Reports: Soldiers Charged in Iraqis Death

FORT CARSON, Colo. (AP) - Four soldiers have been charged in the drowning death of an Iraqi forced to jump off a bridge in Samarra, north of Baghdad, according to media reports.

The soldiers, all from Fort Carson, were reportedly part of a patrol that detained two Iraqi men in January and ordered them to jump off a bridge into the Tigris River. One man survived.

Three of the soldiers have been charged with manslaughter and the fourth with assault, according to the Rocky Mountain News, The Denver Post and KUSA-TV, all citing unnamed sources.

An Article 32 hearing, similar to a grand jury in civilian hearings, was scheduled for Thursday, the News reported. The newspapers said more charges could be coming.

The four are with the 3rd Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division, which returned to Fort Carson from Iraq in April after a one-year deployment, according to the reports.

First Lt. Jack Saville and Sgt. 1st Class Tracy Perkins were charged with manslaughter, assault, conspiracy and obstruction of justice; Sgt. Reggie Martinez was charged with manslaughter; and Spc. Terry Bowman was charged with assault, the News reported in Friday editions, citing an unidentified Fort Carson spokeswoman.

A Fort Carson spokeswoman referred calls to division headquarters at Fort Hood, Texas.

In separate cases involving Fort Carson soldiers, Chief Warrant Officers Lewis Welshofer and Jeff Williams were reprimanded and forbidden from conducting further interrogations after the death of Iraqi Maj. Gen. Abed Hamed Mowhoush.

Mowhoush died from asphyxiation due to smothering and chest compression, according to Pentagon documents obtained by the Post. The newspaper has reported that the military plans to charge Welshofer and Williams.

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