JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. (AP) — A jury of three officers and two non-commissioned officers has been selected to hear evidence in the court martial of a soldier accused of masterminding the thrill killings of three Afghan civilians last year.
Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs, of Billings, Mont., is one of five soldiers from Joint Base Lewis-McChord south of Seattle charged in the deaths of the three Afghan men. Some soldiers in the unit said it was his idea to slaughter civilians and stage the deaths to make them appear to have been combatants.
Gibbs maintains that all of the killings were legitimate.
He pleaded not guilty Friday to all 16 criminal charges.
Prosecutors say Gibbs also led others in assaulting a soldier who reported drug use in the unit, and that he threatened that same soldier with fingers severed from the bodies of dead Afghans.
Opening statements are expected Monday.
