IIRC, a large pond or small lake was drained, and a M57 Firing Device(on the right), aka a "clacker," was found which was suspected in this incident.
Posted on 10/31/2005 8:28:29 PM PST by neverdem
Associated Press
KUWAIT CITY – A military tribunal began hearings today for a U.S. Army sergeant charged with killing two superior officers in Iraq, with a witness testifying that the defendant told him he wanted to kill one of the victims.
Staff Sgt. Alberto B. Martinez, of Troy, N.Y., faces murder charges in the June 7 killings of Capt. Philip Esposito and Lt. Louis E. Allen in a bomb blast at Forward Operating Base Danger, near the central Iraqi city of Tikrit, the hometown of the deposed Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, some 80 miles north of Baghdad.
It is believed to be first case of an American soldier in Iraq accused of "fragging" his superiors. Fragging is a Vietnam War-era term used to refer to soldiers killing their superiors.
The tribunal, held at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait, will determine whether to send the case to a court martial.
During today's session, one witness, Capt. Carl Prober, said Martinez told him twice that he hated Esposito — once in September 2004 and again in May. In the second instance, Martinez said "specifically I hate (Esposito) and I'm going to frag (him)," Prober testified.
Prober did not say why Martinez said he hated Esposito.
Esposito, 30, of Suffern, N.Y., and Allen, 34, of Milford, Pa., were killed by a blast in Esposito's office in a former Saddam palace being used as a base. Their deaths were initially thought to be a result of "indirect fire" on the base — a mortar round that struck a window on the side of the building where Esposito and Allen were.
Senior Master Sgt. Kevin Fitzgerald, an expert on explosives, testified that the blast was caused by a Claymore anti-personnel mine and possibly three grenades. Surgeon Col. Joan Sullivan told the tribunal that the men's injuries were not consistent with wounds caused by a mortar or rocket.
Eight witnesses were heard in a morning session, and several more were to be heard in the afternoon. The hearings could last until Wednesday.
The widows of Esposito and Allen attended the hearings after the Army agreed to fly them to Kuwait for the sessions.
Martinez, 37, a supply specialist who joined the New York Army National Guard in December 1990, was deployed to Iraq sometime after October 2004 with the 42nd Infantry.
The Tikrit case is the second known incident in which a U.S. soldier has been charged with killing his comrades during the Iraq war.
In April, a sergeant in the Army's 101st Airborne Division was convicted of murder and attempted murder for a grenade and rifle attack that killed two officers and wounded 14 soldiers in Kuwait during the opening days of the 2003 invasion.
Hasan Akbar, a 34-year-old Muslim who was sentenced to death, told investigators he staged the attack because he was upset that American troops would kill fellow Muslims.
Fragging incidents also were reported during the Vietnam War, particularly in the late 1960s as the strains grew on a draftee army waging an unpopular war. Soldiers feeling hassled or unnecessarily put in harm's way by their commanders often settled their grievances with a fragmentation grenade.
Between 1969 and 1971, the Army reported 600 fragging incidents that killed 82 Americans and injured 651. In 1971 alone, there were 1.8 fraggings for every 1,000 American soldiers serving in Vietnam.
IIRC, a large pond or small lake was drained, and a M57 Firing Device(on the right), aka a "clacker," was found which was suspected in this incident.
"Prober did not say why Martinez said he hated Esposito."
Did Prober say why he didn't report that statement before the officers were killed?
I is so sad, this has come to past. But I guess it has to be expected to happen on occasion. So many of them serve with true honor. I think of what my nephew told me about the Marine mentioned here. He was in my nephew's Battalion when they where in the triangle of death area back in 2004. They searched their brains out to try to find that Marine, thinking he was aducted or somehow got hurt in the field (around Fallujah), and spent many days in an earnest all out search to located him. They wanted to make sure he was found alive and returned to the unit. Brother caring about brother, watching out for each other's six.
I don't know. This is the first that I have heard about this story in months. IIRC, the accused staff sergeant was a supply sergeant who came under suspicion for an incident regarding ordnance or supplies found in his house in upstate NY after his house had a fire, before they went to Iraq.
Huh? This is the FIRST?
What about Sgt. Akbar?
The officers HE murdered appear on the left's Bush's fault death list.
If their deaths (which I don't think occurred in Iraq) are not "Iraq fragging" deaths, why are they on the 2000 dead list?
The media sucks. They sheild the fifth column and Islamonazis.
Asharq Al-Awsat
http://www.asharqalawsat.com/english/news.asp?id=2465§ion=1
Court-Martial Recommended for U.S. Soldier
01/11/2005
CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait, AP - A U.S. military investigating officer recommended Tuesday that a National Guard soldier be court-martialed for the deaths of two of his superiors in Iraq in June.
Col. Patrick Reinert said he found "reasonable cause" to believe that Staff Sgt. Alberto B. Martinez, of Troy, New York, used an anti-personnel mine and three grenades to kill a captain and a lieutenant in a "personal vendetta."
The killing of Capt. Philip Esposito and Lt. Louis E. Allen in an explosion at a base near the central Iraqi city of Tikrit is believed to be first case of an American soldier in Iraq accused of killing his superiors.
Reinert said he also found aggravating factors that could allow for capital punishment.
Reinert's recommendation, which came at the end of a two-day hearing in this camp in Kuwait, will be submitted to Lt. Gen. John Vines, the commander of Multi-National Corps Iraq, who will decide whether there is a court-martial. Vines, who is based in Baghdad, reports to the overall commander in Iraq, Gen. George Casey
The prosecutor, Capt. Adam Siple, had asked for a recommendation for a court-martial. Martinez's defense counsel had argued there was no real evidence against their client.
Capt. Esposito, 30, of Suffern, New York, and Lt. Allen, 34, of Milford, Pa., were killed by a blast in Esposito's office in a former Saddam palace that is used as a base in Tikrit, some 80 miles north of Baghdad, on June 7. Their deaths were initially thought to be a result of "indirect fire" on the base — a mortar round that struck a window on the side of the building where Esposito and Allen were.
Senior Master Sgt. Kevin Fitzgerald, an expert on explosives, told the hearing that the blast was caused by a Claymore anti-personnel mine and possibly three grenades. Surgeon Col. Joan Sullivan told the tribunal that the men's injuries were not consistent with wounds caused by a mortar or rocket.
During Monday's session, one witness, Capt. Carl Prober, said Martinez told him twice that he hated Esposito — once in September 2004 and again in May. In the second instance, Martinez said "specifically I hate (Esposito) and I'm going to frag (him)," Prober testified. "Frag" is a Vietnam War term for soldiers killing their superiors.
Prober did not say why Martinez said he hated Esposito.
The widows of Esposito and Allen attended the hearings after the Army agreed to fly them to Camp Arifjan, about 40 miles south of the capital of Kuwait City, for the sessions.
Martinez, 37, a supply specialist who joined the New York Army National Guard in December 1990, was deployed to Iraq sometime after October 2004 with the 42nd Infantry.
The Tikrit case is the second case during the Iraq war in which a U.S. soldier has been charged with killing his comrades.
In April, a sergeant in the Army's 101st Airborne Division, Hasan Akbar, was convicted of murder and attempted murder for a grenade and rifle attack that killed two officers and wounded 14 soldiers in Kuwait in 2003 during the opening days of the war.
Akbar, 34, a Muslim, told investigators he staged the attack because he was upset that American troops would kill fellow Muslims. He was condemned to death.
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