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Sgt. to face court-martial in Iraq deaths case

FRANKFURT, Germany — A soldier charged with murder in the deaths of four bound and blindfolded Iraqis will be court-martialed, the Army said Wednesday.

Sgt. John E. Hatley was charged in September with one count of murder, one count of conspiracy to commit murder and one count of obstruction of justice in the killing of four Iraqi men who were found bound, blindfolded, shot and dumped in a Baghdad canal in April 2007.

A message seeking comment from his lawyer was not immediately returned. The 7th U.S. Army Joint Multinational Training Command in Grafenwoehr said that a date for the court-martial had not been set.

In previous Article 32 hearings, Army prosecutors said the four men were killed in retribution for casualties suffered by Hatley’s unit. The victims’ names have not been released.

So far, six of seven soldiers implicated in the case have faced a military court judge.

All the soldiers involved were with the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division in Iraq, which is now part of the Germany-based 172nd Infantry Brigade.

Hatley also faces additional charges of murder for a separate incident in January 2007. The Army has not provided details of that incident.