As a military jury prepares to decide a new sentence for a Fort Campbell soldier who had his homicide conviction overturned, the jurors heard testimony Wednesday about the 2006 slayings of three Iraqis that are at the heart of the case.
Last year, a military appeals court overturned the negligent homicide conviction of Staff Sgt. Ray Girouard of Sweetwater, Tenn.
This week, a panel at the post will decide on a new sentence for his remaining convictions, stemming from his actions to try to cover up the murders committed by two of his solders.
Girouard was one of four soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division charged in the deaths of the detainees during a raid near Samarra, Iraq.
He previously testified that he did not order his squad to kill the detainees, but he tried to help them cover it up by staging an attack.
Girouard remains convicted of obstruction of justice, conspiracy to obstruct justice and violation of a general order.
A soldier who previously served in the unit with Girourard testified Wednesday about how the shooting and subsequent cover-up affected the platoon.
Capt. Justin Wehrheim, who was a platoon leader in Charlie Company, said others believed the company had a bad reputation and everything they did was questioned after the incident.
Two other soldiers in Girouard's squad — Spc. William Hunsaker and Pfc. Corey Clagett — earlier pleaded guilty to murder. Hunsaker and Clagett said they released the detainees and then shot the men as they fled to make it look like an escape.
Hunsaker and Clagett were sentenced to 18 years each for premeditated murder. A third soldier, Spc. Juston Graber, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault for shooting one of the wounded detainees and was sentenced to nine months.
