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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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August 2nd,
2007 - Marine Convicted of Murdering Iraqi Man News article by the Associated
Press 1st news article by North
County Times |
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Marine Convicted of Murdering
Iraqi Man By Thomas Watkins Associated Press August 2, 2007, 5:59PM Camp Pendleton, Calif. - A
Marine Corps squad leader was convicted Thursday of murdering an Iraqi man
during a frustrated search for an insurgent. Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins
III, 23, also was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder, making a false
official statement and larceny. He was acquitted of kidnapping, assault and
housebreaking. Hutchins, of Plymouth,
Mass., could be sentenced to life in prison without parole. He had been
charged with premeditated murder but the military jury struck the
premeditation element from the verdict. Hutchins stood rigidly and
stared straight ahead in the silent courtroom as the verdict was read. A few
minutes later he answered a procedural question with a loud and clear,
"Yes, sir." Prosecutors said that during
a nighttime patrol in Hamdania, Iraq, in April 2006, Hutchins' squad hatched
a plan to kidnap and kill a suspected insurgent from his house. When they
couldn't find him, they instead kidnapped a man from a neighboring house,
dragged him to a hole and shot him. Authorities previously
identified the man as Hashim Ibrahim Awad, 52, but the charging documents for
Hutchins refer to the victim as an "unknown Iraqi male." Defense
attorneys said prosecutors could not conclusively identify the body. Prosecutors said squad
members tried to cover up the killing by planting a shovel and AK-47 by his
body to make it look like he was an insurgent planting a bomb. Several witnesses testified
the plot was born out of frustration after suspected insurgents kept evading
prosecution. The squad was pulled from
the battlefield after the slaying. Lawyers for Hutchins argued
that he participated in the plot because his own officers had set a poor
leadership example and given approval for Marines to use violence in
capturing and interrogating suspected insurgents. In another base courtroom
Thursday, a sentencing hearing was under way for a member of the squad
convicted Wednesday of conspiracy and lesser crimes but acquitted of
premeditated murder and kidnapping. Cpl. Marshall Magincalda,
24, of Manteca, faced up to life in prison. He was also found guilty of
larceny and housebreaking, and cleared of making a false official statement. Magincalda was not accused
of firing any shots, but was charged with murder for participating in the
plot. A military psychiatrist
testified Magincalda developed post-traumatic stress disorder and severe
depression as a result of combat. "He was essentially a
broken shell," Dr. Jennifer Morse said. "This was a young man who
was gone, who was clearly haunted by his memories." At the hearing, Magincalda
stood flanked by his attorneys to thank the jury and apologize, sounding
devastated by events of the last 15 months. "I would like to think
I will go on to do good things in my life and can leave a better impression
than that which I have right now," Magincalda said, his voice repeatedly
breaking and tears welling. All eight members of the
squad were initially charged with murder and kidnapping. Four lower-ranking Marines
and a Navy corpsman cut deals with prosecutors in exchange for their
testimony and received sentences ranging from one to eight years in prison. A jury last month acquitted
another corporal of murder but convicted him of conspiracy to commit murder
and kidnapping. According to testimony, Cpl. Trent Thomas of Madison, Ill.,
had greater involvement in the killing than Magincalda. Thomas was sentenced
to a reduction in rank and a bad-conduct discharge but no prison time. © 2007 The Associated Press External link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/5023361.html Jury convicts Marine of
murder By Teri Figueroa North County Times August 2, 2007 2:56 PM PDT Serviceman also guilty of
conspiracy, making a false official statement Camp Pendleton - A military
jury on Thursday convicted a sergeant of murder in the slaying of an Iraqi
man last year. Squad leader Sgt. Lawrence
Hutchins, faces life in prison for the murder charge related to the April 26,
2006 death of an Iraqi man in the village of Hamdania. There is no minimum
sentence for the conviction. Hutchins was accused of
crafting a plot to kidnap and kill an Iraqi man and leading his squad to
carry out the plan. Hutchins, a native of
Plymouth, Mass., was charged with premeditated murder, but the jury chose a
lesser charge for which to find him guilty. He was also convicted of
conspiracy, larceny and making false official statements, but acquitted of
other charges, including housebreaking and assault. Had he been found guilty of
premeditated murder, Hutchins would face a mandatory sentence of life in
military prison. The jury, made up entirely
of Iraq war veterans, will begin deliberating Hutchins' sentence this
afternoon. The 23-year-old - who
reportedly told his squadmates "Gents, we just got away with murder"
as he stood over the body - stood stoic in court, staring directly ahead of
him in a packed courtroom as the jury foreman read the verdict. Sitting in the audience
behind him, Hutchins' wife sobbed silently, as did his mother, Kathleen
Hutchins. The couple's 2-year-old daughter Kylie, with ponytails and pink
fingernails, sat on her paternal grandfather's lap and played with his
glasses as her father listened to his verdict. Watching the proceedings on
closed-circuit television from a room next door sat Cpl. Trent Thomas, one of
the eight squad mates accused with Hutchins in the death of the man. Thomas sighed heavily in
relief as he learned that the jury spared Hutchins from a guilty verdict to
premeditated murder. "I feel good,"
Thomas said with a smile. "Oh my God. He beat premeditated." Two weeks ago, a jury
convicted the 25-year-old Thomas of conspiracy for his role in the slaying.
