man dragged from his house and shot by U.S. Marines, who then placed shovel and AK-47 next to his body to make it appear he was an insurgent

Navy investigators have evidence that U.S. Marines may have committed "premeditated" murder

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Navy investigators have evidence that U.S. Marines may have committed "premeditated" murder in the April shooting death of an Iraqi man in Hamdania, a military officer close to the inquiry told CNN.

The officer, who has direct knowledge of the preliminary findings of an investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), said some of the Marines now in pretrial confinement have admitted the circumstances of the civilian man's death were staged.

Their statements form part of the evidence that suggest the Marines -- from the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment -- deliberately murdered the man, the source said.

"They went after someone, not necessarily this person, but they set out to get someone," the officer told CNN, referring to the Marines now under investigation.

The officer spoke to CNN under the condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to discuss the case publicly.

Knight Ridder News Service reported over the weekend that the family of the victim showed one of its reporters a one-page, handwritten report in which a U.S. Marine sergeant states that his unit killed the man because he was seen "digging on the side of the road from our ambush site. I made the call and engaged. He was pronounced dead at the scene with only a shovel and AK-47."

Investigators have concluded the unarmed man, identified by Knight Ridder as Hashim Ibrahim Awad, was dragged from his house and shot by U.S. Marines, who then placed the shovel and AK-47 next to his body to make it appear he was an insurgent, the official told CNN.

Seven Marines and a Navy medical corpsman are being held in the brig at California's Camp Pendleton as commanders weigh possible charges against them in connection with the April 26 killing of the Iraqi man in Hamdania, west of Baghdad.

Four other Marines have been confined to base in connection with the probe, a Camp Pendleton spokesman said last week.

"The individuals were placed in pretrial confinement because of the commander's evaluation of the ongoing investigation. All of the individuals in pretrial confinement have been afforded the opportunity of a magistrate's hearing," said Lt. Lawton King, a spokesman for the First Marine Division at Camp Pendleton.

Maj. Gen. Richard Zilmer, commander of U.S. troops in western Iraq, asked for an investigation after Iraqi officials brought the allegation to Marine commanders at a May 1 meeting.

Last week, a source familiar with the investigation told CNN that murder charges were "likely" against "somewhere around seven Marines" in the case. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because charges have not yet been filed.

The incident is unrelated to a criminal investigation into the alleged massacre of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha in November.

The attorney for one of the accused denounced what he called cowardly, anonymous leakers at the Pentagon.

"One needs to remember the several cases in which they [the NCIS] have solemnly pronounced the guilt of a Marine that turned out upon a full and unbiased investigation to be without merit," said criminal defense attorney David Brahms.

A source close to the investigation told CNN that murder charges are likely to be filed in the next few days. If murder charges are filed, it would be the first accusation of an intentional killing of an Iraqi civilian for Marines at Camp Pendleton -- a war crime under the Geneva Conventions.


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