US soldier charged again in Iraq case
A US soldier charged and then cleared in a “mercy killing” in Iraq has been charged again in the case, according to his uncle.
Second Lieutenant Erick Anderson, 26, was notified by military prosecutors that he had been charged with two counts of murder as well as other charges involving his service in Iraq, said his uncle Peter Lorenz, a lawyer.
In January, the US army dismissed charges against Anderson but said it was continuing to investigate his conduct in the death of an Iraqi teenager.
Two area members of Congress, representatives Steven LaTourette and Tim Ryan, plan to meet family members on Monday in Cleveland to announce efforts on Anderson‘s behalf.
Deborah Setliff, a spokeswoman for LaTourette, said there would be no comment before the news conference.
Ending victim’s misery
A public affairs spokeswoman at Fort Riley, Kansas, said she did not have information about the Anderson case and was unable to answer questions about it.
After-hours calls to the post public information office went unanswered on Saturday night.
Lorenz said his nephew has been recharged in the killing of a wounded Iraqi teenager and faces a new charge in the death of another Iraqi citizen, as well as other lesser charges.
He said his nephew denies all the charges, which were not detailed.
In the original murder case, witnesses said soldiers tried to rescue a severely wounded Iraqi from a burning truck on 17 August 2004.
An investigator said the soldiers decided that “the best course of action was to put [the victim] out of his misery”.