A US soldier was convicted last night of murdering an Iraqi man during a search for an insurgent.
Marine Corps squad leader Sgt Lawrence G Hutchins III (23) was also convicted of conspiracy to commit murder, making a false official statement and larceny. He was acquitted of kidnapping, assault and housebreaking.
He had been charged with premeditated murder, but the military jury struck the premeditation element from the verdict. Hutchins could be sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Prosecutors said that during a nighttime patrol in Hamdania, Iraq, in April 2006, Hutchins' squad formulated a plan to kidnap and kill a suspected insurgent from his house. When they couldn't find him, they instead kidnapped a man from a neighbouring house, dragged him to a hole and shot him.
Prosecutors said squad members tried to cover up the killing by planting a shovel and AK-47 by his body to make it look like he was an insurgent planting a bomb.
Several witnesses testified the plot came about due to frustration after suspected insurgents kept evading prosecution. The squad was pulled 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 given approval for marines to use violence in capturing and interrogating suspected insurgents.