CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait, 2 November 2005 — A US military probe recommended yesterday that a sergeant charged with murdering two colleagues in Iraq face a possible death sentence at a court martial for the first such crime since the 2003 invasion. Investigating officer Col. Patrick Reinert, in the non-binding recommendation, said he found “aggravating factors” that could permit possible capital punishment for Staff Sergeant Alberto Martinez. The No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq, Army Lt. Gen. John Vines, will make a final decision on the case.
“I recommend trial by a general court martial,” Reinert said a day after ending the investigation at Camp Arifjan, a US military base 60 kilometers south of Kuwait City.
Reporters were allowed to watch the proceedings, held in Kuwait rather than Iraq due to security concerns, through closed-circuit television. “There was no evidence that the accused was not mentally responsible at the time of the crimes,” Reinert said. “There is reasonable grounds to believe he (Martinez) committed the offences alleged... there is reasonable cause to believe he had the motive and the opportunity to commit these offences.”
Martinez was charged with the premeditated murder of company commander Capt. Phillip Esposito and Lt. Louis Allen in a blast in Iraq in June. All three served in the headquarters company of the 42nd Infantry Division, a reserve unit drawn from the New York Army National Guard.
The murder, which took place in one of ousted President Saddam Hussein’s palaces in Tikrit, was the first of its kind among US troops in Iraq, where insurgents are inflicting almost daily losses on Iraqi and foreign forces.
During the probe, the prosecutors said a court martial should try the case since the crime was committed at a time of war but the defense disagreed, saying the United States was not engaged in hostile activities in Iraq.
Reinert, who listened to the testimony of nine prosecution witnesses during Monday’s pre-trial probe, said he had based his recommendation on several factors including the use of a mine in a confined area, that the offence was carried out at a time of war and that Martinez was charged with both killings.
