Marine Accused of Murdering Iraqi in Court Today

By Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published March 26, 2007 at 6:57 AM PDT

This story was published more than 17 years ago.

The squad leader of a group of Marines accused of murdering an Iraqi man in Hamdania Iraq last year is in court at Camp Pendleton this morning. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

The squad leader of a group of Marines accused of murdering an Iraqi man in Hamdania Iraq last year is in court at Camp Pendleton this morning. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

Sergeant Lawrence Hutchins was the leader of an eight-man squad accused of kidnapping Hashim Ibrahim Awad and shooting him to death, after they failed to find the insurgent they were looking for. Five of the eight men have already been sentenced to between one and eight years in jail.

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Several of those already sentenced testified against Hutchins in their plea deals, saying he was the one who masterminded the scheme to kill Awad, and make it look like they had caught a known insurgent.

Hutchins’ attorney has visited Hamdania to collect evidence, but was able to be at the site for only 20 minutes because of security concerns. The attorney says there is evidence about Awad's past that could change the outcome of the case. He may ask a judge to let him return to the scene of the killing to gather more information.

Today's motions hearing precedes the court martial for Hutchins, who has not yet revealed if he will enter a plea deal with the government, or fight the charges against him. Alison St John, KPBS News.

Alison St John

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Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.