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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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September 2nd,
2007 - Witnesses in S.A. GI’s Case Among Dead in Copter Crash |
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Witnesses in S.A. GI’s Case Among
Dead in Copter Crash By Sig Christenson San Antonio Express-News September 2, 2007 Some of the troops on board
an Army helicopter that recently crashed in northern Iraq, killing all 14 on
board, were witnesses in a murder case against a former San Antonio soldier. The Army revealed that
"several" soldiers among those who died in the UH-60 Black Hawk
were on the witness list in the case against Sgt. 1st Class Trey Corrales,
charged with killing a prisoner last June. Corrales, a one-time
standout Alamo City athlete, and his co-defendant, Spc. Christopher Shore,
24, of Winder, Ga., were part of the same unit, Headquarters Company, 2-35
Scouts, and would likely have been on the fatal mission if they had not been
on restricted duty. "One of those great
ironies of life is he could have easily been on this helicopter if he had not
been separated from the unit," said Corrales' lawyer, Frank Spinner, a
St. Mary's University School of Law graduate. "That was his team. I
still can't stop crying when I think about it," Corrales' wife, Lily, 34,
said, sobbing. "I don't know - it's hard. Trey's initial reaction was he
should have been there. Of course, there is nothing he could have done." Just how the Aug. 22 crash
could affect the Army's case against Shore and Corrales, 34, of Honolulu, is
not clear. The Army said the case would go on, with an Article 32 hearing
likely to be held in Hawaii this fall. The hearing, similar to a
civilian grand jury proceeding, will determine if the case goes to trial.
Shore's attorney, Michael Waddington, and Spinner have not commented on how
the deaths might affect their clients. The two soldiers are charged
with premeditated murder in the killing of an Iraqi prisoner June 23 in Al
Shaheed, a community near Kirkuk. The Army said the aircraft,
one of two on a routine nighttime mission, apparently encountered mechanical
trouble when it went down. The 25th Infantry Division said in a release that
10 passengers and four crewmembers were on board the Black Hawk. It did not
say where the aircraft crashed in northern Iraq, but it added that it did not
appear to have been brought down by enemy fire. A 25th Infantry Division
spokesman, Lt. Col. Michael Donnelly, did not say precisely how many
witnesses were lost, only noting that "several" were on board. He
said the loss of witnesses on the helicopter would not affect the military's
plans to prosecute Corrales and Shore. Until now, the Army had not
acknowledged the existence of witnesses, even though Waddington has said
investigators listed 18 in a report. He said none of them saw the shooting,
including his client. Waddington said Shore wasn't present when a burst of
bullets was fired, and that the soldier only saw the man as he lay mortally
wounded on the ground, Corrales nearby. The Army alleged that Shore
fired "multiple" rounds from his M-4 rifle a yard or so from the
prisoner after being ordered to do so by Corrales. But Waddington said Shore
intentionally missed him, and that a military autopsy showed none of the
rounds was fired at close range. A soldier's son reared by
strict parents, Corrales was a star football player at Burbank High School on
the city's South Side. He joined the Army after graduating and rose through
the ranks. He had been recommended for promotion and a Bronze Star only days before
the shooting, but now faces the death penalty. "We're not thinking
about how this relates to our case," Lily Corrales said, adding that she
and her husband are "devastated" by the turn of events. "We've
lost good friends, good soldiers. We're not even thinking about that right
now." External link: http://tinyurl.com/39oohy |