A US Army court-martial has found a soldier guilty of murder in the execution-style slayings of four bound and blindfolded Iraqi detainees in the spring of 2007.
Sergeant 1st Class Joseph Mayo, 27, pleaded guilty yesterday to charges of premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit premeditated murder at his court-martial at the US Army’s Rose Barracks. A charge of obstruction of justice was dropped by prosecutors.
Mayo, of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, faces the possibility of life in prison and was to be sentenced later yesterday.
The incident occurred while Mayo was deployed to Iraq.
He is the sixth of seven soldiers to face a court at the US Army’s Rose Barracks since August and the trial could last several days.
No hometown for Mayo was provided by the Army.
Last month a military court convicted Sergeant Michael Leahy, 28, of Lockport, Illinois, to life in prison with the possibility of parole after he admitted to the execution-style killing of one of the detainees and shooting another.
He was acquitted of murder over a separate incident in Baghdad in January 2007.
Testimony at previous courts-martial showed that at least four Iraqis were taken into custody in spring 2007 after a shootout with a patrol.
The Iraqis were taken to the US unit’s operating base in Baghdad for questioning and processing, although there was not enough evidence to hold them for attacking the unit.
Later that night patrol members took the Iraqis to a remote area and shot them in retribution for the attacks on the unit, the testimony said.
Mayo, Leahy and Master Sergeant John Hatley, 40, are accused of pulling the trigger.
All were with the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division.
The unit is now part of the Germany-based 172nd Infantry Brigade.
Hatley’s court-martial on charges of premeditated murder, conspiracy to commit premeditated murder and obstruction of justice is scheduled for next month.
The Army has also not released a hometown for Hatley.Hatley also faces murder charges from the separate incident in Baghdad.
Two soldiers — Specialist Steven Ribordy, 26, of Salina, Kansas, and Specialist Belmor Ramos, 24, of Clearfield, Utah — pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit premeditated murder and were sentenced to prison last year.
Staff Sergeant Jess Cunningham, 29, of Bakersfield, California, and Sergeant Charles Quigley, 28, of Providence, Rhode Island, had charges of conspiracy to commit premeditated murder dropped this year.
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