CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — A military judge on Friday refused to dismiss charges against a Marine who led a squad that killed 24 Iraqi civilians, including children, in the town of Hadithah after a bomb killed a Marine.
The ruling cleared the way for a court-martial of Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, the last defendant in the biggest criminal case against U.S. troops to arise from the Iraq war.
The 30-year-old Wuterich, of Meriden, Conn., is one of eight Marines originally charged with murder or failure to investigate the killings that occurred after the roadside bombing. Six have had charges dropped or dismissed, and one was acquitted.
A trial is scheduled for Sept. 13 for Wuterich on reduced charges of voluntary manslaughter in nine of the 24 deaths and other crimes in the November 2005 shootings.
