Spc. will plead guilty to killing detainees - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

Spc. will plead guilty to killing detainees

One of four 101st Airborne Division soldiers accused of killing detainees in Iraq will plead guilty to murder Thursday at Fort Campbell, Ky., his attorney said.

Spc. William B. Hunsaker, 24, is charged with premeditated murder, attempted premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit premeditated murder.

Military prosecutors say the soldiers from 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, killed three men during a May 9 raid near Samarra, Iraq.

The accused said they were told it was a site of al-Qaida in Iraq and they were ordered to shoot all military-aged males on sight.

After Spc. Juston R. Graber pleaded guilty and other co-defendants were rumored to have reached plea deals, Hunsaker decided he was “tired of lying,” said his defense attorney, Michael Waddington.

“They lied to protect each other,” Waddington said.

The plea agreement, which outlines a prison sentence between 10 and 20 years, will be presented to the military judge presiding in the case at 9 a.m. Thursday.

Prosecutors with the Fort Campbell Judge Advocate General’s Office said they could not comment on an ongoing case.

Hunsaker has been in military confinement in Charleston, S.C., since the 101st Airborne Division returned to the states in the fall.

According to Waddington, Hunsaker knew the kill order during the raid was wrong, but “in his mind, he saw this as a lesser evil for a greater good.”

Waddington said Hunsaker told him the 101st soldiers captured the men and then continued to search the house, which went against the order to kill on sight.

After exchanges with commanders, an order came to take the detainees outside and shoot them, Waddington said.

“The bottom line is he [Hunsaker] knew that was murder and he’s willing to accept responsibility for that.”

Army investigators later determined the detainees were foreign fighters, not Iraqis as initially reported, the attorney said.

After reaching a plea deal with prosecutors, Graber, 21, pleaded guilty Tuesday to a lesser charge of aggravated assault with a dangerous weapon and was sentenced to nine months in military jail. Graber’s sentence could be reduced to six months if he cooperates with prosecutors. He also was will be reduced in rank from specialist to private and will forfeit all pay and allowances for six months.

Graber told the military judge that Staff Sgt. Raymond L. Girouard suggested they put one man “out of his misery.”

Graber said he then shot the man in the head. Graber told the judge that he knew Girouard was not ordering him to shoot the detainee and that what he did was unlawful.

Girouard’s court-martial is scheduled for March 5, Fort Campbell spokesman Master Sgt. Terry Webster said.

Pfc. Corey R. Clagett, the final soldier charged in the incident, will next appear in court Jan. 27, Webster said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.