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CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (Map, News) - Military prosecutors say unaired footage of a CBS interview given by a Marine squad leader contains admissions of crimes in an attack that killed 24 Iraqi civilians. Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich "apparently admits in an unaired segment that he did in fact order his men to 'shoot first and ask questions later,'" Capt. Nicholas Gannon said in response to a motion filed by CBS seeking to quash a subpoena seeking the footage. CBS is set to ask a military judge Friday to throw out the subpoena during a pretrial hearing for Wuterich, who...

Defense suggesting that 'undue command influence' led to charges against Marine CAMP PENDLETON ---- What did the generals know and how did they influence the decision to charge Marines with crimes in the killing of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha in 2005? That's the crux of ongoing attempts by attorneys for Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich to interview several current and former Marine Corps generals as they prepare for his court-martial, set to begin March 3. During a two-day motion hearing this week, Wuterich's attorneys told a military judge they are endeavoring to contact former Camp Pendleton Gen. James Mattis and...

CAMP PENDLETON -- The Marine Corps has ordered one of two men charged with manslaughter in the 2005 deaths of 24 civilians in the Iraqi city of Haditha to testify for the prosecution at the court-martial for a co-defendant. Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum has been ordered to appear at the trial of Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, which is scheduled to start in less than three weeks, and tell the jury his version of the events of Nov. 19, 2005. Tatum's attorney Jack Zimmerman said he was caught by surprise when served with the order. "We were sent a copy of...

A key witness in the upcoming court-marshal of Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich should not be allowed to testify in Wuterich’s behalf, the prosecutor claims in a motion filed in the Haditha Marines case. Wuterich, 27, is being tried for voluntary manslaughter in connection with the killings of 24 Iraqi citizens in the town of Haditha on Nov. 19, 2005, shortly after a roadside bomb hit a Marine convoy, killing the driver of a Humvee and wounding two other Marines. Maj. Jeffrey Dinsmore, who was the battalion intelligence officer of Wuterich’s unit, has previously revealed that, based on his intelligence briefings,...

CAMP PENDLETON – The Marine Corps has subpoenaed outtakes from a “60 Minutes” TV interview of Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, who led a group of Camp Pendleton Marines in killing 24 Iraqi civilians about two years ago. The revelation was made Friday during a court hearing for Wuterich on the base. Prosecutors have described the Marines' actions Nov. 19, 2005, in the city of Haditha as a massacre. Wuterich and a fellow Marine are scheduled for trial on charges such as voluntary manslaughter, while two officers will be tried for allegedly trying to cover up the killings. Camp Pendleton officials...

The court martial for SSgt Frank Wuterich, USMC, has been scheduled for March 3-14, Defend Our Marines has learned. The court martial for a second enlisted man, LCpl Stephen Tatum, is scheduled to commence March 28. The battalion commander, LtCol Jeffrey Chessani, will go on trial on April 28. A fourth court martial, for Lt Andrew Grayson, has not yet been scheduled. Before SSgt Wuterich's trial commences, there will be two sessions for arguments on motions on February 13-15, 2008, and then on February 20-22, 2008. Attorney Mark Zaid says, "We expect a very lively pre-trial environment as several very...

CAMP PENDLETON ---- The man at the center of the killings of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha two years ago stood up in a Camp Pendleton courtroom this morning and was formally arraigned on charges of voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and related offenses. Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich did not enter a plea during a 35-minute session, telling a judge in a calm and firm voice that he would do so at a later date. The Connecticut native also told the military judge, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Meeks, that he would declare at a later date whether he wants...

Charges against another U.S. Marine caught up in the political fallout from an ambush in Haditha, Iraq, in 2005 have been reduced, officials have confirmed. Authorities at Camp Pendleton, Calif., said in a statement that the remaining charges against Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, who was accused of leading the campaign that resulted in the deaths of two dozen Iraqis, are "voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault" and others. But Lt. Gen. Samuel Helland, the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Central commander, "dismissed the charges of unpremeditated murder, soliciting another to commit an offense and false official statement," according to a Reuters report. Eight...

The Marine Corps has now acknowledged that none of the Marines charged with criminal offenses for their actions at Haditha, Iraq committed murder. Lieutenant General Samuel Helland’s decision to dismiss charges of unpremeditated murder against Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich lay to rest specious allegations by Time Magazine reporter Tim McGirk and Congressman John Murtha that a My Lai-style massacre occurred in Haditha on November 19, 2005. A Marine Corps spokesman said Monday that Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich will face trial on charges of voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, dereliction of duty and obstruction of justice for his role in...

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, the accused leader in the 2005 killings of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha, will face voluntary manslaughter charges but not more serious murder charges, the U.S. Marines said on Monday. "The charges referred against SSgt Wuterich are voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, dereliction of duty and obstruction of justice," Camp Pendleton, California, said in a statement. Lt. Gen. Samuel Helland, the commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces Central, "dismissed the charges of unpremeditated murder, soliciting another to commit an offense and false official statement," the statement said. Eight Marines...

