Marine used hand of slain Iraqi to slap victim's face

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/02/16/military/1_00_992_14_07.txt

CAMP PENDLETON ---- A Marine lance corporal took the hand of an Iraqi man he had just helped kidnap last year and used it to strike the face of the bullet-riddled victim, a co-defendant in the homicide case testified Thursday.

"He took his hand and kind of played with it and made Mr. Awad hit himself," former Petty Officer Melson Bacos said about his squad mate, Lance Cpl. Robert Pennington, during testimony in a Camp Pendleton courtroom. "He said, 'Quit hitting yourself.' "

Bacos' testimony came as the government presented evidence that will lead to its sentencing recommendation when the court-martial ends for Pennington, a 22-year-old Seattle native who pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to kidnap and murder Hashim Ibrahim Awad.

Bacos also testified that as Pennington helped place Awad's body in a bag for removal from the killing site in the village of Hamdania, Iraq, he made joking references to brain matter and whether rigor mortis had set in on the body of the 52-year-old victim.

Bacos was the first of the eight men from the base's 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment platoon charged in the case to plead guilty. As part of his deal with prosecutors, Bacos is required to testify for the prosecution in the remaining cases.

Awad was taken from his home in the early morning hours of April 26, marched to a hole that the squad had prepared to make it appear he was an insurgent planting a roadside bomb and shot to death. Platoon members who pleaded guilty for their roles in the case have testified the killing was carried out in an attempt to send a message to Hamdania residents about insurgent activity in the area.

but again, where is the SENIOR (Corporals and Sergeants) supervision and guidance?

This guy must have serious mental issues. The kind of issues that if he weren't in a war but living a normal life, one wouldn't want him to be near any kind of weapon.