Convicted Marine speaks about murder of Iraqi civilian David Edwards and Muriel Kane

Published: Friday August 10, 2007





Print This Email This A marine acquitted of killing an Iraqi civilian but found guilty on related conspiracy charges was released on Friday after his sentence had been reduced to time served by a military jury composed entirely of Iraq war veterans. Corporal Marshall Magincalda was one of a group of marines that kidnapped a man from an Iraqi villages, bound and executed him, then tried to cover up the crime by creating the appearance of a firefight with an insurgent caught planing a bomb. The prosecutors had asked for a ten-year sentence, while the defense had argued in extenuation that because Magincalda is a devout Christian he was reluctant to challenge his squad leader. Magincalda spoke to the Associated Press about the crime, saying, "I knew that what we were doing wasn't the right way to do things, but I didn't know that my activity would be considered criminal." "My sergeant's here, he's telling me this is the plan, this is what he wants done," said Magincalda. "I don't agree with shooting the guy, even though he's telling me he's a bad dude and we have, you know, a lot of ... intelligence to suggest that that whole village was bad at that time." "I'm upset with my actions over there for not stopping what happened," Magincalda continued, "but at the same time ... I don't think you guys understand what's going on over there. This is a war. ... This is my third combat tour. I've killed people. It never feels good to do that, but you have to believe that you're doing it for the right reasons. ... I'm always going to question, because we don't know who this man was." "I feel a little guilty because of the way we conducted ourselves out there," concluded Magincalda. "I have freedom now ... but also, I take it with a heavy heart because I still have my brothers that are still in jail for doing their job." Magincalda's parents' website refers to their son as "a Hero to Our Country" and accuses the military of charging the squad members as the result of "intense (and highly questionably) interrogation by the N.C.I.S. (Naval Criminal Investigation Services)" and of holding the eight men "under Maximum Security, Solitary Confinement, treated worse than the United States detainees currently in Gitmo!" The following video is from The Associated Press, released on August 10.





