SEATTLE, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- A U.S. veteran of the conflict in Afghanistan kept severed fingers of non-combatants as war trophies, a court-martial session in Washington state was told.
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs, a 26-year-old platoon leader, is on trial for murder of non-combatants in Afghanistan. Prosecutors charge him with the deaths of three unarmed Afghan villagers in Kandahar province in 2010.
A court-martial session heard testimony that Gibbs was a ringleader in what was described as the staged combat death of Afghan farmers. Their corpses were allegedly mutilated and fingers severed and passed around as war trophies, Voice of America reports.
Army Pfc. Jeremy Morlock, reportedly a close confidant of Gibbs, testified against the platoon leader, saying drug use was epidemic and morale was particularly low. Troops, said Morlock, were eager to get a combat kill after months of deployment. Most of the operations, the private added, were meet-and-greets with area civilians.
Morlock pleaded guilty to three murder charges but reached a plea deal in exchange for his testimony. Prosecutors said the platoon was out of control and Voice of America described the case as one of the worst cases of misconduct by U.S. forces since the Afghan war began in 2001.
Gibbs faces 16 charges ranging from conspiracy to premeditated murder. He faces a life-in-prison term without the possibility of parole if convicted. He's pleaded innocent.
