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Lt. Pantano
Posted by Raven on April 27th, 2005
Although my natural instinct is to defend any and all Marines, I have reserved judgement on this case. Knowing what I know, I would say Lt. Pantano is innocent. My friend Jimmy, and the hubby, and other former Marines I know think he is guilty. Not sure why they feel the way they do; but it is not typical for a (former) Marine to have these thoughts.
CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (AP) – Fellow Marines testified Tuesday that an officer who is accused of murder shot two Iraqis in the back and put a sign near the bodies bearing a Marine slogan: “No better friend, no worse enemy.”
The testimony came on the first day of a preliminary hearing for Second Lt. Ilario Pantano, 33. He has admitted shooting the two men during a search last April for a terrorist hideout. Pantano has said the shooting was in self-defense.
Lt. Samuel Cunningham testified that after being told about the sign, he told Pantano to remove it, then called to have the bodies taken away by Iraqi National Guardsmen because Pantano’s unit was headed to another assignment.
“I was surprised,” Cunningham said of the sign. “I told him it was inappropriate. … It’s just unprofessional.” Cunningham called it “a death card.”
A second Marine – identified only as “Corporal O” – later testified that he helped interrogate the two Iraqi men who’d been stopped as they tried to leave a home suspected of being a terrorist hideout.
“Corporal O,” described as a cook working to be an Arabic linguist, said the men were scared and claimed to be visiting family in the residence. After the shooting, he testified, the men “looked like they were on their knees. They were shot in the backs.”
His appearance on the stand closed the first day of the Article 32 hearing, which began with defense attorneys accusing the investigating officer presiding over the hearing of bias.
Attorneys wanted Maj. Mark E. Winn to step aside for comments allegedly made about a civilian defense attorney, but Winn denied making any such remarks or being biased.
After the hearing, Winn will make a recommendation to the commanding general of the 2nd Marine Division about whether there is enough evidence for a court-martial. The general will then determine whether to proceed to trial or modify the charges.
If convicted of murder at a court-martial, Pantano could be sentenced to death.
