Steven D. Green, 21, was accused in federal court Monday of executing an Iraqi family and raping a young woman they saw at a traffic checkpoint.Green became the first person identified in the latest case of alleged killings of Iraqi civilians by US troops. The bodies were discovered in a burned house near Mahmoudiya in March. Military officials initially blamed the murders 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 affidavit stated that Green took three members of the family, an adult male and female, and a girl estimated to be 5-years old, into a bedroom. Shots were heard from inside and Green came to the bedroom door and told everyone, 'I just killed them. All are dead.' 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." 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."
An official familiar with details of the investigation in Iraq has told reporters that a flammable liquid was used to burn the rape victim's body in an attempted cover-up. he affidavit noted that prosecutors have photos taken by Army investigators in Iraq of all four bodies found inside a burned house and a photo of a burned body of "what appears to be a woman with blankets thrown over her upper torso."
The age of the young woman was unclear. FBI documents estimated her age at 25, but a neighbor of the family said the rape victim was 14 and her sister was 10. Green, who was arrested Friday in the town of Marion northwest of Charlotte, is being prosecuted in federal, rather than military court because he is no longer in the Army. Green's 11-month stay in the Army ended before this incident was reported. He was given an honorable discharge due to a personality disorder. More Info