Date Posted: Thursday, May 26, 2005

Second Lt. Ilario Pantano, a Marine accused of murdering two Iraqis, has been cleared of all charges.

WASHINGTON, May 26 (MASNET & News Agencies) - The U.S. Marine Corps dropped all charges against a lieutenant who had been accused of shooting to death two Iraqis last year to make an example of them, the corps said.

Second Lieutenant Ilario Pantano, a former Wall Street trader who rejoined the Marine Corps after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, had been charged with premeditated murder, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Major General Richard Huck, the commanding general of the 2nd Marine Division, decided to drop all charges after reviewing an investigative report that found no credible evidence to support criminal charges, and autopsies conducted on the two Iraqis Pantano killed.

"After careful consideration of the Article 32 Investigative Report and of the autopsies, Major General Huck has decided to dismiss all charges," the Marines said in a statement from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

"While the Article 32 Investigation has been lengthy, the best interests of 2nd Lt. Pantano and the government have been served by this process."

Pantano, 33, said he shot the men in self-defense on April 15, 2004, during combat operations in Iraq, but prosecutors argued he killed them to set an example for others, leaving a sign on their bodies that read: "No better friend, no worse enemy."

The officer who conducted the formal investigation into the killings recommended that all criminal charges against Pantano be dropped after concluding that the chief witness against him, Sergeant Daniel Coburn, was unreliable.

Coburn admitted on the stand at a pre-trial hearing that Pantano had removed him as squad leader weeks before the shooting.

Lieutenant Colonel Mark Winn, the investigating officer, said in a report May 12 that the government had not produced credible evidence or testimony that the killings were premeditated.

The killings occurred after the Iraqis’ auto was stopped in Mamudiyah outside of a house where weapons were later found.

Pantano was the commander of a Marine platoon sent to search a suspected insurgent hide-out south of Baghdad. The Marines found weapons, ammunition and bomb-making material in the building, and saw two men fleeing in a sport utility vehicle, according to his civilian attorney, Charles Gittens.

The Marines shot out the vehicle's tires, took the two men into custody and ordered them to rip out the seats and the interior of the vehicle during a search for booby traps and secret compartments, Gittens told Reuters news agency in February.

Pantano had ordered the two other Marines with him, one of whom was Coburn, to guard the front and rear of the vehicle, so that their backs were to the vehicle. The two later testified they were startled by a sudden burst of sustained gunfire, and turned around to see Pantano empty one clip (a round of bullets), stop, reload, and then empty another clip into the two men, totaling 60 rounds.

According to Pantano, one of the Iraqi men allegedly turned suddenly towards him "as if to attack," and the pair kept moving when Pantano ordered them to stop, Gittens said. Pantano feared the men may have been trying to detonate explosives remotely and shot them, he added.

During an Article 32 hearing, the military equivalent of a grand jury, lawyers for Pantano said the lieutenant shot the men in self-defense after they moved toward him, ignoring his warnings to stop.

While finding some problems with Pantano's behavior, Winn concluded that one witness' accusation that Pantano shot the detainees while they were kneeling with their backs to him was not supported by other testimony or evidence, reports the Associated Press (AP).

Witnesses testified the sergeant who was Pantano's main accuser was a weak Marine who was bitter about Pantano removing him from a leadership role within the platoon, the news agency reports.

"Down at the unit level, there was never a question about Ilario's conduct and whether or not he did the right thing," Gittins said. "It was up in the higher echelons. The people removed from combat situations needed to put more trust in their officers rather than assuming they're guilty."

More than a half-dozen Marines who served with Pantano in Iraq praised him in testimony, saying he was an able leader who remained cool in combat and was amiable with Iraqis, reports the AP.

Pantano was charged with the crime February 1. The charges would have carried the death penalty, reports Reuters.

A former commodities trader, Pantano is from New York City and also fought during the first Gulf War, the news agency reports.

Prosecutors said Pantano fired 60 rounds at the two and hung the sign with the Marine motto over the body as a warning to others. While citing self-defense as his motive, Pantano did not deny hanging the sign or shooting the men repeatedly.

Winn wrote in his recommendation that Pantano should face nonjudicial punishment for allegedly desecrating the bodies by reloading his weapon and repeatedly shooting them. Pantano said he shot the men until they stopped moving, reports the AP.

Pantano has become a popular subject for conservative radio hosts, and his mother started a website in his defense, the news agency reports.

He is now helping to train troops at Camp Lejeune, but his attorney said he hopes the decision will clear the way for the Marine to return to a combat unit.

"I think [the decision] demonstrates that Ilario acted honorably in combat and the suggestion that he didn't that tarnished his reputation was unjustified," Gittins said. "I'm pleased for Ilario and his family because the nightmare is over."