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August 31st,
2007 - Marine Testifies Against Former Squad Leader News article by San Diego
Union-Tribune |
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Marine Testifies
Against Former Squad Leader By Rick Rogers San Diego Union-Tribune August 31, 2007 Camp Pendleton – About a
week before his squad went on a shooting spree in Haditha, Iraq, Marine Staff
Sgt. Frank Wuterich said his men should kill everyone in sight if they were
ever attacked by a roadside bomb, a member of the unit testified Friday. Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz said
Wuterich made the statement during some down time. Hours earlier, an
improvised explosive device had injured a Marine from the 3rd Battalion, 1st
Marine Regiment. “Everybody was pretty much
upset,” Dela Cruz testified during a pretrial hearing for Wuterich at Camp
Pendleton. “We were smoking outside and for whatever reason, Staff Sgt.
Wuterich made this comment that if we ever get hit again, we should kill
everyone in the vicinity to teach them a lesson.” On Nov. 19, 2005, another
bomb struck a Humvee in Wuterich's convoy, killing Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas
and wounding two other Marines. In the aftermath, the Marine squad fatally
shot 24 men, women and children. Prosecutors accuse Wuterich,
the highest-ranking Marine present at the scene, of leading a murderous
rampage out of revenge. Wuterich faces 17 counts of murder, which could
result in life imprisonment if he's convicted. In statements made to naval
investigators, Wuterich admitted shooting five men who had gotten out of a
car close to the bomb blast. But he insisted that he opened fire only after
the men started running away, defying his orders to stay put. At the time,
the military's rules of engagement permitted troops to kill suspected
insurgents trying to flee. Wuterich also acknowledged
killing some people in nearby homes after the car incident. He said the
houses were considered hostile because his squad was facing fire from them. On Friday, Dela Cruz
contradicted Wuterich's description of the five individuals who emerged from
the car. “Those men were not running,
sir,” Dela Cruz told prosecutor Lt. Col. Sean Sullivan. “Some of them had
their hands up.” “Did you personally see
Staff Sgt. Wuterich fire his weapon?” Sullivan asked. “Yes, sir,” Dela Cruz
replied, adding that he helped kill the men. Wuterich then checked on the
bodies, Dela Cruz said, shooting them again at close range to make sure none
was still alive. Dela Cruz also testified
that after the shootings, Wuterich said “if anybody asked about the five guys
by the white car, (say) that they were running away and the Iraqi army shot
them.” Attorneys for Wuterich are
now cross-examining Dela Cruz, who received immunity to testify on behalf of
the government. Wuterich's lead military
defense counsel, Lt. Col. Colby Vokey, said Thursday that Dela Cruz had
changed his story several times over the course of the Haditha investigation. “He has given many
statements and given many different versions. Dela Cruz is all over the map,”
Vokey said. The pretrial proceedings,
known as an Article 32 hearing, are similar to a grand jury probe. At the end
of the hearing, investigating officer Lt. Col. Paul Ware will recommend
whether Wuterich should stand trial. Lt. Gen. James Mattis, comander of the
1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton, will make the final
decision. Ware has presided over
pretrial hearings for two other Haditha defendants – Lance Cpls. Stephen
Tatum and Justin Sharratt. He recommended that both Marines not be
court-martialed, and Mattis has dropped all charges against Sharatt. In addition, four officers
are charged with dereliction of duty for not properly investigating the
Haditha killings. Mattis has cleared one of those officers, Capt. Randy
Stone. The Associated Press contributed
to this report. External link: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20070831-1343-bn31haditha.html Witness alleges Wuterich
wanted to ‘kill everybody’ By Mark Walker North County Times August 31, 2007 10:29 PM PDT Camp Pendleton - Shortly
before 24 civilians were killed by members of a Marine platoon in the Iraqi
city of Haditha, the troops' squad leader told two of his men that if they
were ever bombed, they should kill everyone in the area, a prosecution
witness testified Friday. The witness, Sgt. Sanick
Dela Cruz, made the accusation Friday morning during the second day of a
hearing that will determine whether the squad leader, Staff Sgt. Frank
Wuterich, will face trial on 17 murder charges. The dead included several
women and children. Throughout the hearing,
defense attorneys have challenged the credibility of government witnesses who
say the 27-year-old Connecticut native led the squad in the November 2005
killings. Dela Cruz said Wuterich's
comments were made in a conversation with him and another Marine, after they
learned that two men from their Kilo Company platoon from Camp Pendleton's
3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, had been injured in a bombing one week
earlier. "We found they had got
hit and everyone was pretty upset about that," Dela Cruz said Friday, in
response to a question from the lead prosecutor, Lt. Col. Sean Sullivan.
