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His father notified a staff sergeant at Lewis-McChord, but no action was taken until May, when a witness in a drug investigation in the unit separately reported the deaths. Winfield is accused of participating in the final killing. Morlock has given extensive statements claiming the murder plot was led by Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs of Billings, Mont.; Gibbs maintains the killings were legitimate. Morlock told investigators he threw a grenade and Holmes shot Mudin without cause; Holmes says that he fired when Morlock told him to, believing that Morlock had perceived a legitimate threat. Morlock's court martial was scheduled for Wednesday. He has agreed to plead guilty to murder, conspiracy and other charges and to testify against his co-defendants in exchange for a maximum sentence of 24 years in prison. Meanwhile, military judge Lt. Col. Kwasi Hawks ruled late last week that Winfield can present evidence at his court martial that he tried to blow the whistle on the violence. Prosecutors had tried to bar evidence that he sent the messages to his family. Winfield has given a videotaped statement saying he took part in the final killing because he was afraid other soldiers might kill him if he didn't. However, the judge sided with prosecutors on whether to suppress Winfield's videotaped statement as coerced. In addition to the five soldiers charged in the deaths, seven soldiers in the platoon were charged with lesser crimes, including assaulting the witness in the drug investigation, drug use, firing on unarmed farmers and stabbing a corpse.
[Associated
Press;
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