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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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May 19th,
2009 - Aunt Testifies for Ex-Soldier Facing Death Penalty |
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Aunt Testifies
for Ex-Soldier Facing Death Penalty By Dave Alsup Cable Network News May 19, 2009 Paducah, Kentucky - The aunt of former U.S. soldier Steven
Green told jurors tearfully Monday that "We did not send a rapist and
murderer to Iraq" as defense lawyers worked to save her nephew from a
death sentence. Patty Ruth, a Texas
elementary school principal, told a civilian jury about Green's childhood as
a reader who loved to be hugged by relatives. "I do not know how we
got to this spot," Ruth said in emotional testimony. "I do not know
how this happened." Green was convicted last
week in U.S. District Court in Kentucky of murder, rape, conspiracy and
obstruction of justice in connection with a 2006 rape-and-murder south of
Baghdad. A jury found him guilty of raping a 14-year-old girl, then killing
her and setting her body on fire to destroy evidence. Green also was found
guilty of killing the girl's parents and 6-year-old sister. He could become the first
former U.S. soldier to face the death penalty for war crimes before a
civilian court, where he was tried because he had been discharged from the
military before his crimes came to light. Four other former soldiers are in
prison for their roles in the crimes and the cover-up that followed. Green faces either death or
life in prison without the possibility of parole. His fate will be in the
hands of the jury by week's end. The defense has presented
relatives and medical professionals who have pieced together a picture of
Green's childhood as troubled and stressful. It included the breakup of his
parents' marriage, routine beatings to the point of injury by an older
brother and being moved about through Texas by his mother. Ruth, the final witness
scheduled by the defense, said that when the idea of the military came up for
her nephew, she was unsure the Army would accept him. Even after he received
a high school diploma through a correspondence course, she said, "I
could not picture or imagine how he could make it through basic
training." Ruth said when she saw a
picture of her nephew before his September 2005 deployment, she knew he
wasn't "Stevie" anymore, standing as tall as his father in the
photo at Fort Benning, Georgia. When he returned from Iraq
11 months later, he was "remarkably thin," Ruth said, and she
noticed circles under his eyes. Green and his father spent a night at the
Ruth home, his aunt said, and she remembered him pacing the yard while
smoking. He fell asleep wearing his fatigues, she said. When asked by the defense
about the rape-murder plot that left an Iraqi family dead near Yusufiya,
about 20 miles south of Baghdad, Ruth responded, "He's my Steve. You
can't stop loving someone." There were other family
members in the court on Monday. Green's father, John, an oil field worker
from Midland, Texas, looked on quietly. He did not testify. Ruth, who is John Green's
sister, noted for the jury that Green's mother is not at the trial this week.
The mother is moving and had to attend a going-away party, Ruth said. Final arguments are expected
Wednesday. External link: http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/05/18/kentucky.iraq.murder/ |