Frank Wuterich

Last updated

Frank Wuterich
Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich.jpg
Born (1980-02-28) February 28, 1980 (age 44)
New London, Connecticut, U.S.
Allegiance Flag of the United States.svg United States of America
Service/branch United States Marine Corps
Years of service1998–2012 [1]
Rank Private (reduced in rank from Staff Sergeant)
Unit 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines
Battles/wars Iraq War
Awards Navy Unit Commendation ribbon.svg Navy Unit Commendation
Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation ribbon.svg Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation
Marine Corps Good Conduct ribbon.svg Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal
National Defense Service Medal ribbon.svg National Defense Service Medal
Iraq Campaign Medal ribbon.svg Iraqi Campaign Medal
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal ribbon.svg Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.svg Sea Service Deployment Ribbon

Frank D. Wuterich (born February 28, 1980) is a former United States Marine Corps Staff Sergeant and mass murderer who pleaded guilty to negligent dereliction of duty as a result of his actions during the Haditha massacre where he murdered multiple innocent civilians. As a result of the plea agreement, he was reduced in rank to Private. He was given a general discharge in February 2012.

Contents

Background

Wuterich grew up in Meriden, Connecticut. In Hawaii, he met and married former wife Marisol with whom he has three daughters. [2] [ failed verification ][ full citation needed ] Wuterich was serving his second tour of duty in Iraq when the Haditha massacre occurred.

Haditha massacre

According to news reports Wuterich was the senior Marine on patrol (no commissioned officers being present), and after the massacre, allegedly lied to his commanding officers by stating that 15 of the dead Iraqi civilians were killed in the same IED explosion that touched off the incident. [3] Time magazine has reported that military investigators had placed Wuterich in at least two of the houses in which the killings took place. [4]

Several passengers of the white taxi killed by Wuterich and his squad 2005 Marine Killings in Haditha.jpg
Several passengers of the white taxi killed by Wuterich and his squad

On June 11, 2006, the Washington Post reported a detailed account of Wuterich's version of events as relayed via his attorney, Neal A. Puckett. [5]

Many news reports have contradicted Wuterich's version of events, claiming that the Marines entered several houses and deliberately killed civilians. Besides photographic evidence of the killings provided by Iraqi journalism student Taher Thabet, there was also testimony from a young Iraqi girl who survived by hiding. The girl described having watched the Marines shoot her family members systematically. [6] The photographs and forensic evidence were later used to corroborate the Marines' version of events. [7]

Since being named in news reports in connection with the massacre, several of Wuterich's family members have spoken out in his defense. Wuterich's father, Dave Wuterich, told the Associated Press that “I just don't believe that he [Frank Wuterich] would do something like that.” [8] Previously, Wuterich's former wife, Marisol, had praised Wuterich in blog postings. [2] On June 19, 2007, Marisol Wuterich and her father-in-law were interviewed on Fox News Channel's Hannity and Colmes , both said that they back Frank Wuterich “100 percent”. [9]

10-years-veteran Captain James Kimber (born 1973), Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey R. Chessani, and Captain Luke McConnell, according to a report by The Times on May 29, 2006, were all relieved of their duties on suspicion of inadequate reporting of or investigation into the Haditha massacre.

Unsuccessful defamation suit

On August 2, 2006, Wuterich filed a lawsuit against Representative John Murtha of Pennsylvania for libel and invasion of privacy. Wuterich claimed that Murtha had defamed Wuterich's image by accusing the Marines of "cold-blooded murder" with respect to the Haditha killings. [10]

On September 1, 2007, news outlets [11] reported on a hearing of Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz, a subordinate of Wuterich at the time of the Haditha incident, in which Dela Cruz testified against Wuterich. Specifically, Cruz stated under oath that Wuterich shot five Iraqi men who appeared to be unarmed bystanders at the scene just seconds after the roadside bomb exploded and subsequently told Cruz to falsely state that the men were running away, behavior that would have justified firing on them under the Marines' operative rules of engagement. Cruz also testified that Wuterich had said to him just one week earlier that "If we ever get hit [by an IED] again, we should kill everybody in that vicinity...so to teach them a lesson." [11]

