A US army sergeant was sentenced to life imprisonment yesterday for involvement in the execution-style killing of four handcuffed and blindfolded Iraqi prisoners in 2007.
Master Sgt John Hatley (40) was found guilty of premeditated murder and conspiracy after shooting two men and ordering two soldiers under his command to kill a man each.Pronouncing sentence yesterday, a US court martial in the southern German town of Vilseck instructed that Hatley’s rank be reduced to private before a dishonourable discharge.
As the highest-ranking US service man to be convicted of murder in the Iraq war, Hatley will serve 20 years before he has any possibility of getting parole.
The case came to light after confessions from two soldiers under Hatley’s command. They told how, in the spring of 2007, they exchanged fire with four Iraqi men near a weapons cache in a violent Baghdad neighbourhood.
Instead of questioning and releasing the men, the US soldiers blindfolded, bound and shot them. The prosecution said that Hatley, as superior officer, led his men “down the brutal path to murder”.
“The accused became the judge, jury and executioner,” said Capt Derrick Grace, for the prosecution.
After the killings, the soldiers testified that Hatley ordered them to remove the handcuffs and blindfolds and dump the bodies in a Baghdad canal. The bodies have never been recovered.
In a final statement to the court, Hatley asked for six more months’ service so that he could reach 20 years of service.
“I’ve served my country for half my life which I think is the most honourable profession in the world,” he said. “My soldiers are like my sons and there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for them.”
Defence lawyer David Court contended that, with no evidence, the prosecution case was unsatisfactory and built on partially conflicting testimony.
“He loved his soldiers too much, that was his crime,” he said.
Mr Court called for the sentence to reflect the difficult circumstances for soldiers battling Iraqi insurgents in 2007.
Two other members of Hatley’s unit have been convicted for killing one man each. Sgt Michael Leahy (28) was sentenced to life imprisonment for premeditated murder in February. Last month Sgt First Class Joseph P Mayo received a 35-year sentence after pleading guilty to murder.
Sgt Mayo said the killings were motivated by anger at the deaths of two comrades in the same unit.