An Army investigator has recommended that four soldiers accused of murder in an Iraqi raid face the death penalty. Lt. Col. James P. Daniel Jr. made the recommendation in report obtained Saturday by The Associated Press. Daniel found several aggravating factors that warrant a sentence of death in the case of four soldiers accused of killing three men during a May raid in Iraq. Staff Sgt. Raymond L. Girouard, Spc. William B. Hunsaker, Pfc. Corey R. Clagett, and Spc. Juston R. Graber, all of the Fort Campbell, Ky.-based 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, were accused in the deaths.
The soldiers have claimed they were ordered to "kill all military age males" during a raid on an island on a canal in the northern Salahuddin province. According to statements from some of the soldiers, they were told the target was an al Qaeda training camp and that every military-age male should be killed.