PHOENIX (AP) - An Army investigator has recommended the death penalty for four soldiers accused of murder during a raid in Iraq. Lt. Col. James P. Daniel Jr. made the recommendation in report obtained Saturday by The Associated Press.
Daniel found several aggravating factors that warrant a sentence of death in the case of four soldiers accused of killing three men during the May raid in the Salahuddin province.
Staff Sgt. Raymond L. Girouard, Spc. William B. Hunsaker, Pfc. Corey R. Clagett, and Spc. Juston R. Graber, all of the Fort Campbell, Ky.- based 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, were accused in the deaths.
The soldiers have claimed they were ordered to "kill all military-age males" during a raid on an island on a canal in the province. According to statements from some of the soldiers, they were told that the target was an al-Qaida training camp.
Hunsaker told investigators that he and Clagett were attacked by the three men and shot them in self-defense. Clagett said he was hit in the face and Hunsaker claimed he was stabbed during the attack.
"I had felt this action necessary for they had tried to use deadly force on me and my comrade," Hunsaker wrote in a statement.
