June 3, 2006
- The Hanford Marine at the center of a military investigation has been charged in a hit-and-run crash in his hometown.
Lance Corporal Ryan Briones is accused of driving a stolen truck while drunk into a house in April. Briones claims he suffers from post traumatic stress disorder after disposing of bodies of 24 Iraqis in the city of Haditha. However, the owner of the damaged home, who's also in the military, says post traumatic stress is a serious condition, but he questions if it's just an excuse.
"My concern is if we move to a point where we utilize that as a legal defense our own actions, at what point do we take responsibility?" said homeowner Craig Dalle.
Felony charges filed against Briones Friday also include possession of marijuana for an arrest in 2003, before he went to Iraq.
Briones is out on bail and expected in court later this month.
http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=local&id=4234392
If this guy "disposed" of the bodies, why do the relatives control them? I suspect he helped with the clean up, but this article indicates he was not present, and could not have witnessed the incident. IOW, he could know there were lots of bodies, but not a have any first hand information about what happened, or who killed the Iraqis whose bodies he "disposed of". Since the article indicates that he was ordered to take pictures and then to turn them over to the Navy, that doesn't sound like much of a cover up by the Marines who were there, as soon as the day after the incident.