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FORT BRAGG, N.C. — The leader of an Army Special Forces team “grinned” as he held the ear of an Afghan man he suspected of being an insurgent after he shot him and left his body in the desert, a Green Beret testified Tuesday.
The testimony by Sgt. 1st Class Ricky Derring came at a military hearing for his team leader, Master Sgt. Joseph D. Newell, 38, of Tecumseh, Mich. Newell, who has served in the military for two decades, could face court-martial on a murder charge in the March 5 killing of the Afghan civilian.
Under cross-examination by Newell’s civilian attorney, Todd Conormon, Derring said he didn’t actually see Newell cut off the ear.
