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.