Army drops murder charges

Dick Foster, Rocky Mountain News

Friday, January 13, 2006

COLORADO SPRINGS - Murder charges have been dropped for three of four Fort Carson soldiers charged in the death of an Iraqi general.

Chief Warrant Officer Lewis E. Welshofer Jr. is to go on trial here Monday, the only soldier still charged with murder in the death of Maj. Gen. Abed Hamed Mowhoush during an interrogation on Nov. 26, 2003, in Qaim, Iraq.

All four soldiers originally charged with murder were assigned to Fort Carson's 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment in western Iraq.

They were present in a room with the captured general, a member of Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard and commander of Iraq's air defenses, when he allegedly suffocated during an interrogation.

The Army contends that Mowhoush was bound inside a sleeping bag during questioning and that Welshofer sat on him.

Two of the soldiers originally charged with murder, Chief Warrant Officer Jefferson L. Williams and Spc. Jerry L. Loper, have agreed to testify against Welshofer in exchange for reduced sentences, sources said.

Williams, now stationed in Georgia, will not be court-martialed, but given an Article 15, a nonjudicial punishment, by his commanding general.

The punishment will not include prison time, said Williams' attorney, William Cassara.

"I'm sure the charge will not be murder in the Article 15, but I don't know what it will be," said Cassara.

Cassara had argued that Williams was an intelligence officer, not an interrogator, and his role in the incident did not warrant a murder charge.

Prosecutors asked Cassara if Williams had information that might be relevant in the Welshofer trial, the lawyer said, "and I said I assumed he did since he was in the room."

Loper has agreed to accept a summary court-martial, the lowest level of court-martial, which could lead to a bad conduct discharge, in return for his testimony against Welshofer, the sources said.

Loper's attorney, Capt. Megan Shaw, did not return phone calls Thursday.

The third soldier whose murder charge was reduced, Sgt. 1st Class William Sommer, a language translator, has refused to testify against Welshofer.

The murder charge against Sommer was dropped after an Article 32 investigation determined his actions did not warrant the charge, he said.

Sommer still faces Article 15 punishment, but he is appealing that decision.

Welshofer's attorney, Frank Spinner, said he will not accept any plea agreement to reduce the sentence of his client.

"We're litigating," said Spinner. "We're going for an acquittal."

fosterd@RockyMountainNews.com or 719-633-4442