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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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January 12th,
2007 - Soldier Sentenced to 18 Years for Murder |
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Soldier Sentenced to 18 Years
for Murder Associated Press Friday Jan 12, 2007 7:39:21 EST Fort Campbell, Ky. - A 101st
Airborne Division soldier was sentenced Thursday to 18 years in prison after
he pleaded guilty to murdering three detainees during a raid on a suspected
al-Qaida compound last year in Iraq. Spc. William B. Hunsaker,
24, pleaded guilty to murder, attempted murder and obstruction of justice
during a hearing at Fort Campbell. Under his plea agreement,
Hunsaker got a life sentence but will not serve more than 18 years in prison
as long as he testifies against other soldiers accused in the case, said Col.
Theodore Dixon, the military judge presiding over the court-martial. He will
be eligible for parole in five-and-a-half years. Hunsaker’s family members
flooded the courtroom and wept when the sentencing was read Thursday
afternoon. They declined to speak to the media. In testimony during his
court-martial, Hunsaker said he took “careful aim” at the detainees and tried
to make the killings as “professional” as possible by shooting them in the
chest and head. He also said he knew it was illegal but felt he was doing a
greater good by killing detainees who might have been al-Qaida agents in
Iraq. “In his mind, he believed it
was a lesser evil for a greater good,” said defense attorney Michael
Waddington. “He’s willing to do the time that he’ll get, and he’ll do it
proudly.” As part of the agreement
with prosecutors, charges that Hunsaker had threatened another soldier’s life
if he told authorities of the killings were dropped. Dixon said Hunsaker’s
rank will be reduced to a private, his pay will be forfeited and he will be
dishonorably discharged. Hunsaker was one of four
soldiers charged in the killings that followed a May 9 raid at the Muthana
chemical complex near Samarra, about 60 miles north of Baghdad. The soldiers originally told
investigators that they shot detainees because they were attempting to flee
and that commanders told them to kill all military-age males - a story they
now say they made up. Hunsaker testified that his
squad leader, Staff Sgt. Raymond Girouard, cut him on the face and arm to
make it appear there was a struggle after he and Pfc. Corey R. Clagett, 21,
killed the detainees. Spc. Juston R. Graber, 21,
pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a lesser charge of aggravated assault with a
dangerous weapon as part of his agreement to cooperate with prosecutors. He
was sentenced to nine months in military jail. Clagett and Girouard are
awaiting courts-martial in the coming months. The lawyer representing
Clagett, Paul Bergrin, of Morganville, N.J., was charged Wednesday with
involvement in a Manhattan, N.Y., escort agency that laundered its proceeds
through a fake company. Bergrin and two co-defendants were charged with money
laundering, promoting prostitution and conspiracy. Prosecutors at Fort Campbell
said they did not know if Bergrin’s own legal woes would affect Clagett’s
tentatively scheduled Jan. 29 court-martial. During Thursday’s hearing,
Hunsaker recounted in testimony a meeting during which he said Girouard
ordered he and Clagett to kill detainees in their custody. “He told us to cut the zip
ties, tell them to run and shoot them,” Hunsaker said. “I went out and did
just that.” The case is one of two
involving soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division accused of killing Iraqis
during a deployment to Iraq that ended in September. Four soldiers from the
division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team are accused of raping and killing an Iraqi
teenager and killing three others in her family last March. A former Army
private also faces murder and rape charges in federal court. External link: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/01/ap.uphunsaker070112/ |