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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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March 15th,
2007 - Girouard Takes the Stand |
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By Mia Rhodamer The Monroe County Advocate & Democrat March 15, 2007 Fort Campbell, KY. - Staff
Sgt. Raymond Girouard said he didn’t order the killings of three Iraqi
detainees last May but tried to help his men cover up their crime after it
happened. “I was shocked it happened,” he said. “It’s the first time ever I
did not know what to do.” Girouard’s long-awaited
testimony came in dramatic form as he took the stand Thursday afternoon in
his own defense. He admitted to punching one
solider and cutting another to help them make it look like the three Iraqi
men were shot in self-defense. “I had to help him be believable,” Girouard
said of his efforts to cut the arm and face of Pvt. William Hunsaker. “He had
screwed up real bad. I knew he was going down real hard.” Girouard completely
contradicted the testimony of the soldiers who had testified against him. The 24-year-old Sweetwater
High graduate also said he never ordered one soldier to shoot a dying Iraqi
detainee to put him out of his misery. Giroaurd testified he had
come back from a land zone and was about to enter the house where the Iraqi
detainees were captured when he heard gunshots. Girouard said when he came
around the house to where the shots were fired he saw Pvt. Corey Clagett and
Hunsaker, who he said was in a crab-like position on the ground. According to Girouard,
Hunsaker said, “They cut me, sergeant.” When he asked Hunsaker who had cut
him, he said it was the detainees, Girouard said. Girouard said he knew that was
not true. And to that, Giroaurd said Hunsaker replied over and over, “ We
shot them, sergeant, we shot them.” Girouard said it was
Hunsaker who said they should kill the “terrorist” when the troops held a
meeting during the middle of the operation. The Sweetwater soldier’s
testimony was still ongoing late Thursday afternoon. His supporters were elated
his time to speak had come. “Now it’s his turn to tell the world,” said
Girouard’s sister, Joy Oaks, who gave her brother a thumbs-up and nodded her
head as the defense presented his case Wednesday. Girouard is the last and
most senior ranking soldier of the three 101st Airborne members charged with
killing three Iraqi detainees during a military operation north of Baghdad. Before the case recessed
Wednesday the judge, Col. Theodore Dixon, approved the defense’s motion to
dismiss a larceny charge. Girouard was charged with illegally taking the
weapon in the first house where the detainees were found. Defense attorney,
John Merriam, argued it is routine for soldiers to seize weapons when they
take prisoners. However, the judge denied a
request to dismiss the violation of a general order charge. That charge also
stems from Girouard’s possession of the handgun. Military code prohibits the
possession of a private firearm. The other charges against Girouard are three
counts of pre-meditated murder, one count attempted pre- meditated murder,
conspiracy to commit murder, obstruction of justice and conspiracy to
obstruct justice. “Everybody wants to hear it from him,” Girouard’s civilian
attorney Anita Gorecki said before he took the stand. “It hinges on him and
his testimony.” She expected to rest her
case Thursday afternoon with the panel, the military equivalent of the jury,
receiving its instructions Friday. She said there could be a verdict by
Saturday morning with sentencing next week. Testimony early Thursday from
medic Micah Bivins was particularly chilling. He described the condition
of one of the wounded detainees he found and how he was shocked the man was
still alive. “That freaked me out,” he
said. “Because there was no way, I was standing in brains.” But testimony revealed the
wounded Iraqi was not the man another U.S. soldier pleaded guilty to shooting
in a “mercy” killing." Gorecki said two expert witnesses were flying in
Wednesday evening. She described one of the witnesses as a “CSI” who
specializes in ballistics, blood splatters and firearms. The other witness is
a pathologist. On Wednesday, the
prosecution called to the stand Col. Eric Berg, the chief pathologist at Fort
Campbell. Berg testified it was likely a bullet wound just below the left eye
that fatally wounded one of the detainees. It was that detainee Pvt. Juston
Graber says Girouard told him to kill. Graber said he had taken a
fourth detainee to the landing zone when he heard gunshots and sprinted back
to the house. He said he saw Hunsaker in the doorway of the house. Defense
attorney Ted Miller asked if Hunsaker was yelling, “I’m cut.” Graber replied,
“Yes sir.” Graber said Hunsaker kind of
staggered and leaned against the doorframe. He said Girouard told Hunsaker to
get on the ground and he did. He also described the
position of the detainees - one was lying face down with another lying on top
of him face up. He said the one lying face down “puked up a lot of blood.” He
said he also heard one of them gasping for air. The other detainee was lying
a couple of feet away. Graber said he called the medic, who told him there was
nothing he could do for the detainee, meaning the one lying on top. “I looked at Staff Sgt.
Girouard,” Graber said. “He said, ‘Go ahead and put him out of his misery.’” He said his first shot
missed and two or three seconds later he shot the detainee just below the
left eye. “I saw the hole under his eye and the pool of blood under his
head.” During cross-examination,
Miller had Merriam lie on the floor while Graber aimed an assault weapon at
him to demonstrate how he stood over the detainee when he shot him. As part of his plea
agreement, Graber pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in what has been
described as the “mercy killing” of the detainee. He received a nine-month
sentence. Graber also testified it was
Hunsaker and Clagett who wanted to kill the Iraqi men because they were
terrorists. Clagett and Hunsaker also were charged with the murder of the
detainees, and faced the possibility of life without parole, just as Girouard
does. However, they pleaded guilty and received 18-year sentences. Clagett, Hunsaker, Sgt.
Leonel Lemus and Spc. Bradley Mason all testified on Tuesday that Girouard
called a meeting of the squad. Clagett and Hunsaker said Girouard ordered
them to cut the zip ties from the detainees’ wrists, tell them to run and
shoot them. During his testimony
Wednesday, Graber said the soldiers were given the option to go along with
the plan. The meeting has been
described as a “football huddle.” Graber said Girouard spoke to them in a
normal tone of voice during the meeting. Miller asked him, “So
nothing in particular in that meeting stood out to you?” “That’s correct sir.” Graber also said he never
heard Girouard say First Sgt. Eric Geressy wanted the men dead. In testimony
Tuesday, the other soldiers said Girouard radioed the first sergeant and said
he “was pissed because these guys aren’t dead” and told them to “make it look
good” when they killed the detainees. On Wednesday, the defense
called Staff Sgt. Thomas Kemp, the squad’s radio operator. Kemp testified
that Girouard’s radio had not been working properly. Kemp said his radio was
the only one working that day. Gorecki said Kemp’s
testimony was critical because it set the time line. Part of the radio
operator’s job is to keep a log. According to Kemp’s log it was only four
minutes from the time Lt. Wehrheim left the scene and when the shootings took
place. Wehrheim testified when he left the scene all four detainees were
alive. She said that if the other
soldiers’ testimony is accurate that would mean during those four minutes
Girouard took one of the detainees to the landing zone, returned to the
house, gathered his men together for a meeting, planned and carried out the
murders. “Short of Staff Sgt.
Girouard being James Bond, I don’t see how it was possible,” she said in a
press conference following Wednesday’s testimony. Before the recess, the
defense also called Pvt. Zach Hicks, a Marine who was in the brig in
Charleston with Hunsaker and Girouard. He recalled Hunsaker telling
him Girouard had nothing to do with the shootings, but that he would say he
did so he would get a lesser sentence. External link: http://monroe.xtn.net/index.php?table=news&template=news.view.subscriber&newsid=138563 |