Witness: Slain Iraqi Had Been Cooperating

An unarmed Iraqi cooperated with American troops searching his house and said “USA good” minutes before he was shot to death, a former U.S. soldier testified Wednesday at his onetime squad leader’s murder trial.

Jason Pizer testified that the Iraqi was alive with Army Staff Sgt. Shane Werst when Pizer went to a translator to check the Iraqi’s identification against a list of suspected insurgents.

Pizer said he radioed back to Werst to confirm that the man was on the list. He said he then heard Werst say, “Expecting contact,” and then the sound of gunfire. Pizer said he returned to the house and found Naser Ismail’s body on the floor.

Werst, 32, is on trial on charges of premeditated murder and obstruction of justice in the January 2004 slaying of Ismail. Prosecutors allege the shooting was in retaliation for a mortar attack that killed an Army captain earlier that day.

Werst could get life in prison without parole.

Later Wednesday, the first defense witness said Werst had talked calmly to Ismail, who then invited Werst and another soldier inside the house in Balad.

Staff Sgt. Bryon Hillis said he was standing outside watching the women and children when he heard gunshots a few minutes later and then saw Werst and another soldier leave the house.

During cross-examination, Hillis said Werst told soldiers to say that inside the house they found a non-U.S. military pistol. “That couldn’t have been true because there was no weapon found in the house that night,” Hillis said.