CAMP PENDLETON - The first five of 24 Iraqi civilians killed in Haditha by a squad of Camp Pendleton Marines in 2005 were repeatedly shot by two sergeants who then agreed to blame the slayings on the Iraqi army, one of the shooters testified Wednesday afternoon.

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Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz said he fired at the five men moments after Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich unleashed a barrage of bullets at the group being held at gunpoint with their arms raised in the air.

"He made a mistake," Dela Cruz testified about Wuterich's actions. "He told me that if anyone asked, they were running away and the Iraqi army shot them."

That shooting took place shortly after a roadside bomb destroyed a Humvee, killing Lance Cpl. Miguel "TJ" Terrazas and injuring two other Kilo Company Marines from Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.

The five Iraqis had emerged from a car that drove up shortly after the bombing and were making no effort to flee, Dela Cruz said.

"They were just standing, looking around, had hands up," Dela Cruz said. "Then I saw one of them drop in the middle. I didn't know what was going on."

Dela Cruz said he decided to shoot because he assumed from Wuterich's actions that the men were a threat and he wanted to make sure they were dead.

Nineteen more civilians inside nearby homes also would die that Nov. 19 morning after the Marines concluded that insurgents were using them as a base of attack.

The appearance by Dela Cruz came on the second day of a hearing to determine if Capt. Randy Stone should stand trial on dereliction of duty charges for failing to fully investigate a suspected violation of the law of armed conflict in the aftermath of the slayings. Stone was the battalion's legal affairs officer.

Wuterich is charged with 13 counts of homicide for the men shot by the car and the deaths of eight people inside the homes.

Wuterich's attempt to cover up the shooting did not end with him, Dela Cruz testified. Wuterich later told his entire squad to say it was done by Iraqi forces, Dela Cruz said.

Dela Cruz, 24, also acknowledged urinating on one of the slain men several hours after the shooting and before the bodies had been removed, an act he said was borne out of rage.

"I know it was a bad thing," Dela Cruz testified. "I shouldn't have done it. But at that time I was angry because TJ had died and I pissed on one of their heads."

Prosecutors had charged Dela Cruz with five counts of murder but dropped the charges last month, saying his testimony outweighed his involvement. Lance Cpls. Stephen Tatum and Justin Sharratt also face murder charges for their roles in the killings inside the homes.

The high number of civilian deaths at Haditha was shocking to Kilo Company's first sergeant, Alberto Espinosa, who testified Wednesday morning that he believed an immediate investigation was required.

Espinosa said he became increasingly frustrated that no formal review appeared to be taking place.

"I just couldn't believe it, sir," Espinosa said in response to a question from Lt. Col. Paul Atterbury, one of three prosecutors handling the case against Stone. "It was just too many casualties."

Stone, 34, is one of four officers charged with dereliction of duty. The former battalion commander, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, faces similar charges.

Espinosa testified that one week after the incident, he initiated a conversation with Stone at the battalion's command center in Haditha because "I wasn't happy with the answers I was getting. I thought we needed to do an investigation."

Stone told him that a probe was taking place at the battalion level, Espinosa said, later adding that a sergeant major also said it was being addressed at a higher level.

Under questioning from Stone's attorney Charles Gittins, Espinosa said he was unaware of what reports were being filed at the battalion level.

Gittins also said a regimental commander had determined that the civilian deaths, which prompted worldwide condemnation when they came to light several months later, were "collateral damage" and that no investigation was necessary. The defense attorney's statement went unchallenged by prosecutors.

Outside of court, Gittins said several officers far above Stone's rank agreed in the days after the incident that no investigation was necessary. Asked why his client was charged and those men were not, the attorney suggested Stone is a scapegoat.

"They have no stomach to charge colonels and generals," he said.

Another witness who testified Wednesday, battalion Sgt. Maj. Edward Sax, said he was taken aback when he saw a March "60 Minutes" television interview of Wuterich in which the staff sergeant said he was uncertain that the people inside the homes ever fired at the Marines or were harboring insurgents. Wuterich's comments made it clear to him, Sax said, that the Marines had crossed a line.

"He had no reason to do it," Sax testified.

The case against Stone is the first to reach court in the Haditha incident. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Marine Corps officer presiding over the testimony will write a report recommending whether he believes Stone should stand trial.

This morning, Maj. Gen. Richard Huck, former commander of the 2nd Marine Division who commanded the Marines in Haditha in 2005, will testify via videoconference from the Pentagon where he is now working.

Hearings for the other Haditha defendants will take place at Camp Pendleton in the coming weeks.

- Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.