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Pendleton Marine testifies for squad mate
By: TERI FIGUEROA - Staff Writer | ∞
Cpl. Marshall Magincalda
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CAMP PENDLETON ---- A corporal on trial for his role in kidnapping and killing an Iraqi man in April 2005 told his squad mates the plot was "a stupid idea," one of the man's squad mates testified Monday.
"Magic said, 'I'm not gonna shoot nobody,'" Cpl. Trent Thomas said of his squad mate, Cpl. Marshall Magincalda, who goes by the nickname of Magic.
Magincalda and his squad leader, Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins, are on trial in separate military courtrooms for their roles in the death of Hashim Ibrahim Awad in the rural Iraqi village of Hamdania on April 26, 2005 slaying.
According to testimony from troops in the squad, Awad was dragged from his home in the middle of the night by a squad of seven Marines and a Navy corpsman. The troops marched him a mile or so down the road, placed him in a dirt hole and shot him to death, troops have testified. The squad then staged the scene to make it appear Awad had been an insurgent planting a roadside bomb, Marines have testified.
The eight troops were charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder and other offenses in Awad's death. Magincalda is one of three Marines to take his case before a military jury. The other five troops pleaded guilty to a role in the plot and testified against their squad mates in exchange for lighter sentences, ranging from one to eight years in military jail.
Thomas, who was convicted of conspiracy in the incident but acquitted of murder, was the first Marine charged in the slaying to testify on behalf of one of his squad mates.
As Thomas testified for about two hours Monday, Magincalda sat stonelike, with his hands folded on the desk in front of him. The thin Central California native appeared to stare at the floor or straight forward as Thomas testified in his defense.
"He's one of the most laid-back persons in the platoon," Thomas said of Magincalda. "He's like the chaplain."
According to Thomas, Hutchins presented the squad with the idea to kill an insurgent. The rest of the squad agreed to be in on it, and even helped shape the details.
"Magic was just going along with it," Thomas testified. "Marines out there, they don't go against the squad."
"You said he was in. Now you are saying he wasn't?" the lead prosecutor, Lt. Col. Sean Sullivan, asked.
"He was in, sir," Thomas said.
As Sullivan questioned Thomas on cross examination, his tempo picked up pace and his voice rose. At one point, Thomas asked Sullivan to "stop yelling."
When Sullivan asked Thomas if he knew what they were planning was illegal, Thomas said "not really, sir."
"I didn't think there was anything unlawful about killing a terrorist, sir," Thomas said.
Sullivan pointed out that, a few months ago, Thomas told a judge in his own case that he knew what he had done was illegal at the time.
Two weeks ago, the military jury that convicted Thomas of lesser crimes opted to reduce him to a private and kick him out of the Marine Corps with a bad conduct discharge. Thomas, who has not yet been demoted and who remains in the Marine Corps for the time being, was released from the brig earlier this month.
Even though his trial is over, Thomas' attorneys allowed him to testify in Magincalda's defense only under a grant of immunity, which Gen. James Mattis signed on Monday. Thomas did not testify in Hutchins' trial.
During his cross examination by Sullivan, Thomas testified that four of the eight squad mates ---- including he and Magincalda ---- went to grab the original target of their plan, a suspected insurgent named Saleh Gowad. When they could not get to Gowad at his home, the four men headed to the house next door.
Thomas said he and Magincalda went inside and found Awad asleep. They bent over him and, with a finger to their lips to signal to Awad to be quiet, woke him up and made him go outside.
"We never pushed the dude," Thomas said. "He came willingly."
Thomas acknowledged that the men forced a "confused" Awad a mile or so back to the dirt hole, with Awad repeatedly asking, "Why, mister?" in English.
At one point, Awad began "swinging, pushing, trying to get away from us," Thomas testified. The men shoved Awad into the hole, where Magincalda and Thomas tied his feet, and another Marine shoved a gag into his mouth, Thomas said.
