US soldier guilty of murder in Iraqi killing

A military jury in Kentucky has found an Army officer guilty of murder in the death of an Iraqi detainee.

First Lt. Michael Behenna was also found guilty on Friday night of assault but acquitted of making a false statement. Behenna has testified that he was trying to defend himself when he fatally shot Ali Mansour Mohammed during an interrogation last May.

But Behenna says he hadn't intended to kill him. However, prosecutors argued in closing statements Friday that Behenna had planned the killing that occurred in a secluded railroad culvert near Beiji, Iraq.

Behenna had been charged with premeditated murder, but the jury at Fort Campbell convicted him of the lesser offense.

First Published: Feb 28, 2009 08:39 IST