Georgian Admits Killing U.S. Envoy

A Georgian accused of murdering a U.S. diplomat went on trial Wednesday and confessed to the killing, an official at the republic’s Supreme Court said.

The diplomat, Fred Woodruff, was killed Aug. 8 last year by a single bullet to the head while traveling in a car with Georgian leader Eduard A. Shevardnadze’s security chief.

U.S. officials later acknowledged that Woodruff had been working for the CIA.

The accused man has been identified as Anzor Sharmaidze, a 21-year-old resident of the capital, Tbilisi.

“Sharmaidze admitted his guilt but said he did not know who was in the car. He wanted to take gasoline from them,” the court official said.

Georgian authorities have described Woodruff’s death as a chance killing, saying the assassin did not know the victim’s identity and opened fire in an attempt to stop the car.

Otar Dzhaparidze, an official at the state prosecutor’s office, said the main charge facing Sharmaidze is “deliberate killing with aggravating circumstances.”