They ran back to meet their squad mates, and then most of the squad opened fire at Awad under a dark sky, Thomas said. Two members of the squad ---- Magincalda and a second man, Navy corpsman Melson Bacos ---- did not shoot at Awad, he said.
Instead, Bacos fired an AK-47 rifle in the opposite direction, so as to mimic the sounds of a firefight.
Magincalda collected the shell casings.
"He got that role because he didn't want to do anything else," Thomas said.
After Awad was dead, Magincalda sprinkled spent shell casings around the body, and someone left the AK-47 by Awad's hand, according to prior testimony.
A few times, when Sullivan asked pointed questions, Thomas said he did not remember details.
"I don't remember very much about it. I donít know anybody who can remember a year ago," Thomas said.
"Well, how many plans to kidnap and kill somebody have you been involved in?" Sullivan shot back.
Thomas paused, and then mumbled something about pleading the Fifth Amendment. Sullivan moved on with other questions.
The accused men were all members of Kilo Company's 1st squad, 2nd platoon from Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment.
Thomas and Magincalda fought in fierce battles in Fallujah in 2004. They were on their third tour in Iraq at the time of the killing.
Hutchins was on his first tour.
Contact staff writer Teri Figueroa at (760) 631-6624 or tfigueroa@nctimes.com.
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FreeHim wrote on Jul 31, 2007 12:37 AM:Let him go home. He deserves that and a lot more. Keep your head up Marsh.
Shumate wrote on Jul 31, 2007 11:03 AM:Keep the faith Magic, we are praying for a time served for you also, Stay Strong, Hope to see you soon. Leanne & Marshall take care of both of you. It was good to hear them all togather in the defense building, and to know they WILL overcome this.
AW4cryinoutloud wrote on Jul 31, 2007 11:37 AM:I just can't help it. I apologize to those who love to Diss me. Just continue to Diss because this whole thing is ludicrous. When a United States Marine has to say that he didn't think there was anything illegal about killing a terrorist, what in blazes does that say about the higher-ups? The Brass? According to reports weeks ago it was brought out that these Marines were sent to Hamdania to capture or kill insurgents. NOW that it is not politically correct for Murtha or Maliki, it becomes illegal? The wrong Marines are on trial. There should be some people there with a lot of shiny stuff on their uniforms. They're the ones who have dishonored the Corps. Thomas doesn't seem to remember what he said previously. He's not the only one though, so I guess that's just the military justice system; pick and choose, wing it, and for goodness sake...don't dare try to actually try to PROVE anything. How is it that now we're back to using Awad's name? It was proven they couldn't even identify the deceased and they haven't been allowed to refer to Awad in court. If it was a "stupid" idea and no one was forced to do anything, then why go along with it? Has anyone noticed that one year ago the story was that they all shot at the deceased? I thought that later, Pennington said he didn't shoot? Now we have more men who didn't shoot. They also testified that Hutchins did not shoot until after the others. So, how many are supposed to have shot the guy? Can't NCIS and the prosecution at least get their plea deal stories to coincide? Thomas couldn't remember details of other questions but he can remember what the prosecution needs? Oh well! Why didn't someone just warn us that these weren't going to be fair trials? OOPS! I almost forgot. We've known that for months. Impressive how prosecutors like Lt. Col. Sullivan throw in stupid questions such as whether one was involved in any other such plans...all to plant the idea. He couldn't get any better than if he was an actor in a television drama. Well; if this Marine or Sgt. Hutchins are given anything more than the unjust hell they've been put through for more than one year; look out Marines. Hell is comin', and it ain't from the enemy without!
Adage wrote on Jul 31, 2007 1:44 PM:"Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we set out to deceive." The 7 Marines have told so many conflicting stories, hedged and lied and forgotten enough to make Gonzales seem like a Mensa candidate.
Speak the truth wrote on Jul 31, 2007 1:45 PM:I agree with AW4cryinoutloud. This prosecution is of the wrong defendants. Stay strong Magic, stay strong Mr. Low. The truth has to come out.
