U.S. mine killed officers, analyst testifies (fragging trial)

[unhappycamper]

U.S. mine killed officers, analyst testifies
The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Nov 1, 2008 12:08:21 EDT

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — A U.S. anti-personnel mine killed two officers living inside one of Saddam Hussein’s former palaces in 2005, an Army weapons analyst testified Friday during the court-martial of the man accused of killing them.

Prosecutors contend Staff Sgt. Alberto B. Martinez planted an anti-personnel mine that detonated June 7, 2005, in a window of the officers’ room. Martinez, 41, of Troy, N.Y., is the first soldier from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to be accused of killing a direct superior — an act known during the Vietnam War as “fragging.”

Killed were Capt. Phillip Esposito and 1st Lt. Louis Allen, both New York National Guard officers in the 42nd Infantry Division.

Martinez is charged with two counts of premeditated murder and could be sentenced to death if convicted. He has pleaded not guilty. Defense attorneys say Army investigators have no evidence and targeted Martinez because he of his ongoing feud with Esposito.

When questioned by prosecutors, Army materials and engineering weapons analyst Stacey Kerwien said she examined pieces left after the explosion to determine where the explosives came from.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/11/ap_fraggingtrial_110108/%2e