Washington – An Army investigator has recommended a general court-martial, on charges that could carry the death penalty, for four U.S. soldiers who killed three Iraqi detainees during a May raid, according to a copy of his findings made available to The Washington Post.
The soldiers, all members of the 101st Airborne Division, maintain that they acted in self-defense after the detainees resisted.
In a 10-page report dated Aug. 31, Army investigator Lt. Col. James P. Daniel Jr. recommended that three of the soldiers – Staff Sgt. Raymond L. Girouard, Spec. William B. Hunsaker and Pfc. Corey R. Clagett – be charged with conspiring to commit premeditated murder of the detainees and then threatening another soldier not to tell anyone about it.
Daniel found that Spec. Juston Graber withdrew from the conspiracy but still should face charges of murder for following Girouard’s order to shoot a detainee in the head.
