CAMP PENDLETON - A Marine corporal was described Monday as a remorseless killer who should be convicted of premeditated murder for the April 2006 slaying of an Iraqi civilian in the village of Hamdania.

That description of Cpl. Trent Thomas came during the opening statement in the government's prosecution of the 25-year-old St. Louis-area native for his role in the abduction and slaying of Hashim Ibrahim Awad in the early morning hours of April 26, 2006.

"The evidence will show that Cpl. Trent D. Thomas is a murderer," Lt. Col. John Baker said during the prosecution's opening statement in the trial, which is taking place in a base courtroom. "This case is about the roles and the responsibilities and the obligations of this Marine corporal and how he failed to fulfill his role."

A jury of three officers and six enlisted men was selected from a pool of 14 to hear the case being tried before Lt. Col. David Jones, the presiding military judge.

"Gentlemen, it's not an easy thing to sit on a murder case occurring in the middle of a war," Baker said. "But this case is not about the rules of engagement -- this is a case about an old-fashioned, premeditated conspiracy to kill."

Thomas had pleaded guilty to unpremeditated murder in January for his involvement in Awad's death. But three days into his sentencing hearing, he withdrew the plea and said he now believes he is innocent because he was following orders from co-defendant and platoon leader Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III, who is slated to go on trial later this month.

Baker's description was countered by one of Thomas' six defense attorneys, Marine Maj. Haytham Faraj, who told the panel that Thomas was obeying a command when he helped kidnap and kill Awad.

"You're going to hear that the squad leader issued this command," Faraj said. "We believe that you will find that under the circumstances that Cpl. Thomas had no other alternative other than to do what he did."

Victor Kelley, the lead defense attorney, also told jurors they will hear evidence that Thomas was suffering from traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of wounds suffered during two previous deployments.

The case against Thomas is the first to reach the full trial stage since he and seven other members of a Kilo Company platoon from Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment were charged in June 2006 with the killing of the retired Iraqi policeman.

Five of those men have pleaded guilty and received jail sentences ranging from one to eight years. Each must testify during the Thomas trial and upcoming trials for Hutchins and the other remaining co-defendant, Cpl. Marshall Magincalda.

Prosecutors have long said that it was Hutchins who was the chief architect of the scheme that led to Awad's death, and that Thomas and Magincalda were the two men who dragged Awad out of his home in the middle of the night.

Awad was not the original target, according to those who reached plea agreements. The group said they had intended to kidnap and kill a suspected insurgent, Saleh Gowad.

Hours after hatching the plot in a palm grove, the squad headed out to find Gowad, according to testimony, but when they couldn't find him, the men agreed to seize Awad and kill him to send a message to insurgents in the area.

According to those who have pleaded guilty, after taking Awad from his bed, the father of 11 children was marched about 1,000 yards to the scarred site of a previous roadside bombing and shot to death. The scene was then staged to make it appear he had been planting a roadside bomb.

At the conclusion of what is expected to be a two-week trial, two-thirds of the nine-member jury must agree on a verdict. If the members decide Thomas is guilty of all or any of the charges against him, the case will move immediately into the sentencing phase. Unlike in civilian courts, it will be the jury that decides Thomas' punishment.

Thomas faces a mandatory life sentence if convicted of premeditated murder. The other charges against him are kidnapping, larceny, housebreaking, conspiracy and making a false official statement.

The Hamdania case is one of three investigations into Iraqi deaths that have reportedly involved Camp Pendleton troops. Seven men from another unit face charges for their roles in the deaths of 24 Iraqis in Haditha in November 2006.

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