Witness at Navy SEAL trial admits killing victim
SAN DIEGO — A Navy SEAL called by prosecutors to testify at the murder trial of a colleague has acknowledged killing a wounded prisoner in Iraq in what he described as an act of mercy.
Special Operator 1st Class Corey Scott said Thursday that he asphyxiated the teenage Islamic State fighter after Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher unexpectedly stabbed him.
Gallagher is facing court-martial on charges of murder and attempted murder.
Scott says the militant had been stabilized and was breathing normally after he and Gallagher treated him for wounds suffered in an airstrike.
Scott says the patient would have survived the stabbing, but he decided to plug the youth’s air tube because he believed he would eventually be tortured by Iraqi forces.
A prosecutor says Scott never revealed that version of events in previous conversations and accused him of lying to help Gallagher.
The testimony came Wednesday in the San Diego court-martial of Gallagher, who has pleaded not guilty to killing the prisoner in 2017 and to sniping at and wounding an elderly civilian and a girl.
Craig Miller testified that he reported the stabbing to an officer but didn’t pursue a more formal complaint until months after returning from deployment. He also acknowledged that he never tried to photograph or document the killing.
The defense claims the allegations were cooked up by Gallagher’s disgruntled colleagues.
