4 Recommended for Court-Martial in Rape-Murder Case (Iraq)

[NVMojo]

WASHINGTON — Four American soldiers accused of raping a 14-year-old girl and killing her and her family have been recommended for a courtmartial and could face the death penalty, according to a military report released Monday.

"Reasonable grounds exist to believe that each of the accused committed the offense for which he is charged," U.S. Army investigator Col. Dwight Warren wrote in the report, released to the soldiers and their attorneys Sunday.

The report was released publicly Monday by David Sheldon, a former Navy lawyer now in private practice in Washington, who is representing one of the soldiers, Spc. James P. Barker, 23.

Also accused of rape and murder are Sgt. Paul E. Cortez, 23; Pfc. Bryan L. Howard, 19; and Pfc. Jesse Spielman, 21. The four soldiers are charged with raping the girl at her family's home in Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad, on March 12, then killing the girl, her parents and her 5-year-old sister. Military prosecutors say the soldiers also set the 14-year-old's body on fire in an attempt to conceal their crime.

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http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-rape5sep05,1,1987117.story?coll=la-headlines-world