He avoided jail, but was sentenced to a bad-conduct discharge. His sentence
is still pending approval. Hutchins is the last of
eight men in the squad to face military justice and the first to be convicted
of murder in the slaying of Hashim Ibrahim Awad, a civilian who was dragged
from his home and shot. The others pleaded guilty to or were convicted of
lesser charges. According to testimony,
Hutchins was the architect of the plot to snatch and kill Saleh Gowad, a man
suspected as a key insurgent responsible for roadside bomb attacks on U.S.
troops near Hamdania, a rural Iraqi village. When their attempt to grab
Gowad fizzled, they kidnapped and killed his neighbor Awad instead, Marines
testified. Under the plan, the squad members forced their victim out of bed,
marched him to a dirt hole a mile or so down the road and shot him to death. Less than two months later,
the military charged the Camp Pendleton-based squad of seven Marines and a
Navy corpsman with murder, kidnapping, conspiracy and other charges. In court, some of the
accused troops testified they all agreed to carry out the plot to send a
message to insurgents operating in the Hamdania area. The courts-martials offered
a glimpse into the frustrations of Marines in combat. External link: http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/08/02/news/top_stories/1_01_458_1_07.txt Marine
acquitted of murder in Hamdania case; guilty of conspiracy, lesser charges in
civilian death By Teri Figueroa North County Times August 2, 2007 9:57 AM PDT Camp Pendleton - A jury of
combat veterans Wednesday acquitted a Marine corporal of murder and
kidnapping charges in a death plot that left an Iraqi grandfather riddled
with bullets by the side of an Iraqi road 15 months ago. In a court-martial that
revolved around the frustrations of Marines in combat, Cpl. Marshall
Magincalda was found guilty of three lesser charges: conspiracy to commit
murder, larceny and housebreaking. The conspiracy charge brings
with it a maximum sentence of life in prison, but there is no minimum
sentence for that or either of the other crimes. Last month, a Marine
convicted of the conspiracy charge in the same case was sentenced to a
bad-conduct discharge and avoided jail. Magincalda, 24, stood stoically
but flinched just slightly as the first of his verdicts was read in a crowded
courtroom at Camp Pendleton. One of his supporters gasped. After the jury
left the room, his father and stepmother hugged. His stepmother, Leanne
Magincalda, broke down in tears. "It was like I could
hear the words but my mind wasn't comprehending them," she said. The jury also cleared her
stepson of making a false official statement. The verdict was "a
blessing," said Joseph Low, Magincalda's civilian attorney. "We got
a fair jury, and all we wanted was a fair trial." A sentencing hearing for
Magincalda will begin this morning. A separate jury is still
deliberating the fate of his squad leader, Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III, who is
accused of being the architect of the plot to snatch and kill a man suspected
as a key insurgent responsible for roadside bomb attacks on U.S. troops near
Hamdania, a rural Iraqi village. When their attempt to grab
that man fizzled, they kidnapped and killed his neighbor instead, Marines
testified. Under the plan, the squad members forced their victim out of bed,
marched him to a dirt hole a mile or so down the road and shot him to death. Less than two months after
the April 26, 2006, killing, the military charged the Camp Pendleton-based
squad of seven Marines and a Navy corpsman with murder, kidnapping,
conspiracy and other charges. In court, some of the
accused troops testified they all agreed to carry out the plot to send a
message to insurgents operating in the Hamdania area. The Marines and corpsman
said they covered up their plan by reporting that they shot the Iraqi man
after spotting him planting a roadside bomb. Although first deemed a lawful
killing by the Marine Corps, complaints from the victim's family prompted an
investigation. Testimony in the cases
against Hutchins, Magincalda and their six squad mates offered a glimpse into
the frustration and fears facing Marines who spent their tours traveling
bomb-laced streets, often living off the base and never having their guns out
of reach. Defense attorneys in both
Hutchins' and Magincalda's cases did not deny that their clients played a
role in the plot. But they argued that violence toward Iraqi detainees was
encouraged by the men's superiors. Jurors heard testimony from
Marines that superiors in their company beat Iraqi suspects during
questioning, and shoved guns in their faces or mouths. And Lt. Nathan Phan,
who was in charge of the platoon, testified last week that he had directed
Hutchins to choke another Iraqi detainee until he was unconscious. The Marine
Corps reprimanded Phan earlier this year. Phan also testified that he
and the squad had talked about killing local insurgents, and that his
attitude may have shaped the kidnapping and slaying plot. But he did not
order Marines to do what they did on the night in question, he said. Magincalda's jury also heard
that the squad was frustrated upon learning that the insurgent who was its
original target had been questioned but was then allowed to go home. Marines also testified that
the squad had been viewed as weak, and that combat work was often farmed out
to another squad in their platoon. Every juror considering
Magincalda's and Hutchins' cases has served a least one tour of duty in Iraq.
Some of them have had multiple trips, and some have been awarded medals for
valor. "I think only a combat
vet can understand another combat vet," said Low, Magincalda's attorney.
"It's an experience you have to go through. You cannot be told about
it." Five enlisted men and one
officer make up Magincalda's jury. Hutchins' jury consists of five officers
and four enlisted men. Of the eight-man squad, five
members - the Navy corpsman and four of the more junior Marines - agreed to
plead guilty to reduced charges in exchange for testifying against their
squad mates. Most of them received jail sentences of less than two years. In court, each of the five
men testified that Hutchins was the architect of the plan. Jurors in Hutchins' case are
scheduled to continue deliberating this morning. External link: http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/08/02/news/top_stories/1_14_137_31_07.txt |