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December 8, 2008

Edmond soldier to plead not guilty in Iraqi detainee’s death

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) — First Lt. Michael C. Behenna, of Edmond, will enter a plea of not guilty to charges of premeditated murder, assault and making a false official statement in the shooting death of an Iraqi detainee, his attorney said Monday.

Staff Sgt. Hal M. Warner, of Braggs, pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of premeditated murder, accessory to murder, assault, obstruction of justice and making a false official statement. A military judge set his court-martial for Feb. 16. His attorney said a plea agreement is still possible.

Behenna be tried separately and has a court-martial scheduled for Feb. 23.

Warner and Behenna are charged in the death of Ali Mansour Mohammed in May. The two were arraigned separately Monday.

Both are assigned to the Fort Campbell-based division that is currently finishing deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Military prosecutors claim Behenna stripped the detainee naked, shot him in the head and chest and watched as Warner set fire to the body with a grenade.

Warner, 35, did not speak other than to answer the judge’s questions with yes or no answers and did not speak with reporters. James Phillips, one of Warner’s two attorneys, said the soldier was looking forward to the trial, although there is still the possibility of a plea agreement.

“He’s been waiting to tell his side of the story,” Phillips said.

Behenna is the son of Vicki Behenna, a federal prosecutor who helped convict Timothy McVeigh for his role in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

“Lt. Behenna is an outstanding officer with a good record, and he comes from a good family,” his attorney, Jack Zimmmerman, said.

Neither Behenna nor Warner is being held in custody before the trial.

During hearings earlier this year in Iraq, prosecutors presented several witnesses, including soldiers who were part of same convoy on the day of the killing. One of the key witnesses in the prosecution’s case is an Iraqi translator, identified only as “Harry,” who said he saw Behenna shoot the detainee on May 16 in a tunnel near their base near Beiji, 155 miles north of Baghdad.

Phillips said the witnesses from the previous hearing in Iraq would likely be brought to the Army post on the Tennessee-Kentucky state line to testify again.

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