Sailor pleads guilty in war abuse case

Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Melson J. Bacos, center, is escorted into his court-martial hearing by his defense attorneys, Marine Corps Lt. Col. Scott Jack, left, civilian defense counsel Jeremiah Sullivan, right, and Navy Lt. Jonathan Stephens, back left, held at Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base, Calif. Friday, Oct. 6, 2006. Bacos, charged with killing an Iraqi civilian last April, was to give testimony Friday about the seven Marines' role in the incident in return for having charges against him dropped. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

October 6, 2006

By THOMAS WATKINS, Associated Press Writer

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - A Navy corpsman testified at his court-martial Friday that he watched as Marines shot an Iraqi civilian in the head after taking him from his home in the town of Hamdania.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Melson J. Bacos, 21, said he saw two Marines fire at least 10 rounds into 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad.

Seven Marines and Bacos, a medic who had been on patrol with them that day, were charged in Awad's death. Bacos was the first to go to a court-martial. Friday morning, he pleaded guilty to kidnapping and conspiracy under a deal in which other charges were dropped and Bacos agreed to testify about what he saw.

Bacos testified that he asked the Marines to let Awad go, but he said Marine Cpl. Marshall L. Magincalda told him he was being weak and should stop protesting.

"I witnessed Sgt. (Lawrence) Hutchins dead check the man and fire three rounds into the man's head," Bacos testified. "Then Cpl. (Trent) Thomas fired seven to 10 rounds in to the man's head."

In return for his testimony, other counts of murder, kidnapping and conspiracy against Bacos were to be dropped, his civilian lawyer said before Friday's proceedings.

Bacos said "yes sir" when asked by Col. Steven Folsom, who presided over the hearing, if he agreed with the pleas.

According to charging documents, the troops had entered Hamdania on April 26th searching for an insurgent and, failing to find him, grabbed Awad from his home and shot him. An AK-47 and a shovel were left by Awad's body, apparently to make it look like the man had been digging a hole for a roadside bomb.

Bacos was accused of firing the AK-47 into the air as part of the cover-up.

Military prosecutors had charged him under the theory that he did nothing to stop the alleged crime.

All eight were charged with crimes including murder and kidnapping and were being held at Camp Pendleton. Bacos was recently transferred to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar for his own safety.

David Brahms, a defense attorney for one of the accused Marines, said Bacos will be subjected to intense cross-examination.

"This is just one guy who is going to tell the story as he sees it," Brahms said.

Former Army prosecutor Tom Umberg suggested that others might follow Bacos' lead and strike similar plea deals.

"You don't want to be the last guy standing. The first guy gets the best deal," he said.