Wuterich's Squad Mate Testifies Against Him

A Marine involved in the 2005 Haditha Iraq killing of 24 Iraqi citizens told a military court Wednesday that Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich — who is being tried in some of the deaths — began shooting at five unarmed men within five seconds of a roadside bomb explosion that killed one Marine.

They also didn't take any fire, Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz said.

"Staff Sgt. Wuterich fired at them and that is when I thought they were hostile,” said Dela Cruz, who had five murder charges against him dropped in return for his testimony. He also admitted to lying to investigators in sworn statements after the incident. 

Opening statements and witness testimony began Monday in the trial. Wuterich is charged with nine counts of voluntary manslaughter, two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and three counts of dereliction of duty.

No autopsies were ever conducted on the deceased, so the court is relying on testimony to figure out who shot first.

Dela Cruz admitted to “dead checking” the men — to ensure they were dead — after the squad fired at them. He shot them to ensure they are dead and will no longer pose a threat by holding his weapon with his trigger finger near his ear and spraying the men with fire from behind the trunk of a nearby car.

“I didn’t want to get blown up or anything like that,” he said. “There was just an explosion behind us.”

The men were on patrol with members of the Iraqi Army, who were armed with AK-47 rifles. Dela Cruz told the court that Wuterich later instructed Marines to tell any potential investigators that the men were running away and the Iraqi soldiers shot them.  

“I just went for it,” he said. He added that — prior to Nov. 19 —Wuterich told him to “kill everyone in that vicinity" if they are attacked.

Dela Cruz admitted in court that, later in the day of the attacks, he urinated on one of the deceased Iraqi men.

Defense attorney Haytham Faraj later attempted to discredit the prosecution’s witness because of various inconsistencies in his written statements and spoken testimony since the 2005 incident.

Faraj asked the witness to respond to the truth of certain statements.

“It’s fair to say that when Sgt. Dela Cruz lies, it’s hard to tell if he’s lying,” he said.

“I don’t know, sir,” Dela Cruz responded.

“You get away with your lies unless you say, ’I lied,’” he said.

“Yes, sir,” Dela Cruz said.

Faraj asked him if he changed his account to reflect that the Iraqi men were not a threat because he was offered immunity, but Dela Cruz maintained his conscience had weighed on him.

Faraj challenged the assertion.

“When you stood in front of the man whose head was blown off and you unzipped your penis … and you began to pee on his skull, did your conscience bother you then?” Faraj asked.

“No sir,” Dela Cruz responded.

Wednesday afternoon, the prosecution questioned former Sgt. Hector Salinas, who on Nov. 19 was transitioning to becoming the squad leader, because Wutirich — then a sergeant — was set to be promoted to staff sergeant.

Directly after the roadside explosion, Salinas remembered hearing and seeing at least one burst of enemy fire hitting one Humvee and fired at a house from where he believed the squad was being attacked, though he couldn’t remember details.

"It was all in a fog — in a haze," he said.

The defense will cross-examine Salinas Thursday morning.

Editor's note: The story has been updated to clarify Dela Cruz's statements. 

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