The US military said Sept. 17 that three soldiers have been charged with premeditated murder committed in an unspecified incident in or near Baghdad in March or April 2007. Sgt. John E. Hatley, 40, Sgt. 1st Class Joseph P. Mayo, 27, and Sgt. Michael P. Leahy, 26, all formerly assigned to the 1st Batallion, 18th Infantry Regiment, are also charged with conspiracy to commit premeditated murder and obstruction of justice. Two of the soldiers had said in sworn statements that the three had killed four handcuffed and blindfolded Iraqi prisoners with pistol shots to the head beside a Baghdad canal. Hatley and Leahy have also been charged with premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit premeditated murder over a separate incident in or near Baghdad in early January 2007, according to the statement from the 7th Army Joint Multinational Training Command based in Graefenwoehr, Germany. (AFP, BBC, Sept. 17)

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