Photo above: SSgt Frank Wuterich and then-Cpl Hector Salinas in Iraq, 2005. Click to enlarge.Marine Corps Sergeant Hector A. Salinas (erroneously identified as a murder suspect by the media for his role at Haditha, Iraq but never charged) has been granted testimonial immunity by the general overseeing the investigation of the so-called “massacre” of 24 Iraqi citizens killed that day. On November 19, 2005 Salinas, then 21, was a grenadier in a squad of Marine infantrymen from Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines that was ambushed by an Al Qaeda financed and led attack force at Haditha. His four-vehicle convoy...

Lawyers for Rep. John P. Murtha will appeal a recent ruling advancing a defamation lawsuit brought against the Pennsylvania Democrat by a U.S. Marine under investigation for killing Iraqi civilians. Justice Department lawyers representing Murtha on Nov. 16 filed notice that they planned to appeal a federal district court judge’s Sept. 28 ruling allowing the lawsuit to proceed and ordering Murtha to give sworn testimony in the case. Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich sued Murtha in August 2006, accusing the 17-term congressman of defaming him during a news conference last year on the Nov. 19, 2005 killings of Iraqi civilians...

Note: This is an excerpt, in text form, for convenience. To see the entire report (including its footnotes), go here for a pdf. ________________________________________________________Summary of factsOn 19 November 2005, in Haditha, Iraq, Staff Sergeant Wuterich (SSgt) was the driver of the third vehicle of a four vehicle convoy. As the convoy traveled down route Chestnut returning from a logistics mission, an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) exploded under the fourth vehicle in the convoy. Prior to the explosion LCpl Sharratt waved to a driver of an oncoming white sedan to pull over as the convoy approached. Directing oncoming traffic to pull...

Are Members of Congress Accountable for Anything? By Clarice Feldman Are Congressmen above the law? The case of Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich against Congressman John Murtha (D-PA) tests this basic question. Of course there are other reasons to ask the same question. In a year when Congressional committees see no limits to what they will subpoena from the executive branch or about what they will interrogate its officers and employees, they rushed to court to keep the Department of Justice from subpoenaing the records of a Congressman caught with tens of thousands of dollars in his freezer. [snip] It is...

Official recommends Wuterich should be tried for negligent homicide in deaths of two women, five children CAMP PENDLETON -- A Marine Corps official has recommended that murder charges be dismissed against a Camp Pendleton squad leader accused in the deaths of 17 civilians killed in the Iraqi city of Haditha two years ago. The official, Lt. Col. Paul Ware, said in a recommendation obtained by the North County Times that rather than face murder charges, squad leader Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich should be tried for the lesser offense of negligent homicide in the deaths of five children and two women....

Saturday, November 19, 2005 started off as a normal day for 1st Squad 3rd Platoon Kilo Company in Hadithah, Iraq. 0530 was reveille and 0600 I gave my patrol brief to the squad. Although, the mission was something we had conducted and accomplished dozens of times before, today would be extraordinarily different. The vehicle order was the same, and the squad break-down was the same. Two forms of positive communication was a requirement and that was met with a 148 in the third vehicle, and VRC-89 in the first vehicle which was a hard back HMMWV. The other three vehicles...

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- A Marine accused in the deaths of 17 Iraqi civilians said Thursday his mission changed from a supply run to countering an attack after a roadside bomb killed a fellow Marine. Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich made his unsworn statement as a military hearing ended into the deaths in the town of Haditha in November 2005. "I realized my mission had changed. We had practiced this mission countless times before, in classrooms, on whiteboards," said Wuterich, who faces charges of unpremeditated murder. Wuterich also said he will "always mourn the unfortunate deaths of the innocent Iraqis...

CAMP PENDLETON -- A federal agent said Wednesday that he couldn't tell if five Iraqi civilians killed nearly two years ago in the city of Haditha were running away when they were shot, as a Marine staff sergeant charged with the killings contends. Special Agent Thomas Brady said his reconstruction of the scene outside a car where the five men were slain moments after a roadside bomb destroyed a Humvee and killed a lance corporal the morning of Nov. 19, 2005, was inconclusive on that point. Brady's testimony came on the third day of an Article 32 hearing for Staff...

CAMP PENDLETON, California: Seconds after a roadside bomb exploded in Haditha and killed a Marine driving a Humvee, five Iraqi men who were at the scene in a white car were shot to death by the dead Marine's squad mates. Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich has acknowledged shooting the men in the 2005 incident, but claims he did so because they were running away from the site of the blast. Combat rules at the time allowed Marines to shoot at people fleeing the scene of an attack. Precisely how the men died was to be scrutinized, as a the Article 32...

Camp Pendleton -- A sergeant granted immunity from prosecution for allegedly murdering five Iraqi men in Haditha crumbled under hard questioning by a Marine Corps lawyer in the second day of Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich's Article 32 hearing. Wuterich, 27, from Meriden, Connecticut is accused of murdering 17 Iraqi civilians following the ambush of his squad on November 19, 2005. During the daylong fight, 24 Iraqis were killed by Marines, dueling with several groups of insurgents hiding among the civilians cowering in their homes. When the fighting ended eight insurgents had been killed and at least two others were captured...