In September 2008, District Judge Rosemary M. Collyer denied a motion to dismiss the suit and ordered Murtha to give a deposition in the case. [12] However, on April 14, 2009, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overturned the order and dismissed the suit, ruling that the suit was barred by the Federal Employees Liability Reform and Tort Compensation Act of 1988 (Westfall Act), which protects federal employees from being sued personally for actions done in the course of their official duties. [13] [14]

De la Cruz testimony

Sergeant Sanick De la Cruz was on the mission that day. He agreed to testify for the prosecution in exchange for immunity. He changed the story he had previously told about the events of the day. In particular, his new story about the men in the white car differed from the version told by the defense and by forensic experts. [15]

On September 2, 2007, an updated re-airing of 60 Minutes , narrated by Scott Pelley, disclosed that Wuterich did not have to go to Iraq, but went because "he wanted to see war." Pelley also revealed that all charges had since been dropped against Sanick De la Cruz and two others.

De la Cruz recounted his story in an in-depth profile in the July 2008 edition of Chicago Magazine, speaking about the ordeal to a journalist for the first time. [16]

Court-martial and plea agreement

On December 21, 2006, the U.S. military charged eight Marines (four enlisted and four officers) in connection with the Haditha killings. The four enlisted, including Wuterich were charged with 13 counts of unpremeditated murder, while the officers were charged with covering up the killings and failing to investigate properly. Six of the cases were dropped and one officer was acquitted at court-martial. [17] [18] [19] When announcing the charges, Colonel Stewart Navarre said, "We now know with certainty the press release was incorrect and that none of the civilians were killed by the IED explosion."

In September 2007, the Article 32 hearing investigating officer, Lieutenant Colonel Paul Ware, recommended that Wuterich should be tried for the lesser offense of negligent homicide in the deaths of two women and five children, and that charges of murder be dropped. Ware wrote: "I believe after reviewing all the evidence that no trier of fact can conclude Staff Sgt. Wuterich formed the criminal intent to kill. When a Marine fails to exercise due care and civilians die, the charge of negligent homicide, and not murder, is appropriate ... The case against Staff Sgt. Wuterich is simply not strong enough to conclude he committed murder beyond a reasonable doubt. Almost all witnesses have an obvious bias or prejudice." [20] [21]

Wuterich was expected to be back in court to face nine counts of manslaughter in early 2010. [22] After several postponements, [23] [21] the court-martial finally took place in January 2012. On 23 January 2012, all jurors at his court martial were dismissed after Wuterich pleaded guilty to one count of negligent dereliction of duty in a plea deal, approved by Lieutenant General Waldhauser, the commander of Marine Forces Central Command. As part of the agreement, the charges of assault and manslaughter were dropped and Wuterich would avoid jail time but would be reduced in rank to private and a pay cut. On January 24, 2012, Wuterich was convicted of dereliction of duty according to the plea agreement. [24] Wuterich received a general discharge from the Marine Corps on February 17, 2012. [25]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of the Iraq War</span> Sequence of events in the US invasion of Iraq

The following is a timeline of major events during the Iraq War, following the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Murtha</span> American politician (1932–2010)

John Patrick Murtha Jr. was an American politician from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Murtha, a Democrat, represented Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1974 until his death in 2010. He is the longest-serving member of the United States House of Representatives ever elected from Pennsylvania.

Events in the year 2005 in Iraq.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haditha</span> Town in Al Anbar, Iraq

Haditha is a town in the Al Anbar Governorate, about 240 km (150 mi) northwest of Baghdad. It is a farming town situated on the Euphrates River. Its population of around 46,500 people, predominantly Sunni Muslim Arabs. The town lies near the Buhayrat al Qadisiyyah, an artificial lake which was created by the building of the Haditha Dam, the largest hydroelectric facility in Iraq.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3rd Battalion, 1st Marines</span> Military unit

3rd Battalion, 1st Marines (3/1) is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Camp Horno on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. Nicknamed the "Thundering Third", the battalion consists of approximately 1,200 Marines and Sailors and falls under the command of the 1st Marine Regiment and the 1st Marine Division.

The Speech or Debate Clause is a clause in the United States Constitution. The clause states that "The Senators and Representatives" of Congress "shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony, and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their attendance at the Session of their Respective Houses, and in going to and from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haditha massacre</span> Killings committed by U.S. marines in 2005

The Haditha massacre was a series of killings on November 19, 2005, in which a group of United States Marines killed 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians. The killings occurred in the city of Haditha in Iraq's western province of Al Anbar. Among the dead were men, women, elderly people and children as young as three years old, who were shot multiple times at close range. The massacre took place after an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded near a convoy, killing a lance corporal and severely injuring two other Marines. The immediate reaction of some of the Marines was to seize five men in a nearby taxi and execute them on the street.