"Sergeant Wuterich made the comment that if we ever get hit again, we
should kill everybody in that vicinity." A week later, Wuterich's
squad was on a resupply mission when a roadside bomb destroyed a Humvee,
killing Lance Cpl. Miguel "T.J." Terrazas and triggering the
civilian killings. The deaths resulted in international condemnation when the
incident came to light in a Time magazine report. Dela Cruz, 24, was one of
four original defendants charged in the killings, accused of murdering five
unarmed men who emerged from a car moments after the bombing. Those charges
were dropped earlier this year in exchange for his testimony. On Friday, Dela Cruz
testified that it was Wuterich who first shot those men and later asked him
to lie about what happened. "They were just
standing around and some of them had their hands up," Dela Cruz said,
adding he did not perceive a threat from those men until Wuterich began
firing. Dela Cruz said he shot the
men after Wuterich did so to make sure they were dead. He also acknowledged
later urinating on the head of one victim, something he has testified about
in other Haditha hearings. "T.J. was gone and the
other two Marines were injured by the blast," he explained of that
action. "My emotions took over and I really wasn't thinking right." Under cross-examination
Friday by Lt. Col. Colby Vokey, one of Wuterich's four attorneys, Dela Cruz
admitted having abused detainees before the Haditha killings and said he has
lied in the past about the events at Haditha. Vokey peppered Dela Cruz
with questions about inconsistencies in his testimony compared against
earlier statements to investigators. Vokey also tried to poke
holes in Dela Cruz's testimony that Wuterich had told him to tell
investigators that the men in the car were running from the scene and were
shot by members of the Iraqi army who were with the Marines that day. In his only public statement
about the incident, Wuterich told the CBS show "60 Minutes" last
year that he believed the men were insurgents and were running away when
shot. That interview is scheduled to be rebroadcast Sunday. The Marine officer presiding
over the hearing, Lt. Col. Paul Ware, also questioned Dela Cruz in an attempt
to clarify some of his conflicting statements. "Did you think you
could provide false information?" Ware asked about statements Dela Cruz
now says are untrue. "That was our plan,
sir," Dela Cruz said. "Did you have a version
of facts you were going to say?" Ware asked. "Just lie in
general," Dela Cruz responded. As Wuterich's parents and
wife watched from the front row of the Camp Pendleton courtroom, the slightly
built Marine sergeant eyed Dela Cruz intently. When the hearing concludes,
Wuterich could be ordered to stand trial. If convicted, he faces a possible
life sentence in prison. Marines have said the
assault inside the homes - where 19 Iraqis would die - came as they hunted
for the bomb triggerman and insurgents they believed had fired on them with
rifles. Wuterich's attorneys argue
those deaths were unfortunate, but the result of a legitimate order by Lt.
William Kallop, the platoon commander, who responded to the bombing and
directed the Marines to conduct a "house clearing" operation. On Thursday, the first day
of the hearing, a lance corporal who took part in the killings said Wuterich
ordered him to shoot a man who came to a doorway in the first home the
Marines entered. Ware also presided over
similar hearings for the only other Marines ultimately charged in the
killings, Lance Cpls. Stephen Tatum and Justin Sharratt. Last week, Ware recommended
that charges against Tatum be dropped, saying that the Marine was following Wuterich's
lead and the evidence is insufficient to warrant trial. Earlier this summer,
his recommendation that charges against Sharratt be dropped was upheld by the
convening authority over the case, Camp Pendleton's Lt. Gen. James Mattis,
commander of the I Marine Expeditionary Force. The Haditha deaths also led
to dereliction of duty charges against four officers for allegedly failing to
fully investigate the incident. Charges against one officer have since been
dropped, and hearings are pending for two others to determine whether they
will face trial. The fourth officer, Lt. Col.
Jeffrey Chessani who commanded the battalion at Haditha, faces four charges
of dereliction of duty. A Marine battalion commander who presided over
Chessani's hearing earlier this year has recommended he be tried on the
charges. Whether that will happen is now up to Lt. Gen. Mattis. The Wuterich hearing resumes
Wednesday morning. His attorneys have intimated that their client won't take
the stand, but will make a statement at the conclusion of the hearing. External link: http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/09/01/news/top_stories/20_16_008_31_07.txt |