COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—A fellow soldier of an Army private accused of shooting and killing a Taliban leader says he feared the private would kill the prisoner and maybe even himself.
The testimony came during a court hearing Tuesday at Fort Carson to determine whether there is enough evidence to try Pfc. David Lawrence in the Oct. 17 slaying.
Lawrence’s lawyer says the Indiana native is taking medication for schizophrenia and isn’t mentally fit to stand trial.
Two soldiers who guarded Lawrence after his arrest in Afghanistan testified that Lawrence told them he and his lawyer might “play the crazy card.”
Lawrence appeared to repeatedly nod off during the hearing, prompting prosecutors to ask a sergeant to sit next to him to make sure he stayed awake. At one point, he stood up and started to walk away before an officer pulled him back.
One of the soldiers from Lawrence’s platoon, Pfc. Dimitri Andre Jenkins, testified by speaker phone from Afghanistan about Jenkins’ unsettling behavior before the prisoner was shot.
Jenkins, a medic, said Lawrence acted strangely, saying sometimes he was upset about a friend who had died back home and sometimes he laughed and joked with other soldiers.
Jenkins testified that he reported his concerns to superiors about Lawrence, who was serving with the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division in Afghanistan. Jenkins said he feared the prisoner would be killed when “for the most part, he said he was going to do something that had to be done.”
Jenkins also said that before the prisoner was shot, “I felt like it was going to be some kind of murder-suicide deal.”
Lawrence’s guards, Sgt. John Miller and Pvt. Aaron Rederstorf, also both testified that Lawrence told them that the bullet that killed the detainee—who hasn’t been identified—had ricocheted off something before it struck him.
They said that before Lawrence had his first judicial hearing in Afghanistan, he was smiling and laughing, with Miller saying he appeared “almost cocky”.
After the hearing, they said Lawrence became more subdued and at one point appeared to be crying. Both guards said they were not at the hearing and didn’t know what had transpired.
Both guards, who also testified by phone from Afghanistan, said Lawrence had asked them about how long a prison term he might get.
“Well, if I get 20 years, I’ll get out when I’m 40 and that wouldn’t be too bad,” Miller quoted Lawrence as saying.
Sgt. Jaroslab Diaz, who had served as Lawrence’s platoon leader at one time, also testified that two other soldiers told him that Lawrence had reported having homicidal and suicidal thoughts before the shooting. Diaz testified that Lawrence said he shot the leader.
The Army says it’s not sure of the name of the Taliban leader killed, saying he had a number of aliases.
