Marine Charged With Murder in Iraq Deaths

A Marine has been charged with a military count of premeditated murder for shooting two Iraqis during a search for an enemy hide-out, and faces a possible death sentence if found guilty, his lawyer said Thursday.

Second Lt. Ilario G. Pantano, 33, is accused of “numerous violations” of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the Marine Corps said.

An Article 32 hearing, the military court equivalent of grand jury proceedings, will be held but no date has been set. Spokesman Maj. Matt Morgan said exact charges would be released later.

Civilian attorney Charles Gittins said Pantano, based at Camp Lejeune, may have made a mistake in combat but should not be charged with murder.

“Even if he’s wrong, accidents happen in combat,” Gittins said. “This was a very stressful situation. These two guys were bad guys.”

One of the men had turned suddenly toward Pantano “as if to attack,” and the pair kept moving when Pantano ordered them to stop, Gittins said.

Pantano was a platoon commander whose unit was dispatched to search for a cache of weapons and the hide-outs, said his mother, Merry Pantano of New York City.

“Isn’t it amazing?” she said. “He can face the death penalty for doing his job on the battlefield, making split-second decisions. He said it was self-defense in the situation that he was in.”

The Marines had no comment except to say the investigatory hearing process had started.

Gittins said the shootings on April 15, 2004, were investigated at the time by battlefield commanders and that Pantano was cleared.

He said the Marine had “made it pretty firmly clear that he is not guilty.” The Marines have not said whether they will seek the death penalty if Pantano is convicted, Gittins said.

“He thought he was in danger and he fired and he killed them,” the attorney said. “It’s a combat situation, kill or be killed.”