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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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November 7th,
2008 - 2 Accused in Iraqi Deaths Face More Charges |
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2 Accused in
Iraqi Deaths Face More Charges By Seth Robson Stars and Stripes November 7, 2008 Grafenwöhr, Germany - Two
172nd Infantry Brigade soldiers charged in the shooting deaths of four Iraqi
detainees in Baghdad in March or April 2007 allegedly killed another detainee
in January of that year, according to a Joint Multinational Training Command
press statement. Sgt. Michael P. Leahy Jr.,
26, a soldier formerly assigned to 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment,
faces an Article 32 hearing for both incidents Wednesday in Vilseck, Germany,
JMTC said in its statement Thursday. Details of the January
incident were disclosed for the first time in Army charge sheets released
Thursday. The sheet states that Leahy
"… did, at or near Baghdad, Iraq, on or about 3 January 2007, with
premeditation murder a male detainee of apparent Middle-Eastern descent whose
name is unknown by means of shooting him with a firearm." As a result of the January
incident, Leahy is charged with premeditated murder, conspiracy to commit
premeditated murder and being an accessory after the fact, the JMTC statement
said. The charge sheet states
that, on or about Jan. 3, 2007, Leahy conspired with 1st Sgt. John E. Hatley
at or near Baghdad, Iraq, to kill a male detainee. The charge sheet also states
that "… in order to effect the object of the conspiracy the said Sgt.
Michael P. Leahy, Jr. and 1st Sgt. John E. Hatley did remove the detainee
from the troop compartment of a Bradley Fighting Vehicle and 1st Sgt. Hatley
did shoot the male detainee with a firearm." Leahy and Hatley then
allegedly put the body in a body bag to dispose of the remains and
"hinder apprehension and punishment." Leahy is also charged with
premeditated murder, conspiracy to commit premeditated murder and obstruction
of justice in the deaths of the four detainees in March or April. An Army charge sheet states
that Leahy "… did, at or near Baghdad, Iraq, between, on or about 10
March 2007 and 16 April 2007, with premeditation, murder four male detainees
of apparent Middle-Eastern descent whose names are unknown by means of
shooting them with firearms." The charge sheet states that
Leahy conspired with two other 172nd soldiers, Sgt. 1st Class Joseph P. Mayo
and Master Sgt. John E. Hatley, to murder the Iraqis and "… did shoot
the four male detainees with firearms." Hatley and Mayo have been
charged, along with Leahy, with premeditated murder for allegedly shooting
four Iraqi detainees in the head and dumping their bodies in a canal. An Article 32 hearing is an
investigation to determine the appropriate disposition of any charges brought
at court-martial. Two 172nd soldiers - Spcs.
Belmor Ramos, 23, and Stephan A. Ribordy, 25 - have already received prison
sentences for their role in the deaths of the four Iraqis in March or April. Ribordy pleaded guilty to
being an accessory to murder and was sentenced to eight months in prison and
given a bad-conduct discharge. Ramos pleaded guilty to
conspiracy to commit murder, but his 40-year sentence was reduced to seven
months as part of a pretrial agreement. As part of the agreement,
Ramos agreed to testify against other members of his unit. External link: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=58676 |