Ex-Marine Acquitted Of Slaying 4 in Iraq

CHELSEA J. CARTER, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
A former Marine accused of killing unarmed Iraqi detainees was acquitted of voluntary manslaughter Thursday in a first-of-its-kind federal trial. The jury took six hours to find Jose Luis Nazario Jr. not guilty of charges that he killed or caused others to kill four unarmed detainees on Nov. 9, 2004, in Fallujah, Iraq, during some of the fiercest fighting of the war... Prosecutors alleged that Nazario either killed or caused others to kill four unarmed Iraqi detainees in Fallujah during "Operation Phantom Fury," which resulted in house-to-house fighting. Other former Marines testified during the five-day trial that they did not see Nazario kill detainees but heard the gunshots. The case came to light in 2006 when Sgt. Ryan Weemer, Nazario's former squadmate, volunteered details to a U.S. Secret Service job interviewer during a lie-detector screening that included a question about the most serious crime he ever committed. That screening was not admitted at Nazario's trial... continua / continued