Camp Pendleton, Calif. – A Marine sergeant testified Wednesday that he repeatedly told higher-ups that the November 2005 killings of 24 Iraqi civilians in Hadithah warranted an investigation, but he was told not to worry about it.
“Knowing what happened on Nov. 19, I knew something had to be done with an investigation,” said 1st Sergeant Albert Espinosa, who maintained casualty reports for Kilo Company at the time of the killings.
Espinosa testified on the second day of a preliminary hearing for Capt. Randy W. Stone, a Marine lawyer from Dunkirk, Md.
Stone is accused along with three officers of dereliction of duty for failing to investigate the deaths, which followed the death of a Marine in a roadside bombing.
Espinosa said in the days after the killings, he told Stone and the company’s commander, Capt. Lucas McConnell, that an investigation should be launched.
“They said don’t worry about it, battalion will handle it,” he said. “It wasn’t the answer I was looking for.”
Espinosa also testified that log books from Nov. 19 were incomplete or missing.
The hearing is part of an Article 32 investigation, the military’s equivalent to a grand jury proceeding. Maj. Thomas McCann, the investigating officer, will hear evidence and recommend whether the charges should go to trial in the biggest U.S. criminal case involving civilian deaths in the Iraq war.
A platoon commander testified Tuesday that he was shocked that so many civilians had died, but he defended the move as a legitimate combat operation.
“There’s a difference between killing and murder,” Marine 1st Lt. William Kallop said.
