In this photo provided by the
Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office, Steven D. Green is shown in A booking
mug shot at the Mecklenburg County jail in Charlotte, N.C., Monday, July
3, 2006. [AP] |
A former soldier discharged
because of a "personality disorder" was accused in federal court Monday of
executing an Iraqi family so he and other troops could rape and murder a young
woman they had been eyeing at a traffic checkpoint.
Steven D. Green, a skinny, 21-year-old former private, was led into court
wearing baggy shorts, flip-flops and a Johnny Cash T-shirt. He spoke only to
confirm his identity and stared as a federal magistrate ordered him held without
bond on murder and rape charges that carry a possible death penalty.
Green became the first person identified in the latest case of alleged
killings of Iraqi civilians by US troops, horrific deaths discovered in a burned
house near Mahmoudiya in March that military officials initially blamed on
insurgents.
According to a 10-page federal affidavit, Green and three other soldiers from
the Fort Campbell, Ky.-based 101st Airborne Division had talked about raping the
young woman, whom they first saw while working at the checkpoint. On the day of
the attack, the document said, Green and other soldiers drank alcohol and
changed out of their uniforms to avoid detection before going to the woman's
house. Green covered his face with a brown T-shirt.
Once there, the affidavit said, Green took three members of the family, an
adult male and female, and a girl estimated to be 5 years old, into a bedroom,
after which shots were heard from inside.
"Green came to the bedroom door and told everyone, 'I just killed them. All
are dead,'" the affidavit said.
The affidavit is based on interviews conducted by the FBI and military
investigators with three unidentified soldiers assigned to Green's platoon. One
of the soldiers said he witnessed another soldier and Green rape the woman.
"After the rape, (the soldier) witnessed Green shoot the woman in the head
two to three times," the affidavit said.
Investigators also interviewed a fifth soldier, who was left behind to mind
the radio at the traffic checkpoint. That soldier said Green and three others
returned from the woman's house "with blood on their clothes, which they burned.
Immediately after this, they each told (the soldier) that this is never to be
discussed again."