IRAQ: Marine taped calls in Fallouja killing probe

Marine Sgt. Jermaine Nelson spent 18 days in federal jail recently for refusing to answer questions from a grand jury about the alleged killing of Iraqi prisoners, particularly the involvement of former Sgt. Jose Nazario.

But in a tape-recorded interview with a Naval Criminal Investigation Service agent a year earlier, Nelson, in graphic terms, explained how he, Nazario, and Sgt. Ryan Weemer killed prisoners during the battle in Fallouja in late 2004. Part of the tape was played Thursday at a preliminary hearing at Camp Pendleton for Weemer.

Nelson also agreed to act as a confidential informant for the NCIS and taped one or more phone calls with Nazario, according to testimony by an NCIS agent.

The feds wanted to know who allegedly asked Nazario over the radio "Are they dead yet? Are they dead yet?" when Nazario reported that the Marines had taken four prisoners. Nazario allegedly took the question as an order to kill the prisoners.

Weemer and Nelson are charged in military court with murder. Nazario faces manslaughter charges in federal court in Riverside.

If prosecutors at either the Marine Corps or the U.S. attorney's office know who asked "Are they dead yet?," they have yet to reveal that in court.

-- Tony Perry, at Camp Pendleton

Photo: Marine Sgt. Jermaine Nelson.  Credit: Marine Corps Times

Comments

[Lamorial]

If that is not a war crime then what is?