Posted on 06/14/2007 7:37:23 PM PDT by RedRover
A Marine accused of murdering three Iraqi men in a squad action that killed 24 Iraqis in Haditha told a military court Thursday that he killed them because he believed they were insurgents and at least two of them were pointing machine guns at him.
Lance Cpl. Justin L. Sharratt made the assertions in an unsworn statement during his preliminary hearing on three counts of unpremeditated murder. Because it was unsworn, Sharratt could not be cross-examined.
"I kept firing until my magazine was empty, because I didn't know if they had body armor on or suicide vests," Sharratt said during his 20-minute statement. "We did not execute any Iraqi men."
Sharratt described the events of Nov. 19, 2005, when a roadside bomb exploded and killed a squad member. He said he cleared several houses without incident and was taking a cigarette break when he noticed a group of Iraqi men looking at him suspiciously.
Along with three other Marines including squad leader Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, Sharratt went to look for the men. The troops went to one house where several women said the men were hiding in a neighboring house, Sharratt told the court.
In that house, Sharratt said he saw an Iraqi point an AK-47 at him from across the hallway. Sharratt's machine gun jammed, so he pulled out his pistol and shot the man in the head.
"When the insurgent popped back out from behind the door, I shot him once in the head and he fell backwards," Sharratt said. He claimed that he then heard another man loading an AK-47 in an adjoining bedroom.
"As I stepped into the doorway, to my front was another insurgent with his AK-47 waist level as though he had just completed racking it," Sharratt read from his prepared statement. "I immediately fired at his head and chest. ... After shooting him, I continued to shoot the other individuals in the room."
Sharratt, of Canonsburg, Pa., said he ran out of ammunition and yelled, "I'm out." Wuterich came into the room and fired at the men as well. Prosecutors say Wuterich is responsible for the death of a fourth man in the room.
Sharratt's account came at his Article 32 investigation, a hearing during which an investigating officer will review evidence to make a recommendation about whether Sharratt should be sent to a court-martial.
As he read his statement, Sharratt's parents cried.
"We are just so disappointed in what the Marine Corps is doing," said father Darryl Sharratt outside the courtroom. "We feel they have abandoned him."
Most of the 24 Iraqis were killed when the Marine squad went house to house looking for insurgents. Among the dead were elderly people, and women and children who were killed in bed.
Aside from Sharratt, Wuterich and Lance Cpl. Stephen B. Tatum are also charged with murder in the killings. Four officers are charged with dereliction of duty for failing to investigate.
Lawyers for the enlisted Marines say they acted appropriately and cleared houses the way they had been trained to while under attack.
But a former squad member testified Thursday the Marines were not receiving insurgent machine-gun fire as they carried out the killings.
"To the best of your knowledge, was there an ambush on your squad?" prosecutor Capt. Christian Hur asked Trent Graviss, who was a lance corporal in the squad at the time but has since left active duty.
"No, sir," replied Graviss, who testified by telephone from his home in Kentucky.
Both Wuterich and Tatum were in the public viewing area of the courtroom Thursday.
During a recess, Wuterich's military attorney Lt. Col. Colby Vokey said he was not concerned about Graviss' testimony because it was inconsistent to what other witnesses have testified.
"All the other testimony indicates that the Marines were receiving small-arms fire," Vokey said.
Defense attorneys showed photographs of the men shot by Sharratt and Wuterich. All appeared to have been shot in the head, but several had blood on their torsos, indicating they could have been shot there, too.
Air Force Lt. Col. Elizabeth Rouse, a forensics expert, testified that it did not appear that the men had been killed at close range.
Naval Criminal Investigative Service agent Michael Maloney testified that he visited the house where the men died four months after the deaths and that at least two of the men died in a manner that appeared to be consistent with Sharratt's statement. Another man, who Wuterich is accused of killing, appeared to have been shot while in a closet, Maloney said.
Maloney said accounts given by Sharratt and other Marines were "not entirely accurate, nor entirely false."
