CAMP PENDLETON - A Marine sergeant accused of leading his platoon in the slaying of an Iraqi civilian last year allegedly told a government investigator he fired three bullets into the man's head immediately after conducting a "dead check" and discovering the man his squad had just shot multiple times was still alive.

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Naval Criminal Investigative Service Special Agent James Connolly testified Tuesday that Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III offered the information without any explanation beyond saying the victim was struggling to breathe when he fired the shots.

Connolly's testimony came at the opening of a two-day motion hearing for Hutchins, who along with seven men under his command was charged with murder and other offenses in the death of Hashim Ibrahim Awad in Iraq. Hutchins' attorneys maintain he is not guilty.

Connolly was part of a team of civilian law enforcement agents in Iraq asked to investigate the April 26 killing after the victim's relatives complained the 52-year-old retired policeman had been dragged from his home in the middle of the night.

"They said they got in a firefight with the guy and shot him," Connolly testified in the small base courtroom while being questioned by one of the prosecutors, Capt. Nicholas Gannon. "He (Hutchins) said the guy was gurgling for his last breaths and that he did a dead check. He said he put three rounds into the guy's head."

Connolly said he had never before heard a reference to a "dead check," and initially had no idea what it meant.

"I didn't know what the standard procedure was for these dead checks, and I wondered if Sgt. Hutchins was a paramedic."

Connolly said that at that point in the investigation he believed the story that members of the platoon from Camp Pendleton's 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment were telling -- that they had encountered Awad planting a roadside bomb and had shot him after Awad fired first.

That story fell apart a short time later, however, when one of the eight men charged in the case told investigators the platoon had in fact abducted Awad and planted a stolen shovel and AK-47 assault rifle next to his body after shooting him to death along a roadway a short distance from his home.

Five men, four Marines and the Navy medical corpsman assigned to the platoon have pleaded guilty to their roles in the killing and been sentenced to terms ranging from 12 months to eight years behind bars. Each has said the killing was meant to "send a message" to insurgents in Hamdania that the Marines would not tolerate further attacks.

Connolly also acknowledged that the unrelated deaths of 24 civilians at the hands of a different Camp Pendleton unit in the city of Haditha in November 2005 played a role in the Hamdania incident. The Haditha incident became public one month before the Awad killing.

The agent testified that while a Marine colonel said it appeared that the Awad killing was a "good shoot," commanders needed to be certain because of the uproar over Haditha.

"With Haditha in the news, he wanted to make sure the right things were done," Connolly said.

Hutchins' attorneys are seeking to suppress a statement he made to investigators in which he allegedly acknowledged his role in the killing. Connolly and another agent testified that Hutchins asked for an attorney at one point while being questioned, prompting the interrogation to stop. A few days later, they said, he volunteered to make a statement in which he allegedly admitted his role in the plot.

The defense contends the statement should not be admitted because Hutchins had earlier asked for an attorney (none was available in Iraq) and that it was made under duress.

The hearing continues at 8:30 this morning with more testimony on the suppression issue and on a separate motion in which the defense team wants to travel to Iraq for a second time to prepare its case.

Tuesday's testimony also included statements from two of the men who have pleaded guilty in the case, Pvt. John Jodka III and Lance Cpl. Tyler Jackson.

Jodka testified that it was Hutchins who directed the plan that led to Awad being taken from his home and killed. An Encinitas native now serving 18 months in the brig at Miramar Marine Corps Air Station after pleading guilty to conspiracy and obstruction of justice, Jodka also said Hutchins directed him and his squad mates on several occasions between the killing and mid-May to lie to investigators.

Hutchins, who did not testify during the session, looked intently at Jodka as he testified while rarely looking at his former sergeant.

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

Marine who withdrew guilty pleas due in court

CAMP PENDLETON - A Marine who pleaded guilty to murder and related offenses in the killing of an Iraqi man last year and was later allowed to withdraw that plea is due back in court this week for a new arraignment and motion hearing. - Cpl. Trent Thomas told a military judge earlier this month that despite the guilty pleas he had entered during a Jan. 18 court appearance in the death of Hashim Ibrahim Awad, he had changed his mind and now believed his actions were ordered by his superior. and therefore within "the color of law."

Thomas is one of eight Camp Pendleton troops from the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment charged in the incident that took place in the early morning hours of April 26 in Hamdania, Iraq.

Last month, Thomas' attorneys asked a judge on the third morning of a scheduled five-day sentencing hearing to allow their client to withdraw his pleas.

The St. Louis-area native was granted the request after telling the judge that he would now contend at trial that his role in the Awad killing was carried out because he was only doing as trained by following what he said was a directive from Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins, his immediate superior and a co-defendant.

Prosecutors then refiled the charges against Thomas, boosting the homicide allegation from what the military calls premeditated murder to unpremeditated murder, which could carry a life sentence without the possibility of parole. His trial is slated to start next month.

The precise nature of the motions scheduled to be contested on Thursday and Friday could not immediately be determined.

Hutchins' attorneys maintain that their client is not guilty of any wrongdoing.