US:A US marine has been convicted of murdering an Iraqi man during a search for an insurgent last year in the town of Hamdania in Iraq.
Squad leader Sgt Lawrence Hutchins (23) was also convicted of conspiracy to commit murder, making a false official statement and larceny.
He was acquitted at Camp Pendleton, California, of charges of kidnapping, assault and housebreaking.
Hutchins could be sentenced to life in prison without parole.
He had been charged with premeditated murder, but the military jury struck the premeditation element from the verdict.
Prosecutors said that during a night-time patrol in Hamdania in April 2006 Hutchins's squad hatched a plan to kidnap and kill a suspected insurgent from his house. When they could not find him, they kidnapped a man from a neighbouring house, dragged him to a hole and shot him.
The man had been identified as Hashim Ibrahim Awad, but the name was dropped after defence attorneys contended that the identity was not conclusive.
Prosecutors said that squad members tried to cover up the killing by planting a shovel and an AK-47 by the man's body to make it look like he was an insurgent planting a bomb.
A number of witnesses testified that the plot was hatched out of frustration after suspected insurgents kept evading arrest.
The squad was removed from the battlefield after the killing.
Lawyers for Hutchins argued that he participated in the plot because his own officers had set a poor leadership example and had given approval for marines to use violence in capturing and interrogating suspected insurgents.
Another jury recessed yesterday, unable to reach a sentencing decision on a squad member convicted on Wednes- day of conspiracy and lesser crimes but acquitted of premeditated murder and kidnapping.
Cpl Marshall Magincalda (24) had faced up to life in prison. He was found guilty of larceny and housebreaking but was cleared of making a false official statement.
Magincalda was not accused of firing any shots, but he was charged with murder for participating in the plot.
A military psychiatrist testified that Magincalda had developed post-traumatic stress disorder and severe depression as a result of combat.
The prosecutor, Lt-Col Sean Sullivan, recommended that Magincalda be sentenced to 10 years in prison and be given a "bad conduct" discharge.
All eight members of the squad were initially charged with murder and kidnapping.
Four marines and a navy corpsman cut deals with prosecutors in exchange for their testimony and received sentences ranging from one to eight years in prison.