US soldier accused of Iraq murder 'too tired to care'
An American soldier accused of killing an Iraqi civilian then planting a gun on the body was suffering from sleep deprivation and too tired to know what he was doing, his lawyer claimed today.
Sergeant Evan Vela’s court martial heard he was “a victim of circumstance”.
“He was suffering from sleep deprivation and had no ability to think that morning,” his defence lawyer James Culp told the Baghdad hearing.
Vela is charged with premeditated murder, making a false official statement and of conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline.
Two other soldiers have faced similar charges over the same killing and two more. They were acquitted of the murder charges but were convicted of planting evidence on the bodies of the dead Iraqis.
Military prosecutors say the killings occurred last April and May near Iskandariyah, a mostly Sunni city 30 miles south of Baghdad.
Another defence lawyer, Daniel Conway, said outside the hearing that in a 74-hour period last spring, Vela slept less than three hours.
“The Army took the best and brightest and pushed them beyond their breaking point,” he said.
In June Vela gave a statement to military investigators saying he killed one of the Iraqis. But Mr Culp said today it was given under duress.
Vela said his staff sergeant told him to shoot a man who stumbled upon their snipers’ hide-out, although he was not armed and had his hands in the air as he approached the soldiers.
Vela’s lawyer has also said that army snipers hunting insurgents in Iraq were under orders to “bait” their targets with suspicious materials, such as detonation cords, and then kill whoever picked up the items.
