Ex-G.I. Charged in Slayings of 4 and Rape in Iraq
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: July 3, 2006
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- A former soldier discharged due to a ''personality disorder'' was accused in federal court Monday of executing an Iraqi family so he and other troops could rape and murder a young woman they eyed at a traffic checkpoint. All the bodies were found burned in an apparent cover-up.
Steven D. Green, a skinny, 21-year-old former private who was led into court wearing baggy shorts, flip-flops and a Johnny Cash T-shirt, became the first person identified in this latest case of alleged abuses of Iraqi civilians by U.S. troops.
...According to an 11-page federal affidavit, Green and three other soldiers from Fort Campbell, Ky.-based 101st's Airborne Division had talked about raping the young woman, who they spotted while working at the checkpoint and who lived nearby. The document said Green and other soldiers drank alcohol, then changed out of their uniforms to avoid detection before going to the woman's house. Green covered his face with a brown T-shirt.
Once there, the affidavit said, Green took three members of the family -- an adult male and female, and a girl estimated to be 5 years old -- into a bedroom, after which shots were heard from inside.
''Green came to the bedroom door and told everyone, 'I just killed them. All are dead,''' the affidavit said.
The affidavit is based on interviews conducted by the FBI and military investigators with three unidentified soldiers assigned to Green's platoon. One of the soldiers said he witnessed another soldier and Green rape the woman.
''After the rape, (the soldier) witnessed Green shoot the woman in the head two to three times,'' the affidavit said.
...The Washington Post reported the rape victim was 15 and that her mother worried her daughter had attracted the attention of U.S. soldiers at a checkpoint. The mother asked a neighbor if the girl could sleep at his house.
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