For the third time since the investigation into the killing of at least two dozen Iraqi civilians in the Iraqi town of Haditha in late 2005, the U.S. Marines dropped charges against one of the accused – Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum – in exchange for testimony. This leaves only the commanding officer of the group, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, facing charges in connection with the event.
On November 19th, 2005, a convoy of Marines from Kilo Company was on patrol in Haditha, about 120 miles west of Baghdad in Anbar province. A roadside bomb detonated under a humvee, killing Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas and wounding two others. According to Iraqi witnesses, Marines entered a house near the area and fired on its residents, killing seven. Marines then entered a second home and detonated a grenade, killing eight of its residents, including a 2-year-old boy. Witness accounts describe the Marines entering a third home, killing four men inside a small closet. Official accounts from the U.S. Marines state the entire event lasted five hours with at least 23 dead. 15 were classified as non-combatants. The Marines found two AK-47's in the five hour raid.
Tatum was under investigation for the negligent homicide of two men, a woman and a child, as well as assault on two children injured by a grenade. Tatum claims he was responding to deadly force according to his training protocol during wartime. He claims we was acting in accordance with the rest of his unit, who had opened fire in the area in response to small-arms fire. Tatum claimed he was engaging hostile targets because his superior – Staff Sgt Frank Wuterich – was firing his weapon.
“LCpl Tatum shot and killed people but the reason he did so was because of his training and the circumstances he was placed in, not to exact revenge and commit murder,” said an investigating officer, Lt. Col. Paul Ware.
Wuterich faces a life sentence if convicted on all charges.
