Schofield soldier
court-martialed over
Iraqi deathMilitary prosecutors do not
intend to seek the death penalty
A Schofield Barracks soldier, believed to be the first military member charged with murdering a civilian in the Iraq war, will face a court-martial Aug. 1.
Pfc. Edward Richmond, 20, of the 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, is accused of shooting the man Feb. 28 while members of his platoon attempted to arrest him during a roundup of suspected terrorists in al-Hawijah, a city southwest of Kirkuk. The area has been a center of insurgency since the U.S. invasion last spring.
The Stars and Stripes newspaper reported yesterday that a charge sheet obtained from the 25th Infantry Division's staff judge advocate identified the victim as Muhamad Husain Kadir. The charge sheet said he was shot in the head near Taal Al Jal, Iraq.
A single charge of unpremeditated murder was preferred against Richmond on April 5.
The newspaper reported that although Richmond's case is a capital crime, military prosecutors do not intend to seek the death penalty.
Maj. Gen. John Batiste, commander of the 1st Infantry Division, referred the charges to a court-martial Tuesday after reviewing an Article 32 report -- the military equivalent of a grand jury investigation -- of the shooting.
The 25th Infantry Division soldiers were searching for terrorists in the region of al-Hawijah, a city of more than 85,000 mostly Sunni Arabs about 40 miles southwest of Kirkuk, when the incident occurred.
The nearly 4,000 Tropic Lightning soldiers -- members of the 2nd Combat Brigade Team -- were sent to Kirkuk in January and will be under the control of the 1st Infantry Division for a year.
The Associated Press also reported Wednesday that the Army will charge a 1st Armored Division officer with murder after he shot at close range and killed an already severely wounded Iraqi on May 21. The Iraqi was suspected of being a Muqtada al-Sadr loyalist.