went sour as addicts such as Cornell Tyree and Tyrone Lamont, began dying and Shelton attempted to stop supplying the stolen morphine for distribution, incurring the wrath of Marina gangster Mickey Cohen and his organisation.

After rejecting a buy-out offer from Cohen, Shelton went to Kelso to ask for his help. Despite their previous disagreement, after some convincing, Kelso agreed to help negotiate with Cohen to prevent more deaths and to protect his fellow Marines. Kelso and Shelton told Cohen of their intent to stop supplying and selling morphine and warned him that they were prepared to retaliate.

With the rest of the morphine to deal with before the mob could steal it, Shelton turned to Fontaine to confide in, telling him of the robbery and his involvement with the gangsters. Fontaine offered a solution for both of their benefits. Fontaine offered to take the morphine off Shelton's hands and promised to distribute it legally to medical facilities, in return he would be able to reinvest money into the Suburban Redevelopment Fund, a plan to build houses for returning GIs. Shelton confidently accepted Fontaine's offer, as it not only solved his problem but would provide benefits for his war buddies.

However, over six months later Shelton learned that nearly all of his former unit members were being killed off by hitmen. Shelton realised that Cohen was responsible and was trying to force him to give back the morphine. A meeting was arranged between him and Cohen. However, Shelton didn't go, knowing it would be an ambush, hence turned himself to the LAPD and specifically requested for detective Phelps to negotiate protection.

With Fontaine at his side for defence, Shelton tried to deny being part of Coolidge robbery and the distribution, however Phelps had enough evidence to disprove his lies and warned Shelton that either he or Kelso will have to go to prison for it. As Courtney was about to confess to protect Kelso, William Worrell and James Donnell's unanticipated and abrupt arrival interrupted the interview, and meant no charges would stick to either Kelso or Shelton.

Courtney returned to his studies at medical school but was eventually confronted by Kelso. Shelton learned that his name was placed on the board directors for the Suburban Redevelopment Fund and that the houses for the GI's were made from inferior materials with the intent to burn them for insurance money. Kelso warned Shelton not to trust Fontaine, who was clearly part of the conspiracy and using Courtney.

Death
"Be still, Courtney! All your troubles are finally ovah'... Let them go... Let them... drift away."

- Fontaine while and after killing Courtney with a syringe

Shelton confronted Fontaine to inform him of the conspiracy and to voice out his complete shock. Fontaine however easily played on Courtney's naivety, tricking him into thinking he's innocent. Playing on Shelton's trust, Fontaine used the opportunity to inject him with an overdose of morphine in the neck, killing him.

His body was later found in an alleyway on the corner of Vermont and Beverly by Cole, Ray Buttowski, Herschel Binggs and a patrolman. Ray slandered Shelton by calling him "a victim of his own product", causing Phelps to pull his gun out at Buttowski in anger. Saddened by his former comrade's death, Phelps defended the deceased Shelton, praising him as an honourable and brave marine who served his country.

Mission Appearances

 * "Upon Reflection" (mentioned)
 * "A Marriage Made in Heaven" (mentioned)
 * "The Fallen Idol" (mentioned)
 * "The White Shoe Slaying" (mentioned)
 * "The Black Caesar" (mentioned)
 * "The Set Up" (mentioned)
 * "Manifest Destiny"
 * "A Polite Invitation" (killed)
 * "A Different Kind of War"

Personality and traits
"You may be the bravest person I have ever met, but I swear to God, trouble follows you around like a pet."

- Kelso to Courtney

Throughout his time in Outworld, Shelton demonstrated himself as capable corpsman, brave, daring, and a proficient medic. He was also rather rash and brazen. However, he was also troubled by his experiences and made questionable actions of euthanizing his critically injured comrades, which Phelps strongly disapproved, though Shelton defended his actions and later shot Phelps in the back for his hypocrisy.

Shelton's decision to steal the surplus morphine was indeed a grave decision. Despite his intent to help reward the unsung efforts of his fellow Marines, Shelton's actions proved ruinous and acted as the catalyst for his life's main events. Returning to Los Angeles, Shelton's greatest setback was that he was very naive. Shelton presumed that the distribution would go well, and did not realise the extent of the consequences. As a result, he was exploited by both, Cohen and Fontaine, ultimately inadvertently helping the interests of criminals, and costing several lives, including his own.

Trivia

 * His address is 1716 N Cauhenga Ave.