Marine found guilty in killing
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- A Marine was found guilty yesterday of conspiracy to murder an Iraqi man, but acquitted of premeditated murder and kidnapping in a bungled attempt to kill a suspected insurgent last year.
Corporal Marshall Magincalda was also found guilty of larceny and housebreaking and cleared of making a false official statement. He stood rigidly alongside his two lawyers as sighs and gasps filled the packed courtroom.
A separate jury continued to deliberate in the case of his squad leader, Sergeant Lawrence G. Hutchins III of Plymouth, Mass., who faces the same charges.
Prosecutors said that during a nighttime patrol in Hamdania, Iraq, in April 2006, the Marine squad hatched a plan to kidnap and kill a suspected insurgent from his house.
When they could not find him, they kidnapped a man from a neighboring house, dragged him to a hole, and shot him.
Prosecutors said squad members tried to cover up the killing of Hashim Ibrahim Awad by planting a shovel and AK-47 by his body to make it look like he was an insurgent planting a bomb.
Magincalda, 24, of Manteca, would have received a mandatory life sentence if he had been convicted of premeditated murder. The murder conspiracy count carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, but a squadmate convicted of the same charge last month did not get any prison time from a different military jury.
Magincalda was accused of being part of the four-man "snatch team" that seized the victim from his home, but was not accused of firing shots.
His lawyers argued that the Marine is a religious man who wanted no part in the conspiracy and told his squadmates he would not shoot anyone.
The verdict was rendered by a jury of five enlisted men and one officer. All have served at least one combat tour in Iraq.
All eight members of the squad were initially charged with murder and kidnapping. Four lower-ranking Marines and a Navy corpsman cut deals with prosecutors in exchange for their testimony and received sentences ranging from one to eight years in prison.
A jury acquitted another defendant of murder last month, despite several of his former squad mates testifying that he helped kidnap and shoot Awad.
Corporal Trent D. Thomas was convicted of kidnapping and conspiracy. His rank was reduced to private, and he was given a bad-conduct discharge, but no prison time.
Prosecutors have pointed to Hutchins, 23, as the ringleader in the plot.
Hutchins's defense lawyer argued that the squad leader participated in the plot because his officers set a poor example and gave approval for Marines to use violence in capturing and interrogating suspected insurgents.