“We did not execute any Iraqi males,” Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt read from an unsworn statement during his preliminary hearing at Camp Pendleton. “I'm a disciplined Marine and have always tried to act professionally with the civilian population.”
"(I) would not change any of the decisions I made that day,” he continued. “I would rather be tried by a jury of my peers than be carried by six of my friends in a casket.”
“Nobody could really understand combat until they've been there.”
That's a very interesting statement. Who's witness was Mr. Maloney?
Maloney is NCIS
“Among the dead were elderly people, and women and children who were killed in bed.”
So, amidst all this fighting, noise, concussion from grenades going off throughout the house, etc etc...some “innocent civilians” remained in bed, just lounging around, until the Marines broke into their rooms and shot them?
No freekin way.
I just finished watching Breaker Morant. I feel this is history repeating itself...even down to a scene where Lord Kitchner says paraphrase that if these men must die for peace so be it..
it just pi$$es me off!!!!
I hope the judges aren’t rigged in the 21 centry case like it was 100 years ago...
But who called him?
Accusing soldiers of Murder during war is like writing speeding tickets at the Indy 500.
NCIS Agent Mark Maloney was called by the prosecution. The problem was... the evidence was so compelling for the defense, he could not ignore, falsify or change it.The media will report on the testimony tomorrow...Maloney took the whole day...
The testimony of Graviss..that he did not hear any Iraqi SAF was so ludicrous that the defense attorneys pretty much ignored him. The list of prosecution and defense witnesses and Scan Eagle pictures that showed insurgent activity made him null and void.
Darryl Sharratt
Doesn’t matter. Teh Bush Army needs to punish them anyway.
This is no way to win a war.
Are we even trying to win?
Shoot! Why didn't General Yamashita think to use that argument?
This is bullshit of the first order..
NONE of the “innocent” civilians “murdered in cold blood” ever underwent ANY FORENSIC EXAMINATION to determine cause of death and CALIBER OF PROJECTILE that may have killed them..
The complaining Iraqi refused to violate Islamic law by allowing exhumation for examination.......they insist we “take their word” for what happened and hang these young warriors..
If these men are convicted - I would strongly advise all parents to keep their loved ones out of the military until the country acknowledges we are at war and some really bad shit happens....
The other option, is to not place boots on the ground until the ground consists of one layer of smoldering rubble with nothing living -— horizon to horizon....
We murdered everything is sight from 20,000 feet during WWII..
Why is our current enemy entitled to more consideration?
here here!!!!
It is impossible to be a HERO and a criminal at the same time.
These Marines are HERO’s and the IO needs to find them INNOCENT of all charges.
In a perfect world, Murtha would be reimbursing the families for their legal expenses as well.
When I’m alone
I dream on the horizon
And words fail
Yes, I know there is no light
In a room
Where the sun is not there
If you are not with me
At the windows
Show everyone my heart
Which you set alight
Enclose within me
The light you
Encountered on the street
Time to say goodbye
To countries I never
Saw and shared with you
Now, yes, I shall experience them
I’ll go with you
On ships across seas
Which, I know
No, no, exist no longer
With you I shall experience them
When you are far away
I dream on the horizon
And words fail
And yes, I know
That you are with me
You, my moon, are here with me
My sun, you are here with me
With me, with me, with me
Time to say goodbye
To countries I never
Saw and shared with you
Now, yes, I shall experience them
I’ll go with you
On ships across seas
Which, I know
No, no, exist no longer
With you I shall re-experience them
I’ll go with you
On ships across seas
Which, I know
No, no, exist no longer
With you I shall re-experience them
I’ll go with you
I with you
Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman
If you stop a bank robbery and later run a red light, guess what you have still run the red light.
As an investigating agent, Maloney was a prosecution witness but ended up as good for the defense (see e-mail).
The statement in italics is interesting. I don't know why the reporter didn't further explain.
When will the prosecutors give this up? My guess is some democratic senator made a visit to the marines and told them to keep going or lose funding for the war.
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