JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash., June 29 (UPI) -- A Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., inmate said Pvt. Jeremy Morlock told him he lied about two soldiers' involvement in the deaths of unarmed Afghan civilians.
The sworn statement, submitted as evidence in a pretrial hearing that ended Tuesday, said Morlock told the inmate that Pfc. Andrew Holmes and Spc. Michael Wagnon weren't involved in the crimes but Morlock lied to get a better plea agreement, The Seattle Times reported.
Morlock is serving a 24-year prison term for the murders of three Afghans in 2010. As part of a plea deal, he agreed to testify against four other soldiers accused by U.S. Army prosecutors of participating in the slayings.
"Pvt. Morlock said that Wagnon and Holmes had nothing to do with it, but he lied about their involvement to get the benefit of a better deal," inmate Spc. Ronald Washington said in his sworn statement detailing his conversation with Morlock.
Morlock, in the pretrial hearing for Wagnon, denied talking to Washington about the case, Wagnon's defense attorney, Colby Vokey, said.
Vokey and other defense attorneys likely will try to use Washington's statement to undermine Morlock's credibility at the trials of Wagnon and Holmes, scheduled for September, the Times said.
The war crimes cases center on the killings of three unarmed Afghans in January, February and May of 2010 while members of an infantry platoon from Joint Base Lewis-McChord were on patrol in Afghanistan.