Jeffrey R. Chessani is an officer of the United States Marine Corps, and was the commanding officer 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines during the November 2005 urban combat in Haditha, Iraq. In that event, known as the Haditha massacre, marines in his battalion were accused of having killed 20 civilians to revenge another marine that was killed in a roadside bomb attack.

Lucas Michael McConnell is an officer in the United States Marine Corps. In accordance with standard administrative procedure, he was removed from command of the Camp Pendleton-based Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines following his role in the haditha massacre, November 2005 war crime in Haditha, Iraq.

The Ishaqi massacre refers to the reported mass murder of Iraqi civilians allegedly committed by United States forces in the town of Ishaqi on 15 March 2006.

The Hamdania incident refers to the alleged kidnapping and subsequent murder of an Iraqi man by United States Marines on April 26, 2006, in Al Hamdania, a small village west of Baghdad near Abu Ghraib. An investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service resulted in charges of murder, kidnapping, housebreaking, larceny, Obstruction of Justice and conspiracy associated with the alleged coverup of the incident. They were forced to drop many charges on the defendants. The defendants are seven Marines and a Navy Corpsman. As of February 2007, five of the defendants have negotiated pleas to lesser charges of kidnapping and conspiracy, or less, and have agreed to testify in these trials. Additional Marines from the same battalion faced lesser charges of assault related to the use of physical force during interrogations of suspected insurgents. Those charges were dropped.

Thaer Thabet al-Hadithi is an Iraqi activist. A native of Haditha and founder of the Hammurabi Organization for Human Rights and Democracy. The day after a squad of US Marines killed 24 Iraqi civilians after an improvised explosive device detonated by insurgents killed American soldier Miguel Terrazas, Thabet, who claimed to live around 100 yards (100 m) away from the original IED blast in Haditha, videotaped the scene the day after the carnage. He then shared his tape four months later with Time magazine, Viewing the tape prompted them to run a story on the incident after McGirk found obvious discrepancies with the military's November press release about the IED and the injuries revealed by the tape, which obviously were not caused by shrapnel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Haditha</span>

The Battle of Haditha took place between U.S. forces and Ansar al-Sunna in early August 2005 on the outskirts of the town of Haditha, Iraq, which was one of the many towns that were under insurgent control in the Euphrates River valley during 2005.

The Shinwar Shooting or Shinwar Massacre was the alleged killing of a number of Afghan civilians on 4 March 2007, in the village of Spinpul, in the Shinwar District of the Nangarhar Province of Afghanistan. United States Marines, fleeing the scene of a car bomb attack and ambush by Afghan militants, fired on people and vehicles surrounding them, according to initial reports, killing as many as 19 civilians and injuring around 50 more. A later U.S. Navy investigation found that between 5 and 7 adult men were killed, and 2 civilians, a 16-year-old boy and a woman, were injured. However, the exact figures remain unknown, as U.S. Military Police did not find any dead or wounded civilians when they arrived 30 minutes after the shooting.

Dustin Berg is a former member of the Indiana National Guard. In July 2005, he pleaded guilty to fatally shooting Hussein Kamel Hadi Dawood al-Zubeidi, who had been his partner during the U.S. occupation of Iraq. He was sentenced to serve 18 months.

<i>Battle for Haditha</i> 2007 British film

Battle for Haditha is a 2007 drama film directed by British director Nick Broomfield based on the Haditha killings. Dramatising real events using a documentary style, Battle for Haditha is Broomfield's follow up to Ghosts. The film was aired on Channel 4 in the UK on 17 March 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anbar campaign (2003–2011)</span> Campaign during the Iraq War

The Anbar campaign consisted of fighting between the United States military, together with Iraqi security forces, and Sunni insurgents in the western Iraqi governorate of Al Anbar. The Iraq War lasted from 2003 to 2011, but the majority of the fighting and counterinsurgency campaign in Anbar took place between April 2004 and September 2007. Although the fighting initially featured heavy urban warfare primarily between insurgents and U.S. Marines, insurgents in later years focused on ambushing the American and Iraqi security forces with improvised explosive devices (IEDs), large scale attacks on combat outposts, and car bombings. Almost 9,000 Iraqis and 1,335 Americans were killed in the campaign, many in the Euphrates River Valley and the Sunni Triangle around the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi.

