Marine pleads guilty

last updated 8 January 2015

Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Marine Lance Cpl. Tyler Jackson pleaded guilty this week to charges stemming from the killing of an unarmed Iraqi civilian and a subsequent coverup of the crime. Jackson, 23, told the court that he and seven other Marines were searching last April for Saleh Gowad, a Sunni insurgent leader, when they encountered Hashim Ibrahim Awad, 52. Jackson testified that the Marines seized Awad and shot him dead, thinking he was Gowad. They then altered the scene to give the appearance of a gunfight, Jackson said. He pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and obstruction of justice. Two other Marines have already pleaded guilty in the case, while four others are awaiting courts-martial.