US Marine sentenced to 15 years for murdering Iraqi man

WASHINGTON: A US Marine has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for orchestrating and supervising the kidnapping and murder of an Iraqi man in April 2006.

Marine Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins III, 23, Friday became the first US Marine convicted of a wartime murder since the Vietnam War.

A US military jury in Camp Pendleton, California, also sentenced him to dishonorable discharge, reduction in rank and verbal reprimand.

According to prosecutors, Hutchins, six other Marines and a Navy corpsman took an Iraqi man from his bed, dragged him to a roadside hole, bound his hands and feet and shot him repeatedly on April 26, 2006 in the rural town of Hamdaniya.

Then they tried to disguise the crime as a firefight between US troops and an insurgent who was discovered trying to plant a bomb.

Five members of the eight-man squad pleaded guilty to lesser charges in connection with the murder.

A sixth member, team leader Cpl. Trent Thomas, was convicted of conspiracy and kidnapping and was sentenced to grade reduction, forfeiture of all military pay and benefits, and a bad-conduct discharge.

Another member, Cpl. Marshall Magincalda, was convicted Wednesday of larceny and housebreaking as well as conspiracy to murder.