A Schofield Barracks soldier accused of the premeditated murder of an Iraqi detainee yesterday said he fired two shots into the ground to appease a tyrannical platoon sergeant who had shot the unarmed Iraqi and then ordered the specialist to "finish him."

At an Article 32 hearing to determine if Army Spc. Christopher Shore will face court-martial, the 25-year-old soldier said Sgt. 1st Class Trey Corrales had tried to get the Iraqi to take an AK-47 rifle after a raid in the village of al Saheed near Kirkuk, and then ordered the man to run.

Confused, the Iraqi, wearing a white tunic, said, "No mister, no mister, not me," Shore said.

Another soldier testified that as the Iraqi backed up, he saw Corrales raise his rifle, and as the soldier turned away, he heard three to five shots.

Shore, who is with a scout platoon of the 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry, said he was scared of what Corrales might do to him as he was ordered to shoot the wounded Iraqi on the ground.

"I had to act. I had to do something," Shore said, adding he pointed his rifle to the side of the Iraqi man's head without Corrales' seeing and fired two shots.

Both Shore and Corrales, 34, of San Antonio, are accused of shooting the Iraqi man multiple times with M-4 rifles.

But testimony in the court case provided an even more unsettling look at Corrales, an allegedly bullying and explosive platoon sergeant accused of ordering his soldiers to "kill all military-age" males during the June 23 raid.

The soldiers said they operated in fear that Corrales would fire them from the tight-knit and prestigious scout platoon, and one said he looked away as Corrales shot the Iraqi because he didn't want to get involved.

DISTURBING DETAILS

Shore, of Winder, Ga., said Corrales once stuck the barrel of his M-4 rifle down a man's throat until he gagged.

On another occasion, Corrales took out his knife, pulled out an Iraqi man's tongue, and threatened to cut it off, Shore said.

Shore, who joined the Army after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and had previously deployed to Afghanistan, acknowledged that he earlier had said he shot at the Iraqi.

But Shore yesterday said he said that because Corrales had a close relationship with their battalion commander, Lt. Col. Michael Browder, and he thought the shooting would be swept under the rug with Corrales' influence.

Browder was relieved of command while in Iraq, but is now back in Hawai'i.

The unidentified Iraqi man was medevaced out and treated, but died of multiple gunshot wounds, officials said.

The Article 32 hearing, similar to a civilian preliminary hearing or grand jury, was expected to wrap up yesterday evening after a full day of testimony.

Investigating officer Lt. Col. Raul Gonzalez will make a recommendation to Maj. Gen. Benjamin R. "Randy" Mixon, the commanding general of the 25th Infantry Division, who will decide whether a court-martial will proceed and on what charges.

POSSIBLE DEATH PENALTY

Corrales' Article 32 hearing is scheduled for Monday. His civilian attorney, Frank Spinner, declined to comment yesterday.

Both soldiers face the possibility of the death penalty with a conviction, and a mandatory minimum of life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Maj. Will Koon, deputy staff judge advocate for the 25th Division, said "the decision hasn't been made" on the possibility of a death sentence.

Shore's attorney, Michael Waddington, asked that the murder charge be dismissed against his client.

Waddington used a mannequin head and said the multiple gunshots the Iraqi received, including two in the face, were fired as the man was standing.

The angle of the wounds would have been different if the rounds were fired by Shore while the Iraqi was laying on the ground, Waddington said.

"It becomes quite clear that Spc. Shore's bullets never hit this man," Waddington said.

Soldiers with the scout platoon yesterday testified that the raid started with a nighttime call that U.S. troops were under fire.

Some of the soldiers involved, and who would have likely testified, were killed in the Aug. 22 crash of a Black Hawk helicopter in northern Iraq that left 10 Schofield soldiers dead.

The air assault on June 23 became a mission to counter roadside-bomb planters, and about 15 to 18 scouts waited for approximately two hours in a ditch before they raided three homes and blew the door off the "target" house with a missile.

Waddington said that days before, U.S. service members who were friends of Corrales' were killed by a roadside bomb in the same sector, and Corrales wanted revenge.

Several of the soldiers testified that Corrales had ordered them to "kill all military-age males" near the village and in the target house.

Sgt. 1st Class Dennis Bulham said the "all clear" was given within minutes, which meant the house was secure.

Some shots had been fired at villagers, but no one was hit.

'IT WAS PRETTY SCARY'

Spc. Franklin Hambrick said inside the house, spray tests were administered that would show up pink on skin if explosives had been handled, and Corrales said that whoever showed up positive, "I'm going to shoot."

At first, Hambrick didn't believe Corrales because he said "it was usually just talk."

Hambrick said he saw Corrales take one of the Iraqis outside and tell him to run.

The interpreter was brought out and told the Iraqi in Arabic to run, he said.

As Hambrick saw Corrales raise his rifle, he turned away and went back inside the house. At that moment, he realized "this is really going to happen."

"It was pretty scary. At that time I just wanted to get away from him because I didn't want anything to do (with it)," Hambrick said.

Some said they heard five or six shots, and then none, while others testified they heard two series of shots.

The soldiers who testified said they believed Shore was honest and not prone to violence, while Corrales was highly unpredictable.

"One minute he'll be your best friend, the next minute he'll be jumping on your back," Sgt. David Morgan-Benfold said of Corrales. "He was yelling all the time, screamin', hollerin'."

A group of about five soldiers, Shore included, went to their company commander and told him their concerns about what had happened, and that launched an inquiry.

Waddington said Corrales was referred to as the battalion commander's "wrecking ball," and tried to shift blame onto Shore to ensure his silence.

Browder and Corrales invoked their Article 31 rights against self-incrimination and did not testify at Shore's hearing.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.