A Fort Carson soldier who faces a murder charge in the smothering death of an Iraqi general has also been charged with assault for using a similar interrogation technique on another prisoner days before the general’s death.
Chief Warrant Officer Lewis Welshofer Jr. was charged in May with slapping and punching an unnamed Iraqi prisoner at Al Qaim on Nov. 19, 2003, according to the charge sheet obtained Monday.
Welshofer then allegedly threw the detainee to the ground, wrapped him in a sleeping bag and threw his weight onto the prisoner’s body, according to the charging document.
Welshofer and Chief Warrant Officer Jefferson Williams face murder charges in the Nov. 26, 2003, death of Iraqi Maj. Gen. Abed Hamed Mowhoush. Two other soldiers, Sgt. 1st Class William Sommer and Spec. Jerry Loper, were initially charged in the case, but the charges may be dropped so they can testify against Williams and Welshofer.
Mowhoush was placed in a sleeping bag and forced to the ground, and then Welshofer sat on the general and put his hands over the general’s face until he lost consciousness, according to the charges in that case.
Williams also faces an assault charge after Sgt. 1st Class Gerold Pratt, a Utah National Guard soldier who ran logistics at the detention facility, testified that Williams threw a heavy box at the general.
While the charges are not specific, Pratt appears to be the source of the additional charge against Welshofer. During the Article 32 preliminary hearing for Williams, Pratt testified he witnessed Welshofer trying to get a prisoner to confess that he was an insurgent.
Welshofer “put a sleeping bag over the detainee, wrapped a cord around the detainee so he was unable to move, picked up the detainee and threw him on the floor, body-slammed him in the chest (or) stomach, slapped the detainee and demanded that he admit that he was” an insurgent, Pratt testified. “The detainee started to pray, Chief Welshofer slapped him around a bit, repeatedly hit the detainee against the concrete floor.”
Welshofer threw water on the detainee and put his hands over the detainee’s mouth, Pratt continued. Eventually, Welshofer ended the interrogation, allowing the prisoner to leave. The description is very similar to what prosecutors have charged happened in Mowhoush’s death.
Days before the general died, Welshofer held a meeting to tell interrogators that only he and another officer could use the sleeping bag because a detainee had passed out during interrogation. It is unclear whether the meeting was held before or after the Nov. 19 interrogation.
Welshofer’s attorney, Frank Spinner, has said his client is not guilty of any crimes and that top officers approved interrogation techniques. Spinner could not be reached for comment Monday.
Welshofer’s court-martial is scheduled for October.
Staff writer Arthur Kane can be reached at 303-820-1626 or akane@denverpost.com.