The United States Armed Forces and its members have violated the law of war after the signing of the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 and the signing of the Geneva Conventions. The United States prosecutes offenders through the War Crimes Act of 1996 as well as through articles in the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The United States signed the 1999 Rome Statute but it never ratified the treaty, taking the position that the International Criminal Court (ICC) lacks fundamental checks and balances. The American Service-Members' Protection Act of 2002 further limited US involvement with the ICC. The ICC reserves the right of states to prosecute war crimes, and the ICC can only proceed with prosecution of crimes when states do not have willingness or effective and reliable processes to investigate for themselves. The United States says that it has investigated many of the accusations alleged by the ICC prosecutors as having occurred in Afghanistan, and thus does not accept ICC jurisdiction over its nationals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maywand District murders</span> Murders of Afghan civilians by U.S. Army soldiers from June 2009–June 2010

The Maywand District murders were the thrill killings of at least three Afghan civilians perpetrated by a group of U.S. Army soldiers from January to May 2010, during the War in Afghanistan. The soldiers, who referred to themselves as the "Kill Team", were members of the 3rd Platoon, Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, and 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. They were based at FOB Ramrod in Maiwand, in Kandahar Province of Afghanistan.

References

  1. ↑ "Topic: Frank Wuterich". UPI. Retrieved September 24, 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Breaking International News & Views". Reuters. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  3. ↑ Ricks, Thomas (June 2, 2006). "White House braces for damning report on Haditha". The Sydney Morning Herald . Washington. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  4. ↑ "The ghosts of Haditha". CNN . June 4, 2006. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  5. ↑ White, Josh (June 11, 2006). "Marine Says Rules Were Followed". The Washington Post . ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  6. ↑ "Collateral Damage or Civilian Massacre in Haditha? -- Page 2". Time . June 14, 2006. Archived from the original on June 14, 2006. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  7. ↑ von Zielbauer, Paul (June 15, 2007). "Forensic Experts Testify That 4 Iraqis Killed by Marines Were Shot From a Few Feet Away". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  8. ↑ Eaton-Robb, Pat (June 12, 2006). "Father Supports Marine in Haditha Probe". Washington Post . Retrieved June 16, 2006.[ dead link ]
  9. ↑ "Marine to serve no time in Iraqi killings case". Fox News. Associated Press. March 20, 2015. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  10. ↑ White, Josh (August 2, 2006). "Marine Names Murtha in Defamation Suit". The Washington Post . ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  11. 1 2 Vick, Karl (September 1, 2007). "Witness Describes Iraq Killing". The Washington Post . ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  12. ↑ "Marine can't sue Murtha, D.C. Circuit holds". The Daily Record (Maryland) . Baltimore, MD. April 15, 2009. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
  13. ↑ Pickler, Nedra (April 14, 2009). "Frank Wuterich Murtha Defamation Suit Dies In Court". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011.
  14. ↑ Pickler, Nedra (June 27, 2011). "Court says Murtha can't be sued for Iraq remark". The San Francisco Chronicle.
  15. ↑ "Rules of Engagement". FRONTLINE. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  16. ↑ "Witness at Haditha".
  17. ↑ "Archive blogs". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  18. ↑ "Haditha killings" in The Encyclopedia of Middle East Wars: The United States in the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq Conflicts (Vol. 1). Ed. Spencer C. Tucker. ABC-CLIO (2010), p. 511.
  19. ↑ "The San Diego Union-Tribune - San Diego, California & National News". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  20. ↑ "Investigator: Marine didn't commit murder - USATODAY.com". usatoday30.usatoday.com. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  21. 1 2 "North County". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  22. ↑ "FOX 12 Boise - Home". www.hotels-in-atlanta.com. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  23. ↑ "MILITARY: Wuterich trial delayed". North County Times. January 17, 2011. Archived from the original on January 20, 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2011.
  24. ↑ Tony Perry (January 25, 2012). "Marine gets no jail time in killing of 24 Iraqi civilians". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved January 30, 2012.
  25. ↑ WALKER, MARK (February 21, 2012). "MILITARY: Frank Wuterich no longer in the Marine Corps".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.