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US soldier guilty of Iraq murders US soldier guilty of Iraq murders
(about 5 hours later)
A US Army master sergeant has been found guilty of the murder of four Iraqi detainees in 2007.A US Army master sergeant has been found guilty of the murder of four Iraqi detainees in 2007.
A jury of eight officers and NCOs reached the verdict against Master Sgt John Hatley at a court martial at a US base in southern Germany.A jury of eight officers and NCOs reached the verdict against Master Sgt John Hatley at a court martial at a US base in southern Germany.
He will be sentenced on Thursday. He faces the possibility of life in jail.He will be sentenced on Thursday. He faces the possibility of life in jail.
Master Sgt Hatley is the most senior of seven soldiers allegedly involved. Two have been convicted of murder and two pleaded guilty to lesser charges. Hatley, 40, is the most senior of seven soldiers allegedly involved. Two have been convicted of murder and two admitted to lesser charges.
He was also found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder, but cleared on one count of obstructing justice.
He was acquitted over an incident where a wounded Iraqi insurgent was shot and killed.
Hatley, who had denied the charges, showed no emotion as the verdict was read out at the US Army's Rose Barracks in southern Germany.
Ammunition found
The soldiers that Hatley led were stationed at a highly exposed combat post in West Rashid, which in early 2007 was one of the most violent neighbourhoods in Baghdad.
When they found four Iraqi men not far from a cache of weapons, including sniper rifles, just a week after one of their own sergeants had been shot and killed, they took the law into their own hands, says the BBC's Kevin Connolly in Washington.
On two separate occasions, the accused became the judge, jury and executioner Capt Derrick GraceProsecution lawyer
With no real evidence against them the detainees should have been released, our correspondent says.
Instead they were bound, blindfolded and summarily killed. It is thought their bodies were dumped in a canal but they have never been found.
Because of that absence of physical evidence, Hatley was convicted on the strength of witness statements including those from the two other soldiers already convicted of the killings.
Capt Derrick Grace, for the prosecution, said testimony had pointed to "a complete breakdown of discipline and crimes that are among the worst of a soldier".
"On two separate occasions, the accused became the judge, jury and executioner."
Hatley is one of seven soldiers allegedly involved in the case and the third to be convicted for murder.
In February, Sgt Joseph Leahy, 28, was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the case and last month Sgt Joseph Mayo, 27, was sentenced to 35 years in prison.