John1 to Adage wrote on Jul 31, 2007 3:19 PM:Actually, I think you, via your statement, show Gonzales to be a MENSA candidate by comparison.
Scared wrote on Jul 31, 2007 6:42 PM:These are very scarey men that can ADMIT to premeditated murder and then rationalize it away. Even scarier are the morons that support them. These guys talk and act more like mafiaso's than Marines.
Clarification, Please wrote on Jul 31, 2007 6:54 PM:Here's what I can't get past: Are any of the accused, or their attorneys, or any of the formerly accused, disputing that the man (whoever/whatever he was) was not only unarmed but tied up, hand and foot, at the time he was shot and killed?
Daniel to John1 wrote on Jul 31, 2007 6:58 PM:Did I read somewhere that your son testified that he was told to lie by the prosecution? re: to make the story better or something like that...Is anyone looking into that?
To Daniel wrote on Jul 31, 2007 8:10 PM:NO actually he testified to that but that was the second (or third) time his son lied on the stand. That's what needs to be looked into. On of them testified that Hutchins told them all to lie and say the investigators coerced them which is exactly what they all did. (lied)
to Scared wrote on Jul 31, 2007 9:19 PM:Scarier is the enemy who has dismembered, castrated and desecrated human lives. If the person killed was a terrorist, the ROE's need to be changed to allow our marines to take out the enemy rather than set them free to murder and destroy more American lives.
AW4cryinoutloud wrote on Jul 31, 2007 10:20 PM:To 'To Daniel': Excuse me but you are wrong. Jodka testified that NCIS investigators, not the prosecution, pushed him to enter falsehoods in his statements. NCIS has been caught in so many falsehoods throughout that it would be comical if it wasn't so serious. Of course one of them said Hutchins told them to lie. They made their plea deals and had to stick to the script. They "were" coerced and denied counsel in Iraq and imprisoned here in shackles. THAT is considered psychological torture; which is as effective as phyhsical torture. Stop drooling over it.
Scared wrote on Aug 1, 2007 12:20 AM:To the 9:19 commentator. I was unaware that Mr. Awad had "dismembered, castrated and desecrated" anyone. I was also unaware that these Marine's (and yourself)were appointed judge, jury and executioner. Thanks for setting me straight. I feel SOOO much safer now that justice is in your hands!
Reading the story wrote on Aug 1, 2007 10:00 AM:Admittedly, I've read only this and one other story regarding this and know no further information. However, in this story, it indicates they were looking for someone else and couldn't locate that person so went next door and got another individual (who I am "assuming" they had no information about). That is wrong, if that is what happened. However, why are our boys doing "3 tours" in Iraq? If that doesn't somehow change them, I can only hope that these marines and their supporters know the real story and it didn't happen like it says.
Keep the Faith..... wrote on Aug 1, 2007 10:12 AM:I have been using that phrase since the Berkeley protests of the 60's. But somehow it is much more applicable today in these horrifying trials against our heroes. If it not for them, and those that preceeded them, we would not be here reading or blogging as we so freely do. Can't anyone out there see that someone has got to fight the battles to keep us free? There are always going to be those that want what we have, and will try and get it through any means available. And lest we not forget the events of 9-11, please. Free these men and let's get on with the business at hand.
Let justice prevail wrote on Aug 1, 2007 10:18 AM:The prosecution and the judge himself are not allowing the defense counsel to do just that, defend. They spend more time excusing the panel members, so that the prosecution can argue some moot point, to which the judge ALWAYS AGREES. How can justice be achieved in this manner? One case allows certain evidence, and yet the other disallows the same exact evidence. Can't the right hand see what the left hand is even doing? How can the UCMJ be so weakly interpreted to allow for this??? Furthermore, in a case of murder, wouldn't it have been wise to sequester the panel members, so as to assure no outside exposure? All of these proceedings only further my opinion it is a three ring circus, attempting to make itself believable as a court of law, albeit, not a civilian court (where it would have been thrown out at the very onset!).
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