JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. (AP) — A soldier who warned of an alleged plot to kill Afghan civilians only to be charged in the case faces court martial.
Officials at Joint Base Lewis-McChord said Friday that the commanding general has referred charges against Spc. Adam Winfield, of Cape Coral, Fla., to a military trial. Winfield is one of five soldiers accused in the deaths of three civilians during patrols in Kandahar Province this year.
Prosecutors say Winfield willingly participated in the final killing, but his lawyer says he feared he’d be killed if he didn’t follow an order to shoot at the victim.
Winfield sent messages home to his parents after the first killing, telling them he was being threatened to keep quiet. His father says he asked Lewis-McChord officials to intervene on his son’s behalf, to no avail.
No trial date has been set.
