Thursday, July 10, 2008 9:23 PM CDT
Illinois Marine suspected of Iraqi murder on trial
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — A veteran of a legendary battle in Iraq told a Secret Service agent that he and fellow Marines “really debated” before following what they took as a suggestion to kill four detainees, according to a recording played in a Camp Pendleton courtroom Thursday.
“It’s not something anybody wants to do,” Sgt. Ryan Weemer told the agent on the recording, which came during a 2006 job interview. “We ended up shooting them.”
On Thursday, military prosecutors played the recording that landed Weemer in court, charged with murder and dereliction of duty in the death of one of the captured and disarmed enemy fighters.
On the recording, Weemer told a Secret Service agent that he took part in unlawful killings during house-to-house fighting in the 2004 battle for the Iraqi city of Fallujah.
U.S. forces were fighting for control of the city, which was then said to be an insurgent stronghold in Iraq’s Anbar province.
His alleged admissions to the agent during the two-hour, recorded interview led to a probe by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
On the tape, Weemer says he killed one of the captives.
“I took one guy,” Weemer is heard saying. “Told my team I couldn’t have anything to do with this anymore. I left.”
Weemer, of Hindsboro, appeared to have little reaction as he listened to the recording.
The 25-year-old Marine faces a life sentence in military prison and dishonorable discharge if he is convicted of murder.
Weemer’s sister, Felicia Hudson of Oakland, and others in the Hindsboro-Oakland area have held fundraisers to collect donations for the Ryan Weemer Defense Fund. They also have created the Web site www.defendingahero.org.
Weemer had left the Marine Corps before the Secret Service job interview, and was recalled to military duty to face the charges. He was in court for a hearing to determine whether there is sufficient cause to order him to court-martial.
Three men from the base’s 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, including Weemer, face homicide charges arising out of actions by their squad in Fallujah on Nov. 9, 2004.
Weemer and another Marine, Sgt. Jermaine Nelson, are charged with the unlawful killing of one insurgent each. Nelson’s court-martial is set for Dec. 8.
Former Marine Jose Nazario is charged with two counts of voluntary manslaughter in the incident. Nazario was ineligible for recall into the service. His case is being handled in federal court and his trial is set for Aug. 19 in Riverside, Calif.
Nazario shot two detainees in the head and directed Weemer and Nelson to shoot the others, according to a court document filed in the case.
Weemer’s statement during the job interview came not long after the Secret Service agent asked him about his most serious crime.
Weemer soon turned the topic to the war, saying, “I was justified,” in all that happened during battle.
The agent mentioned that self-defense was justified, for the police, for members of the armed services, but that it is not okay to shoot a man unprovoked, “even if he is a scumbag.”
“That actually did happen, to be honest,” Weemer responded, and then began to tell his story about Fallujah.
The alleged killings came shortly after Weemer says he helped try to save his gravely wounded best friend.
“I was taking it really hard,” Weemer said on the recording. “I had his blood all over me.”
He said that he and other Marines were ordered to clear a house. There, they found men and a cache of weapons. Weemer said Nazario called in to report what they had found.
“The response we got was ‘Are they dead yet?’” Weemer told the agent, adding that they didn’t want to take any prisoners.
“We argued about it and argued about it,” Weemer said of the discussion among the Marines in the house about whether the comment on the radio was an indication that they should shoot their prisoners.
Weemer also said the killings were “a survival thing,” otherwise a prisoner “would run down the street” and pick up an AK-47.
The agent quickly asked if others taken prisoner during the days of the Fallujah battle had been detained and shipped off to jail.
“Yes,” Weemer said. He later added, “The way I see it, it was a situation where we couldn’t take these guys. We called and asked what to do, they said we couldn’t take them, we’re moving.”
Prosecutors also played a recording of an interview with federal agents in which Nelson admitted he committed one of the killings.
Naval Criminal Investigative Service Special Agent Mark Fox took the stand Thursday afternoon and, on cross-examination, said that investigators questioned the resident whose home may have been the alleged crime scene.
Fox said the man, who, with his family, heeded U.S. military warnings for innocents to flee the city before the battle, told investigators no bodies or blood were found in the home when they returned.
Weemer’s hearing will continue today.
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krusayda wrote on Jul 11, 2008 8:41 AM: