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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Hawaii-based soldier faces murder trial

By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer

A Schofield Barracks soldier will be court-martialed on a charge of premeditated murder in the June 2007 shooting death of an unarmed Iraqi man, the Army said.

Sgt. 1st Class Trey Corrales, 35, of San Antonio, also will be tried on charges that he wrongfully solicited another soldier to shoot the Iraqi, and for wrongfully impeding the investigation by having an AK-47 rifle planted near the victim after he had been shot, according to the Army.

Maj. Gen. Benjamin R. Mixon, the commander of the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield, approved the charges after reviewing the evidence, the Army said in a release.

The arraignment and trial dates have not been determined. The Army previously did not rule out the possibility of the death penalty if Corrales is convicted.

A second Schofield soldier accused of shooting the Iraqi man will be court-martialed on a lesser charge than the premeditated murder charge he originally faced, the Army had announced earlier.

Spc. Christopher Shore, 25, of Winder, Ga., will face a charge of third-degree murder, defined as an "act inherently dangerous to another," according to the Army.

A Schofield legal official had said the charge Shore will be court-martialed on is roughly equivalent to a civilian man-slaughter charge. If convicted, Shore faces up to life in prison, but there is no mandatory minimum term.

Shore and Corrales are accused of shooting the Iraqi man on June 23 after a raid in the village of al Saheed outside Kirkuk. The soldiers were looking for insurgents who were planting roadside bombs.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.