Soldiers say accused Sgt. exclaimed, ‘Just kill me’

An Army sergeant accused of killing his squad leader and another soldier shouted, “My career’s over, just kill me,” as soldiers pinned him to the ground after he shot the two in Iraq, members of their unit told a military judge Monday.

The two slain soldiers had been critiquing Sgt. Joseph Bozicevich of Minneapolis for poor performance before he shot them Sept. 14 at a small patrol base south of Baghdad, witnesses said in a Ft. Stewart courtroom.

Platoon leader 1st Lt. Ryan Daly testified that Dawson was pulling Bozicevich off patrol duty after Bozicevich left a soldier behind the night before. Bozicevich had earlier lost one of his grenades.

Sgt. Darren Brown, who helped restrain Bozicevich, said the accused sergeant said, “My career’s over. Just kill me,” as they held him face-down in the dirt after the shootings.

Bozicevich sat calmly with his defense lawyers throughout the first day of testimony.

During cross-examination, Bozicevich’s civilian attorney, Charles Gittins, asked several witnesses about how tired and frustrated his client appeared the day of the slayings. He said Bozicevich had been on three patrols and was scheduled to work the midnight shift and had been frustrated by losing the grenade.

None of the eight 3rd Infantry Division soldiers who testified saw the shootings. Several said they were awakened by gunshots at about 1 a.m. and rushed from their bunks thinking the base was under attack.

Two Iraqi soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter who shared the base with U.S. troops told the judge they saw an American soldier chasing another and firing at him with a rifle until he fell. Interpreter Hiader Hamze Muter said that as Dawson fell to the ground, Bozicevich stood over him and took aim again before being surrounded by armed soldiers telling him to drop the weapon.

Daly said medics worked to save Dawson and Durbin, but hazardous weather prevented a helicopter from taking them to the nearest medical station. They had to be driven to a base about 30 minutes away.