ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A U.S. soldier from Wasilla, Alaska has pleaded guilty to the murders of three unarmed Afghan civilians and was sentenced to 24 years in prison.
During his court-martial trial Wednesday, Spc. Jeremy Morlock told a judge, “the plan was to kill people sir.”
Morlock is one of five soldiers from the 5th Stryker Brigade charged in the 2010 killings of three Afghan civilians in the Kandahar province. Morlock pleaded guilty to three counts of murder, and one count each of conspiracy, obstructing justice and illegal drug use. The case has raised some of the most serious criminal allegations to come from the war in Afghanistan, and today’s trial at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington attracted attention from around the world.
During an interview with Channel 2, King 5 reporter Drew Mikkelsen said the judge grilled Morlock about his involvement in the killings.
“He said that he didn't know if any of his shots hit the man, but he knows the man did die,” said Mikkelsen as he described Morlock telling the judge about one of the killings in Afghanistan. “The judge asked him if that man was a threat and he said no, the man was no threat.”
