Army: Soldiers used grenades to kill Afghan civilians

Two soldiers were charged earlier this month, on Tuesday night, prosecutors filed three additional premeditated murder charges against three other Stryker soldiers.

Pvt. 1st Class Andrew Holmes, Specialist Michael Wagnon and Specialist Adam Winfield each charged Tuesday night with one count of premeditated murder, and each soldier is suspected in separate incidents, said Joint Base Lewis-McChord spokeswoman Lt. Col. Tamara Parker.

A fourth solider, Spc. Jeremy Morlock, was charged June 4 with three counts of premeditated murder and one count of assault. A fifth soldier, Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs, was charged in Kuwait on June 8 with three counts of premeditated murder and one count of assault. Gibbs is expected to arrive back at Joint Base within the next few days.

The charges involve three separate events alleged to have occurred between January and May at or near Forward Operating Base Ramrod in Afghanistan, Parker said.

Army documents detail how prosecutors believe each soldier is involved:

Morlock, Gibbs, and Holmes are accused of throwing a grenade at an Afghan civilian and fatally shooting him with a rifle sometime in January.

On Feb. 22, prosecutors say Morlock, Gibbs, and Wagnon shot and killed a second Afghan civilian with a rifle. Wagnon is also accused of later trying to get another solider to erase evidence of the murders from a computer hard drive.

Army prosecutors say a little more than two months later on May 2, Morlock and Gibbs once again used a grenade and a rifle to kill an Afghan civilian. Winfield is also accused of taking part in that murder.

Morlock and Gibbs are also accused of an assault on May 5, but the Army has withheld the specific details of that incident.

Spc. Jeremy Morlock

All five soldiers are assigned to B Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team and were deployed to Afghanistan last July in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

When asked if there could be other soldiers involved, Parker said: "These are the five (soldiers) that are implicated by the evidence, but the investigation is continuing."

Gibbs, 25, is from Billings, Mont., and is an 8 year Army veteran. Holmes, 19, from Boise, Idaho entered the Army in Sept. 2008. Wagnon, 29, is from Las Vegas and a 7 year Army veteran. Winfield, 21, from Cape Coral, Fla entered the military in July of 2006.

The maximum penalty for conviction for premeditated murder would be life in prison or the death penalty. Army prosecutors have not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty.