GI Pleads Guilty in Rape-Murder Case

"Military"

07/30/2007

Associated Press | July 30, 2007


FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. - A Fort Campbell soldier accused of acting as a lookout while his colleagues attacked and killed a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and her family last year pleaded guilty to some lesser offenses Monday as his court-martial began on rape and murder charges.

Pfc. Jesse Spielman pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct justice, arson, wrongfully touching a corpse and drinking.

He still faces trial on the more serious charges in the March 2006 rape and killing of Abeer Qassim al-Janabi and the death of her family. Under military law, a soldier present when a crime occurs can be found guilty if prosecutors can establish that the soldier had prior knowledge.

Three other soldiers have pleaded guilty for their roles in the crimes and received sentences ranging from five to 100 years. Another soldier was discharged from the military before he was charged and could face the death penalty if found guilty in federal court in Kentucky.

Defense attorney Craig Carlson said Spielman's plea to the lesser charges was not part of an agreement with prosecutors, but rather involved crimes that Spielman had already confessed to committing during interviews with military investigators.

A military judge was expected to begin seating a jury for his court-martial on the rape and murder charges later in the day.