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Forensic Expert Cites Evidence Linking Two Marines to 2005 Haditha Civilian Deaths

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New Evidence Links Two Marines to 2005 Haditha Civilian Deaths, Forensic Expert States

Overview of the Haditha Incident

In Haditha, Iraq, on November 19, 2005, US Marines killed 24 Iraqi civilians. This event, known as the Haditha massacre, included the deaths of four women and six children across three homes, as well as a driver and four students in a car. The US Marines involved stated they were responding to gunfire after a roadside bomb killed one of their squad members and injured two others. The incident triggered the longest US war crimes investigation of the Iraq War.

Safa Younes, then 13 years old, was the sole survivor from her family, who were killed in one of the homes. She stated that her family was unarmed and that she survived by pretending to be dead.

Investigation and Legal Proceedings

The initial US military investigation led to murder charges against four marines. However, charges were subsequently dropped against three of them, who were granted immunity from further legal action. Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich was the only marine to face trial in 2012. No individual was convicted of the direct killings of the civilians.

Forensic Expert Cites Evidence Against Specific Marines

Recently, an investigation has uncovered evidence that, according to forensic expert Michael Maloney, implicates two marines who were not brought to trial for the killings of Safa Younes's family. Maloney was sent by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) to Haditha in 2006 to investigate the killings.

Lance Corporal Humberto Mendoza

  • In a pre-trial hearing video that has not been broadcast previously, Lance Corporal Humberto Mendoza, who was not charged, admitted to shooting Safa's father when he opened the front door, confirming that the father was unarmed.
  • Mendoza's official statements initially claimed that after entering the house, he opened the door to the bedroom where Safa and her family were, but did not enter after seeing only women and children.
  • However, in a newly discovered audio recording from Wuterich's trial, Mendoza stated that he walked approximately 8 feet (2.4m) into the bedroom.
  • Maloney stated that Mendoza's revised account places him in the position where Maloney concluded the first shooter stood, at the foot of the bed. Maloney interpreted this as a significant admission, falling short of explicitly confessing to pulling the trigger.

Safa Younes's Deposition

  • Safa Younes gave a video deposition to military prosecutors in 2006, which was not shown in court.
  • In her testimony, she described a marine throwing a grenade into the bedroom, which failed to explode, and then the same man entering the room and shooting her family.
  • Mendoza is the only marine known to have stated he opened the door to that specific bedroom.

Lance Corporal Stephen Tatum

  • Lance Corporal Stephen Tatum did not deny participating in the shootings but initially claimed poor visibility prevented him from knowing women and children were present.
  • Three later statements by Tatum, obtained by the BBC, offered different accounts:
    • In April 2006, he told NCIS: "I saw that children were in the room kneeling down. I don't remember the exact number but only that it was a lot. I am trained to shoot two shots to the chest and two shots to the head and I followed my training."
    • A month later, he stated he "was able to positively identify the people in the room as women and children before shooting them."
    • A week after that, he stated: "This is where I saw the kid I shot. Knowing it was a kid, I still shot him." He described the child as wearing a white T-shirt, standing on the bed.
  • Tatum's defense lawyers claimed these later statements were obtained under duress. Charges against Tatum were dropped in March 2008, and these statements were not considered in Wuterich's trial.

Forensic Expert's Conclusion and Trial Outcome

Maloney concluded that the statements from Mendoza and Tatum indicate they were the two marines who shot Safa's family, with Mendoza entering the bedroom first and Tatum following. Maloney suggested the prosecution aimed to present Wuterich as the primary shooter.

Wuterich's trial concluded with a plea deal, where he pleaded guilty to one count of negligent dereliction of duty, a charge unrelated to direct involvement in the killings. His military lawyer described the punishment as minor. The lead defense lawyer for Wuterich, Neal Puckett, stated that the investigation and prosecution were mismanaged. Wuterich's military lawyer, Haytham Faraj, claimed the government offered immunity to witnesses in exchange for testimony and stated that the trial did not adequately represent the victims' perspectives. No convictions for the killings were obtained.