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'We just got away with murder'
11/07/2007 10:21 - (SA)
Camp Pendleton, California - A Marine shot an Iraqi civilian as he lay bound and gagged in a bomb crater after US servicemen kidnapped him in a late-night raid, a court martial heard on Tuesday.
Trent Thomas fired seven shots into the chest of Hashim Ibrahim Awad, who prosecutors say was murdered after being dragged from his home by eight soldiers in Hamdania, west of Baghdad, on April 26 last year.
Thomas denies murder, claiming he was only following orders. He is one of three Marines who has still to face charges over the killing, one of a series of incidents that have tarnished the reputation of US forces in Iraq.
Four other Marines and a Navy medic have already pleaded guilty to charges related to Awad's death.
The second day of Thomas's court martial at the Marines' southern California Camp Pendleton base heard testimony from Melson Bacos, one of the eight soldiers involved in the killing.
Bacos, who was jailed for a year last October after a plea deal that saw him admit to kidnapping, said Awad's murder had arisen out of frustration at the release of a suspected insurgent, Saled Gowad.
'He looked confused and scared'
Bacos said the squad's leader, sergeant Lawrence Hutchins, had formulated a plan to "snatch" Gowad but chose Awad when Gowad could not be found.
Thomas and another Marine, Marshall Magincalda, grabbed the 52-year-old father of 11 and frogmarched him to a roadside bomb crater, Bacos said.
"He looked confused and scared," Bacos said of Awad. "He didn't know what was happening. It was the middle of the night."
Thomas helped bind Awad's feet while another Marine shoved a gag into his mouth, Bacos said. Hutchins shot the Iraqi civilian three times in the head before Thomas pumped seven bullets into his body, Bacos added.
After the killing Hutchins radioed base to say an insurgent had been killed before telling the soldiers: "Congratulations. We just got away with murder, gents." Hutchins faces a court martial later this month.
Nine male marines - three officers and six enlisted men - have been selected to hear Thomas' case.
Thomas faces life in prison if convicted of